When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

PINYL #11: 'Honesty & Intrigue'

[PATRONS]

Put the Bismarck Party on hold and check out the latest installment of PINYL today!

In our latest episode of Poland Is Not Yet Lost, we see what happened as the Turks confronted the Russians along the River Pruth. With the Turkish Grand Vizier holding all the cards, with his guns pointed literally at the heart of Russia’s government, how could Tsar Peter hope to survive the ordeal with his regime intact? The odds had been stacked against him even before his nemesis, King Charles XII of Sweden...

The Dreaded Tax Man is Here...

Urrrgh, taxes...

Hi history friends, some meh news I'm afraid, so let's get it out of the way as quickly as possible. 

Basically, from 1st July, Patreon will be forced to charge sales tax on certain parts of its processes, mostly through pledging patrons. This means that for some of you, another few cents will be tacked onto the price you're already paying, which sucks. 

This isn't due to Patreon being annoying [again!] - actually, it's due to new laws passing in several countries and US ...

30YearsWar #13: 'The Pax Hispania'

Episode 13 of the Thirty Years War, the Pax Hispania, is out NOW!

We're on Lyceum, which you should definitely check out! 

In this instalment of our series, we look at how the moment of peace moved the Spanish to act in concert with their Austrian Habsburg cousins. More specifically, we assess the relationship of the Emperor and the King of Spain and, it may surprise you to learn that it wasn’t especially good! In fact...

PINYL #10: 'Hubris and Nemesis Again'

[PATRONS]

Just because our Bismarck party is in full swing, doesn't mean Poland should be left to the wayside! 

In our latest episode here, we see what happened in the immediate aftermath of Poltava in 1709. Peter was triumphant, his nemesis in Charles had been utterly destroyed...or had he? In desperation, the King of Sweden made for the Ottoman Empire, and to the one place where a campaign of vengeance might feasibly be arranged. For sure, Charles' glittering reputation was in pieces, but as Peter...

30YearsWar #12: "The Roots of Spain"

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Place that Bismarck party on pause and head on over here, because Episode 12 of the Thirty Years War, the Roots of Spain, is out NOW!

Here we look at a rarely mentioned aspect of Spain – the fact that it was still teeming with citizens of a different culture and religious persuasion than those of the Catholic, Castilian majority. These were the Moriscos, first or second generation Muslims who had converted to Catholicism rather than leave the country, but in many cases, this official conversion was in name only. Moris...

PINYL #9: - 'A Happy Omen'

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That's right! Poland Is Not Yet Lost isn't stopping merely because our Bismarck party is in full sway! Here we learn more about King Charles XII's desperate situation by the spring of 1709. This situation was dire,  but it was soon to get worse. As the noose closed in on the unconquered Swedish King,  not even the Tsar was willing to believe that the turn was at hand - Charles had, after all, defied the odds and then some before, but would he do so again? As the theatre of Poltava loomed, so did that question: could...

BismarckRise #8: 'A Danish Vindication' [1864]

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Blood and iron, the Alvensleben Convention, and then the Congress of Princes – Bismarck’s first year as Minister President was certainly a busy one, yet it was about to become busier still. As a happy accident, the Danish crown became vacant upon the death of its king, and with this succession looming, Danish control over its German duchies, Schleswig and Holstein, loomed to the forefront of European politics once again, in a manner which it hadn’t done since 1848. The problem was that the Danes wished to retain their g...

BismarckRise #7: 'Domination and Manipulation' [1863-1864]

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He had made his fair share of errors, but it was fair to say at the same time that Bismarck wasn’t going anywhere. By the summer of 1863, the Polish business was mostly forgotten, and Bismarck could look further afield and see what developments in foreign affairs provided an opportunity to wipe the slate clean. He didn’t have to wait long. The Austrian Emperor Franz Josef claimed to desire a new constitution, one which all Germans should cooperate in crafting. To learn more, my fellow Germans, I wish to summon you to Fran...

BismarckRise #6: 'Blood, Iron & Tears' [1862-1863]

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In this episode we examine the opening six months of Bismarck’s regime, and what a regime it was. It began, to Bismarck’s surprise, with a somewhat bumpy road. In the course of his first speech before the Landtag as Minister President, Bismarck discovered that his very reputation might prove the greatest danger to his premiership. In the course of this ‘Iron and Blood’ or blood and iron speech, Bismarck simply set forth the ideas and principles which he had always held dear, and which he had never tried to hide. Later...

BismarckRise #5: 'Power at Last' [1861-1862]

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Years of struggle and disappointment had finally led to this moment. On 22 September 1862, a fatalistic and hesitant King Wilhelm finally did it, he finally agreed to appoint Otto von Bismarck as Prussian Minister President, or Prime Minister. It was a decision which Wilhelm felt forced to take in the heat of the moment, what with those darned liberals still refusing to relent and give Prussia the military reforms she needed. Yet it was a decision which was to have profound consequences for Prussians, Germans, and the world. ...

