A New Australia in Paraguay - Part 1

In the final episode of the series we trace the protracted decline of utopia. Split into rival settlements, the inhabitants will gradually abandon their communal ethos. Meanwhile, legal and financial problems in Australia will further undermine the project and its ideals. Finally, we look at what happened afterwards - William Lane's strange political U-turn, the scattered countries where New Australians ended up, and the lives of the descendants of those who remain in Paraguay to this day.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's episode covers the moment when the New Australia project cracked and splintered into separate settlements. We look at the reasons for this split, and how it manifested itself. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The third part of the story of New Australia is marked by conflict. In this episode the divisions within the colonists deepen, and lead to open revolt against Lane's leadership, and even instances of physical violence. Could the colony survive the turmoil?Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In part two of the series the idealistic Australians travel to South America and up the River Plate to the land on which they will found their utopia. Then, they begin the actual work of building it. While this was all done without any major drama, things do not go as smoothly when it came to internal dynamics. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

At the end of the 1800s a group of Utopianist Australians decided to set off to build a worker's paradise in the remote Paraguayan hinterlands. It didn't quite go to plan, but their story is one of those bizarre and unexpected one that Latin American history frequently throws up.In the first episode we look at the political, social, and economic context of the scheme to understand why it happened. We introduce its main proponent, and the idealistic laws which would govern the colony.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the final episode of the series, we look at how Potosi declined from being the rich source of most of the world's silver, to a forgotten and impoverished place. We track the town through the late colonial era, the wars of independence, and the 20th century.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today we discuss one of the greatest incidents in Potosi's history - the Great Mint Fraud. This story reads partially like a political investigative thriller, and partially like a mafia expose. It's effects will reverberate around the world, disrupting the global economy, and it will damage Potosi itself for decades.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Potosi was an archetypal mining boomtown, filled with hard-working and hard-living characters hoping to make their fortune, and attempting to drown out their tough and dangerous existence with wild parties while they waited. To get a sense of what it might have been like to live there, in today's episode we discuss the city's growth, its population - both rich and poor, and the escapades of some of its most outlandish residents.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In today's episode we zoom out and look at the astounding impact Potosi had on even the furthest flung reaches of the world. Among other things, its silver helped provoke dynastic regime change in China, wars in Iran, and a 500% increase in the price of bread in France. It helped create the golden age of piracy, globalisation, and the birth of the study of economics. It's no exaggeration to say that Potosi changed the course of history and therefore the world we live in today.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode we take a closer look at the mines themselves, as well as the ore refining industry which surrounded it. We examine the terrible toll it took on those who worked in these jobs, as well as who was actually doing this work, and who owned the mining enterprises. Along the way we discuss who the Spanish adapted and re-used a couple of existing Inca social systems.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-latin-american-history-podcast/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy