Lectures Audiobooks in Non-Fiction

Modern European History Series: Post-War Europe

Cold War Impact. The Marshall Plan providing economic aid to West Europe is also a Cold War defense. The economic benefit to the U.S. of a war economy. It is part humanitarian, part economic self-interest. The military alliance of NATO and the U.S. policy of containment of communism. There is no evidence of Russian aggression toward Western Europe. (6.07.00) = Scandinavia: Norway. Had broken away from Sweden in the past. A mixed economy with capitalist and socialist aspects. Sweden. A substantial power in the past. Maintained neutrality during the wars. Mixed economy. A less violent society. Denmark. A kingdom. Notably rescued its Jews during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Finland. Ethnically different. Long struggle for independence from Russian domination. (16.47.00) = Baltic Countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. Swedish influence in the past, then mainly Russian. Had been independent after Treaty of Versailles, then emergence of pro-fascist, anti-Russian attitude, and anti-Semitism. After World War II, Russia takes them over. Independent again after collapse of USSR, but currently hard times and rise in anti-Semitism. (27.27.00) = Poland. Its history dates back to medieval times. Abused by its neighbors in modern European history. Has a distinct ethnicity and language. Past Jewish population in the millions. The Treaty of Versailles made it independent. History of dictatorship, pro-fascist elements, and long tradition of anti-Semitism. Roman Catholic dominance. Poland becomes major issue in the Cold War. Growing resistance against communism and Russian control. The Solidarity Movement and the 1990s struggle for democratic institutions, though autocratic elements remain. (32.53.00) = Romania. Unique language and ethnic background. Independent after World War I, turns to fascism. Russia dominates during the Cold War. Communist dictator is independent from Russia, but imposes a harsh and brutal regime. He is executed when USSR collapses. Guarantees of daily life under communism now lost. Future is uncertain. (37.01.00) = Hungary. Has distinct ethnicity, language not Slavic, not Romance. Had been connected to the Austrian empire ruled by the Hapsburgs as a dual monarchy. The empire collapses after World War I, becomes a fascistic dictatorship with strong anti-Semitism. During the Cold War is part of the East European block controlled by Russia. U.S. encourages but fails to support the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and it is crushed by Russia. After the collapse of USSR, there are positive signs of democratic growth. (42.09.00) = Czechoslovakia. Consists of various ethnic groups. It is the only nation that moves toward democracy after World War I treaties of independence, but is betrayed by the West to Germany. After World War II it holds off Russian control for a few years, gains a fleeting period of independence and freedom under Dubechek in 1958, but is crushed by Russia soon after. Since the fall of communism, the nation breaks apart into the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The Czech Republic is more advanced industrially than Slovenia to the east. (49.19.00) = Austria. Historically part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The proud cultural heritage of Vienna. History of anti-Semitism. The empire collapses after World War I. In the Anschluss of 1938, Austria largely welcomes its takeover by Germany. After the end of World War II, it is occupied and divided into east and west sections. It is unified and fully independent after the occupation ends. Its Nazi past remains as a dark shadow (42.56.27) = Bulgaria. (51.40.00) = Yugoslavia. Made up of a variety of states and ethnicities and becomes independent after World War I. Tito leads the underground resistance against German occupation during World War II. After the war Tito leads Yugoslavia as a Communist country free from Russian control. The ethnicities held together by Tito fall apart when he dies. What follows is ethnic rivalries, brutal violence, ethnic cleansing between independent countries that result. It remains a much unsettled area. (57.00.00) = Albania. Created by World War I treaties, invaded by fascist Italy, liberated by Russia in World War II. Post-war government is a Mao-Communist version, creating a closed, harsh society and leadership. It remains backward. (58.20.00) = Greece. Has an ancient glorious tradition. Past rule by the Ottoman-Turkish Empire leaves ethnic animosity between the Greeks and Turks, especially apparent in Cyprus. Assigned to British sphere of influence at the end of World War II. This is resisted by Greek communists which get no aid from Russia. The British army prevails. A military coup in the mid-1950s and a period of ruthless dictatorship. There is a return to civilian control after a ruined economy. There are swings to the right and left as Greece struggles to find its way in the modern world. (1.02.13.00) = Italy. From various states 2 Italys emerge-- the industrial north with fair haired people and the rural south with dark haired people. Poverty spurs a major migration to the U.S. from the south. Unification by Garibaldi in 1870 opposed by the Church. It is a diverse country with many language dialects, struggling with modernization. Forms alliance with Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I but shifts to the Allied side. The country is in disarray after the war and Mussolini, a former socialist, takes power in 1922 under fascism. Conquest of Ethiopia and Albania. During World War II allied to Germany, it is occupied by Germany after the Allied invasion of 1943. After the war a republic is established. Electoral process is tainted by the U.S. The Christian Democratic party, linked to the Church gains power. Its long rule becomes associated with corruption. Joins the European community. Its independence from Russia is a Western counterweight to the Eastern block. Italy continues to struggle for a modern identity. (1.13.55.00) = Spain. Economically impoverished. Civil War ends in 1939 with fascist Franco in power. Remains neutral but pro-Nazi during World War II. Post-war, Franco keeps strangle-hold on the country until his death. King Carlos returns to power, brings stability. Separatist movements , especially the Basques in the north, create much violence. An open question of the future depends on resolution of the violence. (1.17.33.00) = Portugal. Not highly developed. Salazar is dictator. When he dies, the country become more open, similar to Spain. Its struggle to modernize has its ups and downs. (1.29.23.00) = France. The French Revolution. Conflicts over whether to be a republic or not. Anti-Semitism and the Dreyfus Affair. Prolonged wars between France and England. Allied with England in World War I. Although victorious in the war, it is diminished by it. Occupied by Germany in 1940. Major underground resistance by French communists during the occupation. D-Day and liberation. Post-war, the French communists cooperate with the Allied troops. De Gaulle, craving power, retreats into the background, followed by a period of instability. The brutal French-Vietnam war from 1946 to 1954, and the Algerian War from 1954 to 1962. De Gaulle returns, resists American control, get France out of NATO, asserts French independence. He lets Algeria, a French colony since the 1820s, become independent., leaving the military feeling betrayed. France advises the U.S. against the Iraq invasion. (1.41.14.00) = The Low Countries. Netherlands. . Relies on its dykes to hold back water to allow for farming. Has substantial colonial empire. Their rule of the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, iss harsh. It has a high population density. Amsterdam and canals are notable. The country enters modern life as an open society tolerating drugs and its red light district. It is currently part of the unification of Europe. (1.43.29.00) = Belgium. Distinct ethnic groups. Dense population of German and French heritage. Highly industrialized. Part of United Europe. Imperial past. Brutal German invasion in World Wars I and II. Loss of Belgium Congo after long period of exploitation. Finding its way in post-World War II Europe. Switzerland: Controversial banking industry history about secret bank accounts and banking relations with the Nazis involving Jewish funds seized from Jews during the World War II Holocaust. (1.04.00) = Germany. After its defeat in 1945, Germany is divided into West Germany allied to the West, and East Germany allied to Russia. There are ways in which Germany comes to terms with its Nazi past, and the ways in which it does not. U.S. motivation for helping former Nazis escape punishment. The contrast between development in West Germany and East Germany. The Berlin Wall dividing the two Germanys comes down after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Germany reunifies. Since then the German leadership variously veers right and left, assets its independence, leaving relations with the U.S. somewhat tenuous. Its opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq is an example. Germany will continue to be a central element in future world events. (13.48.00) = Russia. Victorious in World War II but is left in ruins. Expects friendly borders in East Europe. Makes accommodations with the West because of weakness and self-interest. After Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev emerges as his successor. In a stunning move he soon reveals publicly the full extent of Stalin's crimes, creating the sense of a "thaw," Encouraged, a Hungarian Revolution succeeds briefly but is brutally crushed by Russia. The episode of lost opportunity for further detente between U.S. and Russia when President Eisenhower's initiative is aborted by Russia's discovery of clandestine C.I.A. spy planes over their territory, which Ike is unaware of. The Cuban missile crisis is the closest the world comes to nuclear war, and ultimately leads to Khrushchev's downfall. His successor, Brezhnev, enacts some treaties to lessen the chance of war with the U.S., but suppression continues enforced by a class of entrenched bureaucracy. Russia rebuilds from the rubble of World War II into the second most powerful country after the U.S. Its effort to guarantee the people's everyday needs has its bright side and its dark side. After Brezhnev, a new leader emerges who becomes a crucial figure in Russian history, Mikhail Gorbachev. His goals are reform and openness while maintaining a socialist society and dealing with the U.S. He plays a positive role in ending the Cold War. He bears the burden of the rapid collapse of Communism, which he did not intend. Boris Yeltsin takes power and applies the shock therapy of the free market and a move to unfettered capitalism. It is mostly a disaster. Life for the average Russian becomes harsher because of loss of guaranteed benefits. Widespread corruption. A few become wealthy from acquiring state property. Vladimir Putin becomes leader in 1996, yet major elements of dictatorship remain. Growth of ultra-nationalism and increase in anti-Semitism. The issue of the safety of nuclear power. Russia's brutal actions in Chechnya and Afghanistan. Russia is an unfinished story. Will it become a new dictatorship? --a major world power? --a liberalized potential for creative life? (37.36.00) = England. Victorious in World War II but much weakened. The Labor Party comes to power after the war ends in 1945, remaining until 1951. Ushers a golden age for the average worker with universal health care and employment benefits. Power shifts back and forth between Labor and Conservative governments. Collapse of the British Empire in the 1940s and 1950s is hard to accept. The Suez Canal crisis with Egypt in the 1950s. Economic growth and the welfare state continue. England comes to grips with being second-fiddle to the U.S. Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party rules in the 1980s, is a parallel to the Reagan years during the same period. The government takes no responsibility for large numbers of workers displaced by technology, especially in the heavily industrialized north, and the workers suffer greatly. This is now a free market period of unfettered capitalism. The Falkland Islands War with Argentina is a British show of international force. The Labor Party is back in power with Tony Blair who moderates the conservative years of Margaret Thatcher, but is to the right of traditional Labor. England's relationship with U.S. and Blair's strong support of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Scotland, which becomes part of the U.K. in the 1700s, is granted more autonomy in response to rising Scottish nationalism. Wales, with its distinct ethnicity and language also exerts nationalistic pressures. (48.38.00) = Ireland. Its long history is scarred by excessive tragedy. Ireland remains neutral during World War II. Ireland's literary tradition. Continued impoverishment and loss of population. The country remains mostly rural outside of Dublin. North Ireland, which has been Protestant since the 1600s, is divided from Ireland, generating ongoing violence. This conflict is based on class as well as religious hatreds. Prospects for conciliation are uncertain. Ireland is modernizing despite the Church's traditional resistance to change. There is economic progress in the technical area. Irish youth are now more willing to stay, mainly in the cities where economic development is happening. These changes are helping Ireland to better take its place in Europe and the world. (51.02.00) = Major Issues in Modern Europe. Immigration: A response to extreme poverty. Although wage scales may lower in the host countries, immigrants see it as an improvement in their lives. Traditionally they work hard to help families left behind. They bring different ethnicities, traditions, and values. Clashes in host countries are based on xenophobia. European business want immigrants as cheap labor. Immigration is a source of ongoing struggle and problems. (55.52.00) = European Union: The need to create an economic bloc to compete with the U.S. as the one superpower. Problems include nationalism and economic conflicts. Barriers from the Cold War affect the role of East European countries with their sense of fear and uncertainty. Yet, there is also a sense of hope.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Revolutions Series: American Revolution

