[PATRONS]
Operation Redeemer - that plan to relieve the besieged forces commanded by General David McCay in Kiev, spearheaded by a force commanded by Paul von Lettow Vorbeck, composed of Freikorps soldiers and other German volunteers. It was a story almost too incredible to be true - and yet, onwards the redeemed marched. Back in London, the peacemakers chaired the Arbitration Commi...
2019-06-18 22:02:15 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York fo...
2019-06-16 11:31:26 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Between 5 to 10 June 1919, one could be forgiven for imagining that the allies would be far too buys discussing the German counterproposals and their intended reply to do anything else. In fact, what we see on the morning of 5th June is a significant exchange between Paderewski and the big three, as Poland was placed on trial for its recent actions. It was almost as though the b...
2019-06-12 16:04:13 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
An eventful fortnight indeed, as the delegates crowd around the table to read the latest on the German peace treaty, the dominions offer their views, the Germans seem to be scheming, and the Russians remain mysterious. Still, despite the setbacks and mistrust, the lies and disappointments, one could be forgiven for wondering - is this peace at last?
2019-06-09 21:08:06 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
75 Years ago, our ancestors made a brave step towards the liberation of France from the most terrible of tyranny. Now, with the considerable help of Dr Peter Caddick-Adams, historian, journalist, author, reservist and more, I delve into this event, using the recently released book Sand and Steel - a New History of D-Day by the author as my guide. We get into so mu...
2019-06-06 14:25:18 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York for a sp...
2019-06-05 20:09:40 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York for a sp...
2019-05-31 04:31:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York for a sp...
2019-05-29 20:26:05 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York fo...
2019-05-26 19:41:25 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York fo...
2019-05-25 20:45:30 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In episode 16 of the game, we visit four distinct scenes, where a great deal of drama goes down. Lloyd George has some words for the British Empire Delegation; four allied figures meet to try and address their differences; the Austro-German party urge action in the creation of some peace treaty which will actually end the war, and in the American delegation, the fallout from Woo...
2019-05-25 12:25:55 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York fo...
2019-05-24 22:54:58 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
It's high time we considered the American angle once again. After several weeks of work, one would imagine that the American ...
2019-05-23 07:03:49 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 2.16: My Canadian Friends introduces a fascinating new element into our story. Eden’s efforts to control the discussion continued, as the Prime Minister sought to make the British people see things wholly his way. To some extent he would succeed, but much like his French counterparts, it was proving immensely difficult to control what people thought deep down about thi...
2019-05-21 18:52:21 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 2.15: Foiled Abroad resumes the story of Anthony Eden and his struggle to implement the once perfect plan upon his unwilling nation. Having been challenged passionately at home by a disbelieving political nation in the last episode, here we see this suspicion and fear transplanted to Britain’s supposed allies, and to the United Nations. It was within the UN that some o...
2019-05-20 19:54:15 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
After so many weeks of preparation, it is finally time to journey to Warsaw where the Council for Russian Freedoms presents its mission. Accompanied by volunteer forces from all over the world, the message is clear - the extinction of Bolshevism and the rescuing of Russia. However, beneath of the surface of the good intentions and proud speeches, lurks dark rumours, doubts and f...
2019-05-19 15:08:45 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Are you ready for this? After a long time teasing you all, it's time I dropped some incredibly exciting news on the world. This news has the potential to change history podcasting FOREVER...sort of, but first and foremost, it means big changes for you and I. I hope you'll have a listen to the first half of this show to hear my news and get to grips with what I'm all about. Pat y...
2019-05-18 04:30:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York for a special conference on 29th June - meet Mike Duncan, Kevin Stroud, David Crowther and more! Search Intelligent Speech Conference now! Use the code 'WDF' to get 5% off your ticket!
OTD 100 yea...
2019-05-15 04:30:59 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The story of Greece comes under our microscope at long last. Here we are introduced to a fascinating vision, yet another example of what might have been. Greater Greece was a project which appealed to many people outside the realm of Greece itself, and in this episode we will get to grips with the origins of the idea in Greek, but mostly in British foreign policy. It was in Brit...
2019-05-12 21:16:32 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The President Marshall arrives in London to take his seat alongside the big three in the Council of Eight, as a very exhausted SIR Alistair Tancred accompanies him. Awaiting Foch in London are several developments; the Minor Council continues to quarrel, the League of Nations is under severe threat, and the concerned nations prepare themselves to contribute men to the cause of R...
2019-05-12 20:08:09 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Somehow, we managed to cram an hour of content in an episode th...
2019-05-10 17:17:40 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
On this day 100 years ago, the Germans were finally presented with the treaty had been under construction for nearly five full months. What would they think of it? That remained to be seen, but in the process of handing this treaty to them, the German delegation, represented by Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau, would be given a chance to speak while seated, before the entirety of t...
2019-05-07 02:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In our longest episode to date (and hopefully ever) we examine the incredible story of the first week of May 1919, by delving into primary sources never before used on a podcast, and rarely used in books! This delivers to us a narrative rich in detail and plainly, in length, but it is a necessary chapter to absorb in our story simply because it is so fascinating. The Italians, a...
2019-05-05 07:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostTo celebrate our 7th birthday on the 18th May we won't be running wild for 7 weeks - instead we'll be hosting a Q&A and everyone is welcome to take part! We'll also be dropping some pretty huge news, so tune in even just for that!
Any questions? About Versailles, Suez, the Korean War or anything else? What about podcasting generally, my actual job as a lecturer or the wondrous qualit...
[PATRONS]
The German delegation had arrived in Paris, but despite the confident exterior, Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau would have known full well that all was not well back home. Germany was tottering on the edge of the abyss, and nowhere was this danger more acute than in the traditionally safe, conservative heartland of the Empire - Bavaria. What had led this second state of Germany to...
2019-05-03 05:25:21 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The 30th April was a strange day. It was barely a microcosm in the grand scheme of the Paris Peace Conference, and it was wedged awkwardly between the Italian walkout and the German arrival, not to mention the madcap adventures of the drafting committee, as hundreds of overworked printers and technicians worked to get the Treaty finished within 48 hours - the intended deadline a...
2019-04-30 21:16:27 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
At long last, the German delegation has arrived in Paris, and resides in the exact same hotel where in 1871, the French government was forced to kowtow to Bismarck. What a coincidence! Leading the delegation was Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau, a Wilhelmian German official of the old order, so it seemed. Brockdorff-Rantzau was the German Foreign Minister, and was utterly determine...
2019-04-29 21:08:16 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
OTD 100 years ago, perhaps the most infamous international organisation in history was officially blessed by the plenary conference of the Paris Peace Conference. This made it essentially impossible to ignore that institution, or to fail to bake it into the final Treaty of Versailles. And so it was done. Yet, at the time, on that eventful day, and in that stuffy room where the m...
2019-04-28 19:41:57 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
As the Conference at London works towards several compromises, we tune in to some new arrivals, some storm conference scenes, and a weighted meeting between the President Marshal, Ferdinand Foch, and the delegation of British, Swiss and Spanish delegates sent to meet him. They would arrive in Foch's office uncertain of precisely what to expect, but they would leave with yet anot...
2019-04-28 19:02:11 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
It's time we cleared the air about reparations and war guilt, arguably the two most controversial elements of the Treaty of Versailles. Here, making use of studies long since ignored or forgotten, we unwrap the reality of the Germans were actually faced with, what the infamous articles actually said, and why the Germans determined, rather than face their mistakes, to make up a w...
2019-04-27 16:47:26 +0000 UTC View Post