Japan takes a stand on the principle of racial equality, but it’s a non-starter with the white powers. The Japanese insist, and ultimately yield so they can take a piece of China.
Author: Justin Podur
Civ 1919: Treaty of Versailles 6: Italy leaves
Italy joined the allies late and wanted a lot of Yugoslavia. The dress rehearsal for Mussolini, Gabriele d’Annunzio, gathers Argonauts and makes a big move. Another seed of the next war planted at the conference in Paris 1919.
AER 148: The myth of nonviolence
Frederik Soderholm and Mehmet Ali Arslan interviewed me (Justin) for their Fredshetsarna (Swedish) podcast about nonviolence and military matters in West Asia.
Civ 1919: Treaty of Versailles 5 – Eastern Europe
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary’s fates are decided at the conference in Paris in 1919.
AER 147: Sudan Civil War, the RSF, and the UAE’s subimperialism
Hamza from Defund the UAE joins to talk about the Sudan war. How did it start? Who are the belligerents? What makes the RSF the greater evil? What is the UAE doing in this war? What can be done from the West to help? Hamza mentions Sudanfunds.com and SudanNewsEnglish on telegram, to start.
Civ 1919: Treaty of Versailles pt4 – Germany
The Anglo-Americans blamed the Germans for World War I, and won. Now they would impose terms. But if they sought too high an indemnity, Germany’s economy would collapse and they would never pay. If they helped Germany rebuild, what kind of punishment would that be? In the end, the Allies chose a path that guaranteed the next war.
Civ 1919: Treaty of Versailles pt3 – the Balkans
The Balkans are where the Great War began; there were two Balkan wars before the Great War and there was a Balkan war in the Great War. In Paris, delegations from the region made their cases, the Great Powers made their dispensations. New countries formed and new borders drawn, which would be changed again in the next war.
Civ 1919: Treaty of Versailles pt2
The biggest player at the peace conference, Woodrow Wilson, wants a League of Nations, which in the age of imperialism, is a rather underdeveloped idea. The other problem is, how to continue colonialism but with a nicer name? And so were invented the Mandates.
Civ 1919: The Treaty of Versailles pt1
At the end of WW1, the Americans and British went to Paris to decide on the fate of Germany and the future of the world. The Treaty of Versailles and the conference in Paris in 1919 set up the Interwar period and made World War 2 inevitable. Here we begin our short series on the Treaty of Versailles, kicking off our Interwar series. Civilizations is Back!
World War Civ 51: The Debrief
Two and a half years. 50 episodes. 100+ hours. When we set out to cover World War I back in September 2022, after our Scramble for Africa and our Civilizations (1400-1900) series, we had a plan for how we were going to go about it. In this debrief, Dave and I talk about what we were able to do better and worse by using this format compared to when Dave taught it (and I studied it) in high school and when we both studied it in university. As well as some reflections on what stood out from the history, the idea of WWI as an inflection point in history, and previewing our next three series: Interwar, World War II, and Decolonization.