Nguyễn Ái Quốc, aka Nguyễn Tất Thành, was born in French Indochina and fled to find better opportunities. He was living in Paris in 1919 and working as a busboy at the Ritz. His declaration on the rights of the people of Annam, a land better known today as Vietnam, was ignored by the Western delegates.

Rudyard Kipling wrote his poem "The White Man's Burden." His purpose was to exhort the United States to join the colonial system by taking over and "civilizing" the Philipplines, which had recently come under American control. It is a deeply racist text, as is the cartoon above from Judge magazine, which shows John Bull (aka England) and Uncle Sam carrying "barbarians" over the rocks of oppression, ignorance and superstition toward the gleaming beacon of civilization.

Mandates in the Pacific were all former German colonies. They included:

1. The South Pacific Mandate
2. Territory of New Guinea
3. Nauru
4. Western Samoa

Mandates in Western Asia and Africa included:

1. Syria
2. Lebanon
3. Palestine
4. Transjordan
5. Mesopotamia (Iraq)
6. British Togoland
7. French Togoland
8. British Cameroon
9. French Cameroon
10. Ruanda-Urundi
11. Taganyika
12. South West Africa

The Japanese delegates to the Paris Peace Conference wanted two things from the Allies: a racial equality clause in the League of Nations covenant and Shandong in China.

Australia was one of the most vocal opponents to the racial equality clause. The country was dominated by the White Australia movement, which called to limit immigration to the continent to whites only. This is the cover of a popular song about this topic.

When news reached China that the Allies had granted Shandong to Japan, protests erupted across the country. This photo shows a demonstration in Beijing. The May the Fourth movement led directly to the creation of the Chinese Communist Party.

Protests also broke out across Korea, then under Japanese rule, in what became known as the March First Movement. The date is still celebrated in Korea as National Liberation Day.

All of these photos of protests begin to look alike, but this one stands out because it shows women. It depicts a demonstration in Cairo in 1919 against British. What really alarmed the British about these demonstrations was that so many people, both Christian and Muslim, male and female, participated.

Gabriele D'Annunzio was short and balding but incredibly charismatic. After years of fame as a poet, novelist, and playwright, he became a geuine war hero. In 1919, he adopted the cause of the Italian claim on Fiume.

D'Annunzio's invasion of Fiume more closely resembled a picnic outing, except for all of the weapons. The new leader of city became known as "Il Duce" and surrounded himself with Italian special forces troops.

Benito Mussolini closely followed D'Annunzio's conquest of Fiume and adoped many of his strategies in his March on Rome in 1922, right down to the black shirts and palm-down salute.

D'Annunzio was dismissive of Fascism--he had done it all himself first--but Mussolini made a point of paying D'Annunzio's bills, giving him gifts, and appearing in photographs with the poet. Here they are in 1925, with Mussolini on the left and D'Annunzio, showing his age, on the right.

• Please note that the links below to Amazon are affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. (Here's what, legally, I'm supposed to tell you: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.) However, I only recommend books that I have used and genuinely highly recommend.

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Links:

• Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret Macmillan — MacMillan's book continues to be my essential companion to the Paris Peace Conference. Her accounts of both the racial equality clause and the dispute with Italy were incredibly helpful.
• What was the May Fourth Movement? - The Washington Post — This is an interesting look at the May Fourth movement in China in the context of current events.
• Opinion | The Birth of Korean Nationhood - The New York Times — This is a great overview of the March First Movement in Korea, again in the context of current events.
• The Treaty Of Versailles And Its Rejection Of Racial Equality : Code Switch : NPR — The excellent Code Switch team at NPR did a really good review of the Japanese proposal for a racial equality clause in the League of Nations covenant.
• Mussolini and D'Annunzio On The Rise - Allies in Crisis Over Italy I THE GREAT WAR April 1919 - YouTube — The Great War team did an excellent overview of the Fiume crisis and the rise of Mussolini.
• ‘Gabriele d’Annunzio,’ by Lucy Hughes-Hallett - The New York Times — This is a review of a recent biography of Gabriele D'Annunzio that provides a good introduction to the poet and proto-Fascist.
• Two Poems of Gabriele D'Annunzio > Michael Shindler — I haven't read enough of poetry of Gabriele D'Annunzio to really have an opinion on it. It's not hard to track down online, although you have to dig a bit to find it in English. Here are two poems, translated by Michael Shindler, to get you started.

In 1914, the Ottoman Empire stretched from the border of Europe all the way to the Arabian Peninsula, although the amount of control actually exerted by Istanbul diminished with distance from the capital.

The Gallipoli Campaign was a British strategy to attack the Central Powers from the southeast. The first step was to conquer the Dardanelles, the waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Black Sea. The British assumed the weakened Ottoman army would provide little resistance. But under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, the Ottomans mounted a spirited defense and drove off the Allied troops.

This is an image of ANZAC Cove, where Australian and New Zealand troops, who bore the brunt of the invasion attempt, were headquartered.

Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal became a national hero and the savior of Gallipoli.

The Arab Revolt was a British-backed campaign of Bedouin troops to overthrow the Ottomans. Through daring raids, railroad attacks, and desert marches, the Arabs forced the Ottomans out of territory from the Arabian Peninsula all the way to Syria.

In the Mesopotamian Campaign, British troops conquered modern-day Iraq, marching into Baghdad in 1917. This photo depicts British units parading through the city. Note that many of them were Indian soldiers, likely Sikhs from Punjab.

When Russia moved south through the Caucasus into Turkey, the Turks believed that Armenians were aiding them. In retribution, the Turks carried out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing that killed, according to Armenian accounts, 1.5 million people. Photographed here are Armenian refugees at a Red Cross camp outside of Jerusalem.

The Kurds live in a mountainous territory that overlaps the boundaries of today's Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. The Kurdish nationalist movement was in its infancy in 1919 and found it difficult to achieve international support for its aims.

The British promised a lot of people a lot of things during the war, and most of those promises were incompatible. This map shows one proposed post-war configuration, with an independent Armenia and France in control of southern Turkey, northern Syria, and Lebanon.

British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued a declaration in support of the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine in 1917. This was a monumental step toward the eventual creation of the state of Israel--and prompted protests and riots among Palestinians.

Prince Faisal, who expected to become King of Syria, invited himself to the Paris Peace Conference to plead his cause. Lawrence of Arabia, third from right, accompanied him as a translator and guide. They were very definitely not wanted.

Faisal was later crowned King of the new Iraq. This is a rare photo of the ceremony. Notice that Faisal is surrounded by British military officers, a sight that would not have reassured Iraqis worried about the independence of their new country.

Greek troops invaded Turkey in 1919, prompting a furious reaction. This is a photo of protests in Istanbul--notice Haghia Sophia in the background.

Mustafa Kemal did more than protest. He headed to the Anatolian heartland with a core group of army officers and began organizing the Turkish War of Independence. His arrival in the city of Samsun on May 19, 1919 is a day of celebration in Turkey. This is an artist's depiction of Kemal's arrival.

The Treaty of Sevres captured on paper the reality that Britain was attempting to establish on the ground. Notice the independent Armenia in the east and the French Mandate in Syria. Italians were granted a zone in southern Turkey and Greeks in the south and west. On paper, the Zone of the Straits was to be an international territory supervised by the League of Nations; on the ground, the Greeks were in charge.

Kemal's troops steadily advanced on the Greeks, pushing hundreds of thousands of Greek refugees before them. Something like a million Greeks and Armenians were crowded into the Greek headquarter city of Smyrna when Kemal's forces arrived in September 1922. Fire broke out in the city and left it a devastated ruin; the number of casualties is unknown.

The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, replaced the Treaty of Sevres. The borders defined in this treaty have generally held, although conflict in the region has never ceased.

