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42:59 | Sep 13th, 2015
We take a brief look at the world as it is on 1 January 1901--the birthday of the twentieth century.
43:08 | Aug 20th, 2017
The failure of the French counteroffensive has the Allies in retreat across the front, and it now appears there is no stopping the Germans short of Paris.
43:50 | Jan 23rd, 2017
Following Scott's acclaimed Discovery Expedition, he and Ernest Shackleton plan competing expeditions to the South Pole, along with a surprise appearance by Roald Amundsen.
43:27 | Sep 15th
It was poetic that the war would end where it began, in the Balkans. An Allied offensive against a weary Bulgaria led to an armistice, forcing the Ottoman Empire--and Austria and Germany--also to sue for peace.
43:06 | Sep 1st
The policies of the new Bolshevik government befuddled both the Allies and the Central Powers. Both sides in the war sought better relations with Moscow, but the murders of the Imperial family signaled that the Bolsheviks were not ready to make nice.
39:07 | Aug 25th
The end of the war on the Eastern Front and the Italian defeat at Caporetto gave Austria-Hungary a badly needed military respite. But domestically, the country was crumbling, economically, socially, and politically. Discontent has reached critical ma...Show More
46:43 | Aug 18th
The length and the toll of the Great War were a tragedy, but for Czech and Slovak nationalists, they also presented an opportunity to shake off the bonds of Habsburg rule and achieve independence.
44:25 | Aug 4th
In Russia, the Bolshevik government succeeds in throttling the Constituent Assembly and taking full control of the national government. They find themselves up against an array of enemies, including Czech and Slovak soldiers who had been fighting in ...Show More
36:47 | Jul 28th
A year after the US declared war on Germany, America's contribution to the war effort was still small. Later in 1918, after working through some political and organizational difficulties, American units began to make a difference on the battlefield.
38:39 | Jul 21st
Now that peace had come on the Eastern front, German soldiers were redeployed to the Western Front in one last-ditch attempt to win the war before the number of US troops on the Western Front became overwhelming.
37:03 | Jul 7th
Leon Trotsky challenged the Allies to state what great cause they were fighting for that justified continuing the war. With the Central Powers showing signs of readiness to negotiate, Woodrow Wilson lays out his conditions.
42:36 | Jun 30th
The Great War was framed in the West as a fight for the future of democracy, but in this episode we ponder how the demands of war are weakening democracy at home.
39:12 | Jun 23rd
We look at economic and social changes in America brought on by the war, including the Espionage Act and new restrictions on freedom of expression.
45:49 | Jun 9th
Early 1918 saw both Germany and Russia each eager to make peace for their own reasons, but the power of the German military forced the Bolshevik government in Russia to accept the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
44:04 | Jun 2nd
The October Revolution was seen at the time as merely replacing one temporary arrangement with another. But the Bolsheviks had other ideas.
38:14 | May 26th
Although Iran was not a belligerent in the Great War, Russian and Turkish armies clashed in Iran and the nation suffered. The Greek government split over the war question.
45:24 | May 12th
As British troops advance into Palestine, the British Cabinet formally embraces the concept of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, but does not explain what that means.
48:31 | May 5th
Is it because of the Great War that Billy Sunday had his greatest revival ever? Or that peasant children in Portugal witness miracles?
37:54 | Apr 28th
The Chinese government (despite its many internal problems) was willing to enter the Great War in order to reclaim concessions lost to Germany and Austria. The Allies were initially hesitant, but as the casualties mounted and the shortage of manpower...Show More
53:23 | Apr 14th
Mata Hari earned internationally acclaim as a dancer during the Belle Époque by trading on her exotic (and mostly invented) origins. But during the Great War, being mysterious and not entirely honest can get you killed.
44:02 | Apr 7th
In the autumn of 1917, the Germans lend the Austrians a hand in their losing struggle with Italy. The result is the Battle of Caporetto, which undoes all of Italy's previous gains and brings the Central Powers within 20 miles of Venice.
33:09 | Mar 24th
After the failure of the Nivelle Offensive, and with Russia collapsing into chaos, the British Cabinet unleashes Haig, who begins his latest offensive.
