Peace In Their Time

Episode 134 - All According to Plan

The Weimar Republic was not a state built to last, and the Depression was a deathblow to it. Not only was the suffering bad enough, but conservative politicians saw it as their window to do away with democracy entirely. This would lead to outcomes they failed to predict, and within just a few years Germany would be unrecognizable compared to what it was before the start of the crisis. Took me a while to get to this point, but the rise of the Nazis begins here. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

 

1. Evans, Richard The Coming of the Third Reich Penguin Books, 2003
2. Peukert, Detlev The Weimar Republic Suhrkamp Verlag am Main, 1987
3. Kershaw, Ian Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton & Company, Inc 1998
4. Toland, John Adolf Hitler, Volume 1 Doubleday & Company Inc 1976
5. Range, Peter Ross The Unfathomable Ascent: How Hitler Came to Power Little, Brown and Company 2020
6. Hett, Benjamin Carter The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic St. Martin's Press 2018

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 133 - Germans in the Belfry

The mini-tour of Central Europe ends this week, and I take a look at Czechoslovakia and Poland. Nations that shared no small number of problems, and each in their own way failed to address them. For Czechoslovakia it was being unable to get their German minority to stop making eyes across the border, and for Poland it was being unable to stabilize their government enough to even begin making accommodations with their own ethnic minorities. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. Crowhurst, Patrick A History of Czechoslovakia Between the Wars: From Versailles to Hitler's Invasion I.B. Tauris 2015
3. Davies, Norman God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volume II Columbia University Press 2005
4. Kochanski, Halik The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War Penguin Books Ltd 2012
5. Leslie, R.F. The History of Poland Since 1863 Cambridge University Press 1980
6. Chu, Winson The German Minority in Interwar Poland Cambridge University Press 2012
7. Prazmowska, Anita Poland: A Modern History Palgrave Macmillan 2010
8. Stachura, Peter D. Poland, 1918-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History of the Second Republic Routledge 2004

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 132 - Sore Winners

Romania was a nation better situated than most by 1929. It hadn't suffered from devastating civil conflict, there had been no political collapse, and its frontiers were reflective of the dreams of every nationalist. And of course, there's a significant "but" to that statement. Corruption was rife, the people didn't really benefit much from the swank new borders, and a local brand of fascism was on the rise. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. Nagy-Talavera, Nicholas M The Green Shirts and the Others: A History of Fascism in Hungary and Romania Histria Books 2021
3. Hitchins, Keith A Concise History of Romania Cambridge University Press 2014
4. Glenny, Misha The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers 1804-1999 Penguin Books Ltd 1999

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 131 - Brown Danube

The rise of fascism in Hungary proceeded in fits and starts during the 30s, primarily due to there not being a formidable Left in the country's politics to rage against. But the Depression hit the country severely enough that the establishment was badly discredited, and the men who had crushed the Left in 1919 and the early 20s were still around to sink their hooks into the state. On top of that, a new generation of fascists arose to push the nation into ever more extreme directions. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. Nagy-Talavera, Nicholas M The Green Shirts and the Others: A History of Fascism in Hungary and Romania Histria Books 2021
3. Hoensch, Jorg A History of Modern Hungary 1867-1994 Longman Group Ltd 1996

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 130 - Mountain Fascists

Because of Austria's central position in Europe and close ties to Germany, its importance was all out of proportion to its size. Which is why the rise of fascism during the Depression is so important to the course of later events. The country found itself between proponents of pan-Germanism and those who favored an independent course, both of which had their own authoritarian visions. And each camp invited foreign influence into the country. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. Emondson, C. Earl The Heimwehr and Austrian Politics, 1918-1936 The University of Georgia Press 1978
3. Beller, Steven A Concise History of Austria Cambridge University Press 2007

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 129 - Just Along for the Ride

The damage caused by the Great Depression was not confined to the big economies of the world, and today I'll take a look at the instability and civil conflict that resulted from it in a trio of Central European nations. That's right, it's back to the future battlegrounds of Europe and the smaller states caught between the giants. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. Lampe, John Yugoslavia as History: Twice There was a Country Cambridge University Press 2000
3. Glenny, Misha The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers 1804-1999 Penguin Books Ltd 1999
4. Beaton, Roderick Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation University of Chicago Press 2019

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 128 - Collateral Damage

The quest for absolute power in Italy was always one on Mussolini's mind, but the Depression forced the Fascists into overdrive. With the economy falling apart, the state swooped in to both clumsily rescue the situation, as well as expanding its hold over the economy. And the crisis in general started opening up very big possibilities for expansion that had otherwise been denied in the 20s. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Bosworth, RJB Mussolini's Italy Penguin Group, 2005
2. Whittam, John Fascist Italy Manchester University Press, 1995
3. Morgan, Phillip Italian Fascism 1919-1945 St. Martin's Press, 1995
4. Gooch, John Mussolini and His Generals Cambridge University Press, 2007
5. Schmitz, David F. The United States and Fascist Italy, 1922-1940 The University of North Carolina Press 1988
6. Migone, Gian Giacomo The United States and Fascist Italy: The Rise of American Finance in Europe Cambridge University Press 1980

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 127 - Gallic Mentality

For France, the Great Depression came late, but also refused to go away. On account of being one of the few winners of the Gold Standard, France's economy was booming so much by 1929 that it took until 1932 for the downturn to take effect. But when it did, it proved intractable, critically undermining the legitimacy of the shaky Third Republic. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Adamthwaite, Anthony Grandeur and Misery: France 1914-1940 Arnold, 1995
2. Wright, Gordon France in Modern Times, 4th Ed WW Norton Company, Inc, 1987
3. Fortescue, William The Third Republic in France 1870-1940 Routledge, 2007
4. Weber, Eugene The Hollow Years: France in the 1930s WW Norton & Company Inc 1994
5. Jackson, Julian France: The Dark Years 1940-1944 Oxford University Press 2001

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 126 - Sound as a Pound

Today we begin our Depression European tour and take a look at the UK. That nation had already been suffering a prolonged recession through most of the 20s, so the Great Depression only added to the nation's woes. While the politics of the nation wouldn't go haywire like they would elsewhere, it did doom the Labour-Liberal coalition that held power in late 1929, and created the conditions for a decade of Conservative dominance. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Taylor, AJP The Oxford History of England, Vol 15 Oxford University Press, 1978
2. Moway, Charles Loch Britain Between the Wars Methuen & Co, 1972
3. Hattersley, Roy Borrowed Time Little, Brown, 2007
4. Floud, Roderick and Paul Johnson The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain Volume II: Economic Maturity 1860-1939 Cambridge University Press 2004

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Episode 125 - Killing Time

The year 1932 was a special low point of the Great Depression in the US not just because of the material devastation for people, but also because how little was done to address the crisis. The Hoover administration revealed how incapable the traditional Conservative orthodoxy was at repairing the nation, and the year became a grim waiting game for FDR and the resurgent Democrats to takeover. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

 

1. Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999
2. Schlesinger Jr, Arthur M. The Age of Roosevelt: The Crisis of the Old Order 1919-1933 First Mariner Books 2003
3. Whyte, Kenneth Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times Vintage Books 2017

 

Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com