Podcasts about Commissar

When Sheila Fitzpatrick first went to Moscow in the 1960s as a young academic, the prevailing understanding of the Soviet Union in the West was governed by the ‘totalitarian hypothesis', of a system ruled entirely from the top down. Her examination of the ministry papers of Anatoly Lunacharsky, the first Commissar of Enlightenment after the Revolution, challenged this view, beginning a long career in which she has frequently questioned the conventional understanding of Soviet history and changed the field with works such as Everyday Stalinism. In this episode, Sheila talks to Daniel about her work in the Soviet archives, about some of the obstacles researchers face, and her latest books, Lost Souls and The Death of Stalin.Read more by Sheila in the LRB: https://lrb.me/fitzpatrickpodSponsored links:To find out about financial support for professional writers visit the Royal Literary Fund here: https://www.rlf.org.uk/LRB AudioDiscover audiobooks, Close Readings and more from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiolrbpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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#cuttheclutter China's People's Liberation Army is in troubled waters with top officials being dismissed under graft charges and some disappearing under puzzling circumstances. With Miao Hua's suspension latest in the row, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta looks at previous dismissals and what is driving Xi Jinping's extensive purge within his own military ranks. Watch episode 1562 of #cuttheclutter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  @arvindmenswear66  This Season, Embrace Royalty & Legacy with our New Season Launch of Luxury Primante Collection Fabrics. Discover our latest showcase featuring the esteemed People's Prince, Dr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar. Own your day, visit your nearest Arvind Store and craft your perfect look. #TheArvindStore #OwnYourLegacy #OwnTheMoment https://tinyurl.com/3wa2zatn