46:00 | Mar 17th
By autumn of 1917, the Russian Provisional Government had failed. It lost popular support, the Army was collapsing, and the Germans were advancing on Petrograd. Lenin determined it was time for the Bolsheviks to make their move.
40:58 | Mar 10th
Following the July Days, Alexander Kerensky became convinced that the biggest threat to his government now loomed on the political right, and he became increasingly suspicious of the new army commander-in-chief, Lavr Kornilov.
37:01 | Feb 24th
The Kerensky Offensive was supposed to prove that the Russian Provisional Government was in control and that Russia could still field an effective army. Instead, it demonstrated that neither of these were true.
45:35 | Feb 17th
The Kerensky Offensive provoked discontent among soldiers in Petrograd which triggered a Bolshevik uprising against the Provisional Government. The uprising was put down and evidence was made public that the Bolsheviks were being supported and funded...Show More
35:05 | Feb 10th
With the Bolsheviks relentlessly criticizing the Russian government, the question of war aims came to the fore. When the liberals in the government couldn't give a straight answer, a cabinet shuffle followed, giving socialists more power than before.
46:39 | Jan 27th
The Russian Provisional Government had declared a political amnesty that allowed political exiles to return home, notably Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin, who got an assist from the German government.
39:46 | Jan 20th
The US entered the war in early 1917, but it would take time for her to have an impact on the war. Brazil also joined the war in 1917, and in Canada, the political fight over conscription leads to a divisive general election.
39:36 | Jan 13th
By 1917, many in German and Austrian official and military circles had given up hope of winning the Great War on the battlefield and were ready to discuss peace terms. Hindenburg and Ludendorff, however, insisted that victory was at hand.
54:50 | Dec 23rd, 2018
With Russia in disarray, and the Eastern Front in a de facto armistice, we shift our attention to the West, where the French begin the latest "final" offensive.
38:29 | Dec 16th, 2018
Russia's allies--The United Kingdom, France, Italy, and now the United States--were pleased that Russia was taking a more liberal and democratic direction, but they also expected Russia to honor the commitments the czar had made to them, even though ...Show More
56:57 | Dec 9th, 2018
Even the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by the Germans was not enough to push Woodrow Wilson into supporting war, but the Zimmerman Telegram made it impossible to oppose war any further. Additionally, the Russian Revolution eliminated a...Show More
34:22 | Dec 2nd, 2018
The revolutionary upheavals in Petrograd lead to the formation of a Provisional Government. Emperor Nikolai II abdicates, ending the 304-year old Romanov dynasty.
44:25 | Nov 18th, 2018
With political resentments already high, the deprivations of the harsh winter of 1916-17 cause them to boil over. The Russian Revolution has begun.
47:58 | Nov 11th, 2018
When the Great War began, Russian political factions mostly united in a common front to support the war effort, as political parties did in the other belligerent nations. But when Russia's military reversals and shortcomings in leadership became too ...Show More
41:11 | Nov 4th, 2018
With the Mexican Revolution winding down and the prospects of war between Mexico and the USA seeming increasingly remote, the German Foreign Secretary explores the idea of inviting Mexico to declare war on the United States.
39:26 | Oct 21st, 2018
Germany was already rationing food when the bad harvests of 1916 made the situation far worse. Running out of options, the German military decides to resume unrestricted U-boat warfare.
47:18 | Oct 14th, 2018
The European powers refused to negotiate, but private groups, including women's groups, socialists, and Henry Ford, pressed ahead with campaigns to bring the belligerents to the negotiating table.
38:58 | Oct 7th, 2018
The automobile and the airplane, both recent inventions that make use of the internal combustion engine, become weapons of war.
41:13 | Sep 23rd, 2018
With four years of peace and progressive reform and a booming economy (due to the strong French and UK wartime demand for US imports), you would think Woodrow Wilson would cruise to an easy re-election. You would be wrong.
43:39 | Sep 16th, 2018
In the wake of Pancho Villa's attack on the town of Columbus, New Mexico, the US Army sends an expeditionary force into Mexico in pursuit of Villa and his fighters, commanded by Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing.
39:25 | Sep 9th, 2018
German East Africa was the last holdout among German colonial possessions. Neighboring Portuguese and Belgian soldiers, as well as South Africans, joined in to help the British, although the British were not always happy to accept their assistance.
44:24 | Aug 26th, 2018
The Rising begins.
47:52 | Aug 19th, 2018
Irish nationalist extremist plot an armed uprising against British rule and reach out to Germany for assistance.
41:43 | Aug 12th, 2018
We take a break from the historical narrative this week as listener Brent asks the questions that (hopefully) you wanted answered.
46:47 | Jul 29th, 2018
We conclude the four-part series on military moves in 1916 in the Great War with Brusilov's Offensive and the Battle of the Somme.
40:41 | Jul 22nd, 2018
Austria begins an offensive against Italy, Russia gears up a counteroffensive in Galicia, and the British and German Navies have it out in the Skagerrak.
31:30 | Jul 15th, 2018
The fighting continued at Verdun as the Russians prepare an offensive of their own to relieve the pressure on France. A German U-boat mistakenly sinks a passenger ferry in the English Channel, triggering another controversy over submarine rules of en...Show More
43:31 | Jul 8th, 2018
The third year of the war opens with Britain and Germany as the mainstays of their respective alliances. The German Chief of Staff tries a bank shot: cripple Britain by wounding France.
38:02 | Jun 24th, 2018
Turkish forces defeat a British force attempting to take Baghdad, but that doesn't stop the British and the French from divvying up the postwar Middle East. Also, the Russians advance, the Italians don't.
40:44 | Jun 17th, 2018
Venustiano Carranza is gaining momentum in the struggle over the future of Mexico, but Pancho Villa is not ready to give up. The Germans hope to lure the US into intervening, then Pancho Villa decides provoking the US is also in his interests.
43:55 | Jun 10th, 2018
In the neutral United States, the economy is booming and so is the motion picture business. And the most famous name in pictures is Charles Chaplin.
40:19 | Jun 3rd, 2018
Allied commanders on the Western Front spent 1915 developing new strategies for the Great War, and attempted to implement them in their autumn offensive.
49:00 | May 20th, 2018
With numbers of new volunteers declining every month, the British government wrestles with the issue of conscription. Across Europe, all the Great Powers are feeling the manpower and other shortages created by the war.
40:34 | May 13th, 2018
After the overthrow of Victoriano Huerta, the revolutionary forces in Mexico begin fighting among themselves, and Huerta himself conspires with the Germans to return to power.
40:10 | May 6th, 2018
Albert Einstein needed ten years to flesh out his special theory of relativity into a general theory of relativity, but when he finished, he changed our understanding of the nature of reality itself.
41:10 | Apr 22nd, 2018
German East Africa stood strong against British attempts to capture the territory. The key to capturing the German colony was to contest German control of Lake Tanganyika.
50:32 | Apr 15th, 2018
Political instability and mounting foreign debts lead to US military intervention on the island of Hispaniola.
41:24 | Apr 8th, 2018
By the summer of 1915, both the Central Powers and the Allies were keen to get Bulgaria to join the war on their side. The Central Powers won the bidding war, and Bulgaria became the fourth (and last) member of the Central Powers.
42:40 | Mar 25th, 2018
By the spring of 1915, it was clear that the war would last for a long time and that it would be taking an economic toll on all the nations involved, and there would likely be political consequences as well. In Britain, the debate centered on whether...Show More
42:52 | Mar 18th, 2018
In early 1915, with the Western Front in a stalemate, Winston Churchill becomes the leading voice behind a plan to do an end run around the Germans and knock the Turks out of the war.
42:07 | Mar 11th, 2018
In the spring of 1915, just before the sinking of Lusitania and in international women's conference aimed at ending the war through private diplomacy, Germany uses poison gas on the Western Front.
47:45 | Mar 4th, 2018
The sinking of Lusitania and the deaths of 128 Americans was a shock. While there was little support in the US for war against Germany, there was a strong feeling that *some* kind of response was necessary. It was up to Woodrow Wilson to figure out w...Show More
41:24 | Feb 18th, 2018
Germany searches for a way to break the British blockade; Britain looks for a decisive battle.
