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It's high time we marked such an auspicious occasion with something of a celebration - for the month of October 2019, we have a very special offer to reveal to listeners and patrons all.
It's nothing less than a chance for YOU to get your name in lights, get yourself our latest book, and feast on premium content for years to come. History friends have never had it so good, but being a PhD Pal, now THAT'S where it's at!
Read the related blog post h...
2019-10-01 05:01:00 +0000 UTC
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In this latest episode, we see how Poland and Lithuania were drawn closer together, and examine one of the major trends of Polish history - that of concessions, made by the monarchy to the nobility, which were built upon over the centuries, until by the dawn of the 18th century, there was virtually no central administration to speak of! The journey to that state of affairs took some time though, and it was not always cloaked in naked self-interest. Our story continues, amidst ...
2019-09-30 05:00:01 +0000 UTC
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In our ninth installment on 17th century warfare, we assess the overall contribution of the Dutch to the military revolution, through a few important spheres. We will learn that spreading the word about new technological innovations was not an unusual practice, and that Europeans were far more willing to share their discoveries than we may have previously imagined. In addition, we examine how the drill became the supreme method of warfare, and how it inculcated a sense of disc...
2019-09-23 05:01:00 +0000 UTC
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How did Poland and Lithuania come to be joined together as one state? Here we answer that critically important question, as well as several others which go along with it. Of course, our story may begin in the year 1700, but we would be remiss if we didn't mention several threads of the story which brings the narrative to that point. Why did the Commonwealth have an elective monarchy? Why were the nobility so powerful? And perhaps the most pressing question - how did a pagan gr...
2019-09-16 05:15:01 +0000 UTC
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[PATRONS]
Where did the inspiration to tackle this project come from, what sources have we devoured, and what can you expect from this series? These questions and so many more besides will be addressed here, so make sure you get the full picture of what we're up to by listening in!
2019-09-16 05:02:00 +0000 UTC
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FINALLY! After several years, countless teases, numerous changed plans, and no shortage of research, one of the most anticipated series we have ever tackled lands at long last. Poland Is Not Yet Lost has been made possible thanks to the incredible support I received from you, my patrons, so I hope you'll check this first introduction episode out as we set the scene, and set forth some of our plans for this fascinating and very chunky series.
2019-09-16 05:00:59 +0000 UTC
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After covering the adoption of a revolutionary new musket drill by Maurice of Nassau in the late 1590s, in this episode we come to the point where all of these innovations would be put to the test, so I hope you’re ready to listen in, as the full horrors of constant barrages of lead on the human body were felt to their full effect for the first time in Western Europe, in the relatively unknown Battle of Nieuwpoort, in July 1600.
This episode provides a key example of w...
2019-09-09 05:01:00 +0000 UTC
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We're back! At long last, after a lot of confusing scheduling and weird decisions, WDF is finally ready to introduce to you what we have planned for the next few years. It is an investigation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) like you've never seen it before, and I couldn't be more excited to begin! Listen in here for a rundown of what we've done so far since our too eager release back in May 2018, and what we plan to do going forward. For those confused with what this all m...
2019-09-09 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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1956 meant many different things to different people across the world during this eventful year, but as we have explored its varied themes and consequences, we have also come closer to the qualities which makes this year so fascinating. Its was eventful, destructive, encouraging and depressing all at once, and now, you hopefully realise why I saw fit to investigate it in such detail 18 months ago. So thanksss for joining me for this series dear patrons, and make sure you retur...
2019-08-26 09:52:43 +0000 UTC
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Episode 2.21: From Eden concludes our story by examining the person of Anthony Eden in context. The Prime Minister, once so revered, had irreparably damaged his reputation by acting as he did in the Suez Crisis. While on paper the record stated that Britain and France had acted with the most noble of intentions, in reality, as Eden well knew, the ambitions had been far more rudimentary and straightforward, and the miscalculations far more grave, than Eden would ever let on. He...
2019-08-18 22:57:42 +0000 UTC
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What a lovely surprise! I sat down with Kaner [Ken] and Amby [Gavin], two Ozzies with a love of the game Diplomacy, which I have name dropped many times on this show. The three of us chat about a whole range of topics, from our experiences playing the game, to my recent projects and the processes involved with them, to current examples of diplomacy failing. It was a great chat and I had a wonderful time, and if you did too, make sure to check out their show Diplomacy Games...
2019-08-17 10:16:02 +0000 UTC
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In our penultimate episode of the Suez Crisis, we look at Episode 2.20: Americans & Soviets, which examines the involvement of the Cold War’s primary protagonists in the Suez Crisis. At long last, we bring the events in Hungary full circle with events in Egypt, and assess whether Anthony Eden’s crimes doomed Hungary after all. In short, we bring everything full circle in 1956. What the events of this year demonstrated, between the Soviet aggressions in Hungary and the ...
2019-08-12 05:00:02 +0000 UTC
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[PATRONS]
Episode 2.19: Not All Heroes Wear Capes follows on from what we saw in the previous episode, where Eden attempted without much apparent shame to completely redefine what the Suez Crisis had meant, and what Britain’s role in the crisis had been. From the afternoon of 6th November, with a ceasefire in the air, a UN Emergency Force still had to be negotiated. Eden could claim that British and French forces were sticking around in Egypt only for the purpose of maintaining peace ...
