In The first episode of those series we did an introduction. In the second we tried to make an emotional connection with the pain and suffering caused by the Spanish Flu. In this episode we seek to construct a timeline so that we have something coherent, on which we can hang all the events, and reactions to the events, that we will look at later in the series. This is my attempt to do that. In this third episode I follow the progress of the epidemic as it sweeps across the world, mutating in for...
Jun 22, 2020•12 min
For this episode of the podcast I wanted to try and get a feel for the actual experience of suffering the disease. I wanted to know what Spanish Flu was like on a personal level. To accomplish this I needed to uncover contemporary accounts from the time, that gave details of the damage inflicted and the distress caused by the influenza. I was surprised to find relatively few of these accounts but I did find one that had everything that I required. It is fictional but is written by someone who ha...
Jun 16, 2020•13 min
History is a series of recurrences. Over and over again we see much that is similar. While history doesn’t exactly repeat itself, it does often rhyme (wish I’d have said that but it was actually Mark Twain). We are currently (spring 2020) in the middle of a global pandemic, the like of which we could not have imagined only a few short months ago. However, I wonder if we could – if we should have been able to imagine it. In 1918 there was a pandemic that was very similar in scope to what we see n...
Jun 08, 2020•12 min
Historyzine’s retelling of The War of the Spanish Succession now reaches the year 1708 and the Battle of Oudenarde. The Duke of Burgundy and the Marshall Vendome