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Countries of Europe Series: France
The Ancient World. Ancient Gaul. The various tribes of ancient Gaul and its conquest by Rome, becoming one of Rome's provinces. Rome declines and falls in 426 AD. (3.33.00) = Middle Ages: Feudalism based on pyramidal structure of political, economic, and military obligation, with the king at the top. Family rule through the noble class which is 5% of the population. The Bourbon Dynasty is in power until the French Revolution. Manorialism. Serfs work the arable land, pay 1/3 of the crop to the landlord, 1/10th to the Church. . (8.42.00) = The Arab Empire conquers Eastern and Southern Europe. The stagnation of Western Europe under feudalism. Moors and Jews are driven out in 1492 after the decline of the Arab Empire. (10.59.00) = Bubonic plague kills 23 million, 1/3 of Europe's population, in 2 years, decimating the serfs. (12.36.00) = Beginning of the modern world. Some serfs escape to the cities, join the guild system, become free after escaping 1 year + 1 day. Capitalist Marco Polo brings unknown goods from the Far East by caravan for profit. (16.20.00) = Reformation of the 1600s. Martin Luther, a German, and John Calvin, a Swiss, form Protestant movement. (18.59.00) = The Bourbon Dynasty is an absolute divine right monarchy, but Catholicism is still dominant. (20.40.00) = The 18th Century. Henry IV,.a Protestant ruler, shows the importance of the business class, the bourgeoisie. The rule of Louis XIV starts at age 14. He is capable, intelligent. France, adding land through wars, becomes the most powerful country in Europe through the 1600s. The cost of the 30-years religious wars between the Catholics and Protestants is paid by the serfs who fail to rebel (28.13.00) = The Versailles Palace is built sparing no expense and costing 2 billion 18th century dollars, paid for by the peasants. After Louis XIV's death, Louis XV rules for 50 years until the1770s. (32.56.00) = The Enlightenment. A new way of looking at the world through the rationality of science and education. A new religious tolerance toward Jews. Deism is a challenge to the Catholic Church. Less restrictions against trade. Legal changes protecting individual rights. The 18th Century (continued). (French Revolution of 1789. The 2 crises of debt and food shortage. The debt result largely from the substantial aid France extends to the American Revolution. A session of the Estates General, composed of the clergy, nobility, and the commoners (Sans-Culottes) 1s convened. The bourgeoisie form the National Assembly to recreate France with a constitutional monarchy. The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens is rejected by the King Louis XVI. Spontaneous uprisings by the peasants. Many nobles flee and peasants claim land. (10.13.00)= Peasant uprising. First, Moderate Phase from 1789-1791. Bourgeoisie see capitalism as the economic future of France. They use the legislature to seize political power. Europe's nobility is fearful these ideas will spread, mobilize armies to attack France. (11.24.00) = Second, Radical Phase. A reign of terror from 1791-1794. France is attacked by European armies. The French revolutionary army fights brilliantly. A reign of terror by the Jacobins under Robespierre lasts 14 months. 17,000 are killed as revenge against nobles, including the king and queen. A faction of the Sans-Culottes demand abolition of religion. This is rejected by the Jacobins and Robespierre. This small faction takes power and in days executes Jacobin leaders including Robespierre. (20.31.00) = Third, Moderate Phase. The bourgeoisie win and the Jacobins (the peasants) lose. Yet Europe continues war against France, making the revolutionary army all the more significant. (22.31.00) = The 19th Century. The Napoleonic Era. . Napoleon seizes power in1799. He identifies with the bourgeois gains of the French Revolution, shifts to secular in social institutions. The Napoleonic Code of Law, a major achievement. Napoleon wins significant military victories, giving France control of Europe. (33.43.00) = Russia. His invasion of Russia is a disaster and his army is all but wiped out. He raises a new army, but inexperienced, it is defeated by coalition forces. (36.44.00) = Waterloo. He is captured, escapes from Corsica, builds a new army, loses his last battle at Waterloo, and is exiled to St Helena in 1815. Napoleon dies of cancer in 1821 at the age of 51. (38.40.00) = The Congress of Vienna accepts the bourgeois gains of the past 25 years, but brings back the monarchy without divine right absolute power. (41.33.00) = The White Terror. . The exiled nobles return to reclaim land, kill peasants. The toll is greater than the reign of terror of the 1790s. (42.42.00) = The Revolution of 1830. The monarchy tries to restore its old power but is stopped by Louis Philippe, and the bourgeois are in control (43.41.00) = Workers' Revolution of 1848. The peasants now have new oppressors: the bourgeoisie. In 1848 a workers' revolution breaks out in various European countries, including the Paris Commune, and is brutally crushed. Karl Marx writes the Communist Manifesto, is expelled to London. (51.56.00) = The Dreyfus Affair. He is a Jewish officer in the army charged with treason, is framed and sentenced to Devil's Island. Emile Zola exposes this as anti-Semitism in his book, "J' Accuse!" and Dreyfus is vindicated. This is also seen as an example of the struggle between the royalists and the anti-royalists. France joins in carving up of Africa by the European colonial power, and had already taken over Algeria much earlier in the 1820s. Germany, now unified, defeats France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 20th Century-1st Half. Pre-World War I. The growth of European imperialism as modern industrial countries compete for control of raw materials in undeveloped nations. France and England are rivals for the past 100 years but become allies because of mutual fear of Germany which has become militarily very powerful. Russia enters agreement with France and England against Germany. (6.12.00) = World War I. Germany attacks France through Belgium in the summer of 1914. The war, romanticized by young men, becomes a prolonged slaughter of trench warfare with the machine gun being the worst killing weapon. The suicidal attacks ordered by the officers reflect their negative opinion of the lower class soldiers. American soldiers enter the war in 1917 and the Germans are pushed back. The war ends in 1918. France will never be the same, loses its future leaders. (13.53.00) = Vindictive peace by France and England, supporting the later rise of Nazis. (15.38.00) = The Lost Generation of the 1920s. The cultural center of France, especially Paris, with frivolous