The first year of collectivization was a wild time, even before the massive famine of 1932-33. The world of the peasantry was turned upside down, and modes of life that had predominated for generations were changed forever. And a bunch of people got deported and a band of Communist faithful showed up to lend a hand.    Bibliography for this episode:    Fitzpatrick, Sheila Stalin's Peasants: Resistance & Survival in the Russian Village After Collectivization Oxford University Press 1994 Lewin, Moshe Making the Soviet System: Essays in the Social History of Interwar Russia Pantheon Books 1985 Viola, Lynne The Best Sons of the Fatherland: Workers in the Vanguard of Soviet Collectivization Oxford University Press 1987 Kenez, Peter A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, 2nd Edition Cambridge University Press 2006   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The massive swing towards collectivized agriculture during the 1930s was one of the Soviet Union's most defining moments. Where the state had been previously weak in the countryside, the movement of the peasants onto the collective farms (the kolkhoz) changed that for the rest of the USSR's history. It also created dislocations and conflicts that will be at the heart of the next few weeks' worth of episodes.    Bibliography for this episode:    Allen, Robert C. Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution Princeton University Press 2003 Fitzpatrick, Sheila Stalin's Peasants: Resistance & Survival in the Russian Village After Collectivization Oxford University Press 1994 Lewin, Moshe Making the Soviet System: Essays in the Social History of Interwar Russia Pantheon Books 1985 Lewin, Moshe The Soviet Century Verso 2016 Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 Penguin Press 2017 Suny, Ronald Grigor The Cambridge History of Russia Volume III: The Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press 2006 Kenez, Peter A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, 2nd Edition Cambridge University Press 2006   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

The commencement of the 1st Five Year Plan in the USSR signaled quite a break from state policy as it was in the 20s. And by that, I mean kicking the NEP to the curb. This shift caused no small debate within the Soviet hierarchy, and Stalin would use the divisions as a wedge against his enemies.    Bibliography for this episode:    Allen, Robert C. Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution Princeton University Press 2003 Cohen, Stephen F. Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938 Oxford University Press 1980 Lewin, Moshe Making the Soviet System: Essays in the Social History of Interwar Russia Pantheon Books 1985 Lewin, Moshe The Soviet Century Verso 2016 Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 Penguin Press 2017   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

New miniseries! Today I begin covering the First Five Year Plan, the mother of all five year plans. You might have heard about them in places other than the USSR, you might even have one of your own. But there isn't anything like this one. I break down why the Plan was so central to Soviet history, as well as take time to introduce the supporting players on Stalin's team that were integral to actually executing the plan.    Bibliography for this episode:    Fitzpatrick, Shelia On Stalin's Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics Princeton University Press 2015 Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 Penguin Press 2017 Montefiore, Simon Sebag Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar Vintage Books 2005 Allen, Robert C. Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution Princeton University Press 2003   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today's episode is a double-conclusion as both the Long March and this miniseries come to a close. The northern course of the March was more notable for adverse climates and geography, which was probably worse than what the Nationalists could throw at them.    Bibliography for this episode:    Short, Philip Mao, A Life Henry Holdt and Company LLC 1999 Wilson, Dick The Long March 1935: The Epic of Chinese Communism's Survival The Viking Press 1971 Chung-gi, Kwei The Kuomintang-Communist Struggle in China 1922-1949 Martinus Nihoff 1970 Yang, Benjamin From Revolution to Politics: Chinese Communists on the Long March Routledge 2021 Po-cheng, Liu Recalling the Long March Foreign Language Press Peking 1978 Salisbury, Harrison E. The Long March: The Untold Story Macmillan 1985 Lai, Benjamin The Long March 1934-35: The Rise of Mao and the Beginning of Modern China Osprey 2019   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

By autumn 1934 it was clear that the Communists could not stay in southeast China. The solution was to step out for a walk, a long one.    Bibliography for this episode:    Short, Philip Mao, A Life Henry Holdt and Company LLC 1999 Wilson, Dick The Long March 1935: The Epic of Chinese Communism's Survival The Viking Press 1971 Chung-gi, Kwei The Kuomintang-Communist Struggle in China 1922-1949 Martinus Nihoff 1970 Yang, Benjamin From Revolution to Politics: Chinese Communists on the Long March Routledge 2021 Po-cheng, Liu Recalling the Long March Foreign Language Press Peking 1978 Salisbury, Harrison E. The Long March: The Untold Story Macmillan 1985 Lai, Benjamin The Long March 1934-35: The Rise of Mao and the Beginning of Modern China Osprey 2019   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Switching gears in China, today I switch to covering Mao and the CPC's misadventures in southern China. The stretch of time between the end of the 20s and the start of the Long March were filled with false starts and missed opportunities as competing interests among the Communists squandered the victories over Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement campaigns.    Bibliography for this episode:    Short, Philip Mao, A Life Henry Holdt and Company LLC 1999 Fairbannk, John K & Albert Feuerwerker The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 2 Cambridge University Press 1983 Wilson, Dick The Long March 1935: The Epic of Chinese Communism's Survival The Viking Press 1971 Chung-gi, Kwei The Kuomintang-Communist Struggle in China 1922-1949 Martinus Nihoff 1970   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

OK, so there's a lot more to this episode than the Xi'an Incident, but it's the most dramatic. Other than that, we've got secret societies, half-baked ideologies, and the false impression that things could get better in KMT China.    Bibliography for this episode:    Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1 Cambridge University Press 1983 Fairbannk, John K & Albert Feuerwerker The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 2 Cambridge University Press 1983 Sheridan, James E. China in Disintegration: The Republican Era in Chinese History 1912-1949 Macmillian Publishing Co, Inc 1975 Taylor, Jay The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China Harvard University Press 2011 Wakeman Jr, Frederick Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service University of California Press 2003   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

With the Japanese outright occupying Chinese territory, Chiang Kai-shek had to move fast. A war was guaranteed, but preparations still needed to be made and domestic enemies still needed to be taken care of.    Bibliography for this episode:    Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1 Cambridge University Press 1983 Fairbannk, John K & Albert Feuerwerker The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 2 Cambridge University Press 1983 Sheridan, James E. China in Disintegration: The Republican Era in Chinese History 1912-1949 Macmillian Publishing Co, Inc 1975 Taylor, Jay The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China Harvard University Press 2011 Van de Ven, Hans J. War and Nationalism in China, 1925-1945 Routledge 2003 Qidong, Zheng A Brief History of Inflation in China Paths International Ltd 2013   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Today the focus shifts back to the misadventures of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nanjing government. The Central Plains War had been won, and it looked for the briefest of moments that things were going to be fine for them. Then the new campaigns against the Communists fell into disarray, and in September 1931 the Japanese invaded Manchuria. For Chiang, there would be no breaks. Ever.    Bibliography for this episode:    Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1 Cambridge University Press 1983 Fairbannk, John K & Albert Feuerwerker The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Part 2 Cambridge University Press 1983 Sheridan, James E. China in Disintegration: The Republican Era in Chinese History 1912-1949 Macmillian Publishing Co, Inc 1975 Taylor, Jay The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China Harvard University Press 2011 Van de Ven, Hans J. War and Nationalism in China, 1925-1945 Routledge 2003   Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected]