Peace In Their Time

Episode 186 - The Italian Army

It's finally time to take a hard look at the fighting forces of one of the major players in our story. And since this is a new kind of episode for me, I'm happy that I'm taking the baby step of talking about one of the smaller examples. Italy gets maligned a lot during this period, and there are good reasons for this, but today I not only want to cover how its army worked, but also where these deficiencies came from. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Gooch, John Mussolini and His Generals Cambridge University Press, 2007
2. Battistelli, Pier Paolo Mussolini's Army at War Agrafe Books 2021
3. US Military Intelligence Service Handbook on the Italian Military Forces The Naval and Military Press Ltd 1943
4. Bishop, Chris The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II Barnes & Noble Inc 1998
5. Cappellano, F and PP Battistelli Italian Light Tanks 1919-45 Osprey Publishing Ltd 2012
6. Cappellano, F and PP Battistelli Italian Medium Tanks 1939-45 Osprey Publishing Ltd 2012
7. Pignato, Nicola Italian Medium Tanks in Action Squadron/Signal Publications 2001

 

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

Supplemental 1 - Jargon

I'm trying something new today, and this episode isn't intended to advance the narrative at all, but it is intended to give a crash-course on military organization and important kinds of equipment. It's not intended for everyone, as some of you already know everything that I cover, and many of you who do not are not going to be interested in the material. And that's OK! I just wanted to throw this out there just to get a baseline of familiarity of the material established.

Episode 185 - The Invasion of Ethiopia Wasn't Built in a Day

The Ethiopian Crisis kicked off over a border incident in the village of Walwal in October-December 1934, and then proceeded to slow-burn develop until the Italian invasion actually came in October 1935. It was a period of diplomatic maneuverings, and served to deliver a fatal blow to the system of collective security that had been so painfully built up during the 1920s. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Strang, G. Bruce Collision of Empires: Italy's Invasion of Ethiopia and its International Impact Rutledge 2013
2. Mockler, Anthony Haile Selassie's War Oliver Branch Press 2003
3. Pearce, Jeff Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia's Victory over Mussolini's Invasion, 1935-41 Skyhorse Publishing 2014
4. Gooch, John Mussolini and His Generals Cambridge University Press, 2007
5. Mallett, Robert Mussolini in Ethiopia, 1919-1935: The Origins of Fascist Italy's African War Cambridge University Press 2015
6. Kallis, Aristotle A. Fascist Ideology: Territory and Expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922-1945 Routledge 2000
7. Bosworth, RJB Mussolini's Italy Penguin Group 2005
8. Bosworth, RJB Mussolini Oxford University Press 2002
9. Whittam, John Fascist Italy Manchester University Press 1995
10. Morgan, Phillip Italian Fascism 1919-1945 St. Martin's Press 1995

 

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

Episode 184 - No Time Like the Present

Ethiopia was not Mussolini's preferred target in the early 1930s. His expansionist ambitions gravitated more towards the Balkans, and Yugoslavia in particular. But diplomatic and military realities, the pressure of an emerging fascist rival, and Italy's own weakness forced his attention towards East Africa as an alternative. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

 

1. Gooch, John Mussolini and His Generals Cambridge University Press, 2007
2. Mallett, Robert Mussolini in Ethiopia, 1919-1935: The Origins of Fascist Italy's African War Cambridge University Press 2015
3. Kallis, Aristotle A. Fascist Ideology: Territory and Expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922-1945 Routledge 2000
4. Bosworth, RJB Mussolini's Italy Penguin Group 2005
5. Bosworth, RJB Mussolini Oxford University Press 2002
6. Whittam, John Fascist Italy Manchester University Press 1995
7. Morgan, Phillip Italian Fascism 1919-1945 St. Martin's Press 1995

 

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

Episode 183 - Ethiopia, Part II

I wrap up the intro to Ethiopia this week by covering the key points of Menelik's successful reign, and the rise to power of Ras Tafari Makonnen. Who before this episode is finished will have established himself under his much more famous royal name of Haile Selassie. His reign would see forceful attempts at modernization, which was carried out against a ticking clock, as there always seemed to be a threat to Ethiopia. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

 

1. Marcus, Harold G. A History of Ethiopia University of California Press 1994
2. Adejumobi, Saheed A. The History of Ethiopia Greenwood Press 2007

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

Episode 182 - Ethiopia, Part I

Today marks the start of another new miniseries, this time cover the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. But before I get going on the main topic, I'm going to be spending the next two episodes introducing modern Ethiopia. If you missed the overview histories from last season, you're in luck as this is a crash course how the country unified and survived the scramble for Africa. 