living, is an exciting place to be. (17.32.00) = The World Depression. Economic instability leads to the rise of radical political parties. The Communist Revolution in Russia. In France, the Socialist Party is headed by Leon Blum, a Jew, triggering heightened anti-Semitism. Support for fascism in Germany. (19.40.00) = Prelude to war. Germany reoccupies the Rhineland. The Civil War in Spain is supported by the fascists, but the allies keep hands off, and the loyalists are defeated. War clouds loom. The Czechoslovak crisis. Germany takes control of Sudetenland. The 1939 non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany. (24.58.00) = World War II. Germany attacks Poland September 1, 1939, and England and France declare war. The French army is defeated. The German war machine conquers Europe. The 4-year occupation of France is divided between Southern France under puppet leader Pierre Laval, and North France under German occupation. The collaboration line blurs. (28.17.00) = The Occupation. Resistance leadership is often from the Communist Party which is the best organized. The moral questions of the danger of resistance and the fear of retaliation for collaboration. The anti-Semitic support for the Germans, and the contrast of the Huguenots. Charles de Gaulle in exile is in conflict with the Communist resistance movement, sees himself leading France back to glory as a world power. (34.45.00) = France liberated. The Normandy invasion of June 6, 1944, the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-1945, the push inland. Paris is liberated, not destroyed. Extensive retaliation for collaborators. The war ends in 1945 (36.51.00) = The 20th Century-2nd Half. Politics of post-World War II. The French Communist Party leaders look to Russia for advice. They do not seize power but cooperate, guided by Russian's lack of aggressiveness. De Gaulle's agenda for his power is thwarted, and he retires. The unstable political situation is reflected in France's Empire. (40.34.00) = Vietnam. In Southeast Asia, French Indo-China (Vietnam) is under French control is harshly exploited. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Ho Chi Minh, a nationalist nominally a communist, declares Vietnam independent republic. This is rejected by France. U.S. Cold War interest is to restore France's old empire. A bloody guerilla war is waged from 1946 to 1954 when the French are defeated. As the French leave, the U.S. enters, ignoring warnings. (48.35.00) = Algeria. Algeria is a French colony since the1820s. The French Army goes there and fights from 1954 to 1962. Evidence of torture. Public opinion at home splits. De Gaulle is recalled to power in 1958, is charismatic, nationalistic, creates a strong government called the 5th Republic. In 1960 France withdraws from Algeria. (52.51.00) = Economic crisis of the 1960s. In 1968 students revolt against the anti-democratic policies of De Gaulle. The uprising is put down. A1969 referendum defeats De Gaulle. There is an orderly secession of presidents, usually centrist. (55.42.00) = Current status. Relatively stable government. Immigration causes some instability since needed labor brings Muslims into a Catholic and Christian country. The European Union aims to counterbalance the U.S. as superpower. The welfare state is seen as progressive. France is a faded power but is still a major force in the world
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Countries of Europe Series: Germany
Becoming Germany. Marauding Germanic tribes, in constant warfare, penetrating and then conquering the Roman Empire in 476 AD as it weakens and collapses. The Middle Ages, 1,000 year period of feudalism, a pyramidal structure of loyalty, with the king on the top. Stagnation of population and life. Christianity is its religion, with the Holy Roman Empire more concept than reality. German speaking principalities form alliances with England, France and Austria. (5.13.00) = Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther breaks away from the power of the popes in early 1500s. He is supported by the German princes for materialistic reasons. The masses rise up against the princes, are put down brutally. Brutal 30 Years War 1618 to 1648 between Catholics and Protestants, and its material destruction sets back the German people. (8.51.00) = The Enlightenment..1700s. New ways of looking at the world. Emphasis on science and education, religious tolerance. Frederick the Great of Prussia combines culture with militarism. (11.58.00) = The French Revolution's impact. The French monarchy is in control. The bourgeoisie rises and with it capitalism. European rulers are fearful of uprising of the lower classes, wage war against the French Revolution. (13.29.00) = Napoleon. The French army holds them off and Napoleon emerges. He wins major victories over the European powers, conquers and occupies Central Europe and Germanic Europe. Opposition to occupation includes German philosophic resistance and promotion of German nationalism and superiority. Napoleon is defeated in Russia, regroups, and is finally defeated at Waterloo. (18.17.00) = Congress of Vienna. in 1815 decides the future of Europe. England is a great industrial and naval power. The capitalism of the French Revolution is accepted, but future revolutions are opposed. (21.35.00) = Modern Germany. Prelude to a unified Germany. From the 1850s to 1870s Otto von Bismarck consolidates Prussia's power in a series of wars, results in a confederation of German states. The defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 brings mainly an expanded Prussia. (26.09.00) = United Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II , king of Prussia, becomes Emperor of United Germany, dismisses Bismarck. (28.32.00) = German industrial imperialism. Germany, with new technology, challenges and surpasses England by the early 20th century. England and other European powers retain their colonial empires, leaving Germany, the latecomer, dissatisfied in its capitalist quest for markets. Germanic Central Europe. Germany provides cultural leadership in music, literature, and science, reflecting the growing power of modern Germany.. (33.19.002) = Potential collision course with England. Alliance of England and France against Germany: the Entente Cordiale of 1904. It includes Russia to pin Germany in the middle. The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy. Both sides arm to the teeth, ultimately leads to war (37.18.00) = World War I. The assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, and war is declared. Germany is prepared to fight on 2 fronts by following the von Schleiffen Plan: knock out France quickly and take on Russia later. The war is romanticized by young officers. The German advance is stopped 