2019-08-05 05:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello faithful patrons! Thanks for sticking with the show over the last while, as we move forward from Versailles and onto our next project! During Versailles, release schedule on a consistent basis wasn't really thing - I was pretty much following the lead of those that acted a century before after all!
Now that, I'm following a different formula - the once a week release schedule for $5 patrons and above, or once every two weeks if you're not at that level. From September, Poland Is N...
2019-08-01 18:07:39 +0000 UTC
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Episode 2.18: The Art of Backing Down brings us to a critical point in the narrative, where Anthony Eden decided that a ceasefire was in fact favourable after all, even while he had ignored calls for just such an arrangement in the past. So just what had changed? Thanks to Harold Macmillan, Eden was persuaded that the economic situation in Britain was close to breaking point, and the Treasury Secretary greatly inflated the figures to ape a crisis which could not be avoided, un...
2019-07-29 05:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Join me for the next five weeks dear patrons, as we work our way through the last few episodes of 1956. Every Monday, until 26th August, we will be delivering a new installment of this fascinating series, so make sure you don't miss out! It's been a while since we last visited the Suez Crisis, so what have we missed?
Episode 2.17, Britain Knows Best looks at Anthony Eden’s furious efforts to shape the debate on the British intervention in Egypt in the first few days of...
2019-07-22 05:30:01 +0000 UTC
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The Versailles Anniversary Project consumed 8 months of my life, and 8 months of your attention. It was the largest, most ambitious, and most exhausting project we have ever taken on. What did this 'taking on' actually look like though? You may know that it was a long hard enjoyable slog, but what else is there to the story of this monster, which, as the statistics show, has taken more than 67 hours to fully unwrap? Well history friend, look no further, as finally bid farewell...
2019-07-10 16:00:03 +0000 UTC
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After 8 months and 85 episodes, what is left to say? As it turns out, quite a lot, so I hope you'll join me as we wrap up the longest project we've ever tackled here at WDF. The questions of German responsibility, of Woodrow Wilson's selective compromising, and the exercise of finger pointing all come under our microscope, as we deliver our final words on this saga. Thanksss so much for your support over the last few months, and here's to our next audio adventure!
2019-07-08 16:00:03 +0000 UTC
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In this episode, we conclude our story f the delegates who partook in this romp through alternative history and imagination land over the last six months. You are all a credit to history podcast listeners, and thanksss so much for making such hard work be so much darn fun. What does the world look like up to 1945? What did the delegates do after 1919 to make their mark upon the world? Furthermore, who would walk away with the coveted 74th ANNUAL DELEGATION GAME AWARDS!? Find o...
2019-07-08 10:01:00 +0000 UTC
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It's high time we examined where the Germans fit into all of this mess. Having been left with the most unfair treaty in the universe, how could these poor unfortunate Germans possibly repair and move on? My point, as I make many times in this final episodes of our project, is that the German responsibility for this 'moving on' rested with the Germans and the Germans alone. An imperfect Treaty was not an excuse for Nazism. A did not automatically equal B, and the Treaty of Vers...
2019-07-06 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Vittorio Orlando, George Clemenceau, David Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson. Four men, who over the last eight months, had been more central to the development of the peace, and thus the development of the 20th century, than any other figures. In this episode, we remember each man and his story during this eight month period. What struggles did each face, what triumphs did they enjoy, and what has history come to say about each of them? Can any one of them truly claim to have s...
2019-07-05 15:05:56 +0000 UTC
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Germany and Austria receive their peace treaties, amidst an atmosphere which was calm and collected in some places, but scheming and troubling in others. Could it be guaranteed that these arrangements would stand the test of time? Who was left pleased, where others were enraged? Was anyone listening to the small people? Find out in our final narrative episode of the Delegation Game!
2019-07-01 19:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Just because the main event had been and gone, did not mean that the story ended here. For many delegates and peacemakers, the mission remained one of leveraging as many advantages from the peace treaty as possible. For others, it was a case of working with friends and foes alike to secure their borders or their interests once they returned home. Returning home, indeed, was on the agenda on many statesmen who had helped make the treaty. Yet, the signing of the Treaty of Versai...
2019-06-30 16:09:47 +0000 UTC
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On This Day in history a century ago! What else, other than that infamous scene. After more than eight months, we reach that scene. What exactly was the Hall of Mirrors like to sit in? We have the answers. What did the Germans look like? Again, we have it covered. What were the consequences, of these signatures of the century? Again, we have it covered in Episode 82 of this whopper project. We've been on quite a journey over the last few months, and I couldn't have done ...
2019-06-28 19:46:46 +0000 UTC
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If you thought we'd simply fast forward to the infamous scene where the Germans signed on the dotted line, then you haven't been paying attention! Between the 24 and 27 June, there was a great deal going down, even if many of the peacemakers had mentally checked out, knowing that the signing was only a few days away. As the allies blamed the Germans for Scapa Flow, and Clemenceau imagined a new scheme involving the occupation of the city of Essen, the Germans worked to find so...
2019-06-27 17:36:04 +0000 UTC
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With a German Treaty tantalisingly close to completion, it remained to do the rounds, and find out exactly what was bothering or motivating the various delegates. Some last minute agreements, goals, and even strategic alliances were possible, as these peacemakers imagined life after the Treaty of Buckingham...
2019-06-24 17:51:50 +0000 UTC
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