1956 Episode 1.10 continues where we left off last time, and looks a bit more at the person of Matyas Rakosi.
Rakosi was the Stalinist dictator of Hungary from the late 1940s, and he set about establishing a Hungarian Stalinist regime, complete with all the trappings Stalin enjoyed. For eve...
2024-02-13 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we begin examining the second chapter of the thesis - and it is a fascinating one! This chapter analyses insults in British foreign policy from 1838-1850, and our story begins with a conflict rooted in this ideology - the First Opium War [1839-1842].
Insults...
2024-02-12 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 1.9 takes a somewhat depressing journey into post-war Hungary, to present a story and a people which suffered much over the course of the Soviet occupation – also known as the Soviet ‘liberation’.
Liberation from what, one may ask? Well how about l...
2024-02-08 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Gomulka had survived, but perhaps the most significant aspect of this chapter in Soviet-Polish relations was the notable involvement of China. The Chinese, it emerged, were very interested in seeing that other peoples travelled their own ‘road to socialism’ as they had done. A...
2024-02-06 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode we conclude on the first chapter of this thesis, bringing the Eastern Crisis to an end, and reflecting on the significant shifts in British politics. Palmerston had made excellent use of foreign crisis to bolster his reputation, but the 1840s looked set to be a tro...
2024-02-05 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
1956 Episode 1.7 examines the continuing deterioration of the Polish situation, as Polish citizens dared to ask more and more questions, and to criticise the Soviet order, on their lips was one figure above all – Vladislav Gomulka.
Gomulka was one figure among many who had been disgraced ...
2024-02-01 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
1956 Episode 1.6 examines the tumultuous fallout of Khrushchev’s February speech in the context of Poland.
What was the Polish experience of living in the Soviet orbit? Here we set the scene and trace a bit of the background. It’s a tragic kind of story if you happen to be a Pole, or ca...
2024-01-30 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we examine the birth of what became the Eastern Question. By the 1830s, the Ottoman Empire was in dire straits. The Sultan's Egyptian vassal had taken the opportunity to launch a stunningly successful rebellion, seeking glory and power and perhaps even the establi...
2024-01-29 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
1956 Episode 1.5 examines the implications for the Soviet people, as Khrushchev’s speech is disseminated through the sprawling empire.
The questions which many citizens had were to be restricted and constrained by the specific parameters set down by the Soviet authorities....
2024-01-25 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
1956 Episode 1.4 examines the immediate storm caused by Khrushchev’s denunciations of Stalin in late February.
Above all, the greatest ingredient in this storm was that of confusion. Soviet officials didn’t know what to tell the assembled crowds, and s...
2024-01-23 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Welcome back to the thesis! Here we continue the first chapter of the thesis, specifically my analysis of British obligations during the Portuguese and Spanish Civil Wars. These conflicts were messy, rife with complications, and British involvement was far from rewarding. Yet, the...
2024-01-22 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 1.3 opens with the scene which greeted Khrushchev as he performed that incendiary speech over 24-25th of February 1956. It was a pivotal day in the history of the Soviet Union, and after we unwrap its major aspects, we then tackle the key questions – how had this speech ...
2024-01-18 06:30:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 1.2 follows on from where our first episode left off. Here, the power struggle between the Soviet Union’s top men is in full swing, and power plays, character assassination, genuine assassination and even more tactics besides distinguish this period of post-Stalin Soviet...
2024-01-16 06:30:09 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we look at our first chapter, which examines the idea of good faith in international commitments, and how this affected national honour.
Specifically, we look at a forgotten agreement, the Russian Dutch Loan. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the Dutc...
2024-01-15 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
What happened when the architect of the Cold War passed away? Would the Soviet Union Stalin built adapt to a new successor, or would a set of chain reactions doom the empire in its cradle?
If you want to learn more about what followed after the Korean War â€...
