For our third Holiday Special, Dave walks us through the evolution of Santa Claus as we know him today – in particular, how modern Santa was the result of an increasingly globalized and industrialized world.

For this year's Holidays bonus episode, we discuss the origins of two of the most popular Christmas traditions: Christmas trees and Christmas cards. Both came out of the First Industrial Revolution thanks to a couple of our old friends.

All about the 1843 Christmas ghost story by Charles Dickens, which totally transformed the way the world observes the holiday.

In the late 19th Century, the nature of imperialism was evolving. Driven by Realist geopolitics, capitalist forces, and racist assumptions, Westerners scrambled for power over the rest of the world. In this chapter, we will explore the impact of this transformation in China, Africa, and the empire of the United States.

A guest episode from the podcast History Daily! As we discussed back in Chapter 52, the new railroads played a major role during the U.S. Civil War. About a year into that war, a band of Union spies stole a train to sabotage the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a vital supply line at the heart of the Confederacy.
 
Please be sure to check out History Daily. Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. It covers a broad mix of history, including medicine, science, technology, religion, politics, sports, and more. And it’s a more bite-size podcast than the Industrial Revolutions – each episode is about 20 minutes – making it suitable for your daily commute.
 
https://www.historydaily.com/

In the mid-19th Century, two eastern empires were humiliated by industrialized powers. To avoid further humiliation, they both decided to industrialize themselves. In the late 19th Century, Russia and Japan went through rapid modernization. But which of the two succeeded would shock everyone, come 1905.

In this episode, we will cover:

• The emancipation of the serfs in Russia
• The Witte System
• Japanese proto-industrialization
• The Meiji Restoration
• And the Russo-Japanese War

Be sure to check out the Warlords of History Podcast as well!

The Second Industrial Revolution more or less coincided with the lifespan of the German Empire. From 1871 to 1914, the new nation adopted a fairly democratic constitution, saw massive population growth, and experienced extraordinary economic development. Along the way, they created innovative new goods and services, as well as worker protections unseen anywhere else in the world.

It was largely thanks to the leadership of the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. But after his fall from high politics, the empire redirected its gains toward militarization. And by 1918, that program would prove to be the empire’s doom.

Support the podcast and get access to the footnotes and all bonus episodes at patreon.com/indrevpod.

In this bonus episode, Dave interviews Dr. Joseph Sassoon about his book on the Sassoons, a major merchant trading family in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The comes out in paperback in the UK on Thursday, February 29th.

This episode will be available for non-patrons until April 2024. Patreon supporters can access any bonus episode anytime. To become a patron, sign up at https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod.

Dave interviews historian Anton Howes on his paper for Nesta, "Lessons from the age of coal", about the energy transition of the First Industrial Revolution and how it relates to our transition away from fossil fuels today.

Read the paper here: https://www.nesta.org.uk/feature/what-the-history-of-energy-tells-us-about-the-age-of-renewables

For more of Dr. Howes' work, see: https://www.ageofinvention.xyz

This episode will be available for non-patrons until April 2024. Patreon supporters can access any bonus episode anytime. To become a patron, sign up at https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod.

At the end of the 19th Century, workers throughout the world were fighting increasingly bitter, bloody battles against their capitalist bosses and the governments protecting them. In this episode, we will cover such topics as:

• Worker internationalism
• Paris Commune
• The Great Upheaval of 1877
• The Haymarket Massacre
• The Homestead and Pullman strikes
• The Belgian General Strike of 1893
• And more!