40:32 | Feb 11th, 2018
In 1914, Germany and Britain held adjacent colonial territories in East Africa. When the Great War began, Britain attempted to seize German East Africa.
47:04 | Feb 4th, 2018
Another look at race relations in the USA. The formation of the NAACP and the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League and the re-founding of the Ku Klux Klan. And the release of D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation."
47:02 | Jan 21st, 2018
Germany claimed Southwest Africa as a colony in 1884. This episode reviews the history of the colony through the Great War, when it was seized by South Africa.
38:25 | Jan 14th, 2018
In 1914, the war in the West ground down to a stalemate. There seemed no sign that 1915 would be any different. Allied commanders experimented with new tactics to deal with this new warfare.
46:45 | Jan 7th, 2018
The beginning of 1915 sees the Central Powers under something like a giant siege. What can be done to break out?
42:21 | Dec 17th, 2017
The Great War was by no means restricted to Europe. In this episode, we begin an occasional series examining the war in Africa.
39:22 | Dec 10th, 2017
When the Ottoman Empire joined the war, it opened new strategic possibilities for the Central Powers. It also led to a declaration of jihad against the Allies.
42:09 | Dec 3rd, 2017
The phrase "shackled to a corpse" is often used to describe Germany's dilemma in the Great War. Surrounded by enemy nations that collectively have a greater population and larger economies, she also finds herself stuck with a disappointing alliance p...Show More
53:14 | Nov 19th, 2017
By the beginning of the twentieth century, the USA was the major market for Central American coffee, cotton, sugar, and especially bananas, leading to US investment in the region, leading in turn to US involvement in Central American affairs.
39:03 | Nov 12th, 2017
German soldiers committed numerous war crimes against civilians in the initial offensive, especially in Belgium. The Allies made use of this for propaganda purposes, while adding lurid embellishments.
48:44 | Nov 5th, 2017
When the Great War began, Germany had a number of naval units stationed around the world. These ships attempted to disrupt British shipping.
54:55 | Oct 29th, 2017
The murder of Francisco Madero and the iron-fisted rule of Victoriano Huerta that followed might seem like the end of constitutional democracy in Mexico, but in fact the revolutionaries like the ones who had overthrown DÃaz took up arms once again, a...Show More
40:18 | Oct 22nd, 2017
The UK and Japan had an alliance agreement, and when the Great War began, Japan was eager to enter the conflict. Aiding their ally was nice, but the Japanese were also eyeing German colonial possessions in the Pacific.
35:02 | Oct 8th, 2017
Kaiser Wilhelm told the troops they would be "home before the leaves fall." By autumn of 1914, it was clear they would not.
39:40 | Oct 1st, 2017
Germany invested heavily in building itself a great navy, including paying the price of a strained relationship with the United Kingdom. Now that the world is at war, how is this navy going to be used?
43:18 | Sep 24th, 2017
The Great War began as a confrontation between Austria and Russia. It soon became about a lot more than that, but for Austria, job one is defeating the Russians, or at least holding them at bay. The Austrian Army will prove incapable of accomplishing...Show More
44:01 | Sep 17th, 2017
President Wilson pushes through more reform legislation, including the Federal Reserve Act. The outbreak of the Great War creates a financial panic in the US, and Vice President Marshall pines for the days of a really good five-cent cigar.
48:53 | Sep 10th, 2017
The German First Army was only thirty miles from Paris, and the final victory was tantalizingly close. But the German Army was weakening, and the French and British not so beaten as the Germans believed.
52:01 | Aug 27th, 2017
In response to pleas from the French, the Russian Army undertakes an invasion of East Prussia in the hope of taking some of the pressure off of France.
42:46 | Aug 13th, 2017
The Great War started as a conflict between Austria and Serbia. Now, amid all the other conflicts emerging as the war goes continental, Austria makes its bid to punish Serbia for the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand.
