History Accounts
138 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsI want to tell my account of history. History is not about the past. History is about the future.
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Episodes
6-9. Paper Son
March 15, 2024 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to vio...
6-8. Angel Island/The Landmark Wong Kim Ark Decision
March 01, 2024 07:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to vio...
6-7. Scott and Geary Acts
February 16, 2024 07:00 - 19 minutes - 13.5 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to vio...
6-6. Canada and Mexico
February 02, 2024 07:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to vio...
6-5. Smuggling, Illegal Immigration, and Enforcement
January 19, 2024 07:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, ...
6-4. Chinese Exclusion Act
January 05, 2024 07:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to vio...
6-3. Burlingame Treaty and Anti-Chinese Fervor
December 22, 2023 07:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MBChinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese p...
6-2. Gold Rush and the Pacific Railroad Act
December 08, 2023 07:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violenc...
6-1. Early American Naturalization and Immigration History
November 24, 2023 07:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBPaper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, e...
5-15. Collapse
October 21, 2022 06:00 - 17 minutes - 11.9 MBAfter the war, earnest efforts were made to form a coalition government with the Guomindang and the communists. When that failed the civil war between the two rekindled. The roughly three-year extension of the civil war saw the collapse of the Nanjing government and the Nationalists’ control of China. Eventually leading to in 1949, the inauguration of the Peoples Republic of China, by the communists, and the Nationalists’ flight to Taiwan. Support the show
5-14. Unsettled
October 07, 2022 06:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBThe war with Japan devastated the Nanjing Government, her military, and China. The Nationalists had survived the war and still remained in power. Their failures, however, particularly late in the war, and at the nation’s greatest time of need, were fateful. The open, unhealed wound of the issues with the Communist was one of the fateful consequences of the Nationalists’ failures. Efforts failed to find a peaceful solution between the two, including a coalition-led government. The war ...
5-13. Victory
September 23, 2022 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14.4 MBThe Sino-Japanese War ends. Japan’s surrender, a momentous event, also ended World War II. A victory certainly for China and the Allied Powers. It left, however, many geo-political questions and issues. The war with Japan also exposed to the world the deteriorated condition of the Nationalist military forces, the Nanjing Government, and China. The victory also did not resolve the open, unhealed sore between the Chinese Nationalist and the Chinese Communist. By 1945, the Americans bega...
5-12. Ichigo
September 09, 2022 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14.3 MBChina’s war against Japan eventually merged into the greater world war. Particularly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan became a central concern to the Allies, especially the United States. Soon after the Japanese began their war against China, it had planned to pacify and consolidate the territory she had gained in China. However, largely unsuccessful, by 1942, she had bigger issues with the Allies’ efforts against her in the Pacific. That did not deter her from successfully laun...
5-11. Illusion?
August 26, 2022 06:00 - 19 minutes - 13.6 MBDid the second united front between the Nationalists and the Communists solidly meld the two sides together, or was that merely an illusion? We find out in this episode. By 1939, the United States was loaning money to the Nationalist government. There was no appetite by the western nations to pursue appeasement with Japan as they had toward Germany. In 1940, Japan became part of the Axis Powers. China joined in with the western Allied Powers. The Sino-Japanese War merged with the gre...
5-10. Japan
August 12, 2022 06:00 - 23 minutes - 15.9 MBThe second Sino-Japanese War began in July 1937. Which side started it can be debated. We do know it was an eight-year horror show. It would overlap and influence the coming second world war. The opening actions of the Japanese war saw terrible human casualties. These portended what was coming. In this episode I focus on the opening phases of the war. I end the episode with a question or thought. What group benefited the most from the disastrous events of the Sino-Japanese War? Supp...
5-9. Preparations
July 29, 2022 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MBThe relatively short time span from 1927, after the Nationalists’ creation of the Nanjing Government, to 1937, at the start of the Sino-Japanese war, makes it difficult to evaluate that government. Today, there are mixed views. During a portion of that same time span, Japan tried to solidify their physical and international control of Manchuria. Protective and restive about their position, Japan sought to expand its empire further into China. That inevitably forced a confrontation with t...
5-8. Communists
July 15, 2022 06:00 - 23 minutes - 15.9 MBBeginning in 1927, Mao Zedong and Zhu De grew the Communist Red Army from a small force of maybe 5,000 troops to over 250,000 troops by 1933. Despite the progressive antagonism and military attacks by the Nationalist forces, the communist learned to recruit for their party primarily from the peasants and the farmers. They even formed a State within a State called the Chinese Soviet Republic. It existed mostly in the southeast regions of China. There the Chinese communist party and the Red...
5-7. Manchuria
July 01, 2022 06:00 - 23 minutes - 15.9 MBIf the 1920 decade was not enough drama, stay tuned for the even more dramatic 1930s. The decade tested the new Nationalist government in Nanjing, its leader, Chiang Kai-shek, and China. Internationalism was tossed. Ever so visible with Japan’s aggression toward China. Beginning in 1931 with the Mukden Incident Japan began its campaign to seize complete control of Manchuria. Eventually renaming the region Manchukuo and intending to push farther into China. Support the show
5-6. Unity
June 17, 2022 06:00 - 19 minutes - 13.6 MBThe new National government in Nanjing begins. For most of its existence it was led by Chiang Kai-Shek and his Guomindang cadre. Many parts of China were united for the first time since 1916. It was an uneasy unity facing many challenges both immediately and in the future. Chiang Kai-Shek would eventually emerge as an autocratic, powerful, and dynamic leader. He would face great challenges. Some of those were economic and political as well as from Japan, warlords, and the Chinese Comm...
5-5. Nationalism
June 03, 2022 06:00 - 19 minutes - 13.7 MBThere were many reasons for the Peking (Beiyang) government’s failure. Its fecklessness led to the organization and planning of the massive nationalist campaign in China in the 1920s. Its goal was to unify China and expel or neutralize foreign intrusion and interference. Russia ironically played a large role. Through the merger of the Guomindang Nationalists and the Communists, the government in Peking was cast out. Chiang Kai-Shek emerges during this period as a key leader. He led the...
5-4. Colloquy
May 20, 2022 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBThe May 4, 1919, demonstrations (or revolution, as it is referred to sometimes) opened a public discourse in China over the nation’s past and future direction. It was partially precipitated by the betrayal China received from the Paris Peace Conference. The Chinese nationalist and communist movements, so prevalent in the next decade, can probably trace their roots to the iconic May 4th event. The multi-national Washington (D.C.) Naval Conference in late 1921 and early 1922, tried to addr...
5-3. War
May 06, 2022 06:00 - 24 minutes - 17.1 MBAfter Yuan Shikai’s death in 1916, the next twelve years pitted regional warlords against each other for control of the national government. This period of time is known as the Beiyang Warlord Era. China only had limited involvement in World War I. Japan used the war’s distraction to strengthen and gain her foothold in China. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919, ended the fighting in Europe. During the negotiations China had discovered it had been betrayed by the western nations, Japan, ...
5-2. Uncertainty
April 22, 2022 06:00 - 22 minutes - 15.5 MBSpring of 1912, and Yuan Shikai is the first president of the Republic of China. He was given considerable powers, and quickly moved to consolidate it. The newly elected legislative assemblies, both national and provincial, were new political concepts to China. Whether or not any of this new concept would work depended on many factors and time. The Nationalists, or Guomindang, were the dominant political party. They soon, however, found themselves in dispute against the president, Yuan ...
5-1. Beginning
April 08, 2022 06:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBThe roughly forty-year period, between the fall of the imperial Qing Dynasty to the inauguration of the People’s Republic of China, is a complex, confusing, and ambiguous era in the history of China. The era is defined by powerful and violent foreign influence in China and intense and violent Chinese nationalism. I begin this episode near the end of the Qing Dynasty and the ushering in of its replacement the Republic of China in 1912. The early key protagonists in this story are Yuan Sh...
Season 5: Introduction to Post Imperial China
March 25, 2022 06:00 - 4 minutes - 2.9 MBThis series will cover the roughly 40-to-50-year period of Chinese history. It will cover the waning years of the imperial Qing Dynasty to the inauguration of Communist China and the Chinese Nationalist resettlement on Taiwan. A fascinating and complex period of time. Support the show
4-14. Ideologues
March 11, 2022 07:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBA final word about (and lessons from) each of the revolutions. Support the show
4-13. New Masters
February 25, 2022 07:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBBy 1797, the second Directory already had a bad reputation and was mistrusted. It was viewed as corrupt and needed the military to support its continued existence. The public had turned against the Directory. In desperation, a coup d’état was planned. Its main author a fellow by the name of Abbe Sieyes. In collaboration with Napoleon Bonaparte, the military, and others, the Coup of Brumaire in 1799, ousted the existing French government and installed a provisional government run by a Napo...
4-12. Not a One Time Event
February 11, 2022 07:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MBThe Jacobins unsuccessfully stage a coup d’état in a final attempt to restore their political power in France. By the late 1790’s, France was ready to move away from their radical message. A new government was elected. A new Directory took its seat. The European wars ground on. Napoleon Bonaparte, now an accomplished and famous figure, proposed to invade Egypt to economically damage their English adversaries in retaliation for England’s blockade of France. China’s educational system ...
4-11. Inventing the End
January 28, 2022 07:00 - 24 minutes - 16.8 MBBy the fall of 1794, the Reign of Terror was ending. France had turned anti-Jacobin. The terror and tyranny offered by them was no longer seen as productive. In 1795, the new French Constitution was adopted and the new government seated. The new legislature was bi-cameral. The executive functions of the nation to be run by a Directory. The land war in Europe had once again turned in favor of France. The English naval blockade, however, was working effectively. Shortages began to appe...
4-10. Revolutions Cannot Be Made
January 14, 2022 07:00 - 24 minutes - 17.2 MBBy 1793, The War of (or in) the Vendee region (in France) exploded into a major counter revolution/insurrection against the French Revolution. With the European war also going bad, the Committee of Public Safety took drastic measures to stop the insurrections. In the fall of 1793, the former Queen Marie Antoinette met the same fate as her husband had nine months earlier. Public opinion of the Jacobins began to turn against them and by the summer of 1794, one of its chief architects and v...
4-9. Revolution is an Abrupt Change
December 31, 2021 07:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MBBy early 1793, parts of France were beginning to heat up with counter-revolutions opposing the conditions many faced. In rural France the opposition continued to grow and would later escalate into the War of the Vendee. Partially in response, the National Assembly, now firmly under the control of the radical Jacobin Party, created the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee would soon be ushering in the Reign of Terror. Meanwhile, France continued to prosecute the war in Europe. The th...
4-8. Kicking In a Rotten Door
December 17, 2021 07:00 - 21 minutes - 15 MBThe warnings given to the French in 1791 and 1792 by the other European powers were seen as a declaration of war. The radical National Assembly declared war on Austria. Prussia soon joined with Austria. In 1792, the allied forces invaded France. Despite the French military force’s early setbacks in the invasion, they did manage a large victory in the fall of 1792, and stopped the invaders at the Battle of Varmy, France. By then the Jacobins had joined with other radical factions, such ...
4-7. Never the Fault of the People
December 03, 2021 07:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MBThe French King and his family attempt to flee France but are quickly discovered and returned to Paris. Concern for their safety led to the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791. It urged European powers to intervene in France on behalf of the beleaguered King and Royal Family. The French took it as a declaration of war. The summer of 1791, saw the Massacre of Champ de Mars in Paris. In the fall of 1791, the National Assembly finally adopted and push out the first French Constitution. During ...
4-6. Not in White Gloves
November 19, 2021 07:00 - 21 minutes - 15 MBFrance confiscates church property in an effort to help pay for the nation's expenses and debt. The National Assembly forces the clergy to sign loyalty oaths, and imposes additional church reforms. These cause a schism in the church and with the the nation. The National Assembly continues to assiduously work toward a National Constitution. Meanwhile, the nation's fiscal affairs continue to deteriorate. The period of 1790 thru 1791, sees the rise of political clubs and factions within t...
4-5. Thunderbolts
November 05, 2021 06:00 - 24 minutes - 17.1 MBFrom the earliest moments of the revolution, France radically changed, and there was no going back. The summer of 1789, brought the Great Fear and marked a particularly violent, dramatic, and notable period. These events led to the August decrees promulgated by the National Assembly. In a whirlwind session, the Assembly adopted a series of documents that would define the revolution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the abolition of feudalism, and ending aristocratic ...
4-4. Revolution is an Insurrection
October 22, 2021 06:00 - 22 minutes - 15.3 MBBy June 1789, what was initially convened as the Estates General had recast itself as the National Assembly. The King tried to prevent the Assembly Deputies from meeting. They defied the attempt and met in the King's Tennis Court. There they all took the Tennis Court Oath vowing to continue and never disperse. In July 1789, a Paris mob stormed and took the Bastille. The Chinse Communist Party published the "16 Articles" in August 1966. The Articles publicly explained the Culture Re...
4-3. Struggle to the Death
October 08, 2021 06:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBIt is difficult to pin down the moment or event the French Revolution began. It may had been the King’s edict to convene the Estates General in May 1789. Once the Estates General convened, it may had been the failure of that body to come to a consensus of how it would count votes on measures before it. Nonetheless, the august Estates General finally convened to consider the crown’s tax and fiscal proposal. The assembly of the Estates General would ultimately turn out unpredictable and go...
4-2. Failure
September 24, 2021 06:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBAssisting the Americans in the War of Independence proved a costly decision for France. The nation’s failure to adequately address the desperate and worsening financial situation led it to near bankruptcy. The King reluctantly agreed to convene the Estates General to approve a sweeping tax proposal to raise revenues. Following in the heels of the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the Four Clean Ups Campaign is pushed out in another failed attempt to achieve a communist utopia. Desperately M...
4-1. Spark
September 10, 2021 06:00 - 20 minutes - 13.8 MBI begin telling the stories of the two revolutions. All revolutions need a spark to begin. For France, the spark was the crushing poverty and starvation. Mismanagement plunged France toward bankruptcy. For China, the spark was the disaster of the Great Leap Forward. China’s leader was troubled by the nation’s political and social direction. Support the show
Season 4: Introduction to A Parallel: The Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution
August 27, 2021 06:00 - 5 minutes - 3.54 MBThis new series is a parallel study of both the Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution. Both revolutions are presented side by side without comparison. The revolutions’ chronological timelines are synchronized with the other. This is something different and unique. An entertaining way to learn about each of these two enormous historical events. Support the show
Introduction to A Parallel: The Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution
August 27, 2021 06:00 - 5 minutes - 3.54 MBThis new series is a parallel study of both the Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution. Both revolutions are presented side by side without comparison. The revolutions’ chronological timelines are synchronized with the other. This is something different and unique. An entertaining way to learn about each of these two enormous historical events.
3-11. Red Turbans
August 13, 2021 06:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBWhat began as a largely sectarian movement in northern China in the 1330s, became the massive, diverse, eventually violent and destructive Red Turban Rebellions. Zhu Yuanzhang emerged as the central leader and chased the Mongols out of China in 1368, and ending the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang became the first emperor (Hongwu) of the Ming Dynasty. The Yuan Emperor fled China. He died in 1370, in Mongolia. Support the show
3-10. Last Emperor
July 30, 2021 06:00 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MBThe history chronology continues. The thirteen year old Toghon Temur is enthroned (in 1333) as Emperor Huizong of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty. His reign the last and the longest of any of the Yuan emperors. The Mongols faced many pressures in China. His reign is noted for the local fiefdoms asserting themselves throughout China. While the emperor had capable advisors, the fiscal and political pressures in China were overwhelming. The Red Turban movements grew and would become a deciding ...
3-9. Yuan Brand and Mark
July 16, 2021 06:00 - 18 minutes - 12.6 MBThe Yuan government and society was a unique experience for China. The Mongols always promoted trade and continued to do so as the rulers of China. China population estimates during the Yuan Dynasty are not firm. The available numbers, however, if true, point to serious population declines during the dynasty. The reasons for those declines raise speculation. Finally, the Mongol legacy in China is complicated and difficult to quantify. Support the show
3-8. Fratricide and More
July 02, 2021 06:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBThe War of Restoration concludes. Before it was over, one emperor disappeared, never heard from again, and another was assassinated. The Mid Yuan period of the Yuan Dynasty also concludes with the ascension of the last emperor, Toghon Temur. All told, nine emperors came and went during the thirty-nine year Mid Yuan period. Six of the nine emperors came to power only after violent or disputed events. Support the show
3-7. Regicide and More
June 18, 2021 06:00 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MBAs the history moves into the middle of the 14th century, the Dynasty enters into a volatile and dramatic period. Before this episode is finished four Great Khans/Chinese Emperors come to power in a little over eight years. This era is filled with regicide, coups d’état, betrayals, violent family clashes, and retribution. Support the show
3-6. The Two Brothers
June 04, 2021 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14.3 MBTemur Khan died without an heir and did not designate one. A violent succession conflict resulted among the royal princes. Eventually one of his nephews emerged from the conflict to take the throne of the Mongolian Empire and the Chinese Yuan Dynasty. He became Emperor Wuzong (or Kulug Khan). He made a pact with his younger brother, Ayurbarwada Buyantu, to succeed him. He became Emperor Renzong. Together the two brothers ruled China for thirteen years. The two of them could not have ...
3-5. Mid Yuan
May 21, 2021 06:00 - 18 minutes - 12.4 MBKubilai Khan's death without an heir to the Khanate and the Chinese Dynasty once again caused uncertainty over the regime, and fighting among his grandson's over the succession. Kubilai Khan's grandson, Temur, eventually ascended to the throne. The next thirty-nine years brought a rapid succession of nine emperors. Temur was a capable ruler. He made peace with the other warring Mongolian Khanates within the empire. He also left the administrative state's systems and structures in good ...
5. Mid Yuan
May 21, 2021 06:00 - 18 minutes - 12.4 MBKubilai Khan's death without an heir to the Khanate and the Chinese Dynasty once again caused uncertainty over the regime, and fighting among his grandson's over the succession. Kubilai Khan's grandson, Temur, eventually ascended to the throne. The next thirty-nine years brought a rapid succession of nine emperors. Temur was a capable ruler. He made peace with the other warring Mongolian Khanates within the empire. He also left the administrative state's systems and structures in good ...
4. Origin of the Universe
May 07, 2021 06:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MBThe Chinese Yuan Dynasty begins. Kubilai Khan and the Mongols reunite China for the first time in nearly four centuries. China became the biggest prize for the Mongolian Empire. Kubilai Khan brilliantly wove together Mongolian traditions and institutions with those of the Chinese. Despite the severe fiscal problems he caused, and his failures trying to subjugate Japan, he was a decent Emperor. Unfortunately, he died without leaving an heir or a designated successor.