20 miles from Paris. (42.58.00) = Trench Warfare. It is now a war between the French trenches of the Maginot Line and the German trenches of the Siegfried Line. Enormous casualties on both sides caused mainly due to the new technology of the machine gun. The class attitude of officers who order suicidal attacks by lower class soldiers. After the slaughter Europe is never the same. (47.27.00) = The U.S. enters the war in 1917 after encounters with German submarine warfare, and public opinion turns against neutrality. American troops quickly move overseas. The German offensive of 1918 fails, their armies are pushed back to Germany, and the war ends November 11, 1918. The German Emperor abdicates and the Weimar Republic begins. Uprisings in Germany and elsewhere in Europe do not succeed, unlike the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. (1.04.37.00) = The Treaty of Versailles. Despite President Wilson's positive vision, England and France enact a punitive treaty against Germany. Although all sides play a role leading up to the war, Germany is held to be solely responsible, with harsh reparations imposed. John Maynard Keynes sees the economic consequences of this as disastrous. (1.08.06.00 = The Rise of Fascism. Weimar Republic. Shaky democracy. Long history of autocracy in Germany and especially Prussia. Major left wing revolutionary parties emerge. Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto. Long history of social legislation in Germany, predating some Western democracies. Strong Socialist Party calling for gradual evolution. Russian Bolshevik Revolution impact. Strong working class and disciplined Communist Party. (1.10.58.00) = The Nazi Party. Ultranationalist parties opposed to the Treaty of Versailles emerge in Germany. An attempted putsch in the 1920s by the Nazi Party led by Adolph Hitler fails. Hitler is given a light jail sentence where he writes "Mein Kampf," his blueprint for the future. There is considerable support for the Nazi Party from the bitterness and humiliation of the peace treaty. There is a huge world-wide inflation and the Great Depression in the 1930s, creating economic havoc. (1.16.07.00) = Fascism. . Started by Benito Mussolini in Italy who comes to power in 1927. Fascism is shared by Hitler and others. The concept of the all- powerful leader. Not just dictatorship but totalitarianism, total control. The image of the masses as undifferentiated and to be told what to do. The celebration of violence. Virility as a culture. Women are just for breeding. Racist ideology. Existing European anti-Semitism is greatly exploited by the Nazis, with disastrous consequences. (1.31.01.00) = Hitler in power. Hitler, charismatic, is elected chancellor in 1932. Rearming for war is a way out of the economic depression. Nazis crush the Communists, Socialists, and organized labor. His nationalistic appeal. Nazi Germany. Jews in Germany They are 1% of the population at 600,000 out of 60 million Germans, are a noticeable minority in the arts, education, and in religious dress, and become a scapegoat for Hitler. 1933 begins an exclusion policy is launched against Jews in a series of steps. Attacks are organized against individuals and businesses culminating in Krystalnacht. Some Jews leave but many who are assimilated are slow to react. Efforts to leave to the U.S. are blocked by U.S. immigration laws. Mexico and Canada are more open. (4.17.00) = Fascism and other industrial countries. Fascism does not take hold because capitalists there feel more in control and do not need fascists to hold down threats from below. German industrial giants remain in partnership with the Nazis, making use of slave labor during the war. (6.25.00) = German gains in the 1930s. Hitler is not a madman but a skilled diplomat who gets the most from his enemies and also benefits from luck. (8.55.00) = Spanish Civil War. Francisco Franco rebels against the Spanish Republic. The Republic's request to buy arms from the Western allies is turned down for fear of supporting Communism. Germany supports the rebels who win. (11.05.00) = Prelude to World War II. . Hitler is emboldened, demands annexation of the Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia, which is acquiesced to by England and France. Later, Hitler takes over all of Czechoslovakia. (13.33.00) = 1939 Non-Aggression Pact. between Germany and Soviet Russia stuns the world. Poland is divided between them. (15.09.00) = World War II. Germany attacks Poland September 1, 1939, followed by the "Phony War" until the spring of 1940. World War II begins. (16.18.00) = Nazi appeal to the upper classes. Many share his values of a stable society favorable to capitalism, and his anti-Semitism. Although Winston Churchill is from the upper classes, he is fearful of Germany, now a powerful war machine. (17.39.00) = German control of Europe. Using blitzkrieg warfare Germany rapidly conquers Europe. France surrenders. (22.09.00) = The "Final Solution" There are 3 millions Jews in Poland. The Wannsee Conference decides to use technology, distribution resources, and the participation of many levels of people for a systematic wiping out of all Jews. (29.22.00) = The Holocaust. Denmark saves its 50,000 Jews by ferrying them to neutral Sweden. Although there are cases of individuals helping Jews, the rest of Europe fails to do so and often aids the Nazi effort. (30.42.00) = The death camps. Disguised to forestall panic. The experience of being rounded up, transported in boxcars, divided between healthy workers to slave labor camps and others to the gas chambers and crematoriums. The systematizing of killing of people and harvesting of body products. The meticulous records. The medical experiments. The daily violence. (37.55.00) = Banality of Evil." Adolph Eichmann's trial in Israel in 1960 reveals the Holocaust as a calm bureaucratic decision, and that ordinary people can do horrendous deeds under an authority which sanctions them for a high cause. (37.55.00) = The toll. 6 million Jews, 1/3 the world's population is murdered, plus 4 million other civilian murders of Communists, Socialists, Gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled. The ultimate goal of fascism is death. (44.22.00) = The invasion of Russia in the summer of 1941. Germany's plan is to kill most Russians, enslave the rest. Stalin is caught off guard. The Germans push deep into Russia, coming close to Moscow. Leningrad is surrounded, starved, as Germans push south to the oil area. (46.34.00) = The tide turns. Stalingrad is the turning point in the winter of 1942-43. The winter cold and the Red Army take its toll on the German army which is defeated and almost wiped out. The Germans are pushed back out of East Europe into Germany. The D-Day invasion of Normandy June 6, 