• Please note that the links below to Amazon are affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. (Here's what, legally, I'm supposed to tell you: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.) However, I only recommend books that I have used and genuinely highly recommend.

Support The Year That Was

Links:

• A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin — Fromkin's book was the first that really made sense of the fall of the Ottoman Empire for me. There's a lot to absorb, but this book is detailed without belaboring the point.
• Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret Macmillan — I keep coming back to MacMillan's book for its clarity and ability to make the figures involved feel like real people.
• The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End by Robert Gerwarth — Gerwarth's book was invaluable in understanding the Treaty of Versailles and was equally helpful in sorting out the Treaties of Sevres and Lausanne.
• A Modern History of the Kurds by David McDowall — I began my research knowing next to nothing about the Kurds, just a few scraps of information from the news. McDowall's book is an excellent introduction to the history of this people.
• 19th May 1919: Mustafa Kemal arrives in Samsun and begins the Turkish War of Independence | HistoryPod — This video from HistoryPod gives a good overview of Kemal's arrival in Samsun and includes some cool historical photos and videos.
• "Iraq's Unruly Century" by Jonathan Kandell, Smithsonian — This article provides an excellent overview of the creation of Iraq, the RAF bombings, and the coronation of Faisal, as well as the difficult position the king was left with after 1923.
• "The 1920s British air bombing campaign in Iraq" by Marek Pruszewicz, BBC News — The West may have forgotten about the RAF bombing campaign in Iraq, but the Iraqis certainly didn't.
• "How Britain Carved Up the Middle East and Helped Create Saudi Arabia" by Mark Curtis — Consider this extra credit. I mentioned the creation of Saudi Arabia at the very end. It will not surprise you to learn that the British were heavily involved in the founding of the modern nation.
• "The Entirely Rational Basis For Turkey's Move Into Syria" by Steven A. Cook - The Atlantic — If you're curious how the events described in today's episode led directly to recent events in Syria and Turkey, this article from The Atlantic is an excellent overview. The motivations of the Turks make much more sense in the context of history.
• The Daily Show - Now That's What I Call Being Completely F**king Wrong About Iraq - YouTube — The brief clip from The Daily Show was from June 17, 2014, from a segment called "Now That's What I Call Being Completely F**king Wrong About Iraq." It's a great blast from the past that describes the rise of ISIS.
• Craig Ferguson - Istanbul - YouTube — There are many delightful versions of The Might Be Giants' "Istanbul" on Youtube, but my absolute favorite is this completely wackadoodle performance by Craig Fersguson. If you wanted a quick refresher on Dada, this will serve.

After Indians revolted against British rule in 1857, the British believed that only overwhelming force could keep the subcontinent under British control. This newspaper cartoon illustrates what the colonial authorities feared the most: that Indians would assault English women and children.

Indian servants raised British children, cooked British food, washed British clothes, and tended to every British need. But the British never trusted the people among who they lived.

Nearly 2 million Indian soldiers and support staff served in World War I. Nationalists expected that their loyal service would be rewarded by increased autonomy within the British empire.

Mohandas K. Gandhi returned to India eager to employ his principles of non-violent resistance in the struggle for Indian independence.

For Gandhi, spinning was both a practical way for India to become economically independent and a strategy for promoting traditional crafts. It was also a symbol of Indian self-reliance. Gandhi pushed spinning on everyone he met.

Amritsar, in Punjab, is home to the Darbar Sahib, a holy site in the Sikh faith.

This diagram of Jallianwala Bagh shows the size of the space, the location of the soldiers, and the limited number of exits.

Brigadier-General R.E.H. Dyer was born in India and served around the empire as well as on the Western Front. He estimated his troops had killed between 200 and 300 people and asserted, "There was no question of undue severity."

Among the reprisals Dyer imposed on Amritsar, the most notorious was the "crawling order"--the demand that Indians crawl on their stomachs down the street where the schoolteacher Miss Sherwood was attacked.

