Chinese History
1925: A Year in Review
In historical hindsight, the big event in 1925 was Adolf Hitler’s publication of Mein Kampf and re-organization of the National Socialist party[1] to emphasize the the extreme nationalism that is a common element of fascist political philosophy rather than its original socialist leanings. In fact, in 1925, the Nazis were not yet a significant political…
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From the Archives: Champion’s Day: The End of Old Shanghai
Speaking of the Japanese invasion of China as the possible beginning of World War II, as I believe we were, allow me to share a post from 2020 about a book that introduced me to a very specific piece of that story. *** I will admit that I approached historian James Carter’s book Champion’s Day:…
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From the Archives: Industrial Espionage
Reading Sarah Rose’s account of how British botanist Robert Fortune smuggled tea plants, and tea workers, out of China in the nineteenth century, made me think about another case of materials smuggled to end a Chinese monopoly. This first ran in 2012. The Chinese produced luxury silk fabrics for several thousand years before they began…
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