1944. German military leaders, as Germany is losing, attempt assassination of Hitler. It fails to kill him, there is a purge, and the war continues. Germany's last surprise offensive, the Battle of the Bulge, eventually fails. The end. In 1945, although the end is near and Germany is in rubble, Churchill decides to bomb Dresden. Hitler and others commit suicide in his Berlin bunker. Germany surrenders May, 1945. The Nazi era ends after 12 years of enormous destruction. (51.24.00) = Post-War Germany. German occupation. Germany is divided into the West Zone occupied by the Western powers, and the East Zone occupied by Russia, with Berlin divided into 4 zones, U.S., British, French, and Russian. The alliance between the East Zone and the USSR is not a Russian grab but is sanctioned by the Allies. The Cold War fixes the division. (53.55.00) = U.S. attitude. The Cold War begins at the end of World War II. The Nazis are seen as resource against Communist Russia, are helped to escape to Argentina and elsewhere, and are funded. (56.26.00) = East Germany has Stalinist form of government, resists reform seen elsewhere. Its economy develops and becomes a significant Communist power. (59.11.00) = West Germany rebuilds its economy more successfully than East Germany, becomes a bulwark against Russia and serves American business (similar to Hitler's time),. West German economy compared with U.S. U.S. economy is a capital intensive war economy whose weapons have no further social value. West Germany, free from military budgets, has a labor intensive economy adding to employment and further social value. Berlin Wall. The need to prevent people from leaving reflects the failure of the East German system. (1.06.52.00) = Response to the Holocaust. West Germany, East Germany and the U.S. all use ex-Nazis, especially for Cold War reasons. Many in West Germany take responsibility for the Nazi era, but there is also significant resistance in both East & West Germany, denying knowledge of and responsibility for it. The younger generation wants to examine it. (1.10.08.00) = Collapse of Communism in Russia and in Eastern Europe countries it controls. Reunification of Germany. Berlin Wall demolished. The economic gap between the former West Germany and East Germany causes West Germans to expend billions to upgrade East Germans. East Germans see it as a bitter pill. Germany becomes a world power and a key player in European affairs and markets. (1.13.18.00) = Relations with U.S. Germany remains part of the American alliance but is hostile to American actions in the Middle East. Neo-Nazi movement. Appealing to the lower middle class, it is a significant minority, but is held in check by the government. Anti-Semitism is a factor. Immigration. A great influx from poorer areas of the world. They keep wage scales low, are greatly misused, a situation shared with other countries (1.17.21.00) = Future. There is an attempt to revitalize the military, which will result in a war economy and all its consequences. Germany will continue to have a major role in Europe and the world.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Countries of Europe Series: Russia
Czarist Russia. Scope of Russia. Its massive size, population, varied past, social and economic changes. European Russia and Asian Russia. Early history. Its various rulers, its wars against the Mongols. Russia becomes a Christian country with the Eastern Orthodox religion. The Czars are reminiscent of the Roman emperors. Infighting about who rules. Violent uprisings by the peasants violently put down. Romanoff Dynasty. Lasts from the early 1600s until 1918. Ivan the Terrible is extremely brutal. Europe sees Russia as a backward, Asiatic country. Peter the Great at the end of 1600s tries to Europeanize Russia, brings in craftsmen, founds Petersburg, but the brutality continues. Ruling power comes from inheritance even if it falls into incompetent hands. Catherine the Great continues a harsh rule, is expansionist, divides Poland between Russia and Austria and Prussia. Influenced by the French Enlightenment, Catherine is an enlightened despot, but becomes reactionary when threatened. (7.56.00) = Impact of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror in the early 1800s. Russia feels threatened by the rise of the peasants and the city people. (9.30.000 = Napoleon. In 1812 Napoleon invades Russia, is met with scorched earth, is unprepared for the Russian winter which defeats him. He retreats westward, his army all but wiped out, and has a final defeat at Waterloo. (11.59.00) = Absolute divine right monarchy continues. Alexander of Russia vows to fight any revolution anywhere, rules to 1820s. Nicholas I rules until 1850s, promotes modernization. Alexander II is a moderate reformer. Serfdom is abolished in 1860s as backward. Serfs now become peasants, legally free but their daily life remains repressive. (17.14.00) = Opposition. Russian secret police effectively crush opposition. The Nihilist Movement sees no hope for future improvement, has no program, spawns terrorism based on hopelessness. The Czar is targeted and is ultimately killed. Alexander III now rules, brings a more repressive regime. (20.09.00) = Marxism and 19th Century. Marxist beliefs. Marxism is based on the belief that capitalism must reach the peak of its development at which time the proletariat takes over and distributes its products more equitably. Underground Marxist Party is a vanguard for change. The Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. A split occurs with the Mensheviks (minority) believing that revolution is in the future after a long term struggle. Bolsheviks (majority) led by Lenin believe that Russia's backwardness is irrelevant for its goal to make its revolution as quickly as possible. They are a small, tight knit professional revolutionary party. Their decision making is based on free and open debate with majority rules, after which they then must all abide by its decision. In later practice, the membership follows Lenin's decisions in a curtailed process. (30.48.00) = Society and culture. Music and literature have a more national identity, with a rising nationalistic awareness. A cultural flowering despite repression. Great literature is always a resistance art. (35.05.00) = Capitalism. Absolute divine right monarchy still exists until early 20th century. The beginnings of capitalism and modernism, resisted by the nobles, is slow to develop. (36.19.00) = Europe's view of Russia. England and France form alliance with Russia as a way of boxing in Germany. (39.28.00) = Russo-Japanese War. Japan rises as a significant power in the 1890s. Tension between Japan and Russia over a Pacific territorial splinter. Japan wins an easy victory. (44.09.00) = Russian Revolution. The 