Gandhi accelerated his non-cooperation protests after the Amritsar Massacre, eventually calling on peasants to stop paying their taxes. In March 1922, he was arrested and convicted of sedition. He was sentenced to six years but only served two.

On August 1, 1919, Gopal Singh of the Ghadar Party presented Eamon de Valera with a sword. The sword was sheathed, a symbol of India's non-violence resistance to the British. But de Valera unsheathed it, marking Ireland's use of force. Both nations would achieve independence accompanied by bloodshed, but Gandhi's refusal to confront the British on their own terms infuriated the British in a way the Irish never did.

Today, Jallianwala Bagh is a beautifully landscaped memorial shrine that includes this painting of the massacre, observed here by an Indian girl on the 100th anniversary of the event.

• Please note that the links below to Amazon are affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. (Here's what, legally, I'm supposed to tell you: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.) However, I only recommend books that I have used and genuinely highly recommend.

Support The Year That Was

Links:

• Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre by Kim Wagner — I highly recommended Wagner's book as a dramatic account of the events of April 1919 and as an overview of the Indian independence movement after the Great War.
• India: A History. Revised and Updated by John Keay — Keay's book is not a casual read, but it is a comprehensive overview of the vast span of Indian history and an excellent resource for those who (as I did) need a thorough introduction to the big picture.
• Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948 by Ramachandra Guha — A meticulous and engrossing biography. As well as exploring the evolution of Gandhi's ideas, the book tracks how both different sectors of Indian society and the global audience reacted to his ideas.
• India and Ireland by De Valera, Eamon — I quoted from de Valera's speech "India and Ireland" at the beginning of this episode, and the entire text is worth a read if you want to read a truly damning indictment of colonialism.
• Gandhi Amritsar Massacre - YouTube — The 1982 movie "Gandhi," directed by Richard Attenborough, includes a recreation of the Amritsar Massacre. It is fairly accurate and incredibly gripping--although difficult to watch.

Thomas Ash died in a British prison in 1917 after a botched forced feeding when he refused to lift his hunger strike.

His funeral had every appearance of a state funeral, even though when Ash died he was considered a traitor by the British. Here a squad from the Irish Volunteer Army fire a volley at his graveside.

The day after Easter 1916, Irish nationalist rebels seized key locations in Dublin in an attempt to spark a national uprising. Few photos were taken by the rebels. This rather poor quality image is one of the only in existence; it was taken from within the General Post Office and shows several soldiers. Notice how young many of them are.

James Connally led forces in the General Post Office. He was praised for his courage and determination; Michael Collins later said he would have followed him through hell.

Michael Collins was young, dashing, and handsome--and relatively unknown before the Rising.

The American-born Eamon de Valera led troops in the southeastern part of Dublin.

Within a day of the rising, British troops began pouring into the city and quickly overwhelmed the rebels.

The situation rapidly deteriorated for the rebels. This drawing is an artist's depiction of the last day with the General Post Office. Notice the smoke from fires and the wounded Thomas Connally lying on a stretcher. On Saturday, they had no choice but to surrender.

Dublin was left in ruins and 260 civilians were left dead.

The British rapidly executed 16 men, inadvertently turning public opinion against them and creating a whole host of martyrs to the Irish cause. Commemorative posters like this were popular across Ireland.

Irish republican leaders poured their efforts into winning the vote in the 1918 general election. They framed the election as a mandate on Ireland's future--and won.

The Irish were well aware of the fight for self-determination among other European nations such as Czechoslovakia. When the Peace Conference opened in 1919, the Irish argued they deserved independence as much as the Czech or the Poles, sometimes using blatantly racist arguments.

The first Dail Eireann, or Irish national assembly, moved rapidly to create a shadow government in early 1919. Michael Collins, the minister of finance, is second from the left; Eamon de Valera, president, is fifth from the left.

Irish-American activists urged Woodrow Wilson to take up the cause of Ireland at the Paris Peace Conference. This postcard is a political cartoon that shows Uncle Sam escorting Ireland into the conference. Wilson refused to address the issue of Ireland, following the insistence of British Prime Minister David Lloyd-George that Ireland was not the business of the conference.

