August 1939: Eve of War

August 1939: Eve of War

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By the traditional reckoning, World War II in Europe began with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. What was the world like during that last month of peace, August 1939? In this video we’ll look not only at the political background of what was going on during that fateful month, but what life was like, what you could find at the theater or the ballpark, the lives of real people that began and ended during those 30 days, and how people prepared for the darkness most of them knew was coming.

Sources for this video included: Stephen Howarth, August 1939: The Last Four Weeks of Peace (San Francisco: Mercury House, 1989); William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1960); Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986); William L. Shirer, Berlin Diary (New York: Popular LIbrary, 1941); R.A.C. Parker, The Second World War: A Short History (Oxford University Press, 1989); Thomas Laquer, “Devoted to Terror,” London Review, Vol. 37, No. 18 (September 24, 2015); John Maxtone-Graham, The Only Way to Cross (New York: MacMillan, 1972); Robert Dallek, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 (New York: Little, Brown & Co., 2003); Curt Eriksmoen, “Promising anthropologist from Bismarck died young,” The Bismarck Tribune, April 3, 2011 ( Katie Dowd, “In 1939, sabotage killed dozens on the City of San Francisco. The killer escaped,” SFGate.com, September 9, 2019 ( Geoffrey Monroe, “A Parent Protests Against War-Scaring the Nation’s Children,” The Midland Daily Telegraph, July 8, 1938, p.8.

The interstitial music in this video is (in order of appearance): “Scores in Motion in the Japanese Garden” by K. Kenzon & K. Burgland; “Wish I Would Have” by George Kay; and “Last Dream” by Adrian Berenguer.

Special thanks to: John Marcucci, Austin Pierce, David Albers, Enrique Fuster

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Chapters:
00:00-12:24: The Radio Station
12:24-29:24: The Context
29:24-36:49: The Nuclear Letter
36:49-44:05: Politics
44:05-52:26: Life And Death
52:26-58:53: Sports
58:53-1:07:23: At The Theater
1:07:23-1:20:34: Around Town
1:20:34-1:30:56: The Fatal Treaty
1:30:56-1:43:27: The Coming Storm
1:43:27-1:52:35: The Great Ships
1:52:35-2:01:38: Diplomacy
2:01:38-2:08:04: The Last Day
2:08:04-2:21:08: Conclusion

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