When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Those crazy folks over at Wondery have a podcast called American History Tellers, which you can find and subscribe to here.In this teaser, you can get a preview of what AHT has coming - namely, a six part series examining the American Revolution from several different perspectives. For an exploration of this pivotal event in world history which you won't get anywhere else, make sure you check out American History Tellers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apologies for the birdsongs in advance... We've got a real treat for you in the latest episode of the Korean War guys, as niche diplomacy and underrated tales become our prime focus. Here we examine the tales of Turkey and New Zealand, and their journey towards intervention in the Korean War...Episode 27: Avengers Assemble tackles two fascinating case studies in the allied intervention in the Korean War. We ask here why did Turkey and New Zealand, two states well removed from the events going on in Korea, determine that it was within their national interests to become involved. The answers are as fascinating as they are important, because they remind us that Korea was not merely an isolated conflict, but was a part of the Cold War world. The interests of these two states, leagues apart in terms of historical and governmental legacies, were tied by surprisingly similar values. While it had been New Zealand soldiers that had once stormed the beaches of Turkey in 1915, now the two states were intertwin

Our series on 17th century warfare continues with a look at how French armies were constituted, and how their attitudes towards certain tactics changed. We begin with an examination of the massive increases of European armies across the board, but we soon refine our focus, and examine the machinations of King Henry IV of France (r. 1594-1610), who made the most of new theories in infantry and cavalry tactics. The story is by no means a straightforward one of consistent, sensible progression. Instead, it is a tale of hard knocks and tough lessons, which inculcated within the French military thinkers a respect for new methods of making war, and a willingness to experiment and take ideas they appreciated from their Dutch and Swedish neighbours. Such developments say a great deal about the spread of new military theories in the West, as much as they provide a clear example of the interconnectedness of Europeans, who served in each other’s armies and swapped drill manuals in military institutions. It’s a story whi

Within this episode we continue to surge ahead with our narrative of the Korean War through the lens of that body. We look at how it coped with the progress of the North Koreans throughout the summer, and how its members were eventually persuaded to pass a few important resolutions, and to send armed delegations of their own. In this episode, we see collective security come to life, and it is a fascinating sight to behold. We also touch on several things that we'll investigate in more detail in the future, such as MacArthur's meeting with Truman on Wake Island on 15th October, MacArthur's insistence on pushing forward to the Yalu in spite of the warnings, and MacArthur's shock at the situation changing so completely upon the Chinese intervention. All of these are points which we will tackle later on, but to demonstrate in a neat little bundle how the UN came to have such an impact on the Korean War, either through its Security Council or, following the return of the Soviets to that body in August, the publica

Paul Kendrick's Korean War PodcastThis is in some sense a two-pronged episode, where we look first of all at the days between 27-30 June 1950, and explain how the Truman administration managed to manipulate the strategic situation on the Han River to its own ends. Then, once we bring our story up to 30 June, we deliver a kind of overview, where we examine the conflict between late June and September. This episode will give you a handy introduction to what course the war took, and for those unfamiliar with its sometimes confusing pace, hopefully here you'll have a few things cleared up. Expect lots of MacArthur, sneaking stuff and American soldiers being dropped right in the thick of it!**********Music:I'll See You In Cuba by Jack Kaufman, released in 1920. Available: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jack_Kaufman/Antique_Phonograph_Music_Program_04282015/Ill_See_You_in_C-U-B-A_-_Jack_KaufmanSPONSORS1) Use the code WDF15 to get 15% off your stylish new pair of headphones/earphones/listening things2) To ac

UNprecedented - get it, because UN = United Nations, and it's unprecedented because it's never happened before?! I'm a genius! Episode 24: UNprecedented looks at the role of the United Nations, which the US used, for a variety of reasons, to frame its intervention in Korea. Here we look at the key moments in the history of UN, and we chart its development over the late 1940s as it became more heavily involved in the issues of the post-war world. Many nations placed their faith and trust in this new order; it was eagerly hoped that it would not go the way of the League of Nations, and that the UN at least would not cower in the face of armed aggression. So it was that the UN, by summer 1950, had built upon a history of peaceful intervention, foreign debate and great expectations even before Washington determined to appeal through the UN for the act in Korea that was desired.Although it couldn't be known at this early stage what way the Korean War would go, it was believed that the best way to legitimise t

The Korean War is back with a bang!Episode 23: What Lies Beneath takes us to the halls of Washington, where as we saw in the last episode, the US was surprisingly slow to respond to the North Korean invasion. What kind of methods did the Truman administration make use of to achieve its policy goals? In this episode we will examine what lay beneath the shocked exterior of the American reaction to the invasion of South Korea. Far from surprised, everything was going according to plan. It remained to be seen if the South would hold firm, or if the US would have to implement those emergency measures prepared for in the weeks before.We turn our attention then to the issue of the Han River line, and to the question of when it would be ideal for the US to intervene with some military force to defend its disorientated Southern ally. If it moved too soon, then South Korea would potentially be saved the kind of conflict that Washington needed. It was essential that the US did not move too quickly then, but it would qui

In our latest episode of 17th Century Warfare, we put the Military Revolution to the test, by applying a key aspect of it - the trace italienne system - to 17th century France! Expect talk of fortresses, historian John A Lynn and lots of talk about context....So...get ready to lay siege! In this episode we use the case study of French fortifications to examine the trace italienne, the name given to the modernisation of European fortifications along the Italian model. These forts had low, thick walls buttressed by large earthworks and supported by bastions which boasted interlocking fields of fire. The new developments in technology meant that the defenders could lay down a punishing amount of fire of their own, while the attacker would be forced to withstand this bombardment, and conduct his siege in the meantime. Developments in mining, in trench digging and in the size of armies necessary to police these trenches followed, and these issues will occupy much of our attention in this episode.If you ever wonder

Time to get a bit technical, but I promise it'll be anything BUT boring!Get your thinking caps on history friends, because in this episode we’re going to assess the most important element of the historiography of the 17th century – the Military Revolution theory. The Military Revolution idea states that Europe underwent fundamental – you might even say ‘revolutionary’ changes during the late 1500s and 1600s. These changes were affected by improvements in military technology, and the adoption of weapons like the musket, the usage of proper infantry musket drills, and the creation of a new fortification system the trace italienne, which made the ballooning of armies essential if these modernised fortresses were to be effectively besieged.There is of course more to the Military Revolution thesis than that, and contradictions abound which we will absolutely be sinking our teeth into in the episodes to come. If you were sceptical or simply curious though, then this episode will give us a great grounding in the mec

In my time my poor father was as diligent to teach me to shoot, as to learn me any other thing; and so I think other men did their children: he taught me how to draw, how to lay my body in my bow, and not to draw from strength of the body: I had my bows bought me, according to my age and strength; as I increased in them, so my bows were made bigger and bigger; for men shall never shoot well, except they be brought up in it…But now, we have taken up whoring in towns, instead of shooting in fields. These were the words of Hugh Lattimer when talking of the decline of English training standards with the longbow - an important theme in this episode. Trust me history friends, this is a good one! Herein we ask that important question - why did England swap its longbows for muskets over the 16th to 17th centuries, what did this process look like, and why did it take so flaming long? We trace the longbow’s dominance of English military thinking, and ask how it was that England swapped the longbow for the mus

{Don't panic! The Korean War is on a break, and will be back on 18th June}At long last! Our series on 17th century warfare has finally landed, with our first episode looking at…nothing to do with 17th century warfare…Hmmm. Not to worry history friends – untangling warfare in the 17th century requires a certain amount of background detail, and in this episode here we do exactly that. The feudal society and its relation to the military contract aren’t topics we would normally go anywhere near, but to lay the foundations for what’s to come, we need to establish what came first. In this episode we do this, using the case study of Medieval England as our baseline. Expect talk of how English Kings did war during the Middle Ages, and what challenges they faced and hoops they had to jump through in order to make going to war possible. These traditions were bound up in the expectations of feudal society which dictated that the King was always at the top of the pyramid, but not necessarily always obeyed or followe

'This is a fight between God or the Devil. If his Majesty wants to side with God, he must join me. If he prefers to side with the Devil, then indeed he must fight me. There is no third way"Gustavus Adolphus may give us our podcast's theme, and our book's title, but there was much more to the Thirty Years War than the famed King of Sweden. In this introduction episode, we place you in the thick of this dilemma - neutrality was impossible, yet the consequences for picking one side or the other were potentially catastrophic, so how could those caught in the middle decide? To make our point, come with us to the sack of Magdeburg in may 1631, a city whose people chose the 'Devil' in the mind of the Imperialists, and paid the ultimate price, as the worst single atrocity of the conflict takes place. It's time to pick a side history friends, are you for God or the Devil?Remember to BEFIT!B is for blogE is for email wdfpodcast@hotmail.comF is for Facebook, the Page and the GroupI is for iTunes, please rate, review and

1618-2018 - on this day 400 years ago, one of the most destructive conflicts in human history erupted within the walls of Prague's Hradschin Castle. As we recount here, the conflict was neither all the fault of the Bohemians, nor sustained by them for very long. Instead, several factors prolonged the conflict and kept Europe in rapture for three decades. For the next year or so, we here at WDF want to bring you on a journey into this conflict, on a scale and with an attention to detail which you have never known before.We start on that morning - it's just after 8AM on the morning of 23rd May, 1618, and you've agreed to meet a friend of yours. The two of you, along with several others, have agreed to do something radical...**********Visit the Thirty Years War section of the websiteRemember to BEFIT!B is for blogE is for email wdfpodcast@hotmail.comF is for Facebook, the Page and the GroupI is for iTunes, please rate, review and subscribeT is for TELL ANYONE!Don't forget of course that WDF is on Patreon, Twitte

