Send a text This narrative will intricately weave together the stories of three monumental empires during the tumultuous era stretching from the mid-17th century through the early 18th century. My focus will be on France, China, and Russia, exploring the profound changes and intricate connections that defined their respective reigns. Crucially, this expansive story will be told through the intimate lens of their three iconic monarchs. I will delve into the personal perspectives, political strate...
Feb 27, 2026•15 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Send a text This narrative will intricately weave together the stories of three monumental empires during the tumultuous era stretching from the mid-17th century through the early 18th century. My focus will be on France, China, and Russia, exploring the profound changes and intricate connections that defined their respective reigns. Crucially, this expansive story will be told through the intimate lens of their three iconic monarchs. I will delve into the personal perspectives, political strate...
Feb 13, 2026•17 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Send a text This narrative will intricately weave together the stories of three monumental empires during the tumultuous era stretching from the mid-17th century through the early 18th century. My focus will be on France, China, and Russia, exploring the profound changes and intricate connections that defined their respective reigns. Crucially, this expansive story will be told through the intimate lens of their three iconic monarchs. I will delve into the personal perspectives, political strate...
Jan 30, 2026•16 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Send a text This narrative will intricately weave together the stories of three monumental empires during the tumultuous era stretching from the mid-17th century through the early 18th century. My focus will be on France, China, and Russia, exploring the profound changes and intricate connections that defined their respective reigns. Crucially, this expansive story will be told through the intimate lens of their three iconic monarchs. I will delve into the personal perspectives, political strate...
Jan 16, 2026•18 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Send a text This narrative will intricately weave together the stories of three monumental empires during the tumultuous era stretching from the mid-17th century through the early 18th century. My focus will be on France, China, and Russia, exploring the profound changes and intricate connections that defined their respective reigns. Crucially, this expansive story will be told through the intimate lens of their three iconic monarchs. I will delve into the personal perspectives, political strate...
Jan 02, 2026•14 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Send a text This narrative will intricately weave together the stories of three monumental empires during the tumultuous era stretching from the mid-17th century through the early 18th century. My focus will be on France, China, and Russia, exploring the profound changes and intricate connections that defined their respective reigns. Crucially, this expansive story will be told through the intimate lens of their three iconic monarchs. I will delve into the personal perspectives, political strate...
Dec 19, 2025•17 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Send a text Paper 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...
Mar 15, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Send a text Paper 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...
Mar 01, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Send a text Paper 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...
Feb 16, 2024•20 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Send a text Paper 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...
Feb 02, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Send a text Paper 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...
Jan 19, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Send a text Paper 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...
Jan 05, 2024•19 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Send a text 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, exclusion, and deportation of Chine...
Dec 22, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Send a text Paper 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...
Dec 08, 2023•21 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Send a text Paper 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...
Nov 24, 2023•22 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Send a text After 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...
Oct 21, 2022•17 min
Send a text The 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...
Oct 07, 2022•19 min
Send a text The 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 beg...
Sep 23, 2022•21 min
Send a text China’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 la...
Sep 09, 2022•21 min
Send a text Did 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...
Aug 26, 2022•20 min
Send a text The 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? Suppo...
Aug 12, 2022•23 min
Send a text The 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 wi...
Jul 29, 2022•20 min
Send a text Beginning 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 th...
Jul 15, 2022•23 min
Send a text If 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...
Jul 01, 2022•23 min
Send a text The 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 Com...
Jun 17, 2022•20 min
Send a text There 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 t...
Jun 03, 2022•20 min
Send a text The 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 ...
May 20, 2022•21 min
Send a text After 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,...
May 06, 2022•25 min
Send a text Spring 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, Yu...
Apr 22, 2022•23 min
Send a text The 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...
Apr 08, 2022•24 min
