Peace In Their Time

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

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

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

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

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

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

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

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

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

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

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

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Possibly the most defining programs of the New Deal were the public works projects that created well-paying jobs for millions of Americans in the depths of the Depression. This shouldn't be a surprise, much of the nation's most iconic infrastructure, still in use in many cases to the modern day, was built through these programs. But they were not without controversy as today I'll be covering today alongside the accomplishments. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The narrative of the New Deal really kicks off here, as I discuss the work of the National Recovery Administration. Okay, that's not totally accurate. I'm mostly talking about the public antics of its boss, former brigadier general Hugh Johnson. Who will easily win the award for most self-destructive character in this mini-series. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Wherein the special session of Congress of 1933 concludes, and I can stop making blurbs about bills and government agencies. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]