A podcast on European conflicts from the perspective of each side to provide an alternative to the traditional national narratives. Going chronologically from the Ancient Greeks onwards I described to some extent how each battle was won or lost by particular decisions, tactics, technology or fortune. But the aim of each main narrative will be to place each battle in the context of the overall history of Europe.
New series on the Interwar Years 1918-1945 begins 18th July 2025
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The Bolsheviks face numerous opponents across Russia, and struggle to gain control of all lands of the old Tsarist Empire. The White anti-Bolsheviks make a plan to move on Moscow www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: By Hoodinski - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16761719 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Civil War rages across Russia from the north in Murmansk, across the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Far East, as well as in Ukraine and the Caucasus. However, the anti-Bolshevik fail to cooperate effectively Picture: Tsar Nicholas II with this family 1913 (murdered by the Bolsheviks in July 1918) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The new Bolshevik regime quickly gains control of most of former Russia Empire, but meets stiff resistance in the periphery including Finland, the Caucasus and Ukraine. They sign a peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk and withdraw from the First World War Picture: Volunteer Army Infantry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Introduction to the new series on the Interwar Years - A recap of Russia's involvement in the First World War - The February 1917 Revolution and Provisional Government - Lenin's Bolsheviks seize power in the October Revolution www.historyeurope.net https://www.patreon.com/c/historyeurope Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Battle of Lake Peipus or 'The Battle on the Ice' was fought on 5th April 1242 between a coalition of western crusaders led by the Teutonic Knights against an army from Novgorod, Russia, led by Alexander Nevsky. The conflict was made famous by a Soviet film of 1938 directed by Sergei Eisenstein. This is the fifth and final part of a set of episodes on the Medieval Baltic and the Northern Crusades Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Alexander Nevksy appointed Prince of Novgorod, a Russian city with its own unique culture and proud history. Lead up to Battle of Lake Peipus 1242 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Livonia in the 12th century was threatened by invasion from all sides; Danes, Swedes, Germans, Poles and Russians. Key events in the episode; 1201 - Founding of Riga (capital of modern day Latvia) by Bishop Albert 1219 - Capture of Tallinn (capital of modern day Estonia) by Denmark in the legendary battle of Lyndaniss 1236 - Defeat of a military order, the Sword Brothers, by a band of Lithuanians at the Battle of Saule Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
The Teutonic Order was set up in the Holy Land as a German equivalent of other military orders. The first campaigns in Europe were in response to invitations from the King of Hungary and then a Duke of Poland. And so began their conquest of Prussia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The geography and early history of the Baltic Sea. Also the beginnings of the Northern Crusades against the Baltic pagans. The first major campaign is the Wendish Crusade of 1147 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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A special episode where I interview Stuart E Eizenstat - an American diplomat and attorney. Mr Einzenstat worked on Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign. After winning said campaign he became President Jimmy Carter’s Chief Domestic Policy Adviser. Later he went on to become President Bill Clinton's Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. And he served as the United States Ambassador to the European Union from 1993 to 1996 Mr Eizenstat has also devoted much effort to various aspects of Holocaust R...
The Paris Peace consisted of a group of distinct treaties, but the main concern of the delegates was the settlement with Germany, embodied in the Treaty of Versailles signed in June 1919. Germany’s eastern frontiers presented far greater problems. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Edward Elgar, Enigma variations, Variation IX (Adagio) Nimrod Picture - Treaty of Versailles, Big Four Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com Hosted on Ac...
In Spring 1918 a massive German offensive made significant territorial gains, but ultimately not the intended breakthrough, and the Allied forces stood firm. Exhausted and demoralised at the scale of casualties, the Germans were pushed back in a major counter-attack in the late Summer and Autumn. And on 26 September, the Allies launched a general offensive along the entire Western Front. Meanwhile, the Habsburg empire was fast falling apart as various nationalities declared independence. www.pat...
After the Russian withdrawal from the frontlines following the October revolution, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk is negotiated between Germany and Russia. The Germans sought to conclude war on the Eastern Front as quickly as possible, while at the same time trying to establish an informal empire in east-central Europe, one composed of newly independent nation states on Russia’s western periphery. However, back on the German home front, after four harsh winters and widespread hunger, political unit...
While the nations of Europe fought each other to a bitter stalemate, the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, urged both sides to make peace. However, no agreement is made and the United States joined the war on the side of the Entente allies. In the meantime, the Germans ordered a general withdrawal at the western front, abandoning the battlefields of the Somme in order to establish a shorter, straighter and more well-fortified line, the so-called ‘Hindenburg Line’. The eastern front...
As the year 1917 dawned, Europe had been at war for two and a half years, and pressures on the home fronts were becoming intolerable. Every participant nation came under huge strain. In Russia the Tsarist regime falls in March, but the interim government is unstable and itself falls in the famous October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin, who promises to withdraw Russia from the war. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Frederich Chopin (The Polish Dancer) Pictur...
