The first big aggression of the chaotic 30s proved not to come from Europe, but East Asia. And the Japanese invasion of Manchuria wasn't even a deliberate act of state policy, but the consequence of renegade Japanese officers taking matters into their own hands. But once events got underway, the government in Tokyo proved incapable of stopping the expansion of conflict on the Asian mainland. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today marks the start of our second miniseries covering the Japanese Empire! That nation had spent the 20s grappling with an underperforming economy, a more active democracy, and how to ensure national security on its own terms. Turns out, none of those issues had been properly addressed, and the Great Depression would form a sad denouement to all the work done during the prior decade. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. McClain, James L A Modern History of Japan WW Norton & Company Inc, 2002

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Power had been won, but for Adolf Hitler, that wasn't enough. War was the goal of the new regime, and it needed the people firmly behind it. Where Imperial Germany failed, the Nazis would succeed. German society would be configured so that it would support the regime even after all hope of victory was lost. That's the topic of today's episode, how the people were bound to the new state. 

1. Evans, Richard The Third Reich in Power Penguin Books 2005

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

With internal opposition crushed, there remained just one problem for Hitler's new regime. The SA had been the vanguard of the Nazis, and had fought the National Socialist fight on the streets for years. But their independence, and the vocal threats of revolution coming from SA Chief of Staff Ernst Rohm, practically demanded a response. The enemies of the Brownshirts closed in through the first half of 1934, culminating in an internal purge that would only further cement Hitler's control of the nation. 

1. Evans, Richard The Third Reich in Power Penguin Books 2005

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

This week is a break from the main narrative, and I head back to the 20s to cover the development of the SA, as well as touch on the origins of their off-shoots and eventual rivals, the SS. The relationship between Hitler and the Brownshirts would be fraught from almost the get-go, and ironically it would be the their mutual success in the removal of all other threats to the Nazi Party that would open the SA to be purged themselves. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Siemens, Daniel Stormtroopers: A New History of Hitler's Brownshirts Yale University Press 2017

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Hitler coming to power in Germany was bad enough, but a marked turn in the nation's trajectory came after the Reichstag fire. That incident, so random but also so impactful that it would spawn theories that it was a false flag by the Nazis, was the moment where the seizure of power went into overdrive. Nothing would ever be the same after it. 

1. Evans, Richard The Coming of the Third Reich Penguin Books, 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

After years of scheming, Schleicher had gained the Chancellorship, but it turned out that his government was DOA. All his enemies came together against him, paving the way for Hitler to gain the power he had been demanding for years. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Evans, Richard The Coming of the Third Reich Penguin Books, 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The conspiracies and backstabbing roll on in the back half of 1932, and patience started wearing thin. Nobody in the establishment could force a settlement, and Hitler refused to cut a deal. But despite dissent in the NSDAP, Hitler stood firm in his demand for a government on his terms. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Evans, Richard The Coming of the Third Reich Penguin Books, 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

With the economy destroyed and the specter of privation and revolution haunting Germany, Hitler's political star was ascendant. Despite not being able to clench a majority of votes or convince (or want) anyone else to work with the Nazis, Hitler was an inescapable part of the nation's politics. Which meant that the conservative establishment bent on dissolving the country's democracy would be forced little by little to work with the manic upstart. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Evans, Richard The Coming of the Third Reich Penguin Books, 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The aftershocks of the September 1930 election were felt immediately in Germany, and the Reichstag was left paralyzed. It was left to Chancellor Bruning to govern by decree, and in the depths of the Great Depression, that meant taking unprecedented steps to combat the crisis. The efforts wouldn't matter though, as Hitler was right there to exploit the continued economic collapse to bring himself ever-closer to power. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Evans, Richard The Coming of the Third Reich Penguin Books, 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]