Wilson would pay for this decision when Irish-Americans organized against the League of Nations and helped ensure its defeat in the the U.S. Senate.

Eamon de Valera spent most of his first two years in office touring the United States to raise money and support for Ireland. He toured the entire country and made a remarkable visit to the Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin. He greeted the Chippewa as a representative from one oppressed nation to another. The Chippewa adoped de Valera as a member of their tribe and gave him this magnificent headdress.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland, IRA units systematically targeted members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, killing and wounding hundreds. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French, denounced Sinn Fein as a "club for killing policemen."

The British responded to the RIC attacks by sending in veterans of the Great War, nicknamed the Black and Tans for the dark coats they wore over khaki uniforms. The Black and Tans had little training and policemen and imposed a harsh regime of searches (as pictured here), checkpoints, reprisals, and extra-judicial killings (which is a nice way to say they murdered people outright.)

In reaction, the IRA's special assassination unit "The Squad" targeted British spies, killing 11 on Sunday, November 21, 1920. The furious British surrounded a football match between Dublin and Tipperary and fired into the crowd.

Shortly before Bloody Sunday, Terence MacSwiney died after a 74-day hunger strike. His slow martyrdom was followed by the entire world, and other countries started asking the British pointed questions about their policy toward Ireland.

Finally, the Irish and British began negotiating a peace that would remove the British from Ireland--but keep the country tied to Great Britain and divided along religious lines.

The Irish, led by Michael Collins, signed the treaty, kicking off a bloody civil war. Pro-Treaty forces, led by Collins, argued that the treaty was the right solution for Ireland that guaranteed peace.

Anti-Treaty forces, led by de Valera, argued that the treaty was being forced on Ireland and was a betrayal of all they had fought for.

Collins was winning the fight when he was shot by an Anti-Treaty ambush on August 22, 1922. Collins became the ultimate Irish martyr, always young, always dashing, always a hero.

Within nine months of Collins' death, the Anti-Treaty troops agreed to a ceasefire and peace came to Ireland.

Or, at least, until the Troubles began in the north--but that's another podcast.

• Please note that the links below to Amazon are affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. (Here's what, legally, I'm supposed to tell you: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.) However, I only recommend books that I have used and genuinely highly recommend.

Support The Year That Was

Links:

• Amazon.com: Bitter Freedom: Ireland in a Revolutionary World by Maurice Walsh — Walsh's book describes events in Ireland between 1917 and 1923 while placing them in the context of self-determination movements around the world. My primary source for this episode, it's a clear and powerful read.
• Amazon.com: 1916: The Easter Rising by Tim Pat Coogan — Coogan is one of Ireland's most popular historians for good reason--he's a compelling writer. His overview of the Easter Rising is a vivid piece of storytelling.
• "How a fruit cake helped Eamon de Valera escape Lincoln Prison" by Oliver Wright, BBC News — The story of how Eamon de Valera escaped a British prison is one of those cases where truth is stranger than fiction.
• "Eamon De Valera - The Chief" from UCD History Hub — De Valera's visit to the United States included a trip to the Chippewa Reservation in Wisconsin, where he was hailed as a representative from a fellow oppressed nation. Read all about here.
• 1916 Easter Rising: Insurrection ( 2/3) HD - YouTube — This video is good overview of the Easter Rising, with some amazing archival video and photos.
• Liam Neeson reads WB Yeats' Easter 1916 | RTÉ - YouTube — Liam Neeson brings his gorgeous gravelly voice to this reading of "Easter 1916" by William Butler Yeats.
• William Butler Yeats: “Easter, 1916” by Ange Mlinko | Poetry Foundation — For a deeper understanding of Yeats' poem "Easter 1916," this essay is helpful. It explains Yeats' relationship to many of the men executed after the Rising and considers his attitude toward martyrdom.