Peace In Their Time

Episode 208 - Worst of the Worst

Name of the episode says it all. Today covers the pre-war development of the SS-TV, the Concentration/Death Camp guards, and the SS-VT, the early form of the Waffen-SS. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Hohne, Heinz The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS Penguin Books 2000
2. Weale, Adrian Army of Evil: A History of the SS Penguin Books 2010

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

Episode 207 - Army of Darkness

No story of the militarization of German society would be complete without talking about the SS. Possibly the most iconic image of Nazi Germany, aside from images of its victims, was the ominous, black-clad figure. This first installment will introduce the group, its general composition, as well as some of its high-level developments to start off this miniseries within a miniseries. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Hohne, Heinz The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS Penguin Books 2000
2. Weale, Adrian Army of Evil: A History of the SS Penguin Books 2010

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

 

 

Episode 206 - Normality Under Nazism, Part II

The lengths that I covered last week that the Nazis went to in order to keep the people happy were not done for the love of leisure. The demands of the Third Reich and its rearmament drive were all-consuming and behind the facade of a happy, prosperous Germany was a reality of unrelenting labor. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kershaw, Ian Popular Opinion & Political Dissent in the Third Reich: Bavaria 1933-1945 Oxford University Press 1983
2. Gellately, Robert Hitler's True Believers: How Ordinary People Became Nazis Oxford University Press 2020
3. Tooze, Adam Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy Penguin Books 2006
4. Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power Penguin Press 2005
5. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis W.W. Norton and Company 2000
6. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton and Company 1998

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

Episode 205 - Normality Under Nazism, Part I

The aggression and militarization of society in Nazi Germany may have been most openly expressed in its rearmament and bellicose foreign policy, but a critical element too was in how that state engaged with its own people. Getting everyone onboard with a general war was no small task for a state in its infancy, and this week I start taking a look at how Nazism engaged with people on the street. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Gellately, Robert Hitler's True Believers: How Ordinary People Became Nazis Oxford University Press 2020
2. Tooze, Adam Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy Penguin Books 2006
3. Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power Penguin Press 2005
4. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis W.W. Norton and Company 2000
5. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton and Company 1998

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

Episode 204 - Prodigal Son

It seemed that after the re-occupation of the Rhineland that Hitler had gotten the measure of the UK and France, and that what had seemed impossible previously was now quite the opposite. To that end, he was finally able to achieve one of the biggest goals of both the Nazis and German nationalists in general: the unification of Austria to Germany. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Tooze, Adam Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy Penguin Books 2006
2. Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power Penguin Press 2005
3. Emondson, C. Earl The Heimwehr and Austrian Politics, 1918-1936 The University of Georgia Press 1978
4. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis W.W. Norton and Company 2000
5. Toland, John Adolf Hitler, Volume 1 Doubleday & Company Inc 1976

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

Episode 203 - The Nazi in the Room

The name of the game for 1930s Germany was escalation. Not just in armaments, but in diplomatic moves as well. From small moves to prevent coalitions forming against them, to major plays to bring down the Versailles order, the Nazis only grew bolder as they began to realize the West lacked the wherewithal to stop them. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Tooze, Adam Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy Penguin Books 2006
2. Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power Penguin Press 2005
3. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton and Company 1998
4. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis W.W. Norton and Company 2000
5. Toland, John Adolf Hitler, Volume 1 Doubleday & Company Inc 1976

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

Episode 202 - If At First You Don't Succeed

We all know the Germans annexed Austria in 1938, but the story of how they tried to overthrow their southern neighbor in 1934 doesn't get as much attention. Today I'll be covering the politics and instability that created a window of opportunity, or perhaps more the scant impression of one, to be exploited by the Nazis.

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Emondson, C. Earl The Heimwehr and Austrian Politics, 1918-1936 The University of Georgia Press 1978
2. Beller, Steven A Concise History of Austria Cambridge University Press 2007
3. Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power Penguin Press 2005
4. Kershaw, Ian Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton and Company 1998

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

Episode 201 - Road to Nowhere

Military conquest was always an ambition of Hitler and the Nazis, a central thesis of theirs was that war was necessary to strengthen their nation. But while the military was built-up almost from scratch, victories were sought on the diplomatic front. Which is the new facet of German aggression being moved onto. Today specifically be about the Geneva Disarmament Conference, the colossal waste of time it wound up being, and how it set the tone for Nazi diplomacy in the future. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Bennett, Edward W. German Rearmament and the West, 1932-1933 Princeton University Press 1979
2. Nere, J. The Foreign Policy of France from 1914 to 1945 Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd 1975
3. Kitching, Carolyn J. Britain and the Geneva Disarmament Conference: A Study in International History Palgrave Macmillan 2003

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

Episode 200 - Don't Ask Where They Get the Wonderful Toys

For the 200th episode I'm taking a dive into the minutia of the German Army's arsenal. Ironically, some of the most famous German weapons were only introduced in the later half of the war, when they were losing ground left and right. The years of their build-up and conquest were marked by much more modest pieces of equipment that nevertheless had their qualities.

Episode 199 - Die Heer

Was the German Army of WWII the unstoppable demon army of military myth? Or were they the luckiest flock of goose-steppers ever to visit Paris? Turns out they were simply a professional force that brought just enough new ideas to the table that they made everybody else look bad there for a while. Today I break down the broad strokes of German doctrine and organization for its army, everybody's favorite WWII topic since 1945. 

 

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