To serve England. 13 American colonies founded to serve England. (02.42.00) = Period of Neglect. 100 year period of neglect by England, factors & results . (07.10.00) = Turning Point. The end of the French & Indian War (7-Years War), is a turning point for the Colonies. (12.44.00) = The Stamp Act Irony. Irony of the 1765 Stamp Act crisis and American resistance. (21.51.24) = Myths. Myths of the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party. (25.10.00) = Road to Revolution: How 1775 Battle of Lexington leads to Declaration of Independence. (32.45.00) = The Lost Opportunity for the Declaration of Independence to abolish slavery. (38.45.16) = A Class Society. American colonies as a class society, and role of European Enlightenment. (43.05.00) = Mixed Support. The Colonies' mixed support for revolution which was a violent revolution. (48.08.00) = The Guerilla War. The American Revolution as a guerilla war. (51.20.00) = The Role of Class in the Colonial army. (53.45.00) = Women's Role in the American Revolution changes their status. (55.38.00) = Slaves' Support. Why the slaves were mainly pro-English. (56.48.00) = Native Americans' Support. Why the Native Americans were pro-English. (57.36.00) = France's Help. English response and justifications for the revolution; Ben Franklin's role in enlisting France's help for the Americans. (1.01.01.00) = Battle of Saratoga. The irony of the American victory at Battle of Saratoga, the French role. (1.04.26.00) = English Support. Changing English support, low English troop morale, brutality of Hessian mercenaries. (108.38.00) = Result of Peace Treaty is great increase of American territory. Consequences for political power between the upper and lower classes. International impact of the American Revolution. (1.09.33.00) = Early Govenment Formula. Articles of Confederation reflects increased power of lower classes. Problems with strong state powers and weak federal government. Why the original Articles of Confederation, which is America's law through the 1780's, is more democratic than the US Constitution which replaces it in 1789. (1.13.38.00) = International Impact. Gains of American women, international impact: “Shot heard around world.” (1.6.35.00) = Effect on American History. 1787 Constitution replaces Articles of Confederation, returns power to upper class merchants and planters, reflects founding fathers' negative view of human nature. Bill of Rights for individual rights created later. Why the American Revolution is the cornerstone of subsequent American history.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Revolutions Series: French Revolution

Prelude to Revolution. Absolute divine right monarchy rules France. The lavish spending of King Louis XIV in early 1700s. The crisis of France's large debt incurred helping the American Revolution against England. The class system. Taxing the have-nots. Life on the edge for the peasants and city people. Resentments of the middle class (9.14.00) = The role of the French Enlightenment starting in the late 1600s with the ideas of Voltaire, Rousseau and others. The optimistic view of human nature as rational, with ability to solve problems in this life using science and education. The monarch considered this relatively harmless and did not suppress these ideas. Yet this becomes a threat to the absolute divine right monarchy in the long run. (16.51.09) = Religious enlightenment.. Emerging of concept of deism, that God is a watchmaker, setting things in motion, but does not take part in its operation, contrary to traditional Christian beliefs. (18.07.00) = Estates General (1788-89). Key problem is how to resolve the debt incurred aiding the American Revolution. For the first time in 150 years a meeting of the Estates General is called to solve this by three voting groups: the clergy, and the Third Estate - commoners consisting of the bourgeoisie (the capitalist businessmen), the san culottes (city people), and peasants., voting is skewed in favor of the nobility and clergy. (25.13.00) = The Revolution. First, Moderate Phase (1789-91). The Bastille storming in 1789 as a venting of long simmering anger by the city people. Rural peasants rise up against the nobles, wanting their own piece of land. Many nobles, possibly in shock, flee. (32.19.00) = The Great Fear. The collective mind set of the peasants that they will be slaughtered if the nobles ever come back, engendering great violence against the nobles. The city people in Paris, after 2 years of bad harvests and already dire living conditions, frequently abused by the nobles, but there is no systematic violence yet but potentially ignitable. (37.03) = Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens. The bourgeoisie write a constitution, form an assembly, propose a constitutional monarchy, rejected by the king. (39.30.00) = Second, Violent Phase (1791-94. Europe, bolstered by exiled French nobles, does not see the French bourgeoisie gains as moderate, is threatened, forms a coalition army and attacks France. (41.52.00) = The Jacobins The “lower bourgeoisie” respond to the attack, and come to power with its leader, Robespierre, forming a coalition with the peasants to fight the European invasion. (46.17.00) = Reign of Terror. Urge for revenge against the nobles. Guillotine claims 17,000, including King Louis XVI and wife, and soon also Robespierre and other Jacobin leaders, leaving a power vacuum. (59.16.00) = Third, Moderate Phase (1794-99). Other segments being exhausted by the long intense struggles so far, the upper bourgeoisie fill the leadership vacuum, consolidating the bourgeoisie gains made in the early phase, and continues to be seen as a threat to Europe which continues its ware against France. There is a brief hint of future class struggle between bourgeoisie and the working class. (1.06.23.00) = Napoleon emerges as modern hero who consolidates capitalist gains for all time, introducing the Napoleonic Code. His mixed motives and achievements. War is not just defensive but Napoleon lusts for power and conquers most of Europe under French control. (1.12.43.00) = Resistance. He brings modernization and necessary reforms to various parts of Europe, but also strong resentment against foreign occupation which meets strong resistance, provoking harsh retaliation. (1.17.07.00) = Invasion of Russia by Napoleon. Napoleon in 1812 is met with retreat and scorched earth tactics, leading to his defeat since he is exposed and unprepared for the brutal Russian winter. The vast majority of his huge army never returns. He returns to France and raises another army, with his final downfall at Waterloo, nd exile to an island, St. Helena, where he dies 6 years later at the age of 51. (1.22.15.00) = Effect of the Revolution is the 1815 meeting of the victors, the English, Austrians, Prussians, and Russia. Royalty returns to rule France and nobles reclaim land, but bourgeoisie gains are there to stay. The victors vow to crush any future revolutions, and act on this. The “White Terror” is inflicted by the upper class who slaughter many peasants when they return and reclaim their land. Lasting effects. The French Revolution colors future world history.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Revolutions Series: Industrial Revolution