41:50 | Jul 30th, 2017
The French plan to respond to a German offensive was a counteroffensive into the German center. The French attempted this on August 21-23; it was an utter failure.
49:48 | Jul 23rd, 2017
The outbreak of the Great War saw one of the German Navy's newest and most powerful battlecruisers in the Mediterranean. She was a threat to the Entente and had to be stopped. Only...what exactly is she trying to do?
41:53 | Jul 16th, 2017
The German war plan called for a massive offensive against France that would pass through Belgium, but one of the big unknowns in German war planning was whether the Belgians would resist, and if so, how fiercely.
43:59 | Jul 9th, 2017
French strategists emphasized the importance of offense and planned to respond to a German invasion with an offensive of their own. British strategy increasingly revolved around joining with France in a ground war.
45:40 | Jun 25th, 2017
A look at how Germany and Russia planned to fight the Great War.
39:14 | Jun 18th, 2017
A survey of the most important reasons why the Great War happened and why the international order failed to prevent it.
47:54 | Jun 11th, 2017
Germany mobilizes and declares war on Russia and France. As German troops move into Luxembourg and Belgium, the British Cabinet comes around and joins the war.
1:03:08 | Jun 4th, 2017
Russia finds the Austrian ultimatum unacceptable. Austria, egged on by Germany, pursues war with Serbia anyway.
44:00 | May 21st, 2017
In the four weeks following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the Austrian government slowly pondered its response. Meanwhile, in the rest of Europe, the murders were already being forgotten.
44:45 | May 14th, 2017
In the final days of peace, many European leaders were preoccupied with domestic problems as others debated whether war was inevitable, or obsolete.
38:39 | May 7th, 2017
Despite warnings of possible violence, the Austrian Crown Prince travels to Bosnia to observe military maneuvers. During a visit to Sarajevo, he and his wife are assassinated.
50:00 | Apr 30th, 2017
In 1914, with victory against the Turks secured, Serb nationalist extremists look north toward Austria.
45:34 | Apr 23rd, 2017
The airplane means that the English Channel may no longer be all the defense Britain needs. Women's suffrage and Irish Home Rule remain contentious issues in British politics.
37:28 | Apr 9th, 2017
Just weeks after the First Balkan War ended, the Second Balkan War broke out over the spoils. When it was over, Serbia was Russia's only remaining diplomatic asset in the Balkans, and was spoiling for a fight with Austria.
40:25 | Apr 2nd, 2017
As the small Balkan states redraw the map of their region, Austria-Hungary is largely a spectator, tied up in her own scandals.
38:51 | Mar 26th, 2017
The small Balkan states have been coming together in alliance. Originally defensive, the allies came to a secret agreement to attack the Ottoman Empire together, while it was preoccupied by the war with Italy.
41:55 | Mar 12th, 2017
After the difficult 1912 US Presidential election, Woodrow Wilson takes office, but the women's suffrage movement upstages him with a huge demonstration the day before.
41:23 | Mar 5th, 2017
Alfred Binet invents IQ testing, Picasso cheers up, the Mona Lisa is stolen, and Jim Thorpe wins two gold medals at the 1912 Olympics.
44:09 | Feb 26th, 2017
Italy has been angling to secure Libya as a colonial possession for some time now. But war fever broke out in 1911, partly because of the Agadir crisis, prompting Italy to declare war on the Ottoman Empire over control of the province.
38:31 | Feb 19th, 2017
The year 1910 was relatively quiet in Europe, except in the turbulent Ottoman Empire. But 1911 saw another crisis in Morocco, and renewed tensions.
55:32 | Feb 5th, 2017
One of the greatest, and certainly the most famous, of disasters at sea occurred the night of April 14, 1912, when the passenger liner Titanic sank, taking with her about 2/3 of those aboard.
49:51 | Jan 29th, 2017
1912 saw a Presidential election campaign unlike anything Americans had known before or since. It was America's only true three-way race, with the added drama of a grudge match between two men who had recently been friends and allies.
41:18 | Jan 15th, 2017
The early twentieth century saw the exploration of the remotest land on Earth: Antarctica.
46:25 | Jan 8th, 2017
William Howard Taft and Wilfrid Laurier negotiate a US-Canada free trade agreement, but it blows up when the Canadians get the idea that it is a step toward US annexation. The Standard Oil Company is broken up, US Senator "Fighting Bob" La Follette m...Show More
42:27 | Dec 23rd, 2016
Explorers came to the far north first, in search of a route to the Far East, and later in search of the North Pole itself. The question of who got there first is surprisingly complicated.
46:39 | Dec 18th, 2016
After years of unrest, an accidental revolution breaks out on October 10, 1911, that will end the Empire and establish a Republic. Japan annexes Korea.
41:59 | Dec 11th, 2016
Self-propelled vehicles that can carry passengers on roads are not exactly new; people have been experimenting with them since the late 18th century. But in the early years of the twentieth century, the automobile finally becomes a practical mode of ...Show More
36:09 | Dec 4th, 2016
The year 1910 saw a fierce debate in the UK, including two general elections, over the role of the House of Lords in a modern, democratic state. The British King Edward VII passed away in the middle of the crisis, moving some Tories to blame his deat...Show More
39:37 | Nov 20th, 2016
Mexico began the century under the rule of the now elderly Porfirio Diaz. But Diaz was not able to keep up with changing times, and the fall of his rule is the opening chapter of the Mexican Revolution.
44:25 | Nov 13th, 2016
The early years of the century saw two important comets and the biggest meteorite strike on the Earth in recorded history. There was also a lot of attention paid to the planet Mars, amid speculation that Mars might be home to life. Maybe even intell...Show More
44:24 | Nov 6th, 2016
Roosevelt had pledged not to seek another term as President, and was concerned that his successor preserve and build upon his Progressive legacy. He chose William Howard Taft as his political heir, but after Taft's election, the two men would part wa...Show More
38:53 | Oct 30th, 2016
The development of radio and related technologies at the beginning of the century heralded the birth of what we now call electronics, and with it, mass media.
48:29 | Oct 23rd, 2016
In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia, which she had been governing for 30 years. For the first time in Franz Josef's 60-year reign, Austria was gaining, rather than losing, territory. A cause for celebration, right?
42:07 | Oct 9th, 2016
We take a look at the convoluted ethnic makeup of Austria-Hungary as well as some of the principal Austrian cultural figures of the time.
37:29 | Oct 2nd, 2016
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary struggles to remain relevant in the quickly changing nineteenth century.
48:51 | Sep 25th, 2016
Wilbur and Orville Wright, working out of the limelight, succeed in developing the first heavier-than-air craft capable of carrying a human being on a controlled flight.
10:13 | Sep 21st, 2016
This 1870-ish American poem shows us something of the public attitude toward those who were working to build a flying machine during this period.
38:20 | Sep 18th, 2016
Surprisingly, small-scale flying machines have been around for centuries. It was not a question of theory, but an engineering problem: finding the right materials and designs to build a craft capable of carrying a human being through the air.
34:41 | Sep 11th, 2016
Despite the Liberals winning a landslide election in 1906, the political situation in the UK was turbulent. Liberal constituencies were jockeying for favor. The new Labour Party and the working classes were increasing in power. The women's suffrage m...Show More
55:37 | Aug 28th, 2016
Sergei Diaghilev's most enduring influence on twentieth century art was the Ballets Russes, a modern ballet company he created, starring the greatest male ballet dancer of the twentieth century and Diaghilev's lover, Vaslav Nijinsky.
35:41 | Aug 21st, 2016
In the early twentieth century, the Russian Sergei Diaghilev was the "bad boy" of the Russian art world. It's safe to say he was the most important figure in twentieth century art who was not himself an artist.
44:39 | Aug 14th, 2016
The United States intervenes militarily in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America. A great earthquake strikes San Francisco, triggering racial discrimination and an economic downturn. The Brownsville Affair. And Roosevelt takes "In God We Trust" off the...Show More
46:05 | Aug 7th, 2016
After breaking the Vice Presidents' curse, Roosevelt begins his second (and last) term as President. 1906 proves to be a good year, as Roosevelt gets much of his legislative agenda through Congress.
