Month: October 2020

214: 1919 – Germany V

Mark Podcast
Memorial service for Walther Rathenau, held at the German Reichstag.

Reparations payments started coming due in 1921. The German government, wrestling with inflation and debt, resisted payment from the beginning.

The German right opposed paying reparations altogether and condemned the national political leaders as the “November criminals.” Some centrist political figures were assassinated by the right.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 3
Composed in 1883 by Johannes Brahms. Public domain.
Performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

213: 1919 – Germany IV

Mark Podcast
A German Freikorps unit, bearing the military flag of the now-defunct German Empire, marches through Berlin during the Kapp Putsch of 1920.

When the Germans finally received the Treaty of Versailles, they were told to accept it as written, or else the Allies would restart the war.

It was a painful decision, but the National Assembly in Weimar approved the Treaty. Almost at once, they were denounced as traitors by the German right.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 5
Composed in 1808 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

212: 1919 – Germany III

Mark Podcast
Period US political cartoon expressing the view that Allied reparations demands were excessive.

If people know only one thing about the Treaty of Versailles, they know that it imposed heavy reparations payments on Germany.

In this episode, we look at why the Allies made these demands and whether they were as big a burden as the German government made them out to be.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Intermezzo No. 2
Composed in 1892 by Johannes Brahms. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.