Peace In Their Time

We conclude our little tour of central Europe with Greece. Like their neighbors, they struggled over territorial claims and reconciling their adopted monarchy. But their greater ambitions only lead them into one disaster after another, and reduced their regional ambitions into that of another grasping state in south-central Europe, dependent on the fragile peace to keep outside aggressors at bay.  

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Beaton, Roderick Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation University of Chicago Press 2019

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

In the big histories of the 30s and 40s, Bulgaria doesn't get mentioned a whole lot. And the reason for that is because they were effectively kneecapped by their neighbors! The Balkans in the early 1900s was a scramble for land, and despite trying their hardest, the Bulgarians were the odd man out. Once an assertive country, they would wallow in the throes of internal chaos. And like Hungary, they would be left waiting for the new order of the 20s to be undone. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Say what you will about all the dysfunction across Europe in the 1920s, at least all the nations I've been covering have survived after some... uh, adjustments. Yugoslavia though? Not so much. Yugoslavia's story in this episode might be the most familiar, simply because the same issues of sectarianism sprung up again within living memory. And now you'll get some context for that as today I'll be covering the beginnings of those conflicts and the troubled birth of the country in general.  

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

On the continued Central European overview I stop in on Romania and Albania! Romania is a fun one because unlike a lot of other countries, they managed to get pretty much everything they ever wanted in the aftermath of WWI. It shouldn't come as a surprise though that this came at the cost of antagonizing several neighbors, which included the Soviet Union. Albania on the other hand was so wracked by division that it barely played any role in the events of the day, and I focus on how it became an Italian outpost in the region. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

It's a double feature today as I cover the former imperial partners Austria and Hungary. Their mutual defeat in the Great War ruined both and left them at the tender mercies of both their former subjects and enemies. After initial bursts of social upheaval that so characterized the early 20s in Europe, the pair would settle politically into right-wing dominance, making them future playthings of the larger Fascistic powers later on. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Out of all the unlucky nations I cover on this podcast, probably none had it quite like Poland. After over a century of non-existence, the interwar era saw the Polish nation birth itself back into being. Born in conflict, this version of Poland would never quite find its footing, whilst being wedged between two large nations who would love to partition the country yet again. But as I'll cover, much of their misfortune was self-inflicted, and the young state would tragically do itself few favors. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Overviews ahoy! Today we start a miniseries doing quick coverage of notable events in the long string of European nations that found themselves stuck between the two future Axis powers and the Soviet Union. This area would eventually become the killing fields of Europe, and knowledge of local histories is important to understand how each place fit into the bigger picture. Today I'll be focusing on a broad group of nations, Finland, the Baltic States, and Czechoslovakia, and how they struggled into existence during the 20s. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Berend, Ivan Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II University of California Press 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The last episode on Nazis for a while! Fresh out of prison, Hitler has to reckon with a changed Germany in the back half of the 20s. After recovering from a cataclysmic economic collapse, nobody seemed receptive to a political message predicated on violence and social upheaval. This should be the time that the Nazi party disbands and Hitler fades back into obscurity, but he and his gang were a stubborn lot and stuck it out long enough to exploit the next disaster. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kershaw, Ian Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton & Company, Inc 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

I would say it's funny that such a half-baked coup actually went ahead, except we all know how this ends up. This should have been the end for Hitler, yet the failings of Weimar meant that he'd eventually get his (much more important) second act. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kershaw, Ian Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton & Company, Inc 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

With his own micro-party on hand, Hitler became able to devote his time to his true calling: making a nuisance of himself. And it worked too, as his public persona brought him an expanded group of underlings and the interest of larger figures in the ultra-right scene of Munich. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Kershaw, Ian Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris W.W. Norton & Company, Inc 1998

Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]