40:17 | Jul 31st, 2016
The launch of HMS Dreadnought sparked multiple naval arms races, most notably in South America. It also intensified the existing race between the United Kingdom and Germany. At the same time, British and Russian diplomats hammer out their own entente...Show More
35:45 | Jul 24th, 2016
France has been angling to turn Morocco into a protectorate. The German government decides to interfere, hoping to drive a wedge between France and Britain.
35:22 | Jul 17th, 2016
The Entente Cordiale smoothed relations between Britain and France, but created complications for Britain's relations with Russia and with Germany. Britain makes overtures toward both of those countries, in the hope of repeating its diplomatic succes...Show More
33:19 | Jul 10th, 2016
After nearly 20 years in power, the Conservatives can no longer keep a lid on changing British society. But the Liberals have to contend with the rise of the Labour Party.
42:12 | Jun 26th, 2016
Albert Einstein published four papers in 1905 that turned modern physics upside down and established him as the greatest scientist of the century.
38:15 | Jun 19th, 2016
A review of what lessons we can take away from the war, with an emphasis on what lessons were not learned, to the grief of many.
40:52 | Jun 12th, 2016
Russia's Second Pacific Squadron finally reaches the western Pacific, and meets a catastrophic end. US President Theodore Roosevelt brokers a peace agreement between Japan and Russia.
40:33 | Jun 5th, 2016
The Japanese fund dissenters in Russia. A peaceful protest in St. Petersburg becomes "Bloody Sunday." Admiral Rozhdestvensky struggles against the odds to bring his fleet into the Pacific, and the Japanese win the Battle of Mukden, possibly the larg...Show More
37:07 | May 22nd, 2016
Japanese forces move north and oust Kuropatkin and his armies from Liaoyang. Port Arthur falls after a six-month siege and a bloody assault on 203 Hill.
45:35 | May 15th, 2016
The Japanese First Army defeats the Russians at the Battle of the Yalu River and advances from Korea into Russian-occupied Manchuria. The Japanese Second Army lands on the Liaodong Peninsula and advances north, while the Japanese Third Army moves sou...Show More
51:31 | May 8th, 2016
Russia has 100,000 soldiers in Manchuria, and is pressuring Japan's interests in Korea. When diplomacy fails, Japan launches as surprise attack on the Russian Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur (Liushunkou).
37:51 | May 1st, 2016
Europe has managed to keep the peace (more or less) for some 85
years now. Remarkably, she has done that with no formal
peacekeeping structure; just a willingness among the great powers
to come to the negotiating table when necessary. But how long ca...Show More
38:13 | Apr 24th, 2016
There has not been a general war in Europe since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. But military technology has grown frighteningly effective. Is war now obsolete? Is it time to find other ways of resolving differences, or else perish?
43:10 | Apr 17th, 2016
A look at Russia during the late 19th century, during the reign of Emperor Alexander III, with a special emphasis on the coming of age of the crown prince and his wedding to Alexandra.
42:48 | Apr 10th, 2016
Slavic people occupy half the land area of Europe, and Slav nationalism is going to be a driving force in the history of the 20th century. This episode explains the history of the Slavs, with a special emphasis on the most important Slav nation: Russ...Show More
46:49 | Apr 3rd, 2016
The 1904 World's Fair helped define America in the 20th century.
42:58 | Mar 20th, 2016
Pablo Picasso begins his career in Paris, the city of the 1900 Exposition and Olympic Games. Turmoil in Morocco gives the French an opportunity to move in, but first they need to come to an understanding with the British.
09:42 | Mar 17th, 2016
Finley Peter Dunne's Mr. Dooley expounds on international courts, and argues that what we really need is an international police force.
43:00 | Mar 13th, 2016
Roosevelt tours America and runs for re-election. Ugly racial violence erupts in the South. An American citizen is kidnapped in Morocco, and somebody thought, "This would make a great movie."
