Peace In Their Time

Bringing the focus back to European affairs, there was a lot of unfinished business left after the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. And that business seemed intractable, leading the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George to call a new conference to solve all the continent's woes. Its failure would signal the end of overblown meetings on the Paris model, as well as set the stage for the Ruhr crisis of the mid-20s. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Fink, Carole The Genoa Conference: European Diplomacy, 1921-1922 Syracuse University Press 1993

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

A big point of contention during the 1920s was disarmament. The world public didn't want a repeat of WWI, and maintaining huge militaries was seen as a wasteful expense in times of economic crisis. And for once, the Great Powers of the world did something about it, meeting in Washington, DC to hash out an agreement to scale back navy sizes. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Goldstein, Erik The Washington Conference, 1921-22: Naval Rivalry, East Asian Stability and the Road to Pearl Habor Frank Cass Publishers 1994

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today we start covering the broader international initiatives that attempted to consolidate the Versailles system after WWI. The one that carried the most promise in the imagination of the world's public, if not the world's leaders, was the League of Nations. A precursor to the United Nations, it would try what had never been done before: Create an independent international body that would mediate the disputes of its members and de-escalate conflicts before a war could break out. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Henig, Ruth The Peace That Never Was: A History of the League of Nations Haus Publishing Ltd, 2019

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today is our conclusion to this season's miniseries on the Soviet Union. The final years of the 20s saw the USSR slip into paranoia over fears of foreign invasion and subversion at home. It would be the perfect conditions for Stalin to move against his enemies in the Communist leadership, which is to say everyone that didn't swear blind loyalty to him.

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

We've finally reached the last episodes of the Soviet Union during the 1920s. It was a decade of possibility, but the rise of Stalin to undisputed power meant the era wouldn't last forever. His consolidation of power was a years-long process, and would play out over countless congresses and backroom maneuverings. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The years leading up to WWI were tough on Stalin, whatever luck he or the Bolsheviks had before and during the 1905 Revolution had run out. He personally was mostly stuck in exile, managing to escape every so often, but all too quickly caught and returned. The Tsarist regime though was chronically self-defeating, and the Revolution that would be his salvation was not long in coming. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Party business got serious after the 1905 Revolution, as the regime struck back against its enemies and the Socialists turned to every source of support they could. Stalin possessed organizational skills and a lack of scruples, so he began a hybrid life of politics and crime that got him noticed by both Lenin and the authorities. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Having been kicked out of the seminary, young Stalin embarked on the life of a professional revolutionary in earnest. Agitation, a refusal to play nice with older party leaders, and mysterious oil refinery explosions all became his calling cards. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The biography episodes return as today I cover the early life of Joseph Stalin. Born into a conquest of the Russian Empire, young Stalin was not the most likely candidate to become a world leader. But the crucible of living under the Tsarist boot and his own violent homelife shaped him into the revolutionary that he would become. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Montefiore, Simon Sebag Young Stalin Vintage Books 2007

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today we turn back to the adventures of the Soviet Union's secret police in 1920s. They'd spend most of the decade picking off White exiles and trying to build spy networks abroad. But as the decade starting winding down, they increasingly fell under the influence of Stalin, who preferred looking inward for his enemies.