Last time we spoke about the first encirclement campaign against the CCP. The Jiangxi Soviet expanded despite opposition, but urban uprisings struggled, with labor union support declining. Li Lisan pushed for urban revolts, while Mao Zedong favored rural expansion. In 1930, failed attacks on Nanchang and Changsha deepened the divide between their strategies. Mao's forces later captured Ji'an, but tensions led to purges, including the Futian Incident. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Army launched an encirclement campaign. Mao's strategy of “luring the enemy in deep” ultimately positioned the CCP for survival and future success. The NRA exploited internal conflict among the Reds, launching attacks on Donggu. Miscommunication led to friendly fire between NRA divisions. Despite capturing towns, overextension weakened the NRA, allowing the Red Army to counterattack. Through guerrilla tactics and local support, the Reds encircled and decimated multiple NRA divisions, capturing thousands of prisoners and weapons. Mao Zedong's strategies proved effective, bolstering Red Army morale and influence. By the end of the third campaign, the Jiangxi Soviet had expanded significantly.   #127 The fourth encirclement campaign  Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The CCP had just survived 3 brutal encirclement campaigns in 1931, collectively known as the First Encirclement Campaign. The Reds were quite lucky in 1931, for China had major problems requiring Chiang Kai-Sheks attention. Understandably one of those major problems was a full blown Japanese invasion of Manchuria, that rest assured we will tackle in depth in future episodes, but for coherency sake I thought it best to try and get through all the other events before we start talking about the beginning of the 15 year war. The Japanese invasion immediately began influencing the KMT-CCP conflict. The Japanese invasion directly threatened Soviet interests and Moscow looked at the CCP as a potential bulwark against the Japanese. From 1930-1931, the CCP's Red Army was successful in defending their territory against the NRA extermination campaigns, however they still suffered from a lack of discipline, supplies and professionalism. New leadership came from the new Central Committee, now led by the 28 Bolsheviks and a new comintern representative, Otto Braun. The Red Army began adopting a series of initiatives in 1932 to improve. All Red Army units were standardized to establish better command and control. Political indoctrination and military training also became standardized with waves upon waves of manuals distributed to the forces. The Red Army expanded the Red Academy by establishing the Red Army War College for mid-grade and senior officers. Branch schools and speciality schools to increase competency and training. Political mobilization remained cornerstone to the Red Army. Recruitment of new troops also began to see a renewed emphasis on urban proletariats. A large change to the operations for the Red Army was the adoption of Soviet offensive tactics to seek out decisive battles. CCP leaders were under the misbelief that revolutionary fervor would simply have the Red Army victory. What they lacked initially was professionalism, alongside good weaponry and equipment. Couple this with the NRA's adoption of more and more effective counterinsurgency tactics, the Red Army really began to suffer terrible casualties. Now as the Red Army defeated the NRA in the third extermination campaign of 1931 not to be mistaken for the large third extermination campaign later, another intraparty power struggle was brewing in the CCP. After the fall of Li Lisan, a group of students returning from studies in the USSR began a systematic operation to gain control over the CCP. This group became known as the 28 Bolsheviks. 20 or some of them returned to China with the new Comintern adviser, Pavel Mif in 1931. Two key members of the group, Qin Bangxian known colloquially as Bo Gu, and Chen Shaoyu as Wang Ming would seize key positions at the top brass of the CCP. Many of these students attended Moscow's Sun Yat-Sen University, where they became acquainted with Mif, the head rector of said university. This university was a breeding ground for ultra-orthodox Stalinist communist doctrine. It goes without saying the students were indoctrinated with a very Moscow perspective. Mif regarded them as a very well disciplined force and used them to purge out divergent groups within the university. During the third Plenum in September of 1930, Mif attempted to use the forum to denounce Li Lisans plan, but had failed to convince the majority of the Central Committee. After Li Lisan was condemned and recalled to Moscow, Mif saw a major opportunity. At the fourth Plenum in January of 1931, Li Lisan and 11 of his supported were ousted from the Central Committee, with their best positions seized by Moscow aligned CCP members. The next year, the 28 Bolsheviks unleashed a brutal intraparty war with other factions. By late September the Bolsheviks effectively destroyed most of the opposition and incorporated the surviving members into a the Central Committee loyal to Moscow. Bo Gu was appointed head of the Central Committee from Wang Ming who returned to Moscow. Once the 28 Bolsheviks were in control of the CCP at Shanghai, they then set their eyes upon Mao Zedong and the Red Army Soviet areas. During the first All-China Soviet Congress of November 1931, they launched their first attack. Mao Zedong received prior word of their intentions from loyal followers in Shanghai and prepared to face them. Before the Central Committee arrived at Ruijin, Mao had just emerged victorious from the encirclement campaigns, had suppressed dissension amongst his ranks and established a delegation of loyalists within the Soviet Congress. The Bolsheviks failed to gain a majority within the Congress, taking only 2 seats in the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet. Meanwhile Zhu De was appointed Commissar of War and other Mao loyalists took high ranking positions. To try to break Mao Zedongs monopolistic control over the Red Army, the Bolsehviks employed Zhou Enlai.  In early 1932, the CCP urged the Red Army to expand Soviet territory as its forces grew. Successful defenses against encirclement Campaigns brought many NRA soldiers into the Red Army, some willingly, others by force. A key boost came on December 14, 1931, when the NRA's Twenty-sixth Route Army rebelled and joined, forming the Fifth Red Army Corps. With this and other recruits, the First Front Red Army grew to about 70,000, requiring more territory to sustain itself and the revolution. On January 9th of 1932, the CCP Central Committee issued a resolution outlining a new strategy for the party and the Red Army. The resolution assessed the current situation in China, that of a major depression, the effects of the Mukden Incident and the string of CCP successes against the encirclement campaigns. The resolution reasserted the renewed commitment to recruit urban proletariats for the revolution and “expand the territory, link up the separated Soviet areas to form an integrated Soviet area, and take advantage of the present favorable political and military conditions to seize one or two important central cities so as to win an initial victory of the revolution in one or more provinces.” The Red Army would conduct a series of offensive to expand their Soviets and connect them starting in early 1932. They would target southern Jiangxi, such places as Ganzhou, Jiujiang, Nanchang and also Fujian's Fuzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou. The resolution also pushed for a “positive and offensive line, rather than the luring of the enemy into the deep strategy, as it was no longer viable”. Furthermore the resolution directly attacked Mao Zedong's strategy as “being right opportunism that underestimated the situation and maintained a pessimistic attitude, and all party and army members should actively guard against its incorrect mindset”. This cemented the divide between the Bolshevik groups adoption of offensive strategy vs Mao Zedong's defensive lure the enemy in deep strategy. The next operation would be against Ganzhou in Jiangxi. The city linked the Hunan-Jiangxi border areas with the Fujian-Jiangxi border areas and provided a nice launching point against Ji'an in the north. During another meeting in 1932 at Ruijin, Mao Zedong expressed his reservations about the operation, stating the Red Army did not have the necessary weapons or supplies to seize a major city. Zhu De backed him up, but the Central Military Committee vetoed them and continued planning the Ganzhou operation. On January 10th orders were handed out for the 1st, 3rd and 5th Red Army corps, along with the Jiangxi Soviet military regional forces to conduct the operation by February. On the other side, the KMT were well prepared to meet an attack against Ganzhou, they were also most likely tipped off.  On February 3rd of 1932 the Red Army arrived at Ganzhou quickly encircling the city. The next day the 5th Red Army Corps, roughly 20,000 men were the first to attack the city. They struck the East Gate, breaching the defenses slightly before being repelled. On the 17th and 23rd the Red Army forces conducted two major assaults, expanding the attacks to the West and South gates, but failed to gain a foothold. During the siege, two NRA brigades reinforced the Ganzhou garrison. Then on March 4th, the Red Army conducted a fourth major attack and was likewise repelled. Three days later the Red army retired to Jiangkou to reorganize after they had suffered 3000 casualties. Despite this the CCP leadership remained undeterred, believing the offensive strategy was still optimal. When Japan began rooting itself permanently in Manchuria, the CCP saw this as the perfect condition for a real revolution to take place. At a meeting on March 18th, Mao Zedong again argued his strategy fit the current conditions much more and that the offensive strategy was too ambiguous. Yet his arguments fell on deaf ears and the CCP leadership had the Red Army reorganized into two route armies. The west route army consisted of the 3rd army corps and was made responsible for expanding the Soviet areas west of the Gan River in Hunan-Jiangxi with a focus built around Zhuchuan, Taihe and Wan'an. The Central Route army consisted of the 1st and 5th Red army corps and would take Mao Zedong's recommendations to perform expansion operations in south Fujian with Xiamen being the final target. On March 26th, the Central route red army occupied Changtin under Mao Zedongs guidance. There they conducted political mobilization of the local populace. Yet seeing little military action taking place, Zhou Enlai pushed Mao Zedong to stop the political mobilization and instead engage the enemy in the direction of Zhangzhou. Thus the Reds headed south and attacked the 49th NRA division. On April 10th the Reds managed to seize Longyan where they annihilated a single brigade of the 49th NRA division. The 5th NRA corps attempted to reinforce the 49th NRA division, but lost two brigades in the process. The Reds then continued marching south and on April 20th seized Zhangzhou where they defeated the 49th NRA division. At Zhangzhou they seized 1675 prisoners, 2000 rifles, some artillery pieces, 13,00 rounds of ammunition, two aircraft and over a million yuan. Alongside that came a lot of provisions, salt, oil and other goods needed to keep their men moving. After the success Mao Zedong telegrammed Zhou Enlai, requesting the Red army move back to Jiangxi with their booty to improve operations in the soviet area. It was Mao Zedong's belief the Reds had made great gains at Zhangzhou but could not hold onto the area. Instead he wanted to expand operations in Fujian using smaller local militia and guerilla groups. The CCP yet again overruled Mao Zedong and on June 5th ordered him to keep up the offensive, now turning towards Guangdong military forces currently occupying southern Jiangxi.  Once that was completed they were to advance north up the Gan River Valley and attack Ganzhou, Zhangshu, Ji'an and Nanchang so as to foster a revolution in Jiangxi. The Red army then reorganized its forces placing the 1st, 3rd and 5th red army corps under the First Front Red Army who advanced into Guangdong. From late june into early July the Reds seized Shuikou, Nanxiong and defeated 15 Guangdong based NRA brigades and expanded the Soviet into the province. Yet even with the string of offensive victories, Mao Zedong still remained vocally in opposition towards the strategy, constantly submitting his recommendation to adjust their footing. On July 25th, Mao Zedong and Zhu De sent a joint communique to the CCP leadership requesting a change of strategy. They argued instead of immediately attacking Ji'an and Zhangshu they could perform clearing operation on the eastern part of the valley, focusing on Yihaung and Le'an. The CCP central committee was initially against the proposals, however Zhou Enlai intervened and gave his support to them. In August the 1st front red army held a conference and confirmed they would attack Yihaung and Le'an. They took Le'an shortly after, defeating the 27th NRA division. With that victory they gained 5000 prisoners, 4000 rifles, 20 machine guns, 20 artillery pieces and 3 wireless communication sets. Afterwards the Reds contemplated attacking Ji'an, however after consideration Mao Zedong argued on September 25th, the NRA presence at Ji'an was too strong. He instead recommended they conduct political mobilization operations around the Le'an Yihuang area. By this point the CCP Central Committee was really pissed off with what they considered insubordination from Mao Zedong. By this time the 28th Bolsheviks had gained enough power and began striping Mao Zedong of key positions with the Red Army. First he was removed from the Military Committee of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Areas. Have I mentioned how much communists love making endless committees? Later in October of 1933 an emergency conference was held at Ningdu to plan future operations on the eve of an impending KMT campaign. Participants included Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen yi, Liu Bocheng and Peng Dehuai who all agreed they should take up offensive actions outside the Soviet. Alongside this the party condemned Mao Zedongs strategy called it inadequate and outdated. Zhou Enlai then argued for “expanding Soviet territory swiftly, engaging the enemy on KMT territory, bringing Jiangxi and its neighboring Soviet areas together by force, taking key cities in the Gan valley, including Nanchang, Ji'an, Ganzhou, and Pingxiang, so as to achieve preliminary successes in one or more provinces.” After the Ningdu conference, the Red Army continued with the offensive operation, now attacking Jianning, Lichuan and Taining in October. By November the 1st front army took the Jiangxi county seats of Zixi and Jinxi. This helped the CCP expand the Soviet in the eastern Gan valley, but it also placed them on a vulnerable footing, just in time for the KMT's 4th major encirclement campaign. During the CCP's expansion activities, the KMT had been performing a communist suppression campaign in Shanghai, driving out the Bolsheviks and other CCP members towards the Jiangxi Soviet by late 1932. Their arrival to the Jiangxi Soviet added further tension to the Red Army who were facing a new encirclement campaign. The presence of high ranking Central Committee members also changed their politics. The Mao Zedong adapted Marxist-Leninist theory was replaced by more orthodox and Moscow leaning theory. Many of 28 Bolsheviks moved to many Soviets sparking a new phase.  Before the start of the 4th major encirclement campaign, the Red Army from the Jiangxi Soviet conducted expansion operations into Fujian and Guangdong. Other Red army units performed similar operations in Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan. All of this red activity was enough to push Chiang Kai-Shek to refocus his military operations against them. On April 9th, 1932, Chiang Kai-Shek created the Bandit Suppression Headquarters in Wuhan with He Yingqin as its commander. Beginning in June 1932 He Yingqin had a force of 500,000 soldiers who unleashed a brutal encirclement and suppression campaign against the Hubei-Henan-Anhui and western Hubei-Hunan Soviet areas. By November of 1932, both soviets collapsed. After this Chiang Kai-Shek ordered He Yingqin to direct his efforts against the Jiangxi Soviet. In December Chiang Kai-Shek shifted over 400,000 troops and 30 divisions to the Central Soviet Operation. He even personally moved down to Nanchang to supervise the operation. The main forces consisted of 3 columns, roughly 150,000 troops in 12 divisions led by Chen Cheng. The KMT plan was to build a series of blockhouses as a means of economically blockading the Soviet. Around 240,000 troops were allocated for the blockade, in addition to the main force which brought the entire figure to 400,000 men. Each flank of the blockade had 70,000 troops, roughly 6 divisions who would conduct blocking operations in the Jiangxi-Guangdong border area and the Fujian-Jiangxi border area. Around 100,000 would be used to conduct anti-guerilla operations in the northwest and northeast of Jiangxi as well as in southeast Hunan and southwest Jiangxi. Was the blockade was set, the NRA would deploy 3 columns along separate routes converging upon the Red Army's rear for a concentrated attack. Over on the other side, the Red Army based near Lichuan had roughly 70,000 men from the 1st, 3rd and 5th Red army corps and the 11th,12th, 21st and 22nd Red Armies. The 4th encirclement campaign coincided with the Red Army's urban offensives. By December of 1932 the Reds had targeted Nancheng. The Central Committee issued the attack orders but due to the large NRA reinforcement efforts had to order the Red Army to withdraw from the outskirts of Nancheng. The next potential target was Nanfeng. The Central Committee again pushed for urban offensive as Nanfeng was attacked beginning in February of 1933. On February 7th the Red Army besieged the city. The NRA quickly dispatched the Central Route Army to reinforce the city and conduct a counterattack. Seeing the large concentration of NRA in the area, on February 13th Zhou Enlai ordered the forces to pull out and head over to Luokou.  The Red Army set up a diversion to cover their withdrawal. Using similar tactics employed during the third encirclement campaign, the 11th Red Army pretended to be the main force and suddenly attacked Lichuan. The NRA took the bait immediately sending 3 columns to Lichuan. While marching the 1st NRA column's 52nd and 59th NRA division became separated. On February 25th the two divisions moved west towards Huangpi along two routes separated by a mountain ridge. As they did so, their distance from the NRA 2nd and 3rd columns increased making mutual support efforts impossible. On the 27th the 1st and 3rd Red Army corps and 21st Red army unleashed a surprise attack against the 52nd NRA division. The next day the 5th Red army corps and 22nd red army attack the 59th NRA division around Huangpi. The division was annihilated with its commander captured. After the victory the Red Army pulled back to Luokou.  After the loss the NRA reorganized its force into 2 columns and changed strategy. Now instead of heading in 3 wide columns they would concentrate as 2 down the center of the Soviet. On March 16th, the two NRA columns began their advance as the Reds deployed their 11th army to perform more deception operations. The 11th Red army made a feint towards Guangchang, attracting the NRA front column. This action separated the two columns by 50 kms and isolated the 11th NRA division near Caotaigang. On March the 20th the 1st front red army attacked the 11th NRA division near Xuzhuang decimating them and severely defeating the 9th NRA division. For the remainder of the 4th encirclement campaign there were no other major battles. During March of 1933 the Reds conducted political operations near Le'an until NRA forces moved there to secure the city.  In April the NRA began to withdraw from the Jiangxi Soviet area, effectively ending their encirclement campaign. The NRA had suffered considerable losses for their efforts. They had lost the equivalent of 3 divisions; over 10,000 prisoners were taken. The Reds and seized 10,000 rifles, 300 German made machine guns and 40 artillery pieces. Another consequence of the failed encirclement campaign was the validation of the Bolshevik led offensive strategy. The CCP then adopted a series of reform measures hoping the Red Army could seize large cities. First the CCP attempted to expand the Red Army's overall strength by launching a large recruitment drive. In addition they incorporated all the local militias in the main Red Army. To fund the expansion the CCP adopted a large land distribution policy to generate revenue. Under the guise of performing a land investigation the CCP distributed 80% of the land within the soviet area. During the distribution the CCP attempted to raise nearly one million yuan. During the summer of 1933 the CCP also focused on suppressing counterrevolutionaries. One of the 28 Bolsheviks greatest critics was Luo Ming, the secretary of the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi soviet committee. A large amount of recruitment and taxation had hurt the morale of the local people in the Soviet. When the Central Committee wanted troops there to deploy for action Luo Ming argued they needed to stay for local defense and that they should scale back offensive operations. However from the perspective of the 28 Bolsheviks it looked very similar to Mao Zedongs lure the enemy in deep strategy. At this point there were still many loyal to Mao Zedong and his strategy, so the Bolsheviks saw an opportunity to hurt him through punishing Luo Ming. They created a new pejorative term “Luo Min Line” to describe any non-offensive strategy and began a purge of the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi Soviets leadership. The “Luo Ming line” became a new slogan to describe any in the CCP opposing the offensive strategy. During the summer of 1933, the Central Committee, emboldened by surviving the fourth encirclement campaign, continued to press on with their offensive strategy. With the Bolshviks and Otto Braun, the Jiangxi Soviet increased the central oversight over the Red Army and gradually seized direct control over military matters. On May 8th, the CCP passed a resolution separating the Central Military council and the Red Army leadership. Zhu De and Zhou Enlai remained in charge of the Red Army, but Bo Gu gained greater control over the military council and now controlled the Red Army's strategy and the employment of its military. Also Otto Braun would play a much larger role in military strategy, leveraging his experience at the Frunze Academy to push for offensive action.  The Red Army also reorganized its units to facilitate the execution of the new offensive strategies. In June the CCP divided the 1st front red army into the eastern front red army and central red army. Bo Gu and Braun believed that the Red Army had grown strong enough, both in firepower and manpower, to no longer require coordinated, mutually supportive operations. Instead, they felt the Red Army units could carry out independent operations in different regions. The Eastern Front Red Army, composed of the Third Red Army Corps, was stationed in western Fujian, while the Central Red Army, formed from the First Red Army Corps, remained in the Central Soviet area. Under the guidance of the new Central Military Committee, the Eastern Front Red Army launched expansion efforts into Fujian after the NRA vacated the region. Peng Dehuai's forces embarked on a three-month campaign in Fujian, expanding Soviet-controlled territory, securing supplies—especially salt—and raising funds, addressing key shortages for both the Red Army and the CCP. Before the Fifth Extermination Campaign, the Central Soviet controlled an impressive 60,000 square kilometers, spanning parts of three provinces. However, as they focused on territorial expansion, the Red Army neglected to monitor the KMT, which was preparing for another encirclement campaign. Now we have primarily focused on one of the major Soviets implicated in the fourth encirclement campaign. In reality the fourth encirclement campaign had been a large scale operation against three major soviets: the Hunan-Western Hubei Soviet also referred to as the Honghu Soviet; the Hubei-Henan-Anhui or Eyuwan Soviet and the Jiangxi Soviet. You would be led to believe and rightfully so because many lets just say, CCP aligned sources like to highlight the Jiangxi Soviet story, that the communists had kind of duped the NRA and stolen their victory from them. It was much more of a mixed bag overall. The campaign against the Hunan–Western Hubei Soviet saw the NRA successfully defeat the local Red Army forces, overrunning their main base in southern Hubei and Hunan. The majority of the fighting occurred around Jingzhou and overall was seen as a loss for the CCP. For the campaign against the Eyuwan Soviet, drought, famine and epidemics severely hurt the CCP forces in 1932. Between July and September, Chiang Kai-Shek had allocated more than 300,000 troops for the operation. The CCP suffered tremendously because of the numerical superiority of the NRA. The NRA General Xia Douyin unleashed a scorched earth campaign, killing countless, burning many villages and destroying to seizing crops. Historians like Chen Yaohuang argue the fourth Red Army who participated in this area were defeated largely because they had adopted conventional warfare tactics. The peasantry were very hostile to the NRA, forcing their forces to depend on unreliable local elites for provisions, creating a very vulnerable supply line. However the CCP failed to exploit this weakness by not committing guerilla warfare. Despite the NRA victory, it was a rather incomplete one and they ended their campaign prematurely celebrating. The fourth red army had successfully retreated into the border region between Shaanxi and Sichuan leaving behind a small force to conduct guerilla warfare. The remaining Communist forces in the Eyuwan Soviet, led by Gao Jingting and Xu Haidong, capitalized on the early Nationalist withdrawal to rebuild a guerrilla movement. They hid in the mountains, survived by foraging, and organized poor peasants to seize grain from landlords and public granaries. The 25th Red Army, under their leadership, managed to maintain a Communist presence in the region for several more years. After all was said and done, as was the case with the previous encirclement campaigns, reports from field commanders were far too optimistic. Many reported to Chiang Kai-Shek exaggerated numbers of casualties inflicted, prisoners taken and areas secured. In reality what the communists were doing was simply moving around to give off the impression of major defeats. Sure the Reds were taken enormous losses, but they were constantly recruiting and spreading. They could probably sustain these yearly encirclement campaigns if the NRA did not do something much more bold…like actually encircle the Reds. As great as the Reds were becoming at outwitting their opponent, their luck would eventually run out. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Reds had survived 4 large encirclement campaigns. The 28 Bolsheviks and their moscow allies were greatly emboldened thinking it was their time to go on the offensive and usher in a true revolution. However those like Mao Zedong knew the dire reality of the situation and were bracing themselves for the coming storm.

