The Causes of World War 1

In August 1863, as Lee's army retreated from Gettysburg and Vicksburg fell to Grant, the Union's Anaconda Plan deployed hundreds of ships to strangle 3,500 miles of Confederate coastline, triggering hyperinflation and economic collapse as the South lost its ability to export King ... Show More

Pompeii's story is usually told through the lens of catastrophe—perfectly preserved bodies frozen in ash, a civilization erased in hours, sort of like a Roman version of the Chicxulub impactor that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago —but the real tragedy isn't just that Mo ... Show More

When St. Francis of Assisi was near death in 1226, he joked with companions that his corpse would be practically as valuable as gold. And he was right: In medieval Europe, relics, or the physical remains of saints, weren't just symbols, they were the center of an entire economy. ... Show More

100 Years ago today Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian radical in Sarajevo. How did this event result in a war that would consume not just Europe but the World? In this episode we will talk about the situation in Europe in 1914 and the nations that would take ... Show More

When you think of the First World War, what springs to mind? Is it trench warfare? The myth that troops would be home by Christmas? Or perhaps the idea that the whole thing began because of the assassination of an Austro-Hungarian archduke? In this episode, we’re going beyond the ... Show More

Prof Christopher Clark unpicks the complex sequence of events that led to the First World War. In the first programme, he travels to Sarajevo to tell the story of extraordinary chances that led to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. 

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was one of the most important men in the world. But he was a lonely man, not helped by the fact that, in spite of custom and tradition, he had chosen for wife Sophie, an aristocrat who nonetheless was not noble eno ... Show More

In which we discuss how the British and Germans approached the war, arms limitation treaties, and the growing budget crises of 1913. Contact sales@advertisecast.com to advertise on History of the Great War. History of the Great War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Le ... Show More

The First World War would cast a shadow over the next two decades, altering the course of nations. In this episode we discuss, in the briefest way I know how, the History of the Great War. Website Patreon Twitter Facebook Discord Email: historyofthesecondworldwar@outlook.com Lear ... Show More

By the end of July 1914, the world hovered on the edge of a cataclysmic world war; Austria was at war with Serbia, Russia with Germany, and an ultimatum had been handed to Belgium. The July crisis had resolved itself in the most calamitous way possible. But how did this state of ... Show More

In the wake of the cataclysmic assassination of Franz Ferdinand on the 28th of June 1914, in Austria, the long percolating question of what to do about Serbia, reached a climax. At last, they had been handed an opportunity to take decisive action. On Sunday 5th of July an emissar ... Show More

<p>World War II didn’t appear out of nowhere. Dr. Roy begins by going back to the 18th and 19th centuries, explaining how the rise of the British Empire, the exploitation of India, the discovery of oil, and the unification of Germany set the stage for catastrophe. Along the way, ... Show More

Archduke Franz Ferdinand has arrived in Sarajevo for a military inspection, alongside his wife, Sophie, on the 28th of June 1914. Unbeknownst to them, six assassins, including Gavrilo Princip, line the route of the motorcade, from Sarajevo train station to the town hall. Having c ... Show More