1905 revolution. The Czar quickly grants the Duma. The army is loyal to the Czar and the revolution fails. Most of the population rarely blames the Czar after the palace guards fire on the demonstrators, revering him as a father figure. (49.21.00) = World War I. In the summer of 1914 Archduke Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated. Austria is allied with Germany. Russia mobilizes troops on the German border. Germany declares war on Russia. England declares war on Germany. The war begins. Paris is not taken. Trench warfare becomes a war of attrition with officers ordering suicidal attacks against machine guns. The Russian army is poorly prepared and is defeated. While the Czar is at the front, his wife Czarina Alexandra runs the government and falls under the spell of Rasputin, further undermining the government. The first revolution breaks out early in 1917. Russian Revolution (continued). The Kerensky government. The war is going badly. The bourgeoisie decide the Czar must go. Czar Nicholas II abdicates. Aleksandr Kerensky represents capitalist interests, decides to continue the disastrous war. The bourgeoisie, linked to England and France, want Russia to stay in the war. (2.38.00) = The Bolshevik coup. Lenin returns to Russia from exile in Germany. The Bolsheviks are highly organized, use the slogan, "Land, Peace, Bread," which is very appealing to the peasants. The Bolsheviks seize power in the fall of 1917, and sign peace with Germany, giving up territory (10.53.00) = The Civil War, 1918-1921. . Attempting to destroy the Bolsheviks, 5 Russian armies supported by Western countries attack Russia from all sides. They want Russia to stay in the war, but also oppose Marxism as a profound threat to capitalism. Leon Trotsky leads the Red Army, using the mobility of troop trains, defeats all of them one at a time. U.S. troops occupy Russian areas. (19.00.00) = War Communism. Faced with immediate crisis, the Bolsheviks take complete control. Expressing their fury against the autocracy, the peasants support the Bolsheviks. The Czar and his family become prisoners, are executed. (25.11.00) = Russia's devastation. Russia is a wasteland from the destruction of World War I, the Civil War, and being hard hit by the world-wide influenza pandemic. (26.43.00) = Hope for revolutions elsewhere. The Russian Revolution attempts to jump over the capitalist phase and go directly to the proletarian phase. Lenin hopes his revolution will be joined by Bolshevik-type revolutions in Germany and other more developed countries, and would then help out the more backward Russia. (27.47.00) = Stalinist Russia. After the Civil War. Russia is alone, surrounded by hostile leadership in the capitalist world, has only a small tight knit dictatorial party. The New Economic Policy of 1921-1928 is a mixed economy, part socialist, part capitalist. Exiled capitalists are reluctant to return. (34.15.00) = Lenin dies January 1924 at the age of 53, following an attempted assassination and a series of strokes. His logical successor is Leon Trotsky, who is brilliant, has broad interests, but lacks political skills. Joseph Stalin, who is not worldly or charismatic, but is a master politician, becomes Lenin's successor. Trotsky advocates a struggle for world revolution. Stalin's message is to build socialism in one country. Trotsky is forced into exile and eventually assassinated in 1940. industrialization. series of 5 year plans after 1928 force industrialization and collectivization of agriculture into state farms run by the government, as quickly as possible. Millions are forced to the cities from farms. The effort is geared to make machines which make machines, not consumer goods. Russia achieves in 10 years what England and the U.S. took 50 years to achieve. Without this rapid industrial growth Russia would probably have been defeated in World War II. Yet it was an extremely brutal process, additionally brutal because of Stalin's nature. Peasants who resist the Stalin program, including the Kulacs are destroyed by Stalin. (9.48.08) = The Purge Trials of the mid-to-late 1930s. This wipes out the original brilliant generation of Bolsheviks and some capable generals. Accused of being Hitler's agents and of sabotage, they all confess, possibly because of their rock bottom belief that the Party is always right. An element of anti-Semitism is also evident. (13.27.00) = International view of Russia. Capitalist countries blockade Russia. Stalin offers advice to Communist parties of other countries based on Russia's interests, often with disastrous results for them. For example, Stalin advises the Chinese Communists to cooperate with the government, and the Communists there are all but wiped out. The American Communist Party cannot duplicate Russia's experience because of our democratic institutions. (19.58.00) = Prelude to World War II. Nazi Germany comes to power and arms for war in 1933. Unopposed, Germany marches into the Rhineland and the Saar, later seizes Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland.. The Spanish Civil War rebels are helped by Germany and Italy. The loyalists are helped by Russia but not the Western democracies. England and the U.S. prefer Nazi Germany as a capitalist country, despite the horrors at home, as a bulwark against Russia. Rejected by the West, Russia buys time and shocks the world and other Communist parties in August 1939 by signing a non-aggression pact with Germany. Poland is divided up between them. (28.50.00) = World War II starts. Germany invades Poland September 1, 1939. England and France declare war on Germany. Germany conquers most of Europe including France in the spring of 1940. There is extensive bombing of England but no invasion. Germany invades Russia June 1941. Russia is unprepared, a major Stalin blunder. Germany makes major advances. Scorched earth tactics and retreat by Russia. Defeat seems inevitable. (32.04.00) = Stalingrad is turning point. . In the winter of 1942-1943 a major German army is defeated and almost wiped out by the Red Army and the Russian winter. The Germans are pushed back out eventually to Europe. (34.37.00) = Russia's Western allies. Churchill accepts Russia as an ally to oppose a common enemy. Russia fights 80% of the German army, pleads for a second front to relieve that pressure but the second front comes in June 1944 and only after the Stalingrad victory. (38.15.00) = Russian invasion of Manchuria. The Yalta conference is held early in 1945 to decide how to divide up the smaller countries. FDR asks Stalin's help in the war with Japan. Stalin promises to move against the major Japanese army in Manchuria 3 months after victory in Europe. On August 8th Russia declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria exactly