Last time we spoke about the Guangzhou, Gansu and Red Spear Uprisings. During China's Warlord Era, the CCP faced many challenges as they sought to implement land revolutions and armed uprisings. Following the Nanchang and Autumn Harvest uprisings, the CCP held an emergency meeting criticizing Chen Duxiu for his appeasement of the KMT right wing. With strong encouragement from Soviet advisors, the CCP planned a major uprising to seize control of Guangdong province. In November 1927, the CCP saw an opportunity as petty warlords in Guangdong and Guangxi engaged in conflict. Zhang Fakui's troops, vulnerable and demoralized, were targeted by the CCP. Mobilizing workers and peasants, the CCP initiated the Guangzhou Uprising. The uprising was ultimately suppressed by superior NRA troops, resulting in heavy CCP casualties and brutal reprisals. The failed uprisings, though unable to achieve immediate goals, ignited a persistent revolutionary spirit within the CCP, marking the beginning of a prolonged civil conflict that would shape China's future.   #121 The Sino-Soviet Conflict of 1929 Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. All the way back in 1919, the brand new Soviet government's assistance Commissar of foreign affairs, Lev Karakhan, issued a manifesto to the Beiyang government, promising the return of the Chinese Eastern Railway at zero financial cost. That statement was made in late July and alongside the railway, he also mentioned relinquishing a lot of rights the former Russian Empire had acquired from unequal treaties, such as the Boxer Protocol. This all became known as the Karakhan Manifesto, and it was formed in a time when the Soviets were fighting the Russian Civil War, advancing east into Siberia. In order to secure the war in Siberia the Soviets had to establish good relations with the Chinese. Yet six months after the july manifesto, Karakhan personally handed over a second version of said manifesto, one that did not influence the rather nice deal of handing over the Chinese eastern railway for free. The Soviets official statement was that they had accidentally promised the deal prior. The truth of the matter was some real politik work at play. The Soviets had been trying to secure a Sino-Soviet alliance against the Japanese, but it looked to them it would never come to be so they simply took the deal off the table.  Henceforth the issue cause a lot of friction. In March of 1920 the Fengtian forces disarmed White Russian Troops along the railway and seized control over its operations. In February of 1922 China and the USSR signed a agreement stipulating the Beiyang government would set up a special agency to manage the railway. Then in November the Chinese announced an area within 11 km along the railway would be designated a Eastern Province special district. In December the Soviet Union officially formed and by May the two nations agreed to settle a list of issues. The Soviets agreed to abolish all the unequal treaties formed by the Russian Empire handing over all the leased territories, consular jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, Boxer payments and such, but the Chinese Eastern Railway would be jointly managed by China and the USSR. Now since the railway sat in the area that Zhang Zuolin came to control, in September of 1924 the Soviets signed an agreement with the Fengtian clique. In this agreement, the Soviets lessened the 80 year lease over the railway to 60 years. The Soviets also promised to hand full control to Chinese administrators, but had a trick up their sleeve. The Soviets let the Chinese think they were adding workers and officials loyal to them, in reality the Soviets were creating more jobs on the railway while hiring Soviet workers. In the end the Soviets controlled roughly 67% of the key positions. When Zhang Zuolin went to war with Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun this changed things considerably. In December of 1925, Zhang Zuolin's army owed the Chinese eastern railway some 14 million rubles, prompting the Soviet administrator over the railway, Ivanov to prohibit Zhang Zuolin's army from using it. Fengtian commander Zhang Huanxiang simply arrested Ivanov disregarding his ban. The Soviets then sent an ultimatum to the Beiyang government demanding his release. So Zhang Zuolin ran to the Japanese to mediate. Things smoothed over until 1928 when the Huanggutun incident saw Zhang Zuolin assassinated. As we saw at the end of the northern expedition, his son Zhang Xueliang responded by raising the KMT flag on December 29th of 1928, joining Chiang Kai-Shek. The next day Zhang Xueliang was made commander in chief of the Northeast.  Now Chiang Kai-Shek's government had broken diplomatic relations with the USSR after the Shanghai massacre purge. Thus Zhang Xueliang felt the old treaties signed by his father with the Soviets were null and void and looked upon the Chinese Eastern Railway enviously. To give some context outside of China. At this point in time, the USSR was implementing rural collectivization, ie; the confiscation of land and foodstuffs. This led to wide scale conflict with peasants, famines broke out, I would say the most well known one being the Holodmor in Ukraine. Hundreds of millions of people starved to death. The USSR was also still not being recognized by many western powers. Thus from the perspective of Zhang Xueliang, it looked like the USSR were fraught with internal and external difficulties, they had pretty much no friends, so taking the railway would probably be a walk in the park.  Zhang Xueliang began diplomatically, but negotiations were going nowhere, so he got tougher. He ordered his officials to take back control over the Chinese Eastern Railway zone police, municipal administration, taxation, land, everything. He instructed Zhang Jinghui, the governor of Harbin's special administrative zone to dispatch military police to search the Soviet embassy in Harbin and arrest the consul general. Zhang Jinghui did so and closed the Soviet consulates in Harbin, Qiqihar and Hailar. All of this of course pissed off the Soviets who responded by protesting the new Nanjing government, demanding the release of their people, while increasing troops to the border of Manchuria. The Soviets announced they were willing to reduce their control over the railway as a concession. This entire situation became known as the May 27th incident and unleashed a tit for tat situation. On July 13th, the Soviets sent an ultimatum giving three days for a response "If a satisfactory answer is not obtained, the Soviet government will be forced to resort to other means to defend all the rights of the Soviet Union." On the 17th the Soviets recalled their officials, cut off the railway traffic between China and the USSR, ejected Chinese envoys from the USSR and cut off diplomatic relations with China. In the background Joseph Stalin was initially hesitating to perform any military actions, not wanting to antagonize the Japanese in Manchuria. However the Soviet consul in Tokyo, sent back word that Japan was completely willing to stay out of any conflict if the Soviets limited it to just northern Manchuria. Thus Stalin decided to act. On August 6th, Stalin formed the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army under the command of General Vasily Blyukher. It was composed of three infantry divisions; the 1st Pacific Infantry Division, the 2nd Amur Infantry Division, and the 35th Trans-Baikal Infantry Division), one cavalry brigade (the 5th Kuban Cavalry Brigade), and the addition of the Buryat Mongolian Independent Cavalry Battalion. The total force was said to be as many as 30,000 with their headquarters located in Khabarovsk. Blyukher also had the support of the Far Eastern Fleet, roughly 14 shallow water heavy gunboats, a minesweeper detachment, an aviation detachment with 14 aircraft, and a marine battalion commanded by Yakov Ozolin. Blyukher had served during the civil war and was a military advisor in China attached to Chiang Kai-SHek's HQ. He had a large hand to play in the northern expedition, and was one of the select Soviets Chiang Kai-Shek intentionally made sure got home safe during the purge. Blyukher would exercises a unusual amount of autonomy with his far east command, based out of Khabarovsk. For the upcoming operation a 5th of the entire Red Army was mobilized to assist. On the other side Zhang Xueliang mobilized as many troops as he could, including many White Russians hiding out in Manchuria. His total strength on paper was 270,000, but only 100,000 would be actively facing the Soviets as the rest were needed to maintain public order and to defend southern Manchuria. The person in charge of the Eastern Line of the Chinese Eastern Railway was the brigade commander of the Jilin Army, Ding Chao, and the western line was the brigade commander of the Heilongjiang Army, Liang Zhongjia, and the chief of staff was Zhang Wenqing. Wang Shuchang led the First Army to guard the eastern line, and Hu Yukun led the Second Army to guard the western line. The Soviet army also had a quality advantage in equipment. In terms of artillery, the Soviet army had about 200 artillery pieces, including more than a dozen heavy artillery pieces, while the Chinese army had only 135 infantry artillery pieces and no heavy artillery. At the same time, the Soviet army also had a quality advantage in machine guns because it was equipped with 294 heavy machine guns and 268 highly mobile light machine guns. The Chinese army was equipped with only 99 heavy machine guns. In terms of air force, the Chinese army had 5 aircraft that were combat effective. On July 26th the Soviets bombarded Manzhouli from three directions along the western end of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Two days later a Soviet infantry regiment, 3 armored vehicles and 4 artillery pieces advanced to Shibali station, cutting the lines to Manzhouli. They then ordered the Chinese military and police to withdraw as they captured Manzhouli. Then on the 29th the began bombarding Dangbi. On August 8th, 100 Soviet troops carrying two artillery pieces and 3 machine guns engaged Chinese forces outside the south gate of Oupu County street, casualties were heavy for both sides. 5 Soviet aircraft circled over Suifenhe City firing 200 rounds and dropping bombs over the Dongshan Army defense post and Sandaodongzi. The next day 40 Soviet soldiers established two checkpoints at Guzhan blocking traffic and they even began kidnapping civilians. That same day 300 Soviet soldiers and two gunboats occupied the Hujiazhao factory. On the 12th, Sanjianfang, Zhongxing and Lijia's Oil Mill were occupied by over 2000 Soviet troops. Meanwhile 80 Soviets amphibiously assaulted Liuhetun using 8 small boats, killing its defenders before returning to the other side. The next day two Soviet gunboats, 300 marines and 2 aircraft attacked Suidong county in Heilongjiang province while another force attacked Oupu county with artillery. On the morning of the 14th both counties fell. In response the Nanjing government dispatched Liu Guang, the chief of the military department to inspect the Northeast front. On the 15th Zhang Xueliang issued mobilization orders against the USSR, seeing his standing front line forces bolstered to 100,000. On the 15th the foreign minister of the Nanjing government, Wang Zhengting reported to Chiang Kai-Shek negotiations were going nowhere, the Soviets were adamant about getting their rights returned over the Chinese Eastern Railways. The next day, Wang Zhenting told reporters that if the Soviets attacked anymore China would declare war. The next day Zhang Xueliang was interviewed by the Chicago Daily News and had this to say. "The Soviet Union disregarded international trust, trampled on the non-war pact, and rashly sent troops to invade our country. We respect the non-war pact and have repeatedly made concessions to show our responsibility for provoking the provocation. If the Russian side continues to advance, we will be willing to be the leader of the war, so we have prepared everything and will do our best to fight to the death."  On the 16th two Soviet infantry companies and one cavalry company attacked Zhalannur from Abagaitu along the border. The two sides fought for 2 hours until the Soviets stormed the Zhalannur station. After another 5 hours of combat the Soviets pulled back over the border. By this point enough was enough. China declared war on August 17th escalating what was an incident around the Chinese Eastern Railway zone into a full blown war.  Blyukher had developed a plan for an offensive consisting of two rapid operations. The first would be against the Chinese naval forces and the second against the ground forces via a large encirclement. After the war was declared on the 17th, the Soviet Army advanced into Manchuria from the western end of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The Red Banner Special Far Eastern Army initially dispatched a total of 6,091 infantrymen and 1,599 artillerymen in front of Manchuria, equipped with 88 artillery pieces of 76.2 mm or above, excluding artillery belonging to infantry regiments, 32 combat aircraft, 3 armored trains, and 9 T-18 light tanks . The army units included: the 35th and 36th Infantry Divisions of the 18th Infantry Army; the 5th Cavalry Brigade; the Buryat Mongolian Cavalry Battalion; an independent tank company equipped with T-18 tanks, the 6th Aviation Detachment, the 25th Aviation Detachment, the 26th Bomber Squadron, the 18th Army Artillery Battalion, the 18th Engineering Battalion, and a Railway Battalion.  The first battle broke out around Manzhouli. Liang Zhongjia, the brigade commander stationed in Manzhouli, reported this to his superiors of the engagement “of the battle situation, the 38th and 43rd regiments under my command fought with a regiment of Soviet infantry and cavalry for 4 hours in the afternoon and are still in a standoff. The Soviet army has more than one division of troops near Abagaitu”. At 10:30 p.m. on the 18th, the Soviets began to attack the positions of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 43rd Regiment of the Northeastern Army in Zhalannur. At 1 p.m. on August 19, the Soviets added about 600 to 700 troops opposite the positions of the 43rd Regiment of Zhalannur. At 5 a.m the Soviets dispatched five aircraft from Abagaitu to Shibali Station. On the 19th, the Soviets captured Suibin County with ease. At 6 a.m. on the 20th, the Soviets used armored trains to transport more than 200 troops to attack the 10th Cavalry Regiment of Liang Zhongjia's troops. After fighting for about an hour, the Soviets retreated. On the 23rd a battle broke out in Mishan and on the 25th 400 Soviet cavalry began building fortifications roughly a kilometer near the Chinese 43rd regiment at Zhalannur. Zhang Xueliang spoke again to the Chinese and foreign press on the 25th stating this. "Foreigners have many misunderstandings about the Eastern Province's actions this time, thinking that it is to take back the Eastern Route and violate the treaty. In fact, we have no intention of violating the 1924 Sino-Russian Agreement or the Agreement with Russia, because China has signed it and has no intention of violating it. China has no intention of taking back the route at all. What it wants is to remove the Russian personnel who are involved in the communist movement. Moreover, in this matter, the Eastern Route is a very small issue. The real point is that the Russians use China as a base for communism, and we have to take measures in self-defense." Between the 28th to the 30th an intense battle broke out at Wangqing.  