Back again with the second part of our TALK episode, which concludes the analysis of the Thirty Years War timeline in the typical style which only a TALK episode can manage! Here we take the story from 1635 and discuss several battles, characters and important diplomatic developments before concluding on the Peace of Westphalia. Hopefully this will get you pumped for all the content that is to come!Remember to BEFIT!B is for blogE is for email wdfpodcast@hotmail.comF is for Facebook, the Page and the GroupI is for iTunes, please rate, review and subscribeT is for TELL ANYONE!Don't forget of course that WDF is on Patreon, Twitter, its website and has a Newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy birthday to us! When Diplomacy Fails is 6 years old today, and to celebrate we're jumping right into the Thirty Years War once again, with another intro episode (2/5) this one looking at the timeline of the conflict up to the year 1635, but with a twist. I'm not by myself this time - today I am joined by TALK episode guest Sean. Far too much happens to really summarise here, but as usual, skip ahead past the BEFIT rundown for the bulk of the episode, and make sure to let me know what you thought.'Back on the podcast...'Visit the Thirty Years War section of the websiteRemember to BEFIT!B is for blogE is for email wdfpodcast@hotmail.comF is for Facebook, the Page and the GroupI is for iTunes, please rate, review and subscribeT is for TELL ANYONE!Don't forget of course that WDF is on Patreon, Twitter, its website and has a Newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're jumping back into the Thirty Years War and this is all super exciting, but to some of you guys it may also be a tad overwhelming, as a lot of unfamiliar stuff is about to be thrown at you. With that in mind, this episode is designed to familiarise you with the main themes, the most important figures, and the most active powers in Europe at the time.We'll learn a bit about the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, meet the Habsburg family, and take a gander at some other related issues in Europe at the time of the outbreak of the conflict in 1618.As we launch into this exciting new period in WDF, make sure you visit the dedicated section of our website for Thirty Years War related goods by following the link here: Take me to the Thirty Years War section This site is where you'll also be able to freely access the script for this episode, and a document detailing all of the social media posts, so don't delay if you like some context and reading!Make sure also that you sign up on Patreon to get all of the

You should know about our new sponsor - onlinegreatbooks.com! To access some fascinating books, nerd out with like minded enthusiasts, further your knowledge of some classical works, get 25% off your first three months AND help the show, head on over to... https://intellectuallinearprogression.com/when-diplomacy-fails/?level=1&discount_code=dip Episode 22: Crossing the Rubicon looks at the moment where the North invades, and the different pieces fall into place for some, and fall apart for others. At 4AM on 25th June 1950, the buildup, all the preparation, all the pressuring and all the lies produced their anticipated outcome. In more force than anyone could have expected, North Korea invaded its Southern neighbour and instigated what appeared to be a catastrophic collapse in Southern defences. Syngman Rhee, it seems, had been right to warn his American allies of his country's vulnerable state.The ROKA proved useless in the face of the North's veteran troops, many of whom had served in the Chine

Make sure you check out the Human Circus - Journeys in the Medieval World, if you're a fan of fascinating stories and a well told narratives. Devon is a history friend and a proud member of the History Podcasting Platform, so show him some love and check his brilliant pod out! https://humancircuspodcast.com/You can also subscribe to his show on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/human-circus-histories/id1194921513?mt=2&ls=1Episode 21: In Support of My Thesis is a kind of culmination of all we've learned so far. It's also a recap of our findings and my theses for this series. What do I believe, and why do I believe it, and how do I respond to some other scholars who claim that the Korean War began for different reasons? All of these are questions I grapple with here, so if you like your debates historical be sure to stop by. Remember as well that you can access the Bibliography for this show at any time by heading over to http://www.wdfpodcast.com/source-materials/Throughout this episode we delve

Make sure to give a warm welcome to our featured history podcast through the History Podcasting Platform: Noah Tetzner, and his History of Vikings Podcast. You can find Noah's excellent podcast here: http://thehistoryofvikings.com/author/noahtetzner/ Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-vikings/id1363609926 Episode 20: Korean Background Part 3 concludes our examination of the Korean elements of the Korean War, by looking at the events which shaped the peninsula North and South between 1945-50. These were years of trouble, of building political bases and of tackling the inherent problems which each zone posed. Cultures of corruption, of political difference and of nationalism would all have to be adapted in this divided world. In the midst of these changes we also see the role which the many institutions of the United Nations had in bringing Korea back together on a basis which would be acceptable to both sides. In the late 1940s, it was far from certain that the di

There's an awful lot to get into here, but we have to start somewhere! In this episode, I explain why my plans have effectively gone up in smoke, and what I plan to do to rectify these new developments. Expect announcements on the future of Poland Is Not Yet Lost, 1956, the Korean War, the Age of Bismarck, the Versailles Anniversary Project, and a new body of work that I will be springing on you guys from 23rd May - the Thirty Years War.That's right! To mark the fact that it's the 400th anniversary of the Defenestration of Prague, on 23rd May 2018 we will be launching a new series, but NOT a new podcast. Instead, you'll be able to get it all in one place. Find out my rationale for that, as well as several other points in this episode; where does Cambridge fit into everything, are we making too much content, what's special about this revamped Thirty Years War series and SO MUCH MORE! If you're a fan of reading, make sure you check out the blog post which will shed further light on the situation:http://www.wdfp