as promised, but 2 days earlier the U.S. drops the atomic bomb on Japan. The atomic bomb was not a reality when FDR approached Stalin for help with Japan. (44.00.00) = The Cold War. Beginning of the Cold War. Harry Truman becomes U.S. President after FDR dies in April, 1945, authorizes the atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan. This is viewed as a way of avoiding the invasion of Japan. This can also be seen as the opening salvo of the Cold War. In his memoir, James Byrnes, then Secretary of State, says the bomb was a political warning to Russia to behave itself in East Europe. Russia occupies and strips Manchuria, then hands it over to Chang Kai-Chek of China. There are various positions about whether Russia poses a threat or is entitled to a sphere of influence to protect its borders. (46.02.00) = The Cold War builds on itself. The Cold War economy benefits the U.S. Harsh occupation of East Europe. As the Cold War becomes harder, Stalin becomes harsher, using purges and promoting anti-Semitism. His grip on the Russian people remains strong to the end. (48.38.00) = Stalin dies in 1953. Nikita Khrushchev becomes Russian leader, begins the "thaw" by publicly revealing the extent of Stalin's crimes and brutalities. Revolts against Soviet rule in Hungary and Czechoslovakia are crushed by Russian tanks. (51.59.00) = The Cold War heightens. China becomes Communist in 1949. Russia explodes the atomic bomb also in 1949. Communism is depicted as a monolith centered in Russia. The 1950 Korean War is a civil war but is seen as part of the Russian agenda. The McCarthy era hysteria. (58.23.00) = Post-war Russia. There is life-long health care but the quality is questioned. There is full employment but choice is lacking. There is free education but students face severe testing for entry. There is cheap but shoddy housing. Food and consumer goods are available but not delivered. The Party leadership as a privileged class. Stifling atmosphere damages creative and intellectual efforts. (1.04.47.007) = The arms race. Russia can't keep up. Khrushchev falls from power. After Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev ascends to power, promotes openness and reform while retaining the socialist society, wishes to end the Cold War. (1.08.47.00) = The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Some say President Reagan caused the collapse by the arms race stress, but the economic collapse had already begun before that. (1.11.13.00) = Shock therapy. Boris Yeltsin comes to power, moves for instant change to capitalism. The guarantees of life are wiped out. There is incredible corruption and a small group of newly rich. Freedom loosens control and crime increases. Life span decreases. (1.14.08.00) = Present day Russia. Elections are rigged. Dictatorial conditions still exist from the days of the Czar. Russia becomes an economic basket case. The rise of ultranationalist voices against foreigners. Increased anti-Semitism, which has a long history in Russia. The abuse of nuclear power and Chernobyl. What has replaced communism is worse for the people. Russia is currently in great flux and uncertainty, remains an international world power.
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
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American Presidents Series: (11 lectures)
American Presidents Series Young Nation, Part 1: Selected theme: As the first constitutional president with no established guidelines to follow, what standards did Washington set which have very significant influence on future presidents of the US down to our time? Young Nation, Part 2: Selected theme: During Madison’s presidency what is the surprise ending of the disastrous War of 1812 which lets the US to ignore its lessons that come back to haunt the US in later generations? Sectionalism: Selected theme: Why is Lincoln’s election in 1860 a fluke, and how does President Buchanan’s ineptness in the period before Lincoln takes office profoundly affect the nature of the Civil War? Early Industrial Era: Selected theme: How is the election of 1876 stolen from Samuel Tilden, and why the Compromise of 1877, which is part of the deal, all but ends the moral issue of concern for the ex-slaves? Progressive Era, Part 1: Selected theme: After winning “that splendid little war,” the Spanish-American War, how did the terms, “concentration camp” and “pacification” first emerge in the brutal 2 year Filipino guerilla war against US occupation? Progressive Era, Part 2: Selected theme: At the outbreak of World War I, why does President Wilson’s call for U.S. neutrality in thought as well as action can be seen as somewhat dishonest and open to question? Depression, Part 1: Selected theme is: What tarnishes President Hoover’s large reputation as a humanitarian in his role as head of the distribution of food to starving Europeans after World War I? Depression, Part 2: Selected theme: Why does the statement that it is only the start of World War II that ends the Depression, have profound meaning for that time, and for all time of history from that day to this? Hot War & Cold War, Part 1. Selected theme: What is the argument, which has profound moral implications, that President Truman used the atomic bombs against Japan for other than military reasons? Hot War & Cold War, Part 2. Selected theme is: In Vietnam, what did President Kennedy do that President Eisenhower would not do, and what was the turning point early in the war that led to escalation? America as Superpower: Selected theme: Why are the 1980s, associated with the Reagan presidency, a vital turning point in U.S. history, and its events color our nation to the present day and into the future? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
American Wars Series (9 Lectures)