2024-01-11 06:35:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Welcome to 1956, an era of schemes, revolution, propaganda, intrigue and a whole lot of diplomacy!
Originally brought exclusively to patrons, I've repurposed this series for all listeners, and within it you will learn exactly why I believe this eventful year...
2024-01-11 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Before we go any further, we must ground this thesis further in the pre-existing historiography, while clarifying the differences between personal and national honour. What was honour worth in the mid-19th century, and what did contemporaries hope to make of honour's incredible po...
2024-01-09 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
For the last four+ years, this PhD thesis has been my obsession. Like pushing a boulder up a hill, the struggle was real. But, sometimes, struggle can produce great things, and I hope you'll agree that what I made is worthy of your time. Tired of listening? Remember lovely patrons also get to rea...
2024-01-08 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRON]
Welcome back! Here we talk about the State of the Podcast Address' HUGE NEWS - 1) 1956 and how it's all going to work. Also, is it actually interesting? 2) The new PhD Thesis series for Patrons! 3) Age of Bismarck - and of course, more!
Thanksss so much for the warm wel...
2024-01-04 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post[PATRONS]
We're back! In case you were unaware, the lack of content over the last while was because of the PhD, which is now finished. This means, yes, I am finally Dr Zack! Imagine that! I have a lot to say about the future of this podcast, and stick around for some honesty about the PhD p...
2024-01-04 06:25:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Join Ole and I for a fascinating chat about History Challenge, a new way for educators and students to make history thrive! If you want to try it out for yourself, the latest version of this project is available in the link below. Thanksss!
[PATRONS]
And so it ends. After 82 episodes and what feels like thirty actual years, we finally wrap up this fascinating period of history. Thanksss so much for tuning in!
Make sure to stay to the end to learn about our plans for the Thirty Years' War book, my Matchlock series, the ne...
2023-07-12 17:02:42 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The final episode of our series involves no shortage of intrigue, scheming and mistrust, yet it is also the moment when diplomacy arguably succeeded. After three decades of war, Europe, and the Holy Roman Empire in particular, had come to terms with the cost of conflict. Perhaps, ...
2023-06-29 12:41:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Although the Dutch and Spanish had made their peace, 1648 had room for one more campaign, and there had arguably never been so much on the line. With warfare came the chance to secure more leverage at the peace table, but the Franco-Swedish allies faced problems of its own. <...
2023-06-14 14:55:00 +0000 UTC View Post[PATRONS]
Please consider supporting our podcast friend Benjamin Jaco...
2023-06-03 14:25:30 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Here, in our third-last episode of the series, we take the time to analyse Cardinal Mazarin's motives. What kind of role did religious motivations, strategic motivations, political or economic or any other kind of motivation have upon his behaviour? Was he fighting for French secu...
2023-05-31 18:01:45 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
As the war raged, Maximilian of Bavaria was forced to reconsider his position towards his Emperor. As the Habsburgs' most faithful and important German ally since the beginning, the rumours that Max was contemplating a truce had to be taken seriously. One thing was clear though - ...
2023-05-18 11:59:37 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
By the end of 1646, two massive problems plagued the negotiators. For France, the matter was Alsace, a huge chunk of territory along the sensitive Rhine region, which had long served as a buffer between the French and Imperial spheres. For Sweden, Pomerania, a slice of land along ...
2023-05-02 20:06:41 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
It's time to get all emotional, as we tie up the Eighty Years' War between the Spanish and Dutch, which had formed an integral part of the Thirty Years' War in its earlier phase, but which had, from 1645, effectively been relegated to a sideshow of the larger war. The Dutch, and i...
2023-04-19 16:19:08 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
How close did Britain and America really come to war in 1845-46, and if war was out of the question, why did matters get so anxious, and close to the abyss? Was it all bluster and bluff, designed to please domestic audiences, or was there more substance in the shrill screechings f...
2023-04-17 05:05:59 +0000 UTC View Post