Peace In Their Time

The reforms in Washington, DC keep coming and this week we tackle public relief, housing, and farm management. 

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]

Probably the most consequential legislative session in United States history was the special session of Congress that was summoned for the first 100 days of the FDR administration. Today, and for the next two episodes after, I'll be breaking down the major pieces of legislation that constituted the New Deal's first round. Both what they were and what they hoped to accomplish in the face of the Great Depression. 

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]

Getting back onto the chronological history of the United States, I take a look at the lame-duck period leading up to FDR's swearing-in. Unlike other lame-duck periods, things actually happened during this one. The economy entered a last freefall that might have spelled the end of the nation, the population sunk into despair, and Hoover tried to sabotage the incoming administration. But it didn't matter, the New Deal was coming all the same. 

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]

FDR takes the national stage with his appointment to Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he's off to the races. No, that's not a crack on his bout with polio, although I finally get around to covering that today. Even with health and marital setbacks, FDR never lost sight of the high office he coveted, which carried him through to the triumph of 1932. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Smith, Jean Edward FDR Random House 2008

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The time has finally come to return to the United States and kickoff the history of the New Deal. But what would the New Deal be without the blue-blooded president with the gumption to defy convention? Today starts a quick two-parter covering the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt up to his election to the presidency in 1932. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Smith, Jean Edward FDR Random House 2008

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

To close out this miniseries on the First Five-Year Plan I'm covering Soviet diplomacy during the early 30s. The Great Depression came at a good time for the USSR and covered up much of its weakness during the dislocations of the period, but there was still threats that needed addressing. 

1. Haslam, Jonathan Soviet Foreign Policy 1930-33: The Impact of the Depression Macmillan Press Ltd 1983

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Life in the Soviet cities might not have wracked up the fatality count during the early 1930s that the countryside did, but it had its share of suffering all the same. Food shortages, goods shortages, black markets, all became painful facts of life that urban Soviets acclimated to. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Fitzpatrick, Sheila Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s Oxford University Press 2000

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Turning more towards the culture of the Soviet Union during the early 30s, I take a look at the Cultural Revolution carried in the USSR from 1928-1931. It was a brief, but critical event that brought the most active and passionate in the Party into Stalin's camp. Which in turn gave him the foot soldiers necessary to bring the bureaucracy and intelligentsia into line.

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Fitzpatrick, Sheila Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s Oxford University Press 2000

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Taking a break from the thrilling world of statistics, today I zero in on the crown jewel of Soviet industrial expansion, the construction of the industrial city of Magnitogorsk. From an empty steppe there was built an entire city with the purpose of cranking out the steel and iron that would help fuel Soviet industry. It was no small task, and the eventual success of the project stands as a testament to the perseverance of the Soviet workers who made it happen.

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kotkin, Stephen Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization University of California Press 1997

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

If collectivization was the great failure of the 1st Five-Year-Plan, then rapid industrialization was its great success. But don't worry, there was still enough mayhem during those days to make the story of building factories an interesting one. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Allen, Robert C. Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution Princeton University Press 2003

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]