American Wars Series American Revolution: Selected theme: What is the turning point in the relations between the American Colonies and the mother country which leads to the American Revolution? Civil War Part 1: Selected theme: After the Declaration of Independence fails to abolish slavery, and the Constitution institutionalizes it, what invention transforms slavery from “a necessary evil” to “a positive good” as seen by the South? Civil War Part 2: Selected theme: By what twist of fate brings Lee’s army to Gettysburg, and what are the mindsets of the opposing generals that severely undercut the battle’s outcome for both sides? World War 1: Selected theme is: What are the features of the series of European alliances that are the most responsible for leading to World War I? World War II, Part 1: Selected theme: What are the post-World War I economic forces which are crucial to the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany? World War II, Part 2: Selected theme: Why is the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II an issue of race and not an issue of national security? Vietnam War, Part 1: Selected theme: What Vietnamese historical background underlies the Vietnam War, including the Versailles Treaty and Ho Chi Minh’s connection with it? Vietnam War, Part 2: Selected theme: What makes the Tet offensive a turning point in the Vietnam War and how does it have a significant impact on the American electorate for the future? War of 1812: Selected theme: What is the surprise ending of the disastrous War of 1812 which lets the U.S. to ignore its lessons that come back to haunt the U.S. in later generations? Mexican War: Selected theme: What are the roles of Texas and slavery in the South which underlie the Mexican War of 1836? Spanish-American War: Selected theme: During Cuba’s revolt against Spain in the late 1880s and early 1890s, what is the U.S. ultimatum to Spain which demonstrates that U.S. intervention is not based on moral grounds? Korean War: Selected theme: What is behind the decision to push north of the 38th parallel, leading to the disastrous entry of the Chinese, and why is it unfair to blame Gen. Douglas MacArthur? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Minorities in America Series: (8 lectures)
Minorities in America Series African-Americans--Civil Rights Period. Selected theme: Why is the landmark civil rights legislation started by President Johnson cut short, and what is the logic that social uprisings are seen not during times of despair, but instead when there is a spark of hope? African-Americans--Post-Slavery Era. Selected theme: Why, after Reconstruction ends, do blacks in the South find themselves in a situation significantly worse than slavery? African-Americans--The Slave Trade. Selected theme: Why do Europeans turn away from Native Americans and instead toward Africans as the needed slave labor force to exploit the wealth of the Americas? African-Americans-- Slavery in America. Selected theme: What are the forms of resistance, impact, and leverage available to slaves to help alleviate some of the worst aspects of slavery? Native Americans: Selected theme. Why is the popular concept of Native Americans as a perfect utopian society all but destroyed by European settlers, a myth? Women in America-- Colonial Period Through the Civil War. Selected theme: Beyond moral issues, why do the women behind the temperance movement deserve to be treated with much respect Women in America-- Early Industrial Era Through Women’s Suffrage. Selected theme: What is the contrast between the role of the Italian immigrant women and Jewish immigrant women in the early Industrial Era? Women in America-- Women’s Rights in the Modern Era. Selected theme: In what way can the women’s liberation movement also be seen a a men’s liberation movement? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Regions of the U.S. Series: (8 lectures)
Regions of the U.S. Series North, Part 1: Selected theme: How is capitalism combined with religion a dominant factor in the northeast colonies from the very beginning period of this country? North, Part 2: Selected theme: What is the economic basis for the increasing antagonism between the North and the South in the pre-Civil War period? South, Part 1: Selected theme: Why, other than moral differences, does slavery develop mainly in the South rather than in the North, and what mythology does the master class of the South develop about itself? South, Part 2: Selected theme: What are the differences among the abolitionists in their views of what is to become of the ex-slaves after the Civil War? South, Part 3: Selected theme: How does romanticizing the pre-Civil War South, the image of “Lost Cause,” and perpetuation of racial values after Reconstruction, impact on future political forces in the U.S. through the 20th century? Midwest: Selected theme: How does the Erie Canal change U.S. history in terms of the economic link of the Midwest to the South, and the impact of this change on the Civil War? West, Part 1: Selected theme: Contrary to popular myths, what is the surprising diversity of Native Americans in the West? West, Part 2: Selected theme: What is the reason the Great Plains farmers in the West are in a form of economic depression starting back in about 1921, and so are hit especially hard by the Great Depression of the 1930s? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
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Politics & Society in 20th Century America Series: (10 lectures)
Politics & Society in 20th Century America Progressive Era, Part 1. Selected theme: Teddy Roosevelt as ”Trust Buster” – the image and the reality Progressive Era, Part 2. Selected theme: In the Jim Crow era, the sharply contrasting views for African-Americans advocated by Booker T. Washington, who comes from a rural South background, and W. E. B. Du Bois, who is urban and highly educated. Roaring 20s, Part 1. Selected theme: The immigrants who come by the millions since the late 1800s as cheap labor for the factories are from south and eastern Europe. They are very different from typical Americans, and despised. Roaring 20s, Part 2. Selected theme: Combination of heroes. There is Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, but also, Benito Mussolini who thwarts radicals and who represents order. Depression 30s & World War, Part 1. Selected theme: Why is it so crucial to understand that it is WWII that ended the Great Depression, and not the New Deal programs? Depression 30s & World War, Part 2. Selected theme: Why the Russian Revolution has no chance of being duplicated here during this time. Hot War, Cold War. Selected theme: Contrary to common belief, the Cold War is started by the Truman administration. Activist 60s, Part 1. Selected theme: How does TV enter into the JFK-Nixon presidential campaign in a fundamental way? Activist 60s, Part 2. Selected theme: How is the Women's movement a threat to men and many women, as the Equal Rights Amendment is rejected? The Reagan 80s. Selected theme: What is the enormous effect of the rightward shift of the entire political spectrum, and what is the psychological impact of the great rapidity of change caused by technology? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Topics in American History Series: (14 lectres)