Europe entered the year 1916 exhausted by one and a half years of conflict of a scale hitherto unimaginable, with profound effects on citizens at home, as well as those on the front line. The most intensive battles on the western front in 1916 are at Verdun and the Somme, with extraordinary numbers of casualties. Meanwhile, on the eastern front the Russians launch a major attack, the Brusilov offensive. Romania declared war on Austro-Hungary on 27 August 1916 and promptly invaded Transylvannia. ...
For the Germans, 1915 was a year that should not have been. Their whole strategy had been based on a quick war, but they now found themselves embroiled in a two-front war – on the eastern front against Russia, and on the western front against France fully mobilised and also Britain. Throughout 1915, in a succession of attacks of increasing intensity, the various armies learned the techniques of the new kind of war at very heavy cost. In February 1915, Germany launched the Second Battle of the Ma...
The first months of fighting in the First World War had seen no major breakthrough from any side. The Germans had captured about ten percent of France, and reached within sixty miles of Paris, but then reached a stalemate as both sides fortified their positions with great long lines of trenches running from Belgium to the Swiss border. Both sides attempt to bring other countries into the war to help break the stalemate and to tip the balance in their favour. The Italians, though deeply divided, ...
The Russians strike hard against their most powerful enemy, Germany. Austro-Hungary help their German ally although their military forces are under-resourced, in large part because through the years the Hungarian parliament had restricted military finding by using it as a bargaining chip for political concessions. While the Austrians attack Serbia, the Germans achieve a significant victory against Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music compo...
The first main clash of the First World War was on the borders of France and Germany and in Belgium. The Belgians put up more resistance than the Germans expect. However, the Battle of the Frontiers, on the Franco-German border, from 7 August to 6 September 1914 was a disaster for the French army, who suffered very heavy casualties. Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force were making their way to the front. The war was set on a grim path of attritional fighting, and with both sides able to dr...
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne. A month later Austria retaliates by declaring war on Serbia, which in turn brings Russia and the other great powers of Europe into conflict. As Edward Grey memorably expressed it: “The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again on our lifetime”. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Frederic Chopin (Mazurkas in C sharp minor) Picture - Franz Ferdinand, Sarajevo Th...
Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand trigger the First World War? I also describe how the long struggle between European powers for mastery in central Africa reaches its climax. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Picture - The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII Music composed by Frederic Chopin (The Polish Dancer) Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...
An analogy often given to the Balkans leading up to the First World War is a tinderbox, awaiting a flame to ignite it and set off a major conflagration across Europe. In fact, the region suffered a large-scale conflict already two years before the First World War began. Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro had all acquired their independence from the Ottoman Empire over the course of the 19th century. None of them, however, were happy with the territory under their control. Each aspired to la...
The Italian invasion of Libya 1911. After initial successes, the Italians face strong resistance against the Ottomans and Libyans www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Edward Elgar (The Crown of India, March of the Mogul Emperors) Picture - Italian landing at Tripoli Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Following their countries independence in the mid 19th century, the Italians hoped to establish their status among the Great European Powers by acquiring colonial possessions. Their first main attempt was an unsuccessful invasion of Ethiopia, with a defeat at the Battle of Adowa in 1896 www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Frederic Chopin Picture - Battle of Adwa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
In the first years of the 20th century the Austrian Empire faced numerous problems, most of all the rising sense of nationalism among its various peoples. Attempting a more assertive foreign policy, the Austrians set about a plan to formally annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, which since 1878 had been administered by Vienna but still remained under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. However, this decision backfired terribly, triggering a six month diplomatic crisis which almost led to general war www.patreo...
The Ottoman Empire is in disarray and its treasury bankrupt. Under Sultan Abdul Hamid, the Red Sultan, there are violent suppression of uprisings of the Armenians in Anatolia. And in the Balkans the Macedonians and Albanians appeal for independence. A rebellion in Macedonia leads to the The Young Turk revolution and the overthrow of the sultan. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music: Mazurkas by Chopin Picture - Sultan Abdul Hamid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Tsar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated in March 1881. He was probably the most liberal of all tsars of Russia, but succeeded by reactionary leaders Alexander III and then Nicholas II. Nicholas unwisely provokes Japan into a war, and is defeated, which is a catalyst for an attempted revolution in Russia in 1905 www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Petr Tchaikovsky (Symphony nr 6 in B Minor) Picture - Russian battleship Oslyabya, the first warship sunk in the ...
A summary of the main events from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 to the beginning of the First World War in 1914 At the end of the nineteenth century the Balkans had multiple crises. The Treaty of Berlin 1878 was an attempt by the Great Powers of Europe to find a framework for stability in a region with various competing interests, many of them incompatible with each other. In effect, it created two spheres of influence in the Balkans: the Austrians’ in the west and the Russians’, togeth...
