Peace In Their Time

Episode 57 - Siberian Politics

This week begins a 3-part miniseries within a miniseries covering in detail Japan's involvement in the Siberian Expedition, a haphazard military intervention into Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. But it's the twists and turns of actually getting the venture off the ground that are the most insightful bits of history, as the conflicts and cross-purposes of the Japanese elites were on full display on the long road leading north.  

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Morley, James William The Japanese Thrust Into Siberia, 1918 Columbia University Press, 1954
2. Dunscombm, Paul E Japan's Siberian Intervention 1918-1922 Lexington Books, 2011
3. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
4. Duus, Peter The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 1988

 

 

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

Episode 56 - Taisho Days

What went up eventually came down, and the wartime boom for Japan's economy ended not long after the hostilities. Japan entered the 20s far more uncertain than it had been just a generation ago, as the world was fast changing. The people in both the cities and countryside demanded more rights and material benefits, and the elites were slow to oblige them. This set the stage for the Taisho era to be remembered as a vibrant time, but also one that those with power would want to get away from. 

 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
2. Duus, Peter The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 1988
3. Mason, RHP & JG Caiger A History of Japan Tuttle Publishing 1997

 

 

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

Episode 55 - The Changing of the Guard

The Meiji era is concluded this week, and the transition to the Emperor Taisho ushers in a new period of experimentation in Japanese life. Taisho himself was incapacitated with medical ailments for most of his reign, and the throne did not present the solid center it had under Meiji. In addition, the genro which had formed the core of Japan's leadership began aging out, and Ito's constitution turned out not to be foolproof at resisting demands for representative government. The nation now had to reckon with its own modernization and the unsustainability of the old status quo. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
2. Jansen, Marius B The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century Cambridge University Press 1989
3. Duus, Peter The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 1988
4. Mason, RHP & JG Caiger A History of Japan Tuttle Publishing 1997

 

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

Episode 54 - The Rise of the Empire

Years before they swept over East Asia in the 30s and 40s, the Japanese... well they swept over East Asia before then too. Seeing overseas possessions as the next logical step towards making their own nation secure, Japan started going to war with the neighbors. Fortune smiled on them in these years and they humbled empires far larger than they. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
2. Jansen, Marius B The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century Cambridge University Press 1989
3. Mason, RHP & JG Caiger A History of Japan Tuttle Publishing 1997
4. Paine, SCM The Japanese Empire: Grand Strategy from the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War Cambridge University Press 2017

 

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

Episode 53 - Neon Genesis Modernization

Having successfully resisted becoming colonized by the Europeans, Japan was now free to makes its own destiny and pursue new ambitions. But before that nation could look abroad, it first had a couple of "to-dos" on the domestic front. The first was straightforward, make a modern economy. The other was to reform the government and create a constitution. This was a little trickier, and the end result was going evolve in unforeseen ways that would play out over decades. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
2. Jansen, Marius B The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century Cambridge University Press 1989
3. Mason, RHP & JG Caiger A History of Japan Tuttle Publishing 1997

 

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

Episode 52 - The Rising Sun

After a long break from focusing on one particular nation, today starts the introduction to Japan! They're a special case in history, as they're the only nation outside of Europe to dodge being colonized and become a Great Power in their own right (and even then the other Powers were reluctant to acknowledge that special status). Which for our purposes on this show meant that East Asia was one of the primary hotspots in the world that contributed to global instability. Which was mostly Japan's doing as they pursued an empire of their own. But it was kind of a close-run thing as Japan was actually almost colonized before any of that could happen, and only escaped that fate via social upheaval and the overturning of a centuries-old political system. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002
2. Jansen, Marius B The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century Cambridge University Press 1989
3. Mason, RHP & JG Caiger A History of Japan Tuttle Publishing 1997

 

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

Episode 51 - Stop Me if You‘ve Heard This One

Today we wrap up introducing the colonial empires of France and the UK with the most restive of their conquests, the Middle East. In the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire, the two nations would lay the groundwork for the region's future instability and long years of military occupations for themselves. All the greatest hits are here, with Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq all being affected by the European presence. Plus the UK's further misadventures in Persia! Which wasn't a colony, but the British usually acted like it. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Fromkin, David A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East Holt Paperback 1989
2. Pedersen, Susan The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire Oxford University Press 2018

 

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

Episode 50 - French Africa

We've come to the penultimate episode on our tour of the big world empires, and this week we're covering the sprawling French presence in the western half of the African continent. The experience for the colonized was mixed to say the least, but for France the region was a source of vital raw materials and manpower. That last bit, the manpower, was critical to France's status as a competitive power as African troops were expected to play a big part in France's military. Added to that, the African colonies would be areas of concern for both sides in the darkest days of the war, so we're going to be coming back here more than a few times over the course of this show. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Roberts, AD The Cambridge History of Africa: Volume 7 from 1905 to 1940 Cambridge University Press 1986
2. Conklin, Alice L et al France and Its Empire Since 1870 Oxford University Press 2011
3. Conklin, Alice L A Mission to Civilize: The Republican Idea of Empire in France & West Africa 1895-1930 Stanford University Press 1997

 

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

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