Topics in American History Series Agriculture, Part 1. Selected theme: What is the very significant impact of the building of the Erie Canal in the early 1800s on the dynamics of where farm products would go, the status of NYC, and ultimately the Civil War? Agriculture, Part 2. Selected theme: The Great Plains Dust Bowl due to lack of rain and misuse of farmland destroys farms, causes a great migration west. Dire conditions in the South causes migration to northern cities by blacks and whites who are often met with great hostility in the competition for jobs Business, Part 1. Selected theme: How is John D. Rockefeller able to create a benign image of himself after being responsible for such events as the Ludlow massacre in the 19-teens? Business, Part 2. Selected theme: Jim Crow Era begins. With the demise of the Populist Movement, the upper class whites win control of one-party South, and no longer need to vie with the lower class whites for the black vote. Business, Part 3. Selected theme: The Reagan revolution of 1980s. The "trickle-down" supply-side economics, windfall profits, investing overseas, risky loans, huge increase in military budget. Dwight Eisenhower's earlier warning of the military-industrial complex as a threat to American democracy. Constitution, Part 1. Selected theme: Why is the Dred Scott case in the 1850s such a crucial victory for slavery and the South? Constitution, Part 2. Selected theme: Crises of constitutional interpretation. Examples are World War One hysteria, internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War Two carried out although they were known at the time to not be a security threat. Immigration. Selected theme: In the new immigration from the South and eastern Europe what are the generational differences as seen in the dynamics of retaining tradition, assimilating to the new world, and rediscovering old ethnic roots? Labor, Part 1. Selected theme: What is the wide range of ways workers respond to the abysmal living and working conditions of the Early Industrial Era in America? Labor, Part 2. Selected theme: President Theodore Roosevelt is erroneously seen as champion of labor for his role in settling the violent and bitter anthracite coal strike of 1902. The workers win only the restoration of cut wages. Roosevelt's motivation is the need of coal by industries and for home heating, not the workers' cause. Political Parties, Part 1. Selected theme: Why can’t the new Republican Party of 1854 be called the anti-slavery party? Political Parties, Part 2. Selected theme: Reagan wants deregulation and limited government role in general but also wants strong government to intervene in moral issues. He espouses fiscal responsibility but hypes military budget into huge deficits. Religion, Part 1. Selected theme: What is Deism, the acknowledged religious belief of many of America’s founding fathers, and how does it manifest itself in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights? Religion, Part 2. Selected theme: Slaves, with their animism brought from West Africa, are seen as not worthy of Christianity. A shift in the 1800s to conversion as a way to control the slaves by sermon to obey the master. ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Ancient & Medieval Worlds Series: (6 lectures)
Ancient and Medieval Worlds Early Humans. Selected theme: How does the invention of the plow result in men displacing women in agriculture, transforming a matriarchal society into a patriarchal one?. Ancient Greece. Selected theme: How does Salon’s Code, intended to placate from sedition against the nobles, lead to increased wars in ancient Greece, and how does this code relate to our current legal system? Ancient Rome . Selected theme: What political and economic structures do the early Roman republic use to keep the multitude of peasants happy so they do not revolt against the ruling nobles? Ancient Israel. Selected theme: After northern Israel is conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the remainder conquered in 586 BC, why do the Jews survive without a homeland and do not disappear as do multitudes of other groups who are conquered over time? Origins of Christianity. Selected theme: How did Paul, the greatest missionary in building of Christianity, effectively appeal to the masses who live in great misery?: Medieval World. Selected theme: What explains the profound backwardness, population stagnation, and the cities all but disappearing during Medieval Europe? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Modern European History Series: (7 lectures)
Modern European History Series Making of Modern Europe: Selected theme: In what ways do a new form of economic and social system, capitalism, emerge as part of the new modern age? Imperialism Part 1: Selected theme: After World War I, what are the contrasting positions held by U.S. leaders about the League of Nations and its potential role in future U.S. foreign Policy, and which are not based on moral ideals? Imperialism Part 2: Selected theme: Why does Stalin succeed Lenin instead of Trotsky, Lenin’s choice, and what are Lenin’s misgivings about Stalin and the revolution at the end of his life? Rise of Fascism Part 1: Selected theme: How does Western neutrality doom the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War, and also sets the stage for World War II? Rise of Fascism Part 2: Selected theme: Why is Stalingrad the turning point in the Allied decision to launch a second front, the Normandy invasion, long requested by Russia which is fighting 80% of the German army, and for reasons other than military? Post-War Part 1: Selected theme: During the Cold War Era when the U.S. broadcasts continually urge Eastern European countries to rise up against Soviet control, what is the U.S. response to the Hungarian Revolt of October 1956? Post-War Part 2: Selected theme is: How do the conflicts within European countries concerning the European Union reflect both their fears and hopes in today’s world? ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
Revolutions Series: (7 lectures)
Revolutions Series American Revolution: Selected theme: The turning point in relations between colonies and the mother country leading to the American Revolution. French Revolution: Selected theme: Why the Enlightenment is not suppressed, its role in the French Revolution, and implications for our time. Industrial Revolution: Sample theme: How children are exploited as workers in mines and factories during the industrial revolution era. Chinese Revolution, Part 1: Sample theme: Premises of ancient China are the basis of both its strength over 7,000 years and its later weakness. Chinese Revolution, Part 2: Sample theme: Why Mao’s Cultural Revolution & Great Leap Forward have the opposite outcome from that intended. Russian Revolution, Part 1: Sample theme: Why Lenin views Russia as the least likely country for a communist revolution. Russian Revolution, Part 2: Sample theme: Why Gorbachev’s role is more significant than Reagan’s in ending the Cold War. ***Please contact Member Services for additional documents***
Eugene Lieber (Author), Eugene Lieber (Narrator)
Audiobook
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