41:38 | Mar 6th, 2016
The remarkable unification of Italy in the nineteenth century was complete, but the problem of uniting these disparate peoples of the peninsula, who over the course of centuries had grown accustomed to thinking of themselves as different nationalitie...Show More
42:48 | Feb 28th, 2016
La nascita della Italia moderna
45:54 | Feb 21st, 2016
We return to the USA to take a look at some more issues facing President Roosevelt. Possible war crimes in the Philippines. Cuban independence. The Colombia Panama Canal. A major coal strike. And, most important, Roosevelt's prospects in the 1904 ele...Show More
38:39 | Feb 7th, 2016
After securing international recognition of his claim to the Congo, King Leopold sets to work to extract as much wealth as he can from the Congo in the most brutal ways imaginable. He is eventually exposed, but walks away a billionaire.
31:44 | Jan 31st, 2016
King Leopold II of Belgium, having decided his ambitions are far greater than the "small nation of small people" he reigns over, sets out to swindle for himself a colony in Africa.
39:17 | Jan 24th, 2016
As working class conditions seem to be getting worse instead of better, a new political movement emerges, advocating intervention on behalf of the poor, oppressed, and disenfranchised.
42:18 | Jan 17th, 2016
Theodore Roosevelt becomes President and at once begins turning everything upside down. Scott Joplin writes an opera about it.
34:11 | Jan 10th, 2016
Theodore Roosevelt becomes a war hero, and Vice President of the United States. An anarchist assassin takes the life of the President, William McKinley.
42:05 | Jan 3rd, 2016
Reinforcements from the Western nations turn the tide in the fight against the Boxers. But will they get to Beijing in time?
41:08 | Dec 20th, 2015
A grassroots uprising against foreigners develops in China in 1900, a result of outrage over Chinese territorial concessions and foreign missionary activity.
35:15 | Dec 13th, 2015
At the beginning of the 20th century, a fault line develops in Protestantism, especially in the USA, over the role of ancient Scriptures in a modern church.
39:21 | Dec 6th, 2015
Frustrated on all fronts, the British mobilize the enormous resources of their Empire in a bid to defeat the Boers once and for all.
ARCHIVED: The podcast creator has made this episode no longer available for listening.
0:00 | Dec 1st, 2015
There will be no new episode this week. Check back next week for the conclusion to the Boer War.
39:11 | Nov 22nd, 2015
The British get the war they want with the Boer republics in South Africa, but the Boers turn out to be more than the British can handle. At first.
39:24 | Nov 15th, 2015
Britain is still very much a class-bound society at home and a military power abroad. A look at the state of the Empire in the late 19th century, with a special emphasis on Ireland and South Africa.
37:29 | Nov 8th, 2015
What are cathode rays? X-rays? Radioactivity? How old is the Earth? Inquiring minds want to know. Also, in an age when only men can vote, the greatest scientist of the time is a woman. And Polish. Take that, haters!
48:56 | Nov 1st, 2015
France at the turn of the century was rocked by the Dreyfus Affair, where an innocent soldier was convicted of treason, and the Army went to incredible lengths in its refusal to acknowledge what became increasingly obvious.
45:27 | Oct 25th, 2015
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
26:22 | Oct 18th, 2015
As relations between the Americans and the Filipinos degenerate into open combat, the war to liberate Cuba becomes a war to subjugate the Philippines.
06:31 | Oct 15th, 2015
...and imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby mutually bind ourselves to support this Declaration with our lives, our fortunes, and with our most sacred possession, our Honor....
26:57 | Oct 11th, 2015
So, are the US and the Filipino rebels allies or not? When the US and Spain start doing deals, there are no Filipinos at the table.
21:47 | Oct 7th, 2015
Three documents referenced in this week's podcast on the Spanish-American War: The letter from the Spanish ambassador, McKinley's message to Congress, Joint Congressional Resolution.
40:19 | Oct 4th, 2015
The United States intervenes in the Cuban revolt against Spain. But what does this mean for the Philippines?
34:13 | Sep 27th, 2015
This episode looks at the history of the Philippines through the start of the Spanish-American War.
36:23 | Sep 20th, 2015
Germany is pretty much a world leader in everything at the beginning of the 20th century. 13 Nobel Prizes in 10 years. Top that, everyone else!
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