Pick the Next Extra History Series! "Rise To Power"

It's time for our Extra History poll! Where you get to vote on what our next Extra History Series is about!

These four topics were selected from our "Rise To Power" Patreon Suggestions and are listed in no particular order below.

Benito Mussolini: Founding Fascism

If you met Mussolini in 1911, you'd never guess he was a future dictator. This man who would come to crush the free press and establish fascism was, of all things... a journalist, working at a socialist newspaper. But young Mussolini would go through many changes in the next decade, from a prison sentence for protesting against Italian imperialism in Libya (he would later carry out horrifying policies in Africa), rejection of socialism, radical adoption of nationalist policies, and service in the First World War. Along with this disturbing transformation came a new philosophy that Italy had to expand to grant itself "living space" and that "lesser" people in Serbia and Africa should be dominated for the benefit of Italy. By 1922, he was marching on Rome with his paramilitary blackshirts, seizing control as Prime Minister and refashioning the state to resemble his own vision of a one-party dictatorship. Less well known than Hitler, Mussolini is ground zero of European Fascism and would set the tone for many things that would also occur in Nazi Germany—and leave scars on  Libya and East Africa which are still present today.

Robespierre: Reign of Terror

Few men have become as infamous, in as short a time, as Maximilien Robespierre. Though a rising political figure during much of the French Revolution, he would only head the Committee of Public Safety for one year and a day before losing his head to the guillotine. In that time, he would be responsible for some of the worst excesses of the Revolution—which you might not expect given his earlier life. An early idealist and supporter of human rights, Robespierre argued for universal male suffrage, for the abolition of the slave trade, the right to bear arms, petition the government, and serve in the National Guard. How did this young student living in rented rooms – he was only 36 when he died – end up the most powerful, and feared, man in France? Join us for a wild ride of riots, political clubs, trials and executions.

Giuseppe Garibaldi: Unifying Italy

If Che Guevara had put up an edgy poster in his dorm room, it would've been of Guiseppe Garibaldi. Born in 1807 in Nice—then part of France but was soon traded to Sardinia, then back to France it's complicated—as a young man, he became embroiled in the politics of Italian nationalism and fled to South America after a failed uprising. There, fighting for various separatist and republican movements, he learned both the principles of guerilla warfare and gained the love of his first wife Anita—who would fight by his side even after they returned to Italy during the revolutionary year of 1848. A charismatic leader, everywhere Garibaldi fought he would gather around him a dedicated corps of soldiers, from the "Redshirts" in South America to the "Hunters of the Alps" in the Italian Wars of Independence. Though he was not the only figure in the Unification of Italy, he was certainly the most romantic and dashing—and as a result, became a world-renowned symbol of Italian nationalism and republican zeal, revered by figures as varied as Abraham Lincoln and Charles Dickens. Join us for the story of a man who is, to this day, considered the greatest hero in Italian history.

Vladimir Lenin: Raise the Red Banner

Vladimir Lenin was a teenager when his 21-year-old brother was hanged for trying to assassinate the Tsar. Even then, young Lenin knew that direct action would not be his path to revolution. Armed with a law degree, a fervent belief in Marxism, and hardened by a three-year sentence in Siberia, he left Russia in 1900 to pursue his political goals in exile. But there, his communist activities were often less about engaging the Tsarist regime, and more about mobilizing his Bolshevik party against the rival Menshevik faction. But the turning point came, he realized, when the First World War exposed Russia's weakness and need for change—and led him to enter into a conspiracy with the German Empire, to travel through German territory in order to return to Russia. That would be one of the most consequential train journeys in history, leading to the October Revolution, where Lenin gained control of a chaotic revolution and began steering it toward what would become the Soviet Union—and into a civil war.

Our Current Schedule is:

Secret Societies - Starting 4/6 -> Hypatia of Alexandria: Martyr for Knowledge -> Invasion of Canada: The Battle of Quebec -> Your Vote!

***Friendly reminder: The poll will end at 10:59 PM PT on Thursday the 4th. You can vote for as many choices as you want! This style of voting helps us see what people are most interested in without having to make tough decisions between a couple of close favorites. ***