 

Bibliography for this episode: 

 

1. Marcus, Harold G. A History of Ethiopia University of California Press 1994
2. Adejumobi, Saheed A. The History of Ethiopia Greenwood Press 2007

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

Episode 181 - Backlash

Given all the misfortune to have befallen the Roosevelt administration going into the 1934 mid-terms, you'd probably think FDR and the Democrats were going to pay a political price. Well, turns out their opposition wasn't exactly the most effectual. Or in the case of Huey Long it was complicated by actually being a Democrat at the time. Anyway, today I'm looking at the early opposition figures to the New Deal, and how they failed to counter the new normal in the United States. 

 

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. Hiltzik, Michael The New Deal: A Modern History Simon and Schuster 2011
3. Schlesinger Jr, Arthur M. The Age of Roosevelt Volume II: The Coming of the New Deal 1933-1935 First Mariner Books 2003
4. Katznelson, Ira Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time W.W. Norton and Company, Inc 2013
5. Smith, Jason Scott A Concise History of the New Deal Cambridge University Press 2014
6. Engerman, Stanley L. and Robert E. Gallman The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Volume III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2000

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

Episode 180 - An Entirely Different Deal

One of the big criticisms of the New Deal, and one of the most valid, was the fact that it didn't do much of anything to try and tackle the plight of African-Americans. Sure, the relief efforts and public works projects were mostly made available to all Americans. But these efforts didn't reckon with the institutional discrimination of the country, nor the fact that they had toiled as second-class citizens for generations already, and therefore would have benefited enormously from reforms to address that. Those reforms were not forthcoming, and today we'll get into why, along with other ways African-Americans experienced the New Deal. 

 

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. Hiltzik, Michael The New Deal: A Modern History Simon and Schuster 2011
3. Schlesinger Jr, Arthur M. The Age of Roosevelt Volume II: The Coming of the New Deal 1933-1935 First Mariner Books 2003
4. Katznelson, Ira Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time W.W. Norton and Company, Inc 2013
5. Smith, Jason Scott A Concise History of the New Deal Cambridge University Press 2014
6. Engerman, Stanley L. and Robert E. Gallman The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Volume III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2000

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

Episode 179 - Rebirth of the Labor Movement

Organized labor might as well have been pronounced dead during the 1920s, and the Depression didn't seem like it'd be a big help in rejuvenating it. But thanks to a dramatic policy change from the Roosevelt administration, unions got a new lease on life. This would of course be challenged by the owner class, and the first couple years of worker resurgence would be met with physical force. 

 

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. Hiltzik, Michael The New Deal: A Modern History Simon and Schuster 2011
3. Schlesinger Jr, Arthur M. The Age of Roosevelt Volume II: The Coming of the New Deal 1933-1935 First Mariner Books 2003
4. Katznelson, Ira Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time W.W. Norton and Company, Inc 2013
5. Smith, Jason Scott A Concise History of the New Deal Cambridge University Press 2014
6. Engerman, Stanley L. and Robert E. Gallman The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Volume III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2000

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

Episode 178 - Agriculture Adjustment

By 1933 the bright golden haze on America's meadows had been dimmed down to a featureless beige. Twelve years of bad times, which included four years of outright Depression, had wrecked the nation's farms. It would take unprecedented levels of intervention and organization to bring the truly lean years to a conclusion, and the collateral damage would be severe. 

 

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. Hiltzik, Michael The New Deal: A Modern History Simon and Schuster 2011
3. Schlesinger Jr, Arthur M. The Age of Roosevelt Volume II: The Coming of the New Deal 1933-1935 First Mariner Books 2003
4. Katznelson, Ira Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time W.W. Norton and Company, Inc 2013
5. Smith, Jason Scott A Concise History of the New Deal Cambridge University Press 2014
6. Engerman, Stanley L. and Robert E. Gallman The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Volume III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2000

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