On the 31st, Soviet gunboats bombarded three garrisons around  Heihe. On September 4th, the Soviet army bombarded the right wing of the 43rd and 38th Regiments stationed in Lannur. At 4 pm on the 9th, a single regiment of the Soviet army, under the cover of artillery, launched a fierce attack on the Chinese army at Manzhouli Station from the Shibali Station, but by 8:30 pm, they pulled back. At 4 pm, 8 Soviet aircraft bombed Suifenhe Station, causing over 50 Chinese casualties and injured a regimental commander. On the night of the 16th, more than 100 Soviet troops attacked the Kukdoboka checkpoint in Lubin County and burned down the checkpoint. On the 18th, the Soviet government announced to the ambassadors of various countries that they had always advocated for a peaceful solution to the issue of the Chinese Eastern Railway, while China's attitude was hypocritical and insincere. It was believed that future negotiations were hopeless, and all previous negotiations mediated by Germany were terminated. From now on, they stated quote “the Soviet Union would not bear any responsibility for any ominous incidents caused on the Sino-Russian border”. With negotiations completely broken down, Blyukher was given the greenlight to launch a fatal blow.  On October 2, more than a thousand Soviet infantryman, supported by aircraft and artillery stormed the positions of the 3rd Battalion of the 38th Regiment in Manzhouli. The two sides fought until the morning of the 3rd. On the 4th Zhang Xueiliang drafted the “national volunteer army organization regulations letter” trying to embolden the population stating "when the foreigners invade the border, the first thing to do is to resist. All citizens or groups who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country on the battlefield will be volunteers or volunteer soldiers." The new regulations stipulated that volunteers of this new group would be named as the National Volunteer Army. On October the 10th, 30,000 Soviet forces on the Baikal side advanced through the northeastern border of China. At this time, the brigade responsible for defending Liang Zhongjia had been fighting with the Soviet troops for dozens of days. There was no backup and they were in urgent need of help. According to Chinese observations, the Soviets deployed nearly 80,000 troops by land, sea and air on the Sino-Soviet border. Along the eastern front, the Soviets capture in succession Sanjiangkou, Tongjiang and Fujin. Meanwhile at 5am on the 12th the Far Eastern Fleet commanded engaged in a firefight with the Songhua River Defense Fleet, near Sanjiangkou. According to Chinese reconnaissance, the Soviet warships participating in the battle included: the flagship "Sverdlov" a shallow-water heavy gunboat led by Sgassk, the shallow-water heavy gunboat "Sun Yat-sen", the shallow-water heavy gunboat "Red East", the shallow-water heavy gunboat "Lenin", the inland gunboat "Red Flag", and the inland gunboat "Proletariat", with a total of 4 152mm cannons, 26 120mm cannons, 6 85mm anti-aircraft guns, 8 37mm anti-aircraft guns, and more than ten aircraft for support. The Chinese forces were led by Yin Zuogan who commanded six shallow-water gunboats, including the "Lijie" (flagship), "Lisui", "Jiangping", "Jiang'an", and "Jiangtai", and the "Dongyi" armed barge as a towed artillery platform. Except for the "Jiangheng" of 550 tons and the "Liji" of 360 tons, the rest were all below 200 tons, and the entire fleet had 5 120mm guns. In the ensuing battle the Jiangping, Jiang'an, Jiangtai, Lijie, and Dongyi, were sunk, and the Lisui ship was seriously injured and forced to flee back to Fujin.The Chinese side claimed that they damaged two Soviet ships, sunk one, and shot down two fighter planes; but according to Soviet records, five Soviet soldiers were killed and 24 were injured.  At the same time as the naval battle around Sanjiangkou, two Soviet gunboats covered four armed ships, the Labor, Karl Marx, Mark Varyakin, and Pavel Zhuravlev, carrying a battalion of more than 400 people from the 2nd Infantry Division Volochaev Regiment, landing about 5 kilometers east of Tongjiang County and attacking the Chinese military station there. The Northeast Marine Battalion guarding the area and the Meng Zhaolin Battalion of the 9th Army Brigade jointly resisted and repelled the Soviet's initial attack. The Chinese suffered heavy losses, with more than 500 officers and soldiers killed and wounded, and more than 70 people including the Marine Battalion Captain Li Runqing captured.  On the 14th, the Chinese sank 6 tugboats, 2 merchant ships and 2 warships in the waterway 14 kilometers downstream of Fujin, forming a blockade line; and set up solid artillery positions and a 13-kilometer-long bunker line nearby, destroying all bridges on the road from Tongjiang to Fujin. A battle broke out at Tongjiang and according to the the report of Shen Honglie “the Northeast Navy suffered more than 500 casualties (including marines), 4 warships were sunk, 1 was seriously damaged, and the "Haijun" gunboat (45 tons) was captured by the Soviet army and renamed "Pobieda"; 17 officers including the battalion commander Meng Zhaolin and 350 soldiers of the army were killed; the Chinese side announced that 2 Soviet planes were shot down (some sources say 1), 3 Soviet warships were sunk, 4 were damaged, and more than 300 casualties”. On the 18th, the Soviets completely withdrew from the Tongjiang, allowing the two regiments of Lu Yongcai and Zhang Zuochen of the 9th Brigade to recapture it. On the 30th, Admiral Ozolin led some Soviet land forces in a major attack in the Fujian area. He organized the troops under his jurisdiction into two groups. He led the first group personally, who were supported by heavy gunboats Red East, Sun Yat-Sen and gunboats Red Flag, Proletarian, Buryat, minelayer Powerful and the armored boat Bars. Their mission was to annihilate the remnants of the river defense fleet anchored in Fujin. The second group was commanded by Onufryev, the commander of the Soviet 2nd infantry division. His group consisted of the shallow-water heavy gunboat Serdlov, gunboat Pauper and the transport fleets steam carrying the Volochaev Regiment and the 5th Amur regiment who landed at Fujin.  On the other side the Chinese had concentrated two infantry brigades, 3 cavalry regiments and a team of police with the support of the gunboats Jiangheng,  Lisui, Liji and the tugboat Lichuan. At 9 am on the 31st, the 7 Soviet ships suddenly destroyed the river blocking ropes and entered the Fujin River bank, bombarding the Chinese army, as cavalry landed. The Chinese ships "Lisui" and "Lichuan" sank successively, and only the "Jiangheng" managed to participate in the battle, but soon sank after firing only three shots. At 7 pm 21 Soviet ships sailed up the Songhua River, as part of the cavalry landed at Tuziyuan, advancing step by step towards Fujin. At 9 pm 7 Soviet ships approached the Fujin River bank, with roughly 700 infantry, cavalry and artillery soldiers of the 2nd Amur Infantry Division landed. The Chinese army collapsed without a fight, retreating to Huachuan, and by11am, Fujin county was occupied. Chinese sources reported “the Soviet army burned down the civil and military institutions separately and destroyed all the communication institutions. They distributed all the flour from the Jinchang Fire Mill to the poor, and plundered all the weapons, ammunition and military supplies." On the evening of November 1, the Soviet infantry, cavalry and artillery withdrew from the east gate. On the morning of the 2nd, the Soviet ships withdrew one after another. According to Soviet records, nearly 300 Chinese soldiers were killed in this battle, with thousands captured, while the Soviet army only lost 3 people and injured 11 people . The Chinese Songhua River fleet was completely destroyed, and 9 merchant ships were captured. In early November, the weather in the north became freezing cold, leading the rivers to freeze. Soviet warships retreated back to Khabarovsk, and their infantry and cavalry also returned by land. The war on the Eastern Front was basically over.  As for the western front, the main battlefields revolved around Manzhouli and Zhalannur. Since August 1929, conflicts here continued, a lot of back and forth stuff. The soviets would storm the areas and pull out. Yet in November, the war in the west escalated.  The commander of the Soviet Trans-Baikal Group, was Stepan Vostrezov, wielding the 21st, 35th and 36th infantry divisions, the 5th Cavalry Brigade, 331 heavy machine guns, 166 light machine guns, 32 combat aircraft, 3 armored trains, 58 light artillery, 30 heavy artillery, 9 T-18 ultra-light tanks, amongst other tanks. The Chinese side had about 16,000 people. There would be three major battles : the Battle of Zhallanur, the Battle of Manzhouli, and the Battle of Hailar. On November the 16th, the Soviets unleashed a large-scale offensive, tossing  nearly 40,000 troops, 400 artillery pieces, 40 tanks and 30 aircraft against the western front. At 11pm the Soviets crossed over the border. At 3am on the 17th the 5th Kuban Cavalry Brigade set out from Abagaitui, followed by the 35th Infantry Division who crossed the frozen surface of the Argun River, hooking around the rear of the Chinese garrison in Zhalannur along the east bank of the Argun River. At 7am Soviet aircraft began bombing the western front. The Chinese garrison headquarters, tram house, 38th Regiment building, and military police station were all bombed, and the radio station was also damaged. At noon, the Binzhou Railway was cut off 10-12 kilometers east of the city, and Zhalannur was attacked. Supported by 8 T-18 tanks and fighter planes, they attacked Zhalannur several times. On the morning of the 18th, the Soviet 5th Cavalry Brigade launched an attack against the 7,000-man 17th Brigade of the Chinese Army guarding Zhalannur. At 1pm on the 18th the Zhalannur Station and the Coal Mine was occupied by the Soviet army. The Chinese defenders, Brigadier Han Guangdi and Commander Zhang Linyu, were killed in action. More than half of the brigade officers and soldiers were killed and more than a thousand were captured. After capturing Zhalannur the Soviets concentrated their forces against Manzhouli. On the 19th, 7 T-18s supported the 108th Infantry Regiment of the Soviet 36th Division to attack Manzhouli from the east and west. Artillery pounded the city, before it was stormed. The 15th Brigade of the Chinese Army guarding the area was quickly surrounded by the Soviet army. Brigade Commander Liang Zhongjia and Chief of Staff Zhang Wenqing, alongside nearly 250 officers, fled to the Japanese consulate and surrendered to the Soviet army on the 20th. According to Soviet records, in the battles of Zhalannur and Manzhouli, over 1,500 Chinese soldiers were killed and more than 9,000 were captured, while the Soviet side lost 143 people, 665 were wounded and 4 were missing. Additionally 30 Chinese artillery pieces and 2 armored trains were captured by the Soviet army. The Soviets claimed that Chinese troops from Lake Khinkai were attacking Iman, modern day Dalnerechensk. In the name of self-defense, the Soviets began bombing Mishan on November 17 and mobilized  the Soviet Primorsky State Army and the 1st Pacific Rifle Infantry Division. The 1st Pacific Division and the 9th Independent Cavalry Brigade advanced towards Mishan, 40 kilometers from the border. Soviet records showed that during this battle the Chinese army suffered more than 1,500 casualties and 135 prisoners. The Soviets seized 6 machine guns, 6 mortars, 500 horses, 6 mortars, 200 horses and a large number of confidential documents. On November 23rd, 12 Soviet aircraft bombed Hailar, before capturing the city the next day.  By late November the Chinese had suffered something in the ballpark of 10,000 casualties along various fronts and an enormous amount of their equipment was taken by the Soviets. The Chinese officially reported 2000 deaths, 1000 wounded with more than 8000 captured. The Soviets reported 812 deaths, 665 wounded with under 100 missing. The Japanese had actually been quite the thorn for the Chinese during the war. They had intentionally barred Chinese forces from advancing north through their South Manchurian Railway zone, a large hindrance. Likewise the Kwantung army stationed in Liaoning were mobilizing, giving the impression they would exploit the situation at any moment.  In the face of quite a catastrophic and clear defeat, Nanjing's ministry of foreign affairs tossed a cease fire demand asking for foreign mediation. By December 3rd, Britain, France and the US asked both sides to stop the war so they could mediate a peace. The USSR rejected the participation of a third nation and suggested they could negotiate with China mono e mono. Zhang Xueliang accepted the proposal, dispatching Cai Yunsheng quickly to Shuangchengzi who signed an armistice with the Soviet representative Smanovsky. On the 16th real negotiations began and on the 22nd a draft agreement was signed. The draft stipulated both nations would re-cooperate over the Chinese Eastern Railway and that the Red Army would pull out of Manchuria as soon as both sides exchanged prisoners and officials. Thus the entire incident was resolved after humiliating China. While this all seemed completely needless, perhaps not significant, don't forget, the Japanese were watching it all happen in real time, taking notes, because they had their own ideas about Manchuria.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. And so the Soviets and brand new Nationalist Republic of China went to war over, honestly a petty squabble involving railway rights and earnings. It was a drop in the bucket for such a war torn nation and only further embarrassed it on the world stage. Yet the Soviets might not be the foreign nation China should be looking out for. 