BismarckRise #4: 'Ambassador Extraordinaire' [1859-1861]

[PATRONS]

As he soon discovered upon returning to Berlin in early 1859, he was not bound for a ministerial post, but a new role as the Prussian ambassador to Russia. It was still a great promotion for a man who had only a slim record of diplomatic training – now he was to be head of the Prussian embassy! But Bismarck was less than thrilled. He was not only disappointed in not grabbing the brass ring of a ministerial post, he was also irritated that he would have to leave Frankfurt in less capable hands. This surely made no sense, and...

BismarckRise #3: 'The Ultimate Opportunist' [1853-1859]

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The Crimean War changed everything in Europe. It left Austria alienated, her Russian ally bitter and the Tsar vengeful, after Austria’s display of perfidy. ‘Austrian ingratitude’, claimed the new Tsar Alexander II, ‘killed my father.’ Under these circumstances, it was possible that Prussia could take advantage. Could an agreement with Russia be created, to be directed against Austria? But then there was the issue of France, and what Napoleon III intended to do with this new power balance. In Bismarck’s view, Franc...

BismarckRise #2: 'First Taste of Intrigue' [1851-1853]

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When we last left Bismarck, he had established himself in Frankfurt, and prepared to meet the challenges which Prussia faced, following several years of bungled, humiliating foreign policy. The constraints upon Bismarck seemed obvious, the greatest restriction by far being the Austrian domination of the German Confederation. This domination, an established fact since 1815, was to Bismarck the greatest flaw in Prussian diplomacy – made worse by the fact that few in Berlin, if any, seemed willing to contest this domination. S...

BismarckRise #1: 'I, Bismarck' [1815-1851]

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In this episode, the first of eight, we explore the life of a young Otto von Bismarck, and assess the different events, influences and individuals who moved through his life. It’s a personal story, but it’s also a story about the unassuming, you could even say unremarkable, beginnings, of a man who would one day dominate Europe. At this stage in his life, only those three qualities – intelligence, ambition and energy – were palpable, but there was also something raw within the young Otto that suggested a great potenti...

Hardcore WDF Presents - Bismarck: Rise

[PATRONS]

At long last, I can finally share the secret which has been at the front of my mind for months! Bismarck, and as you've never seen him before. That's right, on Thursday 30 April, we're starting a new series called Bismarck: Rise, which will look at the Iron Chancellor's life and times in some serious detail, in the period 1815-1864. This is the legend of Bismarck, now watch him rise!

Seriously though, I am super excited about this, and when you listen in I'm sure you'll be too! Or, have a read if you're not up listening...

30YearsWar: #11 - "Northern Tremors"

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In this episode we radically change our focus, away from the Empire and towards a brand new theatre of Europe – Scandinavia. It was there, in the sphere of the Baltic, Eastern Europe and the wild North, that an incredible drama was playing itself out, as the House of Vasa divided over matters or religion and leadership, with profound results for Poland, Sweden, Russia and pretty much everyone else in the region. The House of Vasa’s predominant King, Sigismund III, rowed away from Sweden in the late 1590s, never to return ...

PINYL: #8 - "Nemesis"

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In this episode, we watch King Charles XII of Sweden embark on what would become arguably, the warmonger's most infamous journey - the invasion of Russia. It was an invasion which had been conducted successfully by the Poles the previous century, but would Charles be up to the task here? The events of late 1707-spring 1709 would reveal that, contrary to the expectations of all, the Swedish King had gotten more, far more, than he had bargained for in this invasion. This was not the Russia of 1611; it was not even the Russia of...

30 Years War: #10 - "Thick as Thieves"

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It's time to meet Ferdinand of Styria and the rest of his lovely Habsburg family! Taken together, these were the kind of people who would fight doggedly for their rights and their faith. They also seemed to have a real hard time leaving Prague alone (foreshadowing!)

The counterpoint to Frederick V, Ferdinand of Styria was the heir designate to the Imperial throne, but he brought to the table a legacy which many would have found unsettling. A history of oppression and repression in his native Styria, in Inner Austria, ha...

PINYL: #7 - "Hubris"

[PATRONS]

In the latest episode of Poland Is Not Yet Lost, we examine the immediate aftermath of Charles XII's triumphant occupation of Saxony throughout much of 1706 and 1707. While secured in Saxony, Charles had god reason to be confident. He had utterly trounced his enemies, forcing one foe to abdicate from the Polish throne, while his newly appointed Polish King, Stanislaus Lechinski, was in his pocket. With the Commonwealth now taking orders from Sweden for the first time ever, Charles wished to harness this situation, and redirec...