---

Fairy tales date back at least to medieval Germanic cultures, and probably date back much farther.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, fairy tales had been relegated to the realm of children’s entertainment, but the century would see them used in wholly new ways.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Les carnaval des animaux
Composed in 1886 by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Performed by the Seattle Youth Symphony and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Following the formation of the Second United Front, Communist units were integrated into the Nationalist Army. Some of these Communist units deliberately sought to provoke war between China and Japan.

An incident at the Marco Polo Bridge on 7 July 1937 triggered a confrontation between Japan and China. Chiang Kai-shek was no longer of a mind to back down, and so the incident led to a bloody eight-year war between China and Japan.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

陽關三疊 (Three Refrains on the Yang Pass Theme)
Composed in 1867 by 琴學入門 (Qinxue Rumen)
Performed by Charles R. Tsua and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

In China, frustrated military commanders actually kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek to force him to make peace with the Communists and unite against the Japanese invaders. In Japan, radical right-wing Army officers assassinated their enemies and attempted a coup.

The end results in China were a Second United Front and a new determination to resist the Japanese. In Japan, they were a strengthened determination to dominate East Asia. War is coming.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Hogaku
Composed and performed by Marco Randria and licensed from Pond5.com.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

The Spanish coup failed, but the rebel generals began a civil war against the Republic. Early efforts to take Madrid failed, but the Nationalists were on the advance everywhere else.

The Basque town of Guernica became world famous, following a brutal bombing by Spanish, German, and Italian aircraft.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Suite Española
Composed by Isaac Albéniz in 1886. Public domain.
Performed by Gordon Rowland. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Literature changed after the Great War. New writers emerged, famously dubbed “the lost generation” by Gertrude Stein, who challenged their literary elders.

Old conventions were out, replaced by new, more internalized, and more subjective ways of looking at the world.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“From Uncle Remus” from Woodland Sketches
Composed by Edward MacDowell in 1896. Public domain.
Performed by Jean Dubé and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Franklin Roosevelt went into the 1936 election confident, although he faced challenges from both the right and the left.

This was the first election in which pollsters used modern sampling techniques to predict the result. Some came quite close. Others, notably Literary Digest, flubbed.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Those Crazy Cats

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

The new leftist Popular Front government, elected in 1936, was aware that some in the military were plotting a coup and took steps to frustrate it.

Unfortunately for the government, the measures taken were insufficient and the coup began in July. It likely would have failed, were it not for assistance from Germany and Italy.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“El Pajarico”
Traditional. Public domain.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

King Alfonso XIII fled Spain in 1931, following the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic. By the end of the year, the new republic had a constitution and had elected a Cortes.

The sudden change caught the Spanish right wing off guard, but soon they were fighting back.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Danza from La vida breve
Composed in 1913 by Manuel de Falla. Public domain.
Performed by Carrie Rehkopf and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

British King George V celebrated his Silver Jubilee on May 6, 1935. Less than nine months later, he died, at the age of 70.

His eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, succeeded his father as Edward VIII. There were serious doubts about Edward’s commitment to the responsibilities of the Crown, doubts that soon grew into a constitutional crisis.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Minuet from The Wand of Youth
Composed in 1908 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

“Old One Hundredth”

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Hitler was quite popular in Germany in the early years of his rule. He got sacks of fan mail and drew crowds wherever he went. Documentarian Leni Riefenstahl’s films of the Nuremberg Rallies were hugely successful.

In 1936, the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, and the Nazis used the occasion to showcase the “new Germany.”

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla” from Das Rheingold
Composed in 1876 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.