On today's cast we cover the fantastic journey that is joining the Imperial Guard.  We are aided in this endeavor by one of the greatest pieces of literature ever produced by Games Workshop "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer."  We discus the unparalleled training and equipment you will be given.  We also talk about the support you will be granted from leadership such as your noble Commissar.  We even spend some (unnecessary) time going over the pathetic Xeno species you may have to deal with (easily).Support the Show.

Get Connected with Mladen Tomic - 170 - Guest Mix by Commissar Lag - Studio Mix March 2024 Track list is not available COMMISSAR LAG Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/L9c8HvAJm4kDb4po7 Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/artist/commissar-lag/1164427 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/this.is.lag?igsh=MWhsd2poeHUzZDhncw== Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DjMladenTomic Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/mladentomic/sets/get-connected-with-mladen Subscribe on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mladen-tomic/id1438315512?mt=2

Earlier this summer, there was an unexpected shakeup in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force. Commander Li Yuchao was removed along with his deputy Liu Guangbin and a former deputy Zhang Zhenzhong. All three men are reportedly under investigation for disciplinary violations by the Central Military Commission's anti-corruption unit. Xi Jinping appointed Wang Houbin, former deputy commander of the navy, as head of the Rocket Force, and Xu Xiesheng, from the air force as political commissar. The PLA's Rocket Force, established on January 1, 2016, is the successor to the Second Artillery Corps. It has responsibility for China's growing arsenal of land-based ballistic and cruise missiles, both nuclear and conventional. What is the significance of this reshuffle in the PLA's most sensitive branch? What implications do the appointments of new commanders from other parts of the military have for PLA readiness and preparations for a Taiwan invasion scenario? To discuss these questions, host Bonnie Glaser is joined by Dr. Phillip Saunders, Director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the National Defense University's Institute of National Strategic Studies. Dr. Saunder's most recent publication is a study he conducted with David Logan on the drivers of China's nuclear force development. The views he expresses today are his own and do not represent the National Defense University or the US Department of Defense.Timestamps[01:58] Unpacking the Shakeup [04:19] Launch-on-Warning Posture[05:34] Rooting out Corruption[09:00] Concerns of Loyalty [10:40] Inexperienced Leadership[14:58] Naval Leadership of Rocket Force[17:32] Viability of Invading Taiwan[19:06] System for Military Governance[21:38] Nuclear Force Development[29:00] US-China Nuclear Dialogue  

A weekend of epic Warhammer 40k tournaments. Top 10 Sisters, 1st place Thousand Sons, 2nd Place Orks? What!! In this podcast I go over the standings for these tournaments (and more) and talk about stats of all the armies going into the weekend and coming out. I also go over the Just the Facts, Commissar official 10th edition tier list. Make sure you follow my socials, especially my Reddit and Twitter for updates on my tournament analysis and posts as the tournaments happen. Enjoy! https://linktr.ee/justthefactscommissar Tier List: https://i.imgur.com/bhnJzk0.png --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justthefactscommissar/support

The Imperium Part #3 - The Military. We take a broad and expansive peek at the the Imperial Guard AKA the Astra Militarum AKA cannon fodder. We look at the composition and formation of the Regiments and briefly discuss some of the more famous units and regiments, all under the watchful eyes of a Commissar. We look askew at the noble yet filthy abhumans that serve alongside the true human warriors of the militarum and then turn to the armoured fists of the humanity, Tanks! (you're welcome). Leaving the foot-sloggers planetside we take a gander at the majestic warmachines of the Imperial Navy where Cral gets lost in the hulls, classifications and general romance of void based warfare. We close out the episode with a furtive glance at the shadowed killers of the Officio Assassinorum ... or do we? ... Support Us Buy from Element Games. Want more content?  Join our Patreon. Watch us fail on Twitch. Find show notes here. 

Commissar of Enlightenment Graham Jones joins the boys to talk about his new book Red Enlightenment, the nature of spirituality, whether communism is a religion and whether we should do a spin-off podcast about riddles and tricks. Music by Radiant Knife and Baroness.

INTRO: [00:00:00] pxlpowerup.se arcadedreams.se SNABBPEPP ELLER NEPP: [00:04:10] https://arcadedreams.se/sok/tears%20of%20the SPELAT: [00:05:25] https://diablo4.blizzard.com/ MANDO-NÖRDAT: [00:24:01] Chapter 21: "The Pirate" I FOKUS: [00:40:18] Disney-dags... 40K-KUNSKAP: [00:51:25] https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Sebastian_Yarrick

Warhammer 40k Audio / Sector 13 a Ciaphas Cain Adventure by Sandy Mitchell Im back with a classic. Our favourite Commissar is up to his old Tricks with Jurgen. This is one of the first outings for Cain.  I highly recommend the Novel. Pick up the one of the novels using my link https://amzn.to/3D28sZ5 or grab one of the audiobook on audible with this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audible-Membership/dp/B00OPA2XFG?actionCode=AMN30DFT1Bk06604291990WX&tag=aborderprince-21   Thanks! Emperor Protects! -----------------------Affiliate links-----------------------------

Brandon was a guest on this episode of The Intervention podcast to talk about the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, Steel City Solidarity, the only time a cop was based, and some current events and how it all ties together. Oh, and burning railcars of whisky, coke and oil being rolled downhill at class traitors. Cars & Comrades Podcast https://media.rss.com/carsandcomrades/feed.xml https://instagram.com/cars_and_comrades_podcast/ https://twitter.com/CarsAndComrades https://facebook.com/Cars-Comrades-Po…-101908671824034 People's Commissar for Production instagram.com/pcfproduction pcfproduction1312@gmail.com Sources: The great railroad strike, 1877 - Howard Zinn | libcom.orgThe First Great Depression: The Panic of 1873 – StMU Research Scholars (stmuscholars.org)Causes and Effects of The Panic of 1873 (positivenegativeimpact.com)https://youtu.be/NRx3rzoMT3cThe Great Railroad Strike of 1877: A militant legacy of workers' struggle – Liberation SchoolGreat 1877 Strike showed class-struggle road for US workers – The Militant

Join Goblin King, Kev, and our special guest Ickbard this week as Under the Hive of Madness takes a deeper dive into one of Warhammer 40ks Oldest heroes, Commissar Sebastian Yarrick. Just like their Planet Spotlight Episode format, this episode format looks to focus on the lore of a single subject of the 40k Universe. Taking a look not only at Yarrick's history, and as deeply tangled with that of Ghazghkull Thraka's as it gets, but also looking at his war gear and even making some guesses at what the future might hold in store from his lore. From the Second War of Armageddon to joining in with Helbrecht to crusade after the Ork menace, explore the legend that is Commissar Sebastian Yarrick. Under the Hive of Madness is a Warhammer 40k Podcast, focusing on the Horror and Grimdark elements of the setting; so expect some adult themes, adult language, and more than a few Khorney jokes. 4 Armed Emperor's Hunt in Packs... it's never the ones you see... but the ones you don't see that seal your doom. Follow Objective Insecure on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FakeObsecInsec Or Find them on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@objectiveinsecure4838 Reach us by email at UndertheHiveofMadness@gmail.com or GymDarkGaming@gmail.com. Join our growing Discord Community: GymDark Gaming Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/UndertheHiveofMadness LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/underthehive Website: Underthehiveofmadness.com