Origins. Modern Industrial Age starts in England. The change from manual labor to machines is a major revolution. The 50 year period of 1780-1830 begins the drastic transformation from the middle ages to the modern city. The aftereffects of the 14th century plague. Why the landowners turn to invest in factories. How the Enclosure Acts provides the labor force of peasants for the factories. (4.27.00) = Agricultural contribution. The motivation of peasants to leave the farm and move to the city to work in factories. The rise of agricultural capitalism which provides food to feed city workers. (10.32.00) = Capital accumulation. The motivation of wealthy land owners to risk investing in factories. The threat of industrial wealth to landed wealth in the beginning. (15.29.00) = The cities. Location near rivers as sources of transportation, power, waste disposal, and paradoxically, drinking water. (17.51.00) = The slum. Created as an integral part of the factory city (21.13.00) = Factory work. The dehumanizing daily routine and working conditions. Child labor and the fragmentation of the family. (27.43.00) = Role of religion. Often unsympathetic message and decline in church attendance. (30.01.00) = The “Unfinished Revolution.” Responses to conditions. Acceptance of new role, apathy, aspiring upward, all favored by owners. (36.09.00) = Resistance. . Rise of unions. Socialism deterred by capitalism's ability to reform. Role of writers in reforms. (41.29.00) = Women's early death. Multiple pregnancies, poor health care, and working conditions. High death rate for children. Increase in the disease of alcoholism. Abysmal conditions in factory towns where the company owns the housing and stores (45.18.00) = Expansion of industrial revolution. Science and technology of the industrial age are remarkable. Transportation of goods is crucial creating systems of canals and railroads. (47.24.00) = Laissez Faire. Rule of supply and demand with minimal government intrusion. The reality of laissez-faire in practice is open to much question.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Revolutions Series: Russian Revolution

Prelude to Revolution. Marx as the father of Russian Revolution. The backwardness of Russian political and economic life. The split between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. Lenin leads Bolsheviks for a revolution as quickly as possible. He does not want to wait for the capitalist phase. Bolsheviks become a vanguard party, leading the way. (9.14.00) = Democratic Centralism. The Bolshevik decision making process. Open debate, voting, majority rules, all in party must support the decision. In practice, over time Lenin becomes the decision maker (11.44.00) = The Winter Palace Massacre. Russia goes to war against Japan in 1904 and is easily defeated, causing much discontent at home. Seizing this opportunity, the Bolsheviks mount a revolution at the Czar's Winter Palace in 1905, but the army remains loyal and the rebels are massacred. The Czar defends the massacre, turning sentiment sharply against him for the first time. (17.12.00) = The disaster of WWI. Russia is in alliance with England and France, joins war against Germany. Unprepared and unequipped, Russia suffers an enormous military and human disaster, further diminishing the Czar's public image at home. (18.33.00) = Rasputin. The Czarina is in charge of the Russian government while the Czar is at the front. She is of German descent, leading to questions of her loyalty in the war with Germany. She falls under control of a mad Russian monk, Rasputin, who claims he can cure her son's hemophilia. The Czarina's tie to Rasputin brings the Russian government into more dispute. (22.15.00) = The Revolution. The October 1917 Revolution. Tsar's abdication. The issue of a government's willingness to accept reform to keep power as an alternative to sparking revolution. Bourgeoisie take power. The Karensky government's fatal decision to continue the war under pressure from England and France to continue a two-front war against Germany. (25.52.00) = The return of Lenin who organizes the October revolution, calls for peace, seizes power. The Bolshevik slogan, “Land, Peace, Bread,” attracts wide support. Small in numbers but well organized, the Bolsheviks seize power. Karensky flees. (29.18.00) = The Civil War of 1918-1921. Attacked on all sides by 5 revolutionary armies. Using trains, Trotsky, defeats attacking armies one at a time. End of the Civil War leaves Russia a wasteland with the added toll of the flu pandemic, alone, surrounded by hostile countries. (38.33.00) = Post-Revolution. Lenin expects spread of revolution to world. Doesn't happen. 1921 New Economic Policy is part socialist, part capitalist, ends in 1928 with mixed results. Bourgeoisie doesn't trust the government, won't return with its capital. (42.37.00) = Stalin. Lenin's health declines after an assassination attempt, and dies in January, 1924, at the age of 53. Trotsky is his logical successor, but Trotsky is not charismatic, and lacks political skills. Stalin, not worldly, is a brilliant politician. He manages to win allegiance from many key party members, and eventually becomes Russia's sole ruler. The Revolution.(continued). Trotsky's fate. As a threat to Stalin, he is removed from office, then from the Party, then is exiled and assassinated in 1940. Because the people are exhausted by now from conflict, Trotsky understood that the Russian people will respond to Stalin's message of building socialism in only their own country, instead of Trotsky's message of sacrifice and struggle for world communism. (8.56.00) = Rapid industrialization. Stalin is firmly in control. He ends the New Economic Policy in 1928, begins 5-Year Plans for rapid economic development which includes collectivization of farms under government ownership and control. Farmers are forcibly removed from farms to cities to work in heavy industry factories making production machinery. Consumer goods are discontinued. Farmers' resistance is met with harsh repression. In 10 years Russia remarkably industrializes in the 1930s from a backward country, accomplished with heightened brutality which is Stalin's way. Questioning rapid industrialization motivated to face coming Nazi threat. The rapid industrialization started in 1928, much before the emergence of Nazi Germany and any perceived existence of a threat. (17.01.00) = Purge Trials. Stalin's mistrust of the original Bolshevik generation. The 1917 Bolsheviks are tried and confess to absurd charges. All are killed or sent to gulogs, including families. The revolution swallows its own. Possible psychological reason for confessions beyond usual conditions. They are subject to Party discipline all their adult lives. Believe the Party is always right, so we must be guilty if the Party says we are. (19.52.00) = Agriculture becomes the weakest part of the Russian economy for generations, although it is still the major economic segment.. Why the West builds up Germany. Motivation behind the non-aggression pact with Germany. Role of industrialization in withstanding Nazi invasion in 1941. Russia fights 80% of the German army, enduring great horror. WWI ends. (22.45.00) = Nazi aggression in 1939. . With the threat of Nazi Germany including the Spanish Civil War, England and France rebuff Russia's seeking an alliance against Hitler. Hitler cleverly plays on the Western democracies' fear of communism. August 1939 non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany is intended to buy time for Russia to further industrialize. Poland is the sacrificial lamb, with Russia moving into eastern Poland, and Germany attacking western Poland, which begins WWII in September, 1939 (25.38.00) = Nazi invasion of Russia, June, 1941. Stalin is caught flatfooted, is unprepared for the massive assault. He has ignored intelligence about massing of German troops at its border. Russia bears the brunt by fighting 80% of Germany's army. Stalingrad is the turning point, and the Russians begin to push the Germans back. Russia loses from 20-30 million people. Germany is eventually defeated by the Allies. (27.23.00) = The Cold War. Russia's main interest is its own security, is nationalistic, not internationalist. Stalin clamps down on Eastern European countries it has conquered in the war, making them satellite states as a security buffer. Stalin holds trials for doctors, with Jews targeted, for plots against the state. Stalin dies in1953. (29.16.00) = Kruschev.emerges at the top. In the mid-1950s he opens secret files about Stalin's crimes. A slight loosening of control results but the country is still dictatorial. Recovering from WWII devastation to become the world's largest power after the U.S. Hungary and Czech Republic rise up but are crushed by Soviet troops. (32.23.00) = Achievement of Russian Revolution. Free medical & dental care (quality is ofteb poor). Public housing (shoddy). Free education for all (college level greatly restricted). Creative people in art, music, and literature are a privileged class but creativity is dictated, throttled, and many artists flee to the West. The well connected elite have plenty of high end consumer goods, but not the average citizen. (37.27.00) = Last years of communism. Succession of leaders. Leonid Brezhnev is an old liner, likes sports cars. The Cold War and deprivation continue. Mikhail Gorbachev can be credited for ending the Cold War by treaties with the U.S. to reduce Cold War tensions, begins openness and serious reforms, hopes to put a human face on socialism. President Reagan is erroneously credited crumbling Russia's economy with the arms race, but Russia's economy is already weak and heading for a crash before the arms race. (42.10.00) = The Soviet Union collapses in 1991. Gobachev falls from power despite achievements which are too little, too late to change much. The system fails rapidly, surprising the world. Boris Yeltsin brings startling change. Shock therapy of new capitalism with a vengeance. Privileges for the common people are ended. A handful of elite become instantly extremely wealthy, everyone else suffers. The quality of life decreases remarkably since 1991. Ultranationlism emerges, anti-Semitism increases. The new leader, Vladimir Putin is associated with increasing dictatorship. Russia's power is decreased and is t the mercy of a world economy. Concern about control of nuclear weapons. Terrible record on the environment, especially the Chernobyl catastrophe. (52.02.00) = Future of Russia. Dictatorship with the appearance of democratic rule. Putin has virtual control of the media. Opposition parties are throttled. Issue of whether Russia will assert its old power in the future. The failure of the Russian Revolution, but there is the question of what will take its place.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Revolutions Series: Chinese Revolution

Ancient China. Past glory. Until the 1500s, China is perhaps the most powerful country in the world, reaching back 7,000 years. Sees itself as “the Middle Kingdom” - heaven, China, and everyone else, an attitude of superiority with the rest of the world. The class system in traditional China, exemplified by Confucianism, contributes to the stability of its ruling dynasties - the literate class (emperor, courts, land owners, business) and the peasant class. For a dynasty to fail it must lose support from both classes. Isolation from the rest of the world - the Great Wall of China. (5.30.00) = A remarkable civilization. Parallel development in sections of the world it spread out in. Episodes of authority and power in trade, art (the marvel of the 3,500 figures in the Terracotta Army), government bureaucracy (tests for civil service). Social status by birth. Rigid paternalistic society. (13.35.00) = A sophisticated urban civilization with food supplies for cities. The palace life, the city life. Social support system. (18.10.00) = Contrast with Europe. While Europe is in the backward Middle Ages, China's civilization is remarkable. How Europe of the mid-1600s turns China's isolation into a liability and the cause of its decline using a Chinese invention, gunpowder, against them. (21.50.00) = Early 19th century. England controls India and wants them to sell opium, an addictive drug, to China, an effort to subdue them. The emperor resists but is forced to accept it by military force. The drug affects millions of Chinese. (24.36.00) = Later 19th century. Europe in full industrial stage, needing markets, carves out colonies for exploitation. China is too big so Europe imposes spheres of influence for economic exploitation. China suffers humiliation of loss of political control and discrimination. The Boxer Rebellion against foreigners in early 20th century, and complex reactions to the imperialism of Europeans, including the value of bringing modernity. Being conquered. The contrast of increasing dominance by the Europeans to the prior conquest by the Mongols, when the Mongols become assimilated by the Chinese, a reversal (33.45.00) = Chinese Nationalism. The Chinese Republic. The downfall of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911. Sun Yat Sen, a physician, becomes president of the new Chinese Republic, wants to modernized China to end exploitation. He admires the U.S. modernity but fears its exploitation role. He is sympathetic to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia and has cordial relations with it, but is not a communist. Communist parties spring up all over the world encouraged by the Bolshevik revolution. Sun Yat Sen, (39.28.00) = Chinese Communist Party springs up in 1921. Russia's advises China's Communist party to cooperate with Sun Yat Sen government because it is too early to oppose it. Sun Yat Sen dies in 1925, and Chang Kai Check becomes president. He is dictatorial and corrupt, and prior reforms end. He suddenly attacks and massacres Chinese communists in port cities, virtually wiping them out. (44.00.00) = Mao as rising star. Mao Tse Tung becomes communist leader. Why, after the Communist defeat and their 6,000 mile "Long March" in the early 1930s, the journalist, Edgar Snow, predicts in his book, "Red Star Over China," that Mao is the future of China. Chinese Nationalism (continued). Mao's coming to power. What are the 4 events involving Japan that brings Mao to power? The incredible story of Chiang being kidnapped by the Communists after the Japanese invasion, and this arch enemy being released. (12.24.00) = The Communists win China. The non-ideological reason the Chinese peasants support the Communists. Why the West is shocked and surprised when Chang flees to Taiwan in 1950 and the Communists take full control of China. Because of the Cold War, the U.S. does not recognize China for 24 years until the Nixon presidency in 1969. (18.47.00) = Communist China. The Communist regime. The Communists take power in 1949, enforcing anti-Western extremism. The country is backward, devastated by war, famine. Christian missionaries are expelled. There is a gradual acceptance of cooperative farming. Very substantial accomplishments in literacy, health, food supply, and overcoming lack of technology. (27.34.00) = Mao undermines progress. Mao's brutal determination to maintain the fervor of the revolution undermines the country's progress. “The Cultural Revolution.” “The Great Leap Forward.” (35.42.00) = After Mao's death. The immediate changes in China in 1970s. Economic development now emphasized. Revolutionary fervor mostly gone. Experiences of 30 years of its own version of capitalism. Expected to become the economic superpower of the future, but at an enormous human cost. Increased corruption, consumer society, growing inequality. Peasants not sharing economic development based cheap, exploited labor. China also utilizes cheaper labor outside in countries like India. The traditional subordination of women in China changes for the better and then for the worse. In today's China why the term, "Communist Party," has altered meaning. (41.25.00) = Realities of modern China. The element of nationalism. Marx believed in internationalism, but the realities of wars and revolutions are basically nationalistic. Chinese women, traditionally hobbled by bound feet through the early 20th century, expect revolutions to improve their lot. Yet there is a return to gender subordination now that male births are favored over female in mandatory 1-child families. How the ideals of liberation from oppression have played out. Why the Chinese Revolution is considered an unfinished revolution.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Regions of the World Series: Latin America

Pre-Columbia Era. Native Americans. About 11,000 years ago they came from Siberia over a land bridge and eventually migrated throughout both continents to the tip of South America. Their remarkable history, mostly of victimization, dates back much before Columbus. There is a tendency to romanticize them, but they have the qualities and faults common to all human experience. (2.46.00) = Mayan Civilization. Their written history starts in 400 BC, deciphered just recently, and tells only about their ruling class, nothing about the lower class. They lack metal, simple machines, the wheel, sail, and work animals, yet they have cities requiring surplus food supply, create irrigation systems and build pyramids for their kings, independent from Egypt's. They also have the concept of the calendar, and mathematics. Their civilization peaks between 200-700 AD. Their decline is partly due to limited nutrition, with corn as their staple, and are further debilitated by ruinous warfare within a divided kingdom, long before arrival of the Europeans. (13.26.00) = Incan Civilization. Located in what is now Peru, it formerly occupies half of South America. An amazing degree of development though they have no writing, no art, using only human muscle power to build cities high in the Andes. Their buildings of stones are fitted perfectly without mortar. They create terraced farming, irrigation, build bridges of grass able to bear great weight. They know the art of mummification. They successfully practice brain surgery. The wonder of images hundreds of feet in size on the ground which can be scanned from the air. They are a conquering empire, yet are conquered by Pizarro from Spain with a small army (23.36.00) = Europe In the New World. Arrival of Columbus. He never knows where he is geographically. He destroys native populations in brutal manner. His voyage opens travel to the New World, changing it forever, a disaster to Native Americans while a gain for Europeans. By the end of the 1500s 90% of native population is wiped out, with intentionality added to lack of resistance to newly introduced diseases. (31.48.00) = The slave trade. Resistance to slavery by Native Americans leads to the Atlantic slave trade from Africa, with Brazil as the heart of it, controlled by Portugal. European demand for sugar. The debate about the difference between the Catholic versus the Protestant view of slavery and treatment of African slaves in North America compared to South America, and the factors involved. The need not to idealize Native Americans who have class differences among them related to color. The rise of commercial agriculture and the further growth of slavery. (48.45.00) = The 19th Century. The end of slavery. At the beginning of the 19th century the Spanish and Portuguese empires decline and the ideals of the French Revolution carries over to Latin America, leading to establishment of republics in Brazil and Argentina. Public education improves but most economic and social structures remain in place with classes and exploitation of the lower classes. Some land reform but question of control results in a native aristocracy. (53.23.00) = Political change 1820-1870. The strong man in military office comes to power, accompanied by much violence. The distorted undiversified economy is vulnerable to fluctuations of European market for these 1 or 2 products. The life of women improves, the church declines. Continued struggles between reform and business interests in Latin American countries. (1.05.08.00) = Cuba. Prelude to Spanish-American War in 1898 is U.S. ultimatum to Spain to bring economic order to Cuba by either giving it independence or by crushing its revolt, or U.S. will solve it. The is the beginning of the U.S. Empire. After the war, Cuba is nominally independent but the U.S. calls the economic shots. The 20th Century. One aspect is "dollar diplomacy" based on economic needs in the foreign country. Another aspect is "gunboat diplomacy" helping countries put down uprisings which are deemed against the U.S. interests. This continues for most of the 20th century, including Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela, Columbia (Panama Canal). (14.59.00) = Mexico. Mexico gains independence from Spain in early 19th century. The land reform issue. The unpredictability of complex varieties of political factions. The contentious intervention by the moralistic President Wilson in 1913. The Revolutionary Party of Mexico comes to power and has long rule. There is some land reform in the 1930s and 1940s but the Mexican elite remain allied with the American elite. (25.38.00) = Reform and Dictatorship. Some countries find a balance between dictatorship and reform. In Argentina, strong-man Juan Peron forms alliance with labor, placates the elite, fosters modern capitalism, yet is an admirer of Nazi Germany. During FDR's "New Deal," U.S. implements its "Good Neighbor" policy but is more rhetoric than reality, with a continuation of "gunboat diplomacy." (34.53) = Cuba. After the 1898 Spanish-American War, Cuba has political not economic independence. The Batista dictatorship. Havana becomes an open city. Revolutionary upheaval. Castro, a nationalist aiming to overthrow an unpopular dictator, is not a Communist and is not supported by the Cuban Communist Party. Castro is charismatic, comes to power on January 1, 1959. His pluses: land reform, income redistribution, education reform, food distribution, health care achievements. The initial revolutionary ideals become a dictatorship. Cuba is seen as threat to business interests. U.S. attempt to overthrow ends in Bay of Pigs disaster. U.S. imposes economic boycott and continues efforts to subvert. Aided by Russia, Cuba becomes an echo of Russia. Castro identifies himself as Communist. The Missile Crisis. (53.12.00) = Effect of The Cuban Revolution. It encourages revolutionary activity in Latin America. The U.S. supports most right-wing military dictators. Military aid by U.S. includes training of torture techniques, known as "interrogation methods" at an army base in Georgia. The episodes of President Allende's assassination in Chile, and the Contras in Nicaragua, as examples of continued U.S. "gunboat diplomacy." (1.03.41.00) = The Role of the Catholic Church. Normally expected to be hostile to revolutionary movements, but significant segments of the Catholic Church show support for the underclass, acting on a human view of the message of early Jesus, liberation theology (1.06.32.00) = The 21st Century. Left direction of civilian leadership. Hostility or skepticism of U.S. policy. More inclined toward democracy, land use reform in Chile and Brazil. Limitations of debt burden lead to compromises and dissatisfaction (1.11.28.00) = Nature of Latin American economy. Export economy in Brazil with 1 or 2 major products has dire consequences. Peasants are driven from land for the export crops, move to shantytowns around cities. Depletion of Brazil's rain forest has wide environmental impact. A more favorable product would be rubber from rubber trees, a renewable product. The question in economic development is how much, how little; benefit versus environmental impact. In Venezuela, strong-man Hugo Chavez is using oil revenues to help the poor. Controlling that oil makes him the enemy of the U.S. and U.S. business interests. (1.17.53.00) = Future of Latin America. This is an open question. There is the fall of many dictatorships and increase of democratic rule and reform. Yet, there remains the military legacy, the role of U.S. policy, and the heavy debt burden. Latin America has a remarkable and varied history.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Regions of the World Series: Sub-Sahara Africa

The Beginning. Ancient and Medieval Africa. Humans originate in central Africa. The meaning of the term, "race," and the factor of skin color as it relates to the geography of the sun's rays. The Sahara desert as a barrier and the 5,000 mile Nile which breaks that barrier, linking Egypt and sub-Sahara Africa. The false image of Africa as dark, backward. Ancient African civilizations are characterized by achievement, stability, wealth, and power. The Kush in Sudan (700 BC-300 AD). Ghana (300-700 AD), much larger in this period, derived its great wealth from mining gold and salt. The Empire of Mali (1200-1400s AD), also much larger in this period, becomes Muslim, and in turn, is overcome by Muslim Sungai (1400-1500s AD), known for its city of Timbuktu, a major academic center. The Sungai are subdued in the 1500s by the Christians with advanced weapons. In Ashanti society the leader is responsible for the public good. (15.01.00) = Tribal Sub-Sahara Africa The Impact of European contact. The Europeans promote the view that they are advanced; the Africans are backward. How this plays out as a pattern in gender status, attitudes toward children, the nature of the family, the character of language, the structure of music, the senses appealed to by art, the fabric of daily life, the nature and value of work, attitudes toward the marketplace, and religious precepts and practices. (29.50.00) = Destabilization. The Slave Trade. .The resistance by Native Americans in the Western Hemisphere to slavery and its impact on the slave trade in West Africa. The nature of pre-existing slavery in Africa compared to the European slave trade. The compelling motivations for tribal chiefs' to participate in the European slave trade. The devastating impact of the 300 year slave trade on West Africa then and up to the present. Why "Middle Passage" across the Atlantic is a terrifying experience for the slaves. England ends its slave trade in the beginning of the 1800s and the U.S. after the Civil War. Only 10 years later the European onslaught in sub-Sahara Africa continues in a new form. (45.35.00) = Modern Economic Imperialism. . European countries divide up Africa by military force to secure materials and markets for its industrial products. The notion that they are bringing civilization to Africa is questioned. A theory about what underlies England's and others' powerful contempt for black Africans. The sharp contrast between English way of life and traditional African way of life. Why minerals are exploited, but not food. The fabric of the tribe is broken as men are taken to work in distant mines, causing an enforced dependency on its colonial master. African societies begin to ape European ways including patriarchal social structure, dog-eat-dog interactions, and corruption. (57.26.00) = England. The British are capable of great brutalities, gain enormous power in Africa. They educate a native upper class bureaucracy, including India, to buffer their rule. The Zulu War is an example of resistance to the British but is crushed by modern weaponry. (1.00.27.00) = Belgium. King Leopold treats the Congo as his own personal land. He milks the country of its resources, is extremely brutal, provides no semblance of benefits. This continues after his death. (1.07.14.00) = Independence and the Neo-Colonial Period. Weakening of the Colonial Powers. After World War I, the Colonial powers are weakened but hold onto their colonies. Further weakened by World War II, they begin to lose control. Independent nations begin to emerge in the 1950s and 1960s, but neo-colonialism, the legacy of European imperialism, emerges, with economies controlled by outside countries. (1.10.38.00) = Congo. Becomes independent. Belgium leaves but maintains economic control using native rulers who are corrupt and will do business with them. Patrice Lemumba, a more independent leader, is assassinated. (1.13.04.00) = Nigeria. Boundaries created to benefit England's colonial exploitation of resources combines tribes hostile to each other. This leads to later chaos and violence. (1.14.47.00) = Angola. Formerly part of the Portuguese Empire, with significant natural resources. A current leftist government wants to control its own economy. Perpetual civil war, fostered by outside powers, diverts it from this objective. The insidious use of land mines.. (1.7.24.00) = South Africa History of British control, the Zulu Wars. The wealth of diamonds, gold and other materials. Arrival of Dutch settlers, the Afrikaners, who compete with the British and are defeated in the Boar War at the end of the 19th century. The British leave later. The Afrikaners become the dominant force, introduce apartheid where 4 million whites dominate 20 million blacks. The blacks become a permanent underclass and are suppressed brutally. Under the leadership of Nelson Mandela a bloodbath is averted. The Afrikaner president, De Clerk, agrees to free elections. White flight is avoided by Mandela's Commission of Reconciliation which offers an amazing sense of forgiveness. At present, there is still need for much economic development, and its future remains uncertain. (1.26.12.00) = Future prospects. . Some countries become partly democratic, others not. Growth of dictatorships, corruption following one-person rule. Hostility of ethnic tribes erupts in horrible violence. Modern life changes result in devastating health problems, with a bleak outlook. Major economic issues remain. Continued foreign control in collusion with corrupt local officials. Raw materials are still the basis of economies, restricting development of finished goods, and maintaining economic distortion. The effect of the U.S. supporting military leaders during the Cold War and current war on terror. Civil wars rage on, fueled by abundance of weapons from outside powers, while the world largely looks on. The future of sub-Sahara Africa is not bright. It has not fulfilled the hopes and dreams of its people.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Regions of the World Series: East Asia

