The European Century · Newsletter · Issue No. 2
Welcome to the second dispatch from The European Century.
In keeping with the musical side to this site, I borrowed shamelessly from the song "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am," recorded by multiple artists and made famous by the British band Herman’s Hermits. In the song, the narrator's wife has an unusual habit: she keeps marrying men named Henry, eight of them so far, without ever changing her ways. Unlike that fictional woman set in her ways, I hope to grow every month, making this site better than the one before. I learned so much in posting about Berlin in the 1920s last month, and now I am looking forward to this month’s round of posts.
The August posts will take us into one of the most discussed cities in history during one of the most discussed decades in history… Paris in the 1940s. It was a time when the city dealt with defeat at the hands of the German army and the subsequent horrors of Nazi occupation. It was a time when ordinary people joined in the Resistance movement to throw off the yoke that held them down. It was a time when bare survival was not just a day-to-day experience, but an hour-by-hour one.
The selection of August for these posts was not an arbitrary one. This month marks the eighty-second anniversary of the city’s liberation from its Nazi captors, an anniversary that should never be forgotten.
What’s Coming this Month
Jazz under the Swastika: Music in Occupied Paris tells the story of how the musical genre of jazz survived, kicked up its metaphorical heels, and then flourished after the war ended when American jazz musicians arrived in the city alongside the liberating military forces. This post also addresses the relationship between musical performance and collaboration with the enemy. German soldiers attended the French music halls just as French citizens did. While the performers on stage upheld this long-standing French cultural institution, their performances also provided entertainment to their tormentors.
The Historical Table will feature a recipe for a vegetable stew that omits meat, an important concession in times of strict rationing. There will also be a simple dessert recipe designed to work around wartime shortages of eggs, butter, and sugar.
Note: Scheduling Changes for Posts
As stated earlier, I am still learning how to manage this site and, as such, I may make changes along the way to create a better experience for readers. The first change: posts will now go up on Saturday mornings instead of Monday mornings. Sit back with your beverage of choice and settle in to read about fascinating periods gone by.
Thank you for being here.
Michelle
The European Century
europeancentury.substack.com
© The European Century · europeancentury.substack.com