A history podcast dedicated to examining the global history of the 1920s and 30s in order to explain the causes of World War II, both large and small. As you might imagine, there’s a lot of ground to cover just to contextualize how the conflict got so out of control. If you love historical deep-dives and play-by-plays of nations in way over their collective heads, this is the show for you. Best niche history podcast out there! PROTIP: If you’re a new listener and are hopelessly confused by me bouncing from topic to topic, the scope of this show has kinda gotten away from me over the years. I have included an index of miniseries in the description of Episode 1 to provide a guide for what I’ve covered so far.
Episodes
Sunday Nov 13, 2022
Sunday Nov 13, 2022
We've finally reached the last episodes of the Soviet Union during the 1920s. It was a decade of possibility, but the rise of Stalin to undisputed power meant the era wouldn't last forever. His consolidation of power was a years-long process, and would play out over countless congresses and backroom maneuverings.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
- Fitzpatrick, Sheila On Stalin’s Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics Princeton University Press 2015
- Rayfield, Donald Stalin and His Hangmen: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him Random House 2004
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
The years leading up to WWI were tough on Stalin, whatever luck he or the Bolsheviks had before and during the 1905 Revolution had run out. He personally was mostly stuck in exile, managing to escape every so often, but all too quickly caught and returned. The Tsarist regime though was chronically self-defeating, and the Revolution that would be his salvation was not long in coming.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Party business got serious after the 1905 Revolution, as the regime struck back against its enemies and the Socialists turned to every source of support they could. Stalin possessed organizational skills and a lack of scruples, so he began a hybrid life of politics and crime that got him noticed by both Lenin and the authorities.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Having been kicked out of the seminary, young Stalin embarked on the life of a professional revolutionary in earnest. Agitation, a refusal to play nice with older party leaders, and mysterious oil refinery explosions all became his calling cards.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Sunday Oct 16, 2022
Sunday Oct 16, 2022
The biography episodes return as today I cover the early life of Joseph Stalin. Born into a conquest of the Russian Empire, young Stalin was not the most likely candidate to become a world leader. But the crucible of living under the Tsarist boot and his own violent homelife shaped him into the revolutionary that he would become.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Sunday Oct 09, 2022
Sunday Oct 09, 2022
Today we turn back to the adventures of the Soviet Union's secret police in 1920s. They'd spend most of the decade picking off White exiles and trying to build spy networks abroad. But as the decade starting winding down, they increasingly fell under the influence of Stalin, who preferred looking inward for his enemies.
Sunday Oct 02, 2022
Sunday Oct 02, 2022
While the Soviet Union struggled internally, it did not neglect trying to continue the Revolution abroad. Attempting to rally the troops, the idea of a workers International was rebooted as the Comintern. It would be the home away from home for many Communists and during the first decade of its existence push numerous uprisings aimed at toppling Capitalism. Not with a lot of success, but their efforts kept the champions of Capital awake at night all the same.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Hallas, Duncan The Comintern: A History of the Third International Haymarket Books 2008
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Sunday Sep 25, 2022
Sunday Sep 25, 2022
Peacetime in the Soviet Union created an opportunity for social experimentation. The old order was gone, the Communist Party wasn't yet the juggernaut of state power it would become, and change seemed to be the order of the day.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Hosking, Geoffrey Russia and the Russians: A History The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2001
- Figes, Orlando A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1917 Penguin Books 1998
- Smith, SA Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis 1890-1928 Oxford University Press 2018
- Fitzpatrick, Sheila The Russian Revolution, 4th Edition Oxford University Press 2017
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
- Suny, Ronald Grigor The Cambridge History of Russia, Vol III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2006
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Sunday Sep 18, 2022
Sunday Sep 18, 2022
The first peacetime order of business in the new USSR was to re-build the economy. And to do that, they had to liberalize and turn towards a kind of state capitalism that was dubbed the New Economic Policy, the NEP. It wasn't perfect, and the new imbalances it created started conflicts in the Communist Party.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Hosking, Geoffrey Russia and the Russians: A History The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2001
- Figes, Orlando A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1917 Penguin Books 1998
- Smith, SA Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis 1890-1928 Oxford University Press 2018
- Fitzpatrick, Sheila The Russian Revolution, 4th Edition Oxford University Press 2017
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
- Suny, Ronald Grigor The Cambridge History of Russia, Vol III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2006
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
Sunday Sep 11, 2022
Sunday Sep 11, 2022
One-hundred episodes! And to celebrate, here is a completely normal weekly episode. The Soviet Union wasn't built in a day, in fact it took five years for the Bolshevik leaders to finally hammer out the details as to the new nation. And that only happened after Lenin and Joseph Stalin clashed over the question of state power, a clash that was only settled by Lenin's declining health.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Hosking, Geoffrey Russia and the Russians: A History The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2001
- Figes, Orlando A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1917 Penguin Books 1998
- Smith, SA Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis 1890-1928 Oxford University Press 2018
- Fitzpatrick, Sheila The Russian Revolution, 4th Edition Oxford University Press 2017
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
- Suny, Ronald Grigor The Cambridge History of Russia, Vol III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2006
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com