Prelude to the Modern Industrial Age. China. China is the country with the longest continuous history, 7,000 years. The positive and negative effects of its sense of superiority and desire for isolation. Achieves a much higher civilization than Europe in the Middle Ages. How stability and order are promoted by its Buddhist religion and its social class system and is the most powerful country in the world in the 1500s. The absolute power of the Emperor. How Europeans use a Chinese invention to force it to open trade with them in the 1600s. Why China declines as Europe gains. The nature of the Opium Wars as England imposes its power. (8.33.00) = Japan. Japan, though adapting China's religion, calligraphy and art forms, is also isolated, mainly by its geography. How Japan's large population, limited natural resources its Samurai Warrior tradition, and Shintoism, the deification of the Emperor, set it on a course of conquest. A strong resistance to the outside world in the 1600s when Japan throws out all foreigners. Later there is renewed contact with the outside world, and enormous changes in the 1800s. (11.05.00) = The Late 18th-19th Century. China. Attraction of China as a vast market for Europe's increased industrialization. Too large for direct takeover, spheres of influence are staked out by European powers for economic control and exploitation. China is humiliated by many European practices on its soil. Resistance by the Chinese. The defeat of Boxer Rebellion at the end of the 19th century. (15.53.004) = Japan. U.S. Admiral Perry's gun ships forcefully opens Japanese trade in 1864, also causing Japan to recognize its need to modernize. Although resisted by traditionalists, Japan comes to terms with modernity, with all its implications, negative and positive. Japan becomes a significant power by the late 1800s. How European countries anger and frustrate Japan by blocking its fruits of victory in its wars with China in 1880s and with Russia in 1905. On a wave of nationalism and expansionism, Japan occupies Korea, which resists but also sees Japan as a path to modernization. (25.10,00) = The Early 20th Century. Philippines. .U.S. sees the Philippine Islands, gained in the Spanish-American War, as a stepping stone to Asia, and especially China. Philippine resistance to American control continues for years and is brutally put down by the U.S. (27.42.00) = Vietnam. Resists domination by China. Later Vietnam resists French control and economic exploitation which is carried out with harsh methods. After World War I, Wilson calls for self-determination but colonial empires are excluded. The rise of Vietnamese nationalism with Ho Chi Minh leading a Vietnamese communist party. (30.58.00) = China. The fall of the last dynasty in 1911 and establishment of a republic. Sun Yat-sen wants to democratize and modernize, and be independent of American control. Has cordial relations with Bolsheviks in Russia. War lords still control large regions of China. The Communist Party is created in 1921. Russia advises it to cooperate with the ruling Kuomintang Party, with disastrous results for the communists. Chang Kai Check suppresses the Communist Party which survives by fleeing to the interior. (39.36.00) = Japan. In the 1920s - 1930s, with its growth, modernization, industrialized militarism, Japan has become expansionist. Its Samurai tradition is its version of fascism, and allies itself with the Axis. With its eyes on China to satisfy its material needs, Japan invades Manchuria in 1931, and launches a brutal all-out war on China in 1937. (42.35.00) = The Mid-20th Century. China. Mao leads the Communist remnants on a one-year, 6,000 mile "Long March" north to a safe haven. They develop a positive relationship with the peasants by strictly enforcing a close and respectful participation in their lives. A cease-fire is arranged between Mao and Chang to combine against the invaders. Later there are the issues of who fought the better fight against the Japanese, and the corruption of Chiang. (48.56.00) = Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan's formidable military force with its major conquests of World War II in the South Pacific and the building of its East Asia empire. The resistance of China. Vietnam (Indo-China) fights a guerilla war and has a friendly relationship with the U.S. The U.S. island-hopping war. The tide turns and U.S. forces approach Japan in 1945. The Mid-20th Century. (continued). Japan: (continued). The controversy of America's reason for using the atomic bomb it against the Japanese population. The issue of the role of the Emperor's fate in this. (0.41.00) = Post-World War II Effects on East Asia. The Philippines. The "Communist" insurrection takes years to put down. Vietnam (2.54.00) = Japan. The American occupation, and the Westernization of its institutions. The Emperor remains but with limited power. Japan allies with the U.S. in the Cold War and rebuilds itself. The contrast between U.S. which continues as a capital-intensive war-time economy and Japan's peacetime labor-intensive economy because its defense is secured by the U.S. Japan becomes a significant world economic power. Its need to import and export and its need for materials remains an ongoing problem, creating pressure to build up its military might. (9.30.00) = Korea. Experiences pressure to modernize. At the end of World War II, Korea is divided at the 38th parallel. Russia occupies the North. The U.S. occupies the South and installs Syngman Rhee, a wartime collaborator, as leader. There are many incursions from both sides across border between 1945 and 1950, but in 1950 North Korea succeeds in taking most of South Korea. The U.S. intervenes with McArthur's Inchon landing, and pushes the North Korean forces back to the 38th parallel. Instead of ending the war the U.S. wants to unite the country and. pushes north. Why the Chinese warnings that they will intervene as U.S. troops advance toward its border are ignored. The Chinese do intervene creating a major war with high U.S. casualties, and ends in 1953 with an armistice. The evidence that this is a civil war and that Russia is not behind it. The contrast between South Korea's current relative prosperity, increasingly dictatorial and corrupt, and North Korea's very harsh society with many economic woes and whose leader is deified. Tensions remain, with the hope that increasing contacts and communications will have a positive effect. (20.24.00) = Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam an independent republic, calling itself communist although it is basically nationalist. France wants to restore its empire. It becomes America's proxy in resisting any "communist" factions in that region. U.S. supports France militarily in its brutal war until 1954 when France is defeated. The U.S. refuses to lose this area to the Communists and creates the fiction of a North and South Vietnam around the 17th parallel. We provide military supplies but President Eisenhower refuses to send troops. President Kennedy sends troops as "advisors" in 1961. American opinion turns against the war as President Johnson and then President Nixon insist on a favorable outcome. After a devastating and expanded war the South Korean army quickly collapses in 1975 after the U. S. withdraws its forces. Restoring and rebuilding the country will take generations. The lessons learned and forgotten by Americans.. (32.03.00) = Philippines. The country, America's gateway to China, fights to be free from U.S. control after Spain's control is ended by the Spanish-American War. In World War II, the U.S. reclaims it from the Japanese. The U.S. promises the Philippines independence but a Communist insurgency fights against American control. When it gains independence its leaders become corrupt and ruthlessly dictatorial. This is acceptable to the U.S. so long as the country remains anti-Communist during the Cold War. Recent leadership changes show some opening to democratic processes, but some not. Insurgencies continue under Communist, Maoist, and Muslim labels. (34.50.00) = Indonesia. This East Indies part of the Dutch Colonial Empire gets its independence after World War II. It goes in the direction of a military dictatorship. The resistance of one island under its control is put down by brutal massacres. The U.S. ignores this to maintain its Cold War alliance. Indonesia is heavily populated, has important resources, and is unstable in many ways. (35.57.00) = China. After World War II the civil war resumes until the Communist victory in 1949. Chiang's corrupt and dictatorial government flees to Taiwan. The U.S. recognizes Taiwan as China for the next 25 years, incredibly ignoring the most populated country in the world. At that point China is backward and devastated by civil war and the Japanese invasion. The Korean War comes 1 year after taking power. The Communists are a harsh dictatorial government. Early successes in literacy, health, medicine, and food production. Lack of technology and machinery, and so, emphasis on sheer manpower. Clash between maintaining revolutionary fervor and economic development. Deification of Mao and his disruption of economic progress. The forced movement of rural labor to city factories and its impact on personal lives. Mao makes peace with the U.S. in 1973, opening China diplomatically and economically to Western capitalism. After Mao dies in 1976, the forces for economic development win out. The revolutionary fervor is all but gone. China remains Communist in lexicon only, rapidly developing into a capitalist country. The peasants, an element of cheap labor exploited in the cities and valuable to the West, do not share in modernity. There is a growing inequality in a dictatorial society. An expression of revolutionary ideals by the young in Tiananmen Square is put down with extreme ferocity as the government feels threatened. China is rapidly developing as a world power. Revolutionary ideals all but gone. Growing inequality and exploitation. Terrible environmental consequences in its rapid growth. The nature of China's future society and its relation to the outside world remain in doubt.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Regions of the World Series: Middle East

