Peace In Their Time

Episode 49 - The Other Empires

The British might have had the biggest and most influential of the colonial empires, but they were far from alone. Today we take a look at the Netherland's massive Dutch East Indies colony and France's big holding in East Asia, Indochina. Both were resource-rich areas that made fine possessions for their colonial masters. For the people actually living there though, the change to European rule wasn't nearly so positive and by the end of the 20s nationalist resistance to the foreigners would be developing to undermine them. Which turned out to be important as Japan regarded both places as key parts of their eventual Asian conquests. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Vickers, Adrian A History of Modern Indonesia Cambridge University Press 2013
2. Brocheux, Pierre and Daniel Hemery Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization 1858-1954 University of California Press 2009
3. Tarling, Nicholas The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume 2: The 19th and 20th Centuries Cambridge University Press 1992

 

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

Episode 48 - Painting the Map

The sun might not have set on the British Empire, but it is on my coverage of it. This week is a sweeping overview of the remaining big pieces of the empire, and their importance to the UK and how they affected the metropole. And also I zero in on Egypt for a bit, because they put up a spirited effort to not be a part of the empire, while the Brits were very insistent on being involved in that country's affairs. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Brown, Judith & Louis, Roger The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume IV - The Twentieth Century Oxford University Press 1999
2. Roberts, AD The Cambridge History of Africa: Volume 7 from 1905 to 1940 Cambridge University Press 1986
3. Darwin, John The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World System 1830-1970 Cambridge University Press 2009

Episode 47 - A Parting of the Ways

With the campaigns for Indian independence in the post-WWI years a bust, India settles into an uneasy kind of calm. The British might not have been able to properly grasp it, but lines had been crossed and the Indian people had placed themselves on a trajectory towards autonomy and separation. This was reflected not just in the political relationship with the UK, but the economic one as well. And despite the failures of the first half of the decade, by the second half of the 20s, a new generation of leaders was emerging to press for another confrontation with the colonial government. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Sarkar, Sumit Modern India 1885-1947 Macmillan India Ltd 1983
2. Brown, Judith Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy Oxford University Press 1994

 

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

Episode 46 - Swaraj

Imperial overreach happens to everybody eventually, and the British rule in India during and after WWI became oppressive enough that their subjects began agitating for radical changes in their relationship. The independence movement there began in earnest in the post-war years, and yes this is where Ghandi enters the picture. The British don't take it very well and double-down on the very oppression that got them into their predicament in the first place.

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Sarkar, Sumit Modern India 1885-1947 Macmillan India Ltd 1983
2. Brown, Judith Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy Oxford University Press 1994

 

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

Episode 45 - The Raj

The British Empire as we knew it wouldn't have been possible without its cornerstone, India. Turns out adding an entire subcontinent's worth of human and material wealth can turn a relatively small island nation into a global power. In both world wars India proved to be critical to Britain's success, and that importance weighed heavily on the minds of the Britons who ruled there. For the next few weeks we'll be looking at the colonial state, the British Raj, and how the most vital imperial asset began going its own way. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Sarkar, Sumit Modern India 1885-1947 Macmillan India Ltd 1983
2. Brown, Judith Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy Oxford University Press 1994

 

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

Episode 44 - The Dominions

I've stressed in past episodes the importance of France and the United Kingdom in putting together a peaceful world order in the 1920s. That preeminence was a result of both countries acquiring gigantic empires reaching into every part of the globe, and today we're going to start covering those empires and how they played into the decisions of their rulers. In this episode we're covering the British Dominions, the most un-colonial parts of Britain's empire. They were already starting to go their own way, but were still considered essential components. This'll be more an overview today, as I won't be getting too in depth for such a large group, but this'll give you a good intro to where each of the emerging nations stand in relation to their mother country and what their own priorities were. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Brown, Judith & Louis, Roger The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume IV - The Twentieth Century Oxford University Press 1999
2. Roberts, AD The Cambridge History of Africa: Volume 7 from 1905 to 1940 Cambridge University Press 1986
3. Darwin, John The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World System 1830-1970 Cambridge University Press 2009
4. Bothwell, Robert The Penguin History of Canada Penguin Books Ltd 2006

 

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

 

Episode 43 - Rocky Hellas

We conclude our little tour of central Europe with Greece. Like their neighbors, they struggled over territorial claims and reconciling their adopted monarchy. But their greater ambitions only lead them into one disaster after another, and reduced their regional ambitions into that of another grasping state in south-central Europe, dependent on the fragile peace to keep outside aggressors at bay.  

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Beaton, Roderick Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation University of Chicago Press 2019
2. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
3. 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 42 - New Great Bulgaria

In the big histories of the 30s and 40s, Bulgaria doesn't get mentioned a whole lot. And the reason for that is because they were effectively kneecapped by their neighbors! The Balkans in the early 1900s was a scramble for land, and despite trying their hardest, the Bulgarians were the odd man out. Once an assertive country, they would wallow in the throes of internal chaos. And like Hungary, they would be left waiting for the new order of the 20s to be undone. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. 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 41 - Family Feuds

Say what you will about all the dysfunction across Europe in the 1920s, at least all the nations I've been covering have survived after some... uh, adjustments. Yugoslavia though? Not so much. Yugoslavia's story in this episode might be the most familiar, simply because the same issues of sectarianism sprung up again within living memory. And now you'll get some context for that as today I'll be covering the beginnings of those conflicts and the troubled birth of the country in general.  

 

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

 

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

Episode 40 - Into the Balkans We Go

On the continued Central European overview I stop in on Romania and Albania! Romania is a fun one because unlike a lot of other countries, they managed to get pretty much everything they ever wanted in the aftermath of WWI. It shouldn't come as a surprise though that this came at the cost of antagonizing several neighbors, which included the Soviet Union. Albania on the other hand was so wracked by division that it barely played any role in the events of the day, and I focus on how it became an Italian outpost in the region. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998
2. Hitchins, Keith A Concise History of Romania Cambridge University Press 2014
3. Glenny, Misha The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers 1804-1999 Penguin Books Ltd 1999

 

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