Lee Zeldin is furiously gaining ground on incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul in New York, could this be the 2022 midterms biggest upset? Plus JD Vance throws down with Tim Ryan in a Senate debate and Kamala Harris comments on the southern border she's never visited. Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuckSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lee Zeldin is furiously gaining ground on incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul in New York, could this be the 2022 midterms biggest upset? Plus JD Vance throws down with Tim Ryan in a Senate debate and Kamala Harris comments on the southern border she's never visited. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick is joined by Mike from TurnLeftist Podcast and Rick from Decolonized Buffalo to nerd out on Tolkien. We discuss his life and works, his politics, and of course argue irrefutably that The Shire can only be built through authoritarian communism. This is a fun one and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we enjoyed recording it -Nick Decolonized Buffalo Links: https://www.instagram.com/decolonized_buffalo/ https://twitter.com/decolonizedbp https://open.spotify.com/show/5HNK0mWbkbxoynVEKwgvVC https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deco…lo/id1530454129 Turn Leftist Links: https://linktr.ee/turnleftist Sterling: twitter.com/turnleftistpod Ward: instagram.com/millennialleftist and twitter.com/wardlawley Jaron: instagram.com/jarondagan Cosper: patreon.com/existence_is_innocent Mike: instagram.com/turnleftist Special Shout to People's Commissar for Production for production work on this one instagram.com/pcfproduction pcfproduction1312@gmail.com Sources: https://peacerequiresanarchy.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/the-letters-of-jrr-tolkien/ https://www.thetolkienforum.com/threads/tolkiens-political-views.23245/ https://twitter.com/theoneringnet https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Quotes/JRRTolkien https://www.tolkiensociety.org/author/biography/ The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, etc. Intro Music Concerning Hobbits, Howard Shore, The Fellowship of the Ring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_3mlOPnGI Outro Music Samwise the Brave, Howard Shore, The Two Towers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpsPVthV5I

Enjoy it or else!I learned from Mr Trump's example, NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT, even when you were f****** trounced! lol

Beijing appointed Rear Admiral Lai Ruxin as the political commissar of the Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on March 28.  https://ept.ms/36TX3xw feedback: Audio@epochtimes.com the political commissar, Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army, Beijing, ninth Chinese Communist Party political commissar, the South China Sea, the CCP's naval reinforcement, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom

Al Mortemore 1934-2022  We will miss you. We'd like to thank two listeners today for the kind donations of fantastic ASL product. John Bullough sent us a copy of Retro ASL rules variant in a 55 page rulebook that can be considered ASL lite. We are thrilled to get a good look at March Madness Commissar pack from Dave Mareske at Kansas City ASL. We take a deep dive into those scenarios and they

Subscribe to Quotomania on Simplecast or search for Quotomania on your favorite podcast app!Arthur Koestler, (born Sept. 5, 1905, Budapest, Hung. —found dead March 3, 1983, London, Eng.), was a Hungarian-born British novelist, journalist, and critic, best known for his novel Darkness at Noon (1940). Koestler attended the University of Vienna before entering journalism. Serving as a war correspondent for the British newspaper News Chronicle during the Spanish Civil War, Koestler was imprisoned by the fascists, an experience he recounted in Spanish Testament (1937). This experience and those leading to his break with the Communist Party are reflected in Darkness at Noon. Published in 30 languages, it is the penetrating story of an old-guard Bolshevik who, during Stalin's purge trials of the 1930s, first denies, then confesses to, crimes that he has not committed. Specifically dealing with the plight of an aging revolutionary who can no longer condone the excesses of the government he helped put in power, the novel is an examination of the moral danger inherent in a system that sacrifices means to an end. Koestler's other works of this period, during which he wrote most of his fiction, include The Gladiators (1939), a novel about the revolt against Rome led by the gladiator Spartacus; and Arrival and Departure (1943). These books deal with similar questions of morality and political responsibility.Koestler's essays are collected in The Yogi and the Commissar and Other Essays (1945) and in The God That Failed (1949; ed. R. Crossman), in which he wrote of his disillusionment with communism. From 1940 Koestler wrote in English. He became a British citizen in 1948. His last political novel, The Age of Longing (1951), examined the dilemma of Europe after World War II. Koestler took stock of his early life in the memoirs Arrow in the Blue (1952) and The Invisible Writing (1954). His later works were concerned with science, creativity, and mysticism. The Act of Creation (1964), perhaps the best-known book of his scientific and philosophical period, attempts to explain the processes underlying creativity in science and art. Other works of this period include The Lotus and the Robot (1960), an examination of Eastern mysticism; The Ghost in the Machine (1967), which discusses the effect of evolution on the structure of the human brain; and The Thirteenth Tribe (1976), a controversial study of the origins of the Jewish people. Bricks to Babel, a collection of his writings with new commentary by the author, appeared in 1981. In his later years, Koestler suffered from leukemia and Parkinson's disease. Believers in voluntary euthanasia, he and his wife Cynthia took their own lives.From https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Koestler. For more information about Arthur Koestler:“Arthur Koestler, the Art of Fiction No. 80”: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2976/the-art-of-fiction-no-80-arthur-koestler“Road Warrior: Arthur Koestler and His Century”: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/21/road-warrior

Tea Time Thoughts Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tea-time-thoughts/id1513992448 Leon Trotsky[c] (/ˈtrɒtski/),[2] was a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary. He was a Marxist but created a form of Marxism refereed to as Trotskyism. Once in government, Trotsky initially held the post of Commissar for Foreign Affairs and became directly involved in the 1917–1918 Brest-Litovsk negotiations with Germany as Russia pulled out of the First World War. From March 1918 to January 1925, Trotsky headed the Red Army as People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and played a vital role in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922.[3] He became one of the seven members of the first Bolshevik Politburo[4] in 1919. After the death of Lenin (January 1924) and the rise of Joseph Stalin, Trotsky gradually lost his government positions; the Politburo eventually expelled him from the Soviet Union in February 1929. Trotsky openly pushed for communism to violently expand to other nations and believed that every nation on earth should be communist. Stalin was more focused on the Soviet Union only compared to Trotsky. In addition, Trotsky was more aggressive. If Trotsky took power after Lenin, instead of Stalin, the world would be in a really different place. The allies would be forced between fighting the Germans, or fighting the red threat. Have a listen and find out more about this world and this alternate timeline. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want to discuss this further, or just want to contact us? Reach us on our socials, or join the community on Kloka! Twitter: @BackToThePastP1 https://bit.ly/39ts3CG Instagram: @backtothepastp1 https://bit.ly/34lcwBD Rate this podcast! https://ratethispodcast.com/althistory Check out our website! https://kloka.org/backtothepast Email: back2thepastpodcast@gmail.com Podcast Transcript: https://kloka.org/go/althistranscripts --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rohan-parikh7/message

Episode 3 of the Lehigh Valley Cycling Podcast takes a look at our local cycling community through the eyes of Andy Taus. Our very own international commissar who has covered events from local Saturday racing at the velodrome to Olympic games since the late 1960's. Take a listen as Andy takes us through a historic journey of cycling in the Lehigh Valley --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jorge-romero43/support

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/food

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/drugs-addiction-and-recovery

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies

Whites and Reds: A History of Wine in the Lands of Tsar and Commissar (Oxford UP, 2021) tells the story of Russia's encounter with viniculture and winemaking. Rooted in the early-seventeenth century, embraced by Peter the Great, and then magnified many times over by the annexation of the indigenous wine economies and cultures of Georgia, Crimea, and Moldova in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, viniculture and winemaking became an important indicator of Russia's place at the European table. While the Russian Revolution in 1917 left many of the empire's vineyards and wineries in ruins, it did not alter the political and cultural meanings attached to wine. Stalin himself embraced champagne as part of the good life of socialism, and the Soviet Union became a winemaking superpower in its own right, trailing only Spain, Italy, and France in the volume of its production. Whites and Reds illuminates the ideas, controversies, political alliances, technologies, business practices, international networks, and, of course, the growers, vintners, connoisseurs, and consumers who shaped the history of wine in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union over more than two centuries. Because wine was domesticated by virtue of imperialism, its history reveals many of the instabilities and peculiarities of the Russian and Soviet empires. Over two centuries, the production and consumption patterns of peripheral territories near the Black Sea and in the Caucasus became a hallmark of Russian and Soviet civilizational identity and cultural refinement. Wine in Russia was always more than something to drink. Stephen Bittner is Professor of History at Sonoma State University. In addition to Whites and Reds, he is the author of The Many Lives of Khrushchev's Thaw (2008) and the editor of Dmitrii Shepilov's memoir, The Kremlin's Scholar (2007).  Steven Seegel is Professor of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

In this special conversation with Fiona Hill, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and former senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019, we dive into Russia and it's modern day leader Vladimir Putin. Fiona, who served as deputy assistant  to President Trump and was present at the notorious Helsinki Summit between Presidents Trump and Putin provides her reaction to President Biden's meeting with President Putin in Geneva, and her observations on Putin's relationships with past U.S. Presidents. The conversation then digs deep into Fiona's views on Vladimir Putin and his leadership style, drawing comparisons and contrasts between Putin and the Tsars of Russia and the leaders of the Soviet Union. Fiona, who was a co-author of the seminal Putin biography Mr. Putin, does suggest that there are certainly weaknesses in Putin's armor, and details why Putin may have reason to fear opposition figures like Alexei Navalny. We also dig into Russia's foreign policy -- especially regarding its position given its prominent neighbor to the south, China.

A book talk with author Stephen Bittner (Sonoma State University, History).

A book talk with author Stephen Bittner (Sonoma State University, History).

Dwarf Priest level 33 also a lvl 60 Alliance Warlock .

I give you some stats ony 2 favorite HQ options for the Astra Militarum and which one I favor in a infantry focused guard list! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-hamman9/support

Welcome back to the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium. I am Inquisitor Caveat Ventus, keeper of the Inquisition's Black Library, and this is my report on the Valentyne Heresy - an actual play podcast set in the Genesys adaptation of Warhammer 40K's Dark Heresy RPG. This report features our Game Master Tom McGee (@mcgeetd), Ryan LaPlante (@theryanlaplante) as Lucius Valentyne, Laura Elizabeth (@elhamstring) as Marni Schwartzenberger and Tyler Hewitt (@Tyler_Hewitt) as Attikus Vis. My report shows that the Inquisitorial band have discovered that the conspiracy on Vicodin Prime runs deeper than expected . Marni was forced to re-arm herself with a lowly lasgun, Attikus was shocked by the aggressive tone of the local Commissar, and Valentyne lied to win over a guard and escape their confinement! What will happen now that the trio have escaped and stowed away on a truck filled with Ork corpses? Find out in this episode of the Valentyne Heresy! Enjoying The Valentyne Heresy? You can become a Patron of Dumb-Dumbs & Dice for as little as $1 a month at www.patreon.com/dumbdumbdice and gain access to a ton of extra BTS fun. You can also get cool merchandise featuring your favourite Dumb-Dumbs & Dice characters and catchphrases at www.redbubble.com/people/dumbdumbdice

Welcome back to the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium. I am Inquisitor Caveat Ventus, keeper of the Inquisition's Black Library, and this is my report on the Valentyne Heresy - an actual play podcast set in the Genesys adaptation of Warhammer 40K's Dark Heresy RPG. This report features our Game Master Tom McGee (@mcgeetd), Ryan LaPlante (@theryanlaplante) as Lucius Valentyne, Laura Elizabeth (@elhamstring) as Marni Schwartzenberger and Tyler Hewitt (@Tyler_Hewitt) as Attikus Vis. My report shows that the Inquisitorial band have arrived safely and received medical care at FOB Charlie. Marni is horrified by the slow rate of her recovery, Attikus protected the Inquisitor from prying eyes and discovered a rival inquisitor was on planet, and Valentyne revealed the band's true goals to his new allies! What will happen when an Imperial Commissar enters their tent? Find out in this episode of the Valentyne Heresy! Enjoying The Valentyne Heresy? You can become a Patron of Dumb-Dumbs & Dice for as little as $1 a month at www.patreon.com/dumbdumbdice and gain access to a ton of extra BTS fun. You can also get cool merchandise featuring your favourite Dumb-Dumbs & Dice characters and catchphrases at www.redbubble.com/people/dumbdumbdice

BECOME A PATRON OF RED LIBRARY FOR AS LITTLE AS $1/MONTH BY CLICKING HERE! Comrade/Patron Gravesend Commissar joins the Red Troika Bois for a spiritual sequel to our Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight Trilogy patron-exclusive episodes to talk about Frank Miller's legendary comic series The Dark Knight Returns. This is essentially a deep dive into the reactionary mind and aesthetics of postmodern fascism. :50 ------------------------------------------------ Email us at redlibrarypodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter at Red Library@red_library_pod Click here to listen to the Lost Horizons Network podcast Click here to subscribe to Red Library on iTunes  Click here to support Red Library on Patreon Click here to find Red Library on Facebook Click here to find the host's political theory blog, Capillaries: Theory at the Front

Warhammer 40k Audio: Survivor By Steve Parker (The origins of Commissar Yarrick) The origin story of Commissar Sabastian Yarrick the Hero of Armageddon. The story is part of the There Is Only War Anthology here: https://amzn.to/35TMkxr Also i recommend the Commissar Yarrick Novel series here: https://amzn.to/3e7VGt3 #warhammer #40k #scifi Thanks! Emperor Protects! -----------------------Affiliate links-----------------------------

American Greed Factory-Episode 387: The Iowa Derecho          More 2020 Destruction, Virtual sex dungeon, F1 Update, New Vehicle 50 cal Meat chopper, A grenade for the Commissar, Netflix original Raat Akeli Hai (The Night Is Lonely)

As both the Guomindang and the Communist Party benefit from their collaboration, tensions build.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in ChinaSteve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Arif Dirlik, “Mass Movements and the Left Kuomintang”Some names from this episode:Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the GuomindangMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangChen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenChiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenLev Karakhan, Soviet ambassador to China beginning in 1923Gregory Chicherin, Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign AffairsChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party

In this episode I talk to Elisheva Levy, a Ph.D. candidate at UPenn, about heteronormative households, the concept of "home"? We question nuclear families' normality while delving into ideas of pre-modern and modern communist habitat (while dealing with Marxist's concepts of primitive communism). Ideology and the lack of it in capitalism remain a discussion during the whole conversation, while we also talk about the possibilities of change of the paradigms of communal living for the future. Recommendations. Alexandra Kollontai - was a Marxist revolutionary, first as a member of the Mensheviks, then from 1915 on as a Bolshevik (later Communist). Serving as the People's Commissar for Welfare in the Bolshevik government in 1917–1918, she became the first woman in history to become an official member of a governing cabinet. In 1922 Kollontai was appointed as a diplomatic counselor to the Soviet legation in Norway, and soon received a promotion to head the legation, one of the first women to hold such a position. https://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/index.htm https://nyti.ms/29R2miP https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/08/alexandra-kollontai-soviet-womens-rights-revolution-zhenotdel-uzbekistan https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSkollontai.htm Survivor Israel Season 10 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1796301/episodes?season=10&ref_=tt_eps_sn_5

The early divergence in strategic thinking and revolutionary priorities between the CCP and the Comintern. Further reading:Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in ChinaSome names from this episode:Chen Gongbo, Founding Chinese Communist who studied at Columbia and later joined the Japanese puppet regimeHenk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China beginning in 1921Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yat-sen, leader of the GuomindangGeorgii Chicherin, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet UnionLao Xiuchao, Chinese Bolshevik who attended the first Comintern Congress in 1919Chen Duxiu, editor of New Youth and first general secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyGregory Voitinsky, Leader of Comintern delegation to China in 1920Zhang Guotao, emerged from founding congress as important Communist leaderLi Hanjun, advocated study and propaganda as main party activities as first congressLiu Renjing, one of the Beijing delegates to the first party congress

Perhaps no one in history has been as maligned in the Western Press as Joseph Stalin. On December 18, 1878, Yosif Djugashvili was born in what is now the country of Georgia. He was born to a very poor family. His father was a shoemaker.This is Stalin at age 16, when he started studying seminary studies at the UniversityHe had to drop out of seminary university because his parents could not afford the fees. This made Stalin very conscious of how income inequality is oppressive. He started his own Marxist study circle.In 1902, Stalin worked at a warehouse that caught fire. He began his activism there. He called for strikes to demand increase in pay, workplace safety measures. Soon enough, the Tsar learned that Stalin was organizing these strikes, so they arrested him. This is his mugshotWhile he was in prison, he continued to agitate for workers’ rights. He organized a protest against a religious cleric’s visit. He also demanded that those in jail for political activities would live together. They put him in solitary confinement for this. However, his term in prison didn’t last long. He escaped and returned back to Georgia. In 1912, he started using the moniker "Stalin" which means "Man of Steel" in Russian because marxism and socialism was illegal under the Tsar. After the Bolshevik Revolution, he was appointed by the new government as People's Commissar for Nationalities' Affairs. His job was to establish liaisons and win over non-Russian citizens of the former Russian empire, and he was able to unite people of many factions and religions to join the Bolsheviks during the Russian civil war. In 1922, he was elected as the General Secretary for the Party. He was very shy and not a very good orator. However, he was elected to be the leader of the USSR once Lenin died in 1924. At first, he didn’t want the position, but the people wanted him to be the Leader. Journalist Anna Louise Strong, who was in Russia during the pre-war period, in 1936 explains Stalin’s great moment when he first appeared as leader of the whole Soviet people was when, as Chairman of the Constitutional Commission, he presented the new Constitution of the Socialist State. A commission of thirty-one of the country’s ablest historians, economists, and political scientists had been instructed to create “the world’s most democratic constitution” with the most accurate machinery yet devised for obtaining “the will of the people.” They spent a year and a half in detailed study of every past constitution in the world, not only of governments but of trade unions and voluntary societies. The draft that they prepared was then discussed by the Soviet people for several months in more than half a million meetings attended by 36,500,000 people. The number of suggested amendments that reached the Constitutional Commission from the popular discussions was 154,000. Stalin himself is known to have read tens of thousands of the people’s letters.Two thousand people sat in the great white hall of the Kremlin Palace when Stalin made his report to the Congress of Soviets. Below me, where I sat in the journalists’ box, was the main floor filled with the Congress deputies; around me in the loges sat the foreign diplomatic corps; behind me, in a deep gallery, were citizen-visitors. Outside the hall tens of millions of people listened over the radio, from the southern cotton fields of Central Asia to the scientific stations on the Arctic coast. It was a high point of Soviet history. But Stalin’s words were direct and simple and as informal as if he sat at a fireside talking with a few friends. He explained the significance of the Constitution, took up the suggested amendments, referred a large number of them to various lawmaking bodies and himself discussed the most important. He made it plain that everyone of those 154,000 suggestions had been classified somewhere and would influence something.Among the dozen or more amendments which Stalin personally discussed, he approved of those that facilitated democratic expression and disapproved of those that limited democracy. Some people felt, for instance, that the different constituent republics should not be granted the right to secede from the Soviet Union; Stalin said that, while they probably would not want to secede, their right to do so should be constitutionally guaranteed as an assertion of democracy. You can read the rest of her report hereHowever, during the Cold war, ridiculous amount of Western Propaganda spread with ridiculous amount of myths that usually came from self-serving testimony of Nazis. For example, in this 1950s anti-communist comic book, they recognize that the wealthy rural landowners burned their crops. While they call them “peasants”, back then peasants referred to anyone in the rural area regardless of their wealth.Today, Grover Furr focuses on all the myths and legends surrounding Joseph Stalin, especially the underpinnings in the western press (Bourgeoise press). Get full access to Historic.ly at historicly.substack.com/subscribe

In this podcast I question the nature of revolution, particularly as to its ultimate ground, which for some should be consciousness, and for others, the power structures of society, particularly materialistically understood. I outline the thought that both must be involved as it is found in the ongoing historical conversation. This includes Freudian Marxism, and the existentialism of Simone de Beauvoir, who gives us the figures of the yogi and the commissar to imagine. [Free.  28 minutes.]

In this sixth episode of Season Two, Kristen Ghodsee reads Part VI of Alexandra Kollontai's 1926 memoir: The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman. In this portion of the memoir, Kollontai speaks about her work as Commissar of Social Welfare during the early years of the Soviet regime. She again mentions the many attacks against her: the threatening letters and all of the vitriol she dealt with as the only woman in the government. This memoir was written as Kollontai began her diplomatic career when she was 54-years-old and a veteran of the revolution. Lenin was already dead, Stalin was seizing power, and Kollontai was reflecting on the achievements of her life thus far. The initial publication of the memoir was heavily censored, particularly the passages where Kollontai speaks about her love life and her history of failed relationships with men. At the time, Kollontai was only the third woman to serve as ambassadress in the history of diplomatic service, but she was the first to do so as a divorcée who was widely known to have had multiple partners over the course of her life. The version read for this podcast includes the censored passages, and Ghodsee reflects on the historical context within which the memoir was written.

Episode 5 of the Brush Wielders Union podcast! Each month, BWU General President, Simon Berman, interviews a Union member or other minis wargaming luminary. I'm very excited to share this month's podcast, an interview with fellow Union member, Greg De Stefano, one of the main people behind Turbodork, the color-shift and metallic paints taking the hobby by storm! Turbodork has just released a whole bunch of beautiful new paints and Greg was kind enough to chat at length about everything that goes into the formulation and manufacture of acrylic miniatures paints and specifically, color-shifts, and tips and tricks for using them yourself. The Brush Wielders Union is a community of like-minded miniatures gamers dedicated to playing their games fully painted and supporting one another in their craft. Learn more at brushwieldersunion.com

How does revenge porn, Stalinist Russia, and the movie Total Recall (Schwarzenegger's classic version) explain fake YouTube videos? In this one-shot episode, we explore the history of deepfakes, what their arrival means, and how dangerous they really are. In Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners who wistfully long for the 80s but want to understand the complexities of today, this podcast demystifies and explains the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoyed the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us online at www.falkenspodcast.com. References: Total Recall Clip (1990) War of the Worlds Broadcast Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact, NY Times (October 31, 1938) Stefan Schnabel Obituary Mark Zuckerberg Deepfake Rise of the deepfakes, The Week Few-Shot Adversarial Learning of Realistic Neural Talking Head Models Pornographic Deepfakes — Revenge Porn’s Next Tragic Act – The Case for Federal Criminalization by Rebecca Delfino Prepare, Don’t Panic: Synthetic Media and Deepfakes, Witness Media Lab Music: CBS Special Presentation Intro Street Dancing by Timecrawler 82 is Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (4.0) International license Paint The Sky by Dysfunction_AL (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

In this episode, Kristen Ghodsee reads the “Decree on Social Welfare” from January 31, 1918, written by Alexandra Kollontai when she was the Commissar for Social Welfare in the first Bolshevik government. There are quite a few external sources mentioned in this episode and they are detailed below.Biographies of Kollontai in English (please note the alternative spellings of her name, which are an artifact of different traditions of the transliteration of the Cyrillic alphabet into Latin letters.)Barbara Evans Clements, Bolshevik Feminist: The Life of Aleksandra Kollontai, Indiana University Press, 1979Isabel de Palencia, Alexandra Kollontaj: Ambassadress of Russia, 1947Beatrice Farnsworth, Alexandra Kollontai: Socialism, Feminism, and the Bolshevik Revolution. Stanford University Press, 1980Cathy Porter, Alexandra Kollontai: A Biography (Updated Edition) Haymarket Books, (1980) 2014 Other books about early Soviet policies about women and the family: Wendy Goldman: Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936, Cambridge University Press, 1993Elizabeth Wood, The Baba and the Comrade: Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Russia, Indiana University Press, 1997Kristen R. Ghodsee, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence. Bold Type Books, 2018 Drafts of the Communist Manifesto: Friedrich Engels: Draft of a Communist Confession of Faith (first draft)Friedrich Engels: The Principles of Communism (second draft)Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto (final version)The intro music is a Russian version of The Internationale. More info about the host can be found at: www.kristenghodsee.comAlso see: AlexandraKollontai.com – A Website for All Things Kollontai

Our podcast host was down all of last week, so we decided livestream a board game instead of recording a regular episode! Come join The HUGE Crew as they play Mansions of Madness Second Edition! As always keep sending questions to hoppedupeast@gmail.com, we love them! Beer featured this week: Delirium Nocturnum by Huyghe Brewery and 2019 Commissar by Unfiltered Brewing.

Our podcast host was down all of last week, so we decided livestream a board game instead of recording a regular episode! Come join The HUGE Crew as they play Mansions of Madness Second Edition! As always keep sending questions to hoppedupeast@gmail.com, we love them! Beer featured this week: Delirium Nocturnum by Huyghe Brewery and 2019 Commissar by Unfiltered Brewing.

The episode Jon and Ben talk about one of their favorite musicians. The Prince of Parody, the Commissar of Comedy, the Minister of Mimicry, that Apotheosis of Accordion! Weird Al Yankovic!!! They spend so much time brown-nosing Al, they'll likely be smelling the aftermath of twinkie wiener sandwiches for the next week.   You can find more information about the show at GeeksplorationPodcast.com Contact us on social media: Instagram and Facebook @GeeksplorationPodcast / Twitter @GeeksplorePod Opening theme is "Cruisin' for Goblins" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

This is a little introduction to the A.K. 47 podcast recorded on May 2, 2019, about four months after the first episode was recorded and published. Basically, Kristen Ghodsee is apologizing for the very amateur quality of the early episodes as she figured out the finer intricacies of Garage Band, audio editing, and how to speak into a microphone.In this podcast, Kristen R. Ghodsee reads and discusses 47 selections from the works of Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952), a socialist women's activist who had radical ideas about the intersections of socialism and women's emancipation. Born into aristocratic privilege, the Russian Kollontai was initially a member of the Mensheviks before she joined Lenin and the Bolsheviks and became an important revolutionary figure during the 1917 Russian Revolution. Kollontai was a socialist theorist of women’s emancipation and a strident proponent of sexual relations freed from all economic considerations. After the October Revolution, Kollontai became the Commissar of Social Welfare and helped to found the Zhenotdel (the women's section of the Party). She oversaw a wide variety of legal reforms and public policies to help liberate working women and to create the basis of a new socialist sexual morality. But Russians were not ready for her vision of emancipation, and she was sent away to Norway to serve as the first Russian female ambassador (and only the third female ambassador in the world). In this podcast, Kristen R. Ghodsee – a professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence (Bold Type Books 2018) – selects excerpts from the essays, speeches, and fiction of Alexandra Kollontai and puts them in context. Each episode provides an introduction to the abridged reading with some relevant background on Kollontai and the historical moment in which she was writing.

To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.   Where Is This Coming From? Mark 7:14-23 And yet again this past week, we've dealt with horrible news... The Shooter (I will not use his name) Two Questions: HOW can we prevent it? WHY did it happen? Some would say because we haven't prevented the HOW But the reason...? The topic of Evil is once again in our minds... The Ever-Present WHY Woke "coincidentally" this morning to the song The Hurt & The Healer by MercyMe which starts off, "Why? The question that is never far away..." Basically why do bad things happen to the good? We've seen disasters and asked: why did God allow it? The Bible has answered, because sin has entered the world and broken it Others have answered that we encourage people to take risks through regulatory incentives, but the truth is that we believe that people have a right to be foolish if they want, and if the consequences are theirs alone. "Foolish" for me and for you might be different... But that has to do with disasters and tragedies; Las Vegas was a perpetration of violence, and so we ask... Why did he do it? How could he have done such a thing?  We wish to make it comprehensible, we then feel safer We hope he had a mental break, for that would mitigate his responsibility (and we can convince ourselves that we would seek medical help if we find ourselves at risk) We alternatively hope he was a hidden monster, for that would make him other than us We want, maybe without admitting it to ourselves, reassurance that we would never become like this, perpetrators of evil That is why studying Nazi Germany, or Communist Russia is such a challenge: We cannot lie to ourselves that they are not people like us 4 Kinds of Evil (one of MANY models) The Ends Justify the Means An Example: Romans 3:7-8 To lie, cheat, steal, use others all for yourself An Antidote: "Love your neighbor as yourself..." Blind Idealism Two Examples: 1 John 4:1; Matthew 7:15-18a Noncombatants killed: 12 million by Nazi Germany, 9 million by Stalin's Russia, 30+ million by Mao's China... all in service to their "ideals" Leonard Lyons in “The Washington Post:” "In the days when Stalin was Commissar of Munitions, a meeting was held... One official arose and made a speech about ... the tragedy of millions of people dying of hunger.… Stalin interrupted him to say: “If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics.”" THE Antidote: The Gospel, wherein God asks us to come and "reason together" with Him Vengeance An Example: Romans 12:19-20 A response to being threatened or harmed, physically or otherwise But are we content with "an eye for an eye?" An Antidote: Romans 12:19-20 Sadism The true monsters: Those who were born without connection to others, or who have followed the above paths, to the extent that harming others becomes "fun." The Antidote: Don't start down these paths... Leaving the "Why" in God's hands We may never know why, in this case (and in others) At some point we have to trust God, and move forward, and not get "stuck" in the moments of darkness that mar our lives At some point we say, "As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice." – Psalm 55:16-17

In the thick of battle, the Commissar joins her forces and discovers the new threat waiting for them. Part seven of eight. Written by Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, and Mercedes Lackey. Read by Veronica Giguere

Professor Christina Lodder and writer and curator Konstantin Akinsha explore the complex relationship between the Soviet leadership and the avant-garde art movement in Russia between 1917-32, in a discussion chaired by art historian Theodora Clarke. Avant-garde artists were some of the first to embrace the Bolshevik cause, with a common interest in “a new art for a new society”. As Anatoly Lunacharsky, People’s Commissar of Enlightenment, declared in 1918 to composer Sergey Prokofiev, “You are revolutionary in music as we are revolutionary in life”. Members of the avant-garde took key posts in the new regime and benefited from state resources. However within a few years, the state began to withdraw its support, feeling that abstract art could not advance the communist cause if the masses could not understand it. A more persuasive and recognisable art best suited the party’s requirements. By 1932, the politicised figurative art of Socialist Realism became the dominant style and independent artistic movements vanished.

This Week: Trump's Bisexual Special Needs Cat, Justin's Childhood Rule of Iraq, How To Look Isolated, Bright Colors for Middle East Peace, Snakeism, Name Your Band Bigley, NPR's Cider Concern, Lindsey Graham Gets the Sauce, Letters to Michelle, Ted Cruz the Televangelist, Serve the Servants and Judge the Judges, Admiral Carell Goes Before Congress, Neil Gorsuch's Life in Black and White, Kale Smoothies Save the Free World, Trump: Inside the Bun, The Federal Government's Most Popular Felony, Rand Paul and John McCain Make Up In An Eighties Fashion Montage, Flunking Senate School, The Amos Moses Solution. And more! Post Credits Song = Untitled = Justin Follow Justin @JustinLCroft, Nathan @badlandsbadley, and SJK's very own cons

When The Avengers race off to help the Sin-Cong underground, are they really racing into a trap?! Who is the mountain of a man that is The Commissar and what does he want with our heroes? Do they have what it takes to defeat this larger than life opponent? Featured Issue: Avengers #18 Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Don Heck Inker: Dick Ayers Letterer: Art Simek

The new lineup gets a chance to at least show off some teamwork in two horrible issues where they face off against The Minotaur and The Commissar - threats that aren't really threats and are, thankfully, never seen again!

Follow Commissar Yarrick and Canoness Setheno down a rabbit hole of heresy in the second half of our coverage of Yarrick: Imperial Creed by David Annandale. Two and a half hours of coverage means there's just one topic this fortnight, but we return next time with a potpourri of subjects. Timestamps: 00:00:00-00:40:24 - Intro 00:15:00-01:05:30 - The Siege of Tolosa 01:05:30-01:46:53 - Phyrric Victories 01:46:53-02:17:43 - You are His Hand 02:17:43-02:29:30 - Outtro On Your Tabletop for this episode:  http://mastersoftheforge.com/?attachment_id=364 Buy Imperial Creed on Black Library http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/yarrick-imperial-creed-paperback.html David Annandale: http://davidannandale.com/ https://twitter.com/David_Annandale Please give us a nice rating on iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/masters-forge-warhammer-40k/id862907899 Check out our Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/mastersoftheforge Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MastersOfForge And check out our blog:  http://mastersoftheforge.com/

We've got a shorty for you this week, but it's a goodie. We start our coverage of Yarrick: Imperial Creed by David Annandale. If you haven't read the book yet, prepare to be spoiled! We'll be back a fortnight from now with a more girthsome episode. Until then, keep playing the game the way you want to. Timestamps:00:00:00-00:15:00 - Intro00:15:00-01:01:07 - The Vales of Lom to the Baronial Lein01:01:07-01:32:51 - Procession Preparations to The Seige Begins On Your Tabletop for this episode: http://mastersoftheforge.com/?attachment_id=364 Buy Imperial Creed on Black Libraryhttp://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/yarrick-imperial-creed-paperback.html David Annandale:http://davidannandale.com/https://twitter.com/David_Annandale Please give us a nice rating on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/masters-forge-warhammer-40k/id862907899 Check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mastersoftheforge Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MastersOfForge And check out our blog: http://mastersoftheforge.com/

Episode 30 - "Inspiration and Execution" - We've hit another milestone of ten episodes and that means we're talking about Only War again. In this episode we take about the equipment modification systems - both updates and customisations. We also review No Surrender, talk about the Commissar advanced specialty and talk about a bunch of films, games and books that help get your players in the Grim Dark mood.

Once again if you want to help in any way, feel free to contact me at cd9114a@gmail.com, I’ll take any help or suggestions you offer. Thanks again for listening! In Episode 2, we learn about the intersquad tournament that’s been set up to pit the different squads of the regiment against each other. Guardsman Yori tells the Commissar about how they fared against the third squad from their platoon, and why he’s waking up in the med bay, maybe without any memory of it. Link to facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/250Vox

The CCCP discovers a bewildered John Murdock in the middle of the breakroom. Unfortunately, he is not altogether there, in both the best and worst of ways. What's a Commissar, a CEO, and a technoshaman to do? Part one of two. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. Read by Veronica Giguere

We cover the SEC East with guest Bourbon Boy, Commissar.

The Commissar has learned of the General's deception. She sends Comrade Murdock on a deadly errand; although he doesn't like the orders, he knows that Shen Xue is a threat to the CCCP, ECHO, and their efforts against the Thulians. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. Read by Veronica Giguere

The Commissar places Comrade Murdock in charge of a mission in Kansas City, with the added challenge of Soviet Bear. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. Read by Veronica Giguere

The Commissar sends John Murdock to the Georgia swamps on an equipment errand. John finds a van full of spare parts... and a Death Sphere. Part one of three. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. Read by Veronica Giguere.

The Commissar sends John Murdock to the Georgia swamps on an equipment errand. John finds a van full of spare parts... and a Death Sphere. Part one of three. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. Read by Veronica Giguere.