Ancient Civilizations. Ethnicity. Middle East ethnicity and background cannot be generalized. Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and the Fertile Crescent. This region gives rise to remarkable inventions and development including the invention of writing. Persia (now Iran) is a powerful, advanced empire, a thriving civilization, inventive, has a successful agriculture, is often progressive. (3.24.00) = Religion. The concept of monotheism originates in Judaism and is shared by Christianity and Islam. The sense of separatism in Judaism and its strength of religious beliefs may be factors it its survival after losing its homeland and being scattered for centuries. (5.30.00) = The Arab Empire. The monotheistic Islamic religion is founded by Mohammad in the 600s A.D., lasts for 700 years, with Mecca as its base. Factors contributing to its remarkable spread. The Empire excels in literature, science, art, music, architecture, while Europe is still in the Dark Ages. (8.20.00) = The Turkish Ottoman Empire. Ataturk and the overthrowing of the Roman Byzantine Empire in the 1400s. It is a religious based society under secular rule. The recurring theme of modernity and the resistance to it. The Empire collapses after World War I when it supports the losing side. The victors, England and France, break up the Middle East into countries with borders and ethnicity mixes favoring their control for economic exploitation, with oil as the major prize. (12.35.00) = Early 20th Century. Persia (Iran) With its interest in oil, England installs a royal family under its control. Resistance to foreign control of its major resource. Mosadek heads secular government through 1953 when CIA overthrows it and installs the Pahlavi family with the Shah of Iran as ruler. Once again the clash of modernity with tradition. Traditional society in Iran is a rural, peasant society based on the village. For some, the migration of peasants to the city and the urban civilization of modernity is a dislocation, a loss of tradition. For others, especially women, it is a great liberation. The darker side is the Shah's harsh dictatorial regime. The growing unpopularity of the U.S. and the Shah. His regime is overthrown in 1979 and Islamic fundamentalists come to power, with enormous consequences in the area and elsewhere. The ongoing clash between traditionalists and modernity is resumed. After initial popularity, the regime becomes regressive, with women losing their gains. (26.55.00) = Mesopotamia (Iraq). Part of an ancient civilization. Controlled by European powers after World War I who want to secure oil for themselves. Mounting resistance and military coups. In the late1950s Saddam Hussein comes to power and installs a secular leadership. He is a Sunni in a more orthodox Shia country. This leads to the rise of hatreds and great violence. During the Cold War era from the 1950s to the 1980s England, France and the US court Saddam as an anti-communist and major oil source. (34.17.00) = Afghanistan. This is a Muslim country. It has a long history of war lords who control regions of the country although it has a national government (35.20.00) = Palestine. The Promised Land, as the Hebrews see it from a biblical world. Though a small minority they hold on to that faith during the Diaspora and in face of Christian hostility in Europe. In the 20th century the idea of Zionism, championed by Theodore Herzl, that ultimately the place for Jews is Zion, where Palestinian Arabs also have lived for centuries. The rise of Nazism with the Holocaust as its terrifying climax and the slaughter of 1/3 of the world's Jewish population. Jewish suffering continues afterwards in refugee camps. Hatreds are not dimmed. In 1948 England loses control of Palestine which they ruled since the end of World War I. The partitioning of Palestine establishes the State of Israel in 1948. The Arabs see it as an outpost of the West, especially the US. Israel wins Arab wars against it. Arab motives are mixed. Israel, born from the horrors of Europe, is seen by the Arabs as creating horrors. Today, it is a cauldron of danger and violence. Hatreds build and increase over the years with the cycle of terror and retaliation. (42.37.00) = Mid-20th Century. Iran. After 1979 the Islamist fundamentalist government is fiercely anti-American, yet there are behind-the-scenes intrigues concerning Latin America. The 1980s devastating war between Iran and Iraq peters out with no clear victor. Both are Shia countries. It is a conflict of religious versus secular rulers. Despite its brutal dictatorship, the US supports Saddam's Iraq. (45.30.00) = Afghanistan. It has a border with Russia which imposes a secular puppet government, bringing a degree of modernity to a country which is still medieval in many ways. Women have the most gain from this. Resistance by the war lords leads to the the "Russian Vietnam." In the Cold War context, the US aids the Taliban despite their religious fundamentalism. The role of Osama Ben Laden in this war. Russia withdraws and the Taliban come to power imposing a medieval form of government, with repression of women. (49.02.00) = First Persian Gulf War. Tension between Iraq and Kuwait, a small country rich in oil, over control of its outlet port. How Kuwait's personal insults to Saddam, and the American Ambassador's neutral comment about Saddam's intentions influence the start of war. The US intervenes and easily defeats the Iraqi army. The question of stopping at that point versus a regime change. Dick Cheney advises against regime change with the prospect of the quagmire of urban guerilla warfare in Baghdad, but instead, to allow a weakened Saddam counter the fundamentalists. The Kurds in the North, long struggling for independence, are encouraged by the US to rise up. When they do, the US does not help and they are crushed by Saddam. The international embargo affects mostly the Iraqi people. (56.19.00) = Israel. The fundamentalists in the Middle East see Israel as its arch enemy. The classic anti-Semitism rages in the region (57.58.00) = Second Persian Gulf War. Bush, the son, and his neo-conservative advisors, have a world view of American dominance. Further motivation is America's economic need for oil. Questions about America's motivation for invading Iraq. The war seen in context of 9/11. Osama Ben Laden and the Taliban now seen as our arch enemies. The false connection between Osama, Al Queda, and Saddam is seen as deliberately false. The Iraqi army again is easily defeated. What next? Dick Cheney's earlier advice is now disregarded by him and other decision- makers. The neo-cons believe our forces will be welcomed as liberators. Instead there is a vicious and ongoing urban guerilla warfare. The role of US need for oil. The enormous profits of American companies in this conflict. The issue of resistance to an occupying army, followed by retaliation (1.07.20.00) = Present and Future. Afghanistan. The Taliban, linked to 9/11, are overthrown. Resistance to an occupying army by the war lords. American public opinion is also opposed to continued deployment of US troops in this country. (1.08.39.007) = Iran. Now a theocracy. It has a young population who are struggling for a more secular government. Women have much at stake in a separation of church and state. Iran's fervent hatred of Israel. It's drive for nuclear power and the question of war versus diplomacy. (1.10.15.00) = Iraq. (1.10.55.00) = Israel. The two-state solution and the issues of borders, economics, and security. The role of terrorism and violence undercuts a political solution. For Palestinians the lack of hope and the promise of Paradise produces suicide bombers. The issue of the economic basis for despair as a context for this. All sides share responsibility. (1.11.27.00) = The region is very much in flux, with no apparent solution to a multi-factor equation.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Countries of Europe Series: England

Formative Periods. Tribal England. Life of bare existence. Roman invasion. Brutal treatment of the native population. "They make a desert and call it peace." The Roman Empire declines. Series of conquests of England by the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. William the Conqueror wins the Battle of Hastings, 1056 A.D. Norman control lasts for centuries through dynastic rule, but with incessant fighting. (3.55.00) = War of the Roses. in the 1400s between Richard III's House of York and the Henry VII's House of Lancaster. Henry VII wins, begins the Tudor Dynasty. Question of whether Richard III is the villain Shakespeare makes him out to be (6.37.00) = Absolute divine right monarchy of Henry VIII, a powerful tool for control over peasants. He has an immense ego and size, acquires 6 wives. (8.56.00) = Protestant Reformation. The Pope rejects divorce and annulment, threatening the status of Henry VIII's heir. He founds the Anglican Church, keeps most of the Catholic doctrine, except adds the right to divorce, with himself, the King of England, as the chief authority. His friend, Thomas Moore, opposes his break with the Catholic Church, is executed. Henry VIII is succeeded by Mary, daughter of his first wife, who tries to restore the Catholic Church. (17.51.00) = Elizabeth I, Henry VIII's first wife's 2nd daughter, becomes Queen of England, rules from 1558 until her death in 1603. She resists the pressure to produce an heir, maintains her independent power, entrenches the supremacy of the Anglican Church. After plotting against Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots is executed. England defeats the Spanish armada attempting an invasion, making England a major world power and naval power. (31.35.00) = Emergence of Capitalism. The emphasis on foreign trade for acquisition of wealth makes England more powerful than Spain which emphasizes storage of gold. Elizabeth's capability against the gender bias of others. (33.03.00) = The outpouring of culture. Shakespeare's plays which follow the political lives of the Tudors. (34.31.00) = The Stewart Dynasty lasts from 1600 to1900. Scotland is still independent. King James I is invited to rule after Elizabeth's death in 1603. England is still medieval. The aristocratic class resists capitalism, holding on to the old, the king on to absolutism. The English translation of the bible is called the King James Bible. James I is succeeded in 1625 by Charles 1 who is not very bright but is an absolutist. The Catholic versus Protestant conflict continues. (37.47.00) = Growth of capitalism threatens the aristocracy and absolutism which resist it as a threat. Parliament is centuries old, since the 13th century, is not democratic. has no written laws, only precedents. Although it is a rubber stamp for the king, he still has to go through it. Capitalist voices are raised in Parliament (41.31.00) = Puritanism is the English form of Calvinism. They believe in a one-on-one relationship with God, have simplified ceremonies and church structures. Puritans clash with Anglicans. Puritans are capitalists and promote modernism. The alliance of Parliament, Puritans and capitalists. (44.30.00) = Parliament becomes independent. King Charles I agrees to let Parliament become an independent power in exchange for its approval of the tax money he needs. In 1642, for the first time, it passes a law with no precedent. (50.36.00) = English Civil War begins in 1642. The aristocracy and the king against the Parliament, Puritans, and capitalists. Oliver Cromwell mobilizes the peasants and middle class with promises of more political and economic equality. The king loses in 1649, is captured and executed. The civil war begins in 1642. (52.00.00) = Oliver Cromwell as ruler. Promises are reneged. The Irish uprising is put down ruthlessly. (53.30.00) = Restoration period. Cromwell dies in 1668 and is succeed by his son, Richard, who restores the English monarchy with Charles II, the son of Charles I, as king. The political system is absolute divine right monarchy, but also capitalism with Parliamentary power. The king is seen as a force for stability in the minds of the peasants. Libertine attitudes thrive. (59.21.00) = The Glorious Revolution of 1688. Charles II is succeeded by his brother, James II, in 1685, who makes the mistake of announcing he will raise his son, the heir, as Catholic. The revolution throws him out of the country. John Locke writes that if a sovereign breaks the contract theory of government between the sovereign and those ruled, then citizens have a right to overthrow him. Thomas Jefferson uses this same argument in the American Revolution. 18th century England is changing. . William & Mary are co-rulers. Parliamentary rule continues. The Act of Religious Tolerance allows people to worship as they will. Business and political power is important, not religious power. Capitalism is triumphant. The monarchy is not absolute. England becomes a major world power. (4.57.00) = Competition with France over quest for empire in North America. England establishes the 13 colonies in America. South America is controlled by Spain. England wins the 7-Year War with France, acquires Canada. (7.42.00) = The American Colonies. . England's mercantile relationship with the Colonies, which provide timber for English ship building, has loose enforcement. The American Revolution. King George III imposes taxes on the Colonies to help pay off England's war debt. Resistance to this leads to the American Revolution of 1776. How the American Revolution might have been avoided. (12.56.00) = The Early Industrial Era from 1780-1830. Landowners change peasant families from serfs to renters. Soon many are forced off the land to operate factories in cities. Food is now provided by new cash crops. Rivers are sources of power for mills around which industrial cities grow. Rivers are also used for transportation and disposal of industrial wastes. Abominable working conditions. Children as young as 6 are working. England is the industrial power of the world. The transportation revolution of railroads and canals., (27.20.00) = The Napoleonic Wars. The Continental System aims to squeeze out England. England helps Spain fight off Napoleon, who is later defeated in Russia. He comes back with a new army but is defeated at Waterloo in 1815. The Congress of Vienna accepts the bourgeois gains of the French Revolution but opposes subsequent revolutions. England dominates with the strongest navy in the world. (30.41.00) = The Victorian Age from the 1830s to the turn of the 20th century. Emergence of the 2-party system, the Tory Disraeli versus the Liberal Gladstone. England's harsh policy with Ireland leads to the Irish potato famine. (32.27.00) = The New Imperialism of 1870s. Territorial control and the drying up of Africa by the European powers India is England's centerpiece of imperialism. Enforced backwardness aims to keep it dependent. India is an economic power before England's control. England's harshness, yet the native bureaucracy is trained to carry out English dirty work as police and tax collectors. This educated bureaucracy becomes the leadership for freedom and independence. Mahatma Gandhi's passive resistance and India's freedom after World War II. (40.30.00) = Industrial reform. Factory workers are still abused but there is some reform to forestall revolt. The impact of Charles Dickens' images. (42.12.00) = The 20th Century. The rise of Germany. At the turn of the century Germany begins to catch up and surpass England, challenging its dominance. Now England and France join against Germany. Germany aligns with Austria and Italy. (45.46.00) = World War I. In the summer of 1914 England goes to war against Germany. The English officer class look forward to war's glory. The Germans are stopped before Paris, the war bogs down into trench warfare and a war of attrition. The machine gun takes a terrible toll on both sides. The class attitude of officers toward solders underlies their ordering suicidal attacks. German submarine warfare is effective. America enters the war in 1917 and the war ends on November 11, 1918. England and France are victors, attempt to hold on to their empires, but will never be the same. (50.42.00) = The Treaty of Versailles. As revenge for damage inflicted, Germany is forced to pay reparations. This becomes a factor leading to the rise of Nazism. The influence of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Fear that England will turn to socialism. Disillusionment with the slaughter of the war. (53.55.00) = The 1930s Depression. World-wide depression, unemployment of the working class, and the fears of a new war after the rise of Hitler. The Spanish Civil War. The rebels are backed by Germany and Italy. The English government and the U.S. remain neutral, dooming the loyalists. (55.56.00) = The English response to the rise of fascism. . The upper classes are sympathetic, fearing Communism and revolution, approving the sense of order it brings, and to a degree approving of its anti-Semitism. Class in English history. Rigid sense of privilege of the upper class, denigration of the lower class. Women's suffrage is a long struggle.. (57.08.00) = Winston Churchill shares upper class values but is outspoken in the 1930s about the Nazi danger to England. (1.01.08.00) = World War II. Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939. England and France declare war. Churchill becomes Prime Minister in 1940. The mass evacuation of Dunkirk. The blitz and the survival of the RAF is an heroic story. (1.03.37.00) = Pearl Harbor. Japan attacks on December 7, 1941 and the U.S. is in the war. The German all-out invasion of Russia in June, 1941. England and Russia become allies against a mutual enemy. Churchill and FDR have agreeable relationship despite the fact that England is the junior partner. The D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-45. The turning point of the battle of Stalingrad. The inspiration of Churchill. The planned division of post-war Europe is in conflict with the people of those countries. Churchill's callousness in the matter of the German destruction of Coventry and the allied destruction of Dresden. (1.05.17.00) = The war ends in 1945. Churchill is out of power at the moment of victory when Clement Attlee of the Labor Party wins Gains in the working class protections greatly improve their lives. (1.08.30.00) = Churchill's Iron Curtain speech of 1946 is enthusiastically supported by President Harry Truman. (1.11.32.00) = The effort to preserve its empire. The use of the Cold War to get the U.S. to help England preserve the British Empire. Greece is an example. The imposed European values, including backwardness, destruction of native cultures, and corruption are legacies of the colonial period. (1.17.27.00) = Post-World War II England. The social gains endure. The Thatcher Years of the 1980s. The rise of the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher. It is pro-business, anti-labor, anti-union. Massive layoffs after steel and other factories need only a fraction of past labor force, most unemployable. Social welfare blocked. The Falkland Island War against Argentina and the continued sense of empire. (1.20.30.00) = Revival of the Labor Party. Under Tony Blair, it is more center, more pro-business. He backs the U.S. in Iraq War, unpopular in Europe. Speculation about Tony Blair's motivation. The future of English policies is up in the air. (1.23.48.00) = Perspective. Culturally English history in science and literature is its own marvel. There is much greatness, much tragedy, much tribulation. This will continue into the future.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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Countries of Europe Series: Ireland

Early History. Irish sense of tragedy. Irish stereotypes of good natured Irish cops, etc., blinds us to the harsher reality. (2.09.00) = Catholicism has a major role. St. Patrick in 1640 AD brings a controlling form of Catholicism to Ireland. The Vikings invade in the 8th & 9th centuries A.D. The English invade and take control, place population in peonage. In artistic images the English portray the Irish as sub-human. England becomes Protestant, Ireland remains Catholic. Irish attempt to compete with England in clothing production in 1690 is crushed (6.22.00) = Migration to England. The Irish migrating to England to find work are harshly treated. The Irish are excluded from public life. (6.59.00) = Irish rebellions. A series of Irish rebellions in the 1500s is crushed by England. Later, Ireland supports the French Revolution because France is an enemy of England. (12.01.00)= Response to the Irish rebellions. England makes some concessions but keeps the people in poverty. Oliver Cromwell wants to develop the middle class, promotes reforms, grants religious protections (14.10.00) = Mid 19th Century. Resistance. Arising from a sense of frustration, and without central planning, nationalistic, secret societies emerge, become a unifying force, with a goal of total independence (19.19.00) = The Potato Famine of 1840. Forced by England to grow mainly the one crop, combined with the potato blight, the famine results in possibly 1,000,000 deaths. England does nothing. Ireland loses population from the 1840s on due to emigration to the U.S. and elsewhere. (26.52.00) = Irish immigrants are a despised minority in the U.S. because they are Catholic in a Protestant country. In the American Civil War, the draft riots by Irish against blacks is put down violently.. (30.52.00) = Strong ties between Irish in America and family back home. Ireland remains undeveloped.. (33.37.00) = 20th Century. Class differences within U.S. Irish. Lace Curtain Irish versus the Shanty Irish. Irish find the police force and politics are ways out of poverty in the U.S. Boston is a major Irish center. (36.02.00) = Rejection of the English language in Ireland, promoting the return to Gaelic. Northern Ireland. Protestant English create settlements since the 1600s, become the majority, but remain a foreign element. Over time they remain a thorn to the Irish population. (38.02.00) = Irish Nationalism. During World War I, the Irish, hating England, remain neutral, but with strong pro-German feelings. The 1914 Easter Rebellion against English troops is put down. The Black & Tans impose militaristic control in Ireland, treat the Irish viciously. (41.28.00) = Attempts to settle. 1922 agreement gives Ireland political autonomy, excludes North Ireland, resulting in a divided country and civil war. De Valera wants all or nothing, Collins seeks a compromise agreement, splitting the Irish. Collins is assassinated. Struggle for the Irish Free State continues for decades. During World War II, Ireland remains hostile to England. (44.24.00) = United Ireland is unresolved.. "The Troubles." The IRA has a violent wing which aims to rid Ireland of the Protestant element. This is not only a religious issue but a class issue. In Northern Ireland Protestants have access to better jobs than the Catholics. Riots in Northern Ireland against the presence of English troops. Ireland remains poor and undeveloped, losing population, with alcohol often the response to grinding poverty, and violence on both sides. Role of the church. Preaches toleration of suffering. (50.21.00) = Recent history. Diminished influence of the Catholic Church. Women's role grows. Reforms increase. Emigration lessens. Agriculture is still significant but there is a change to urban life away from the farm. Resolution to the North Ireland violence. Hopeful signs that Ireland is in a stage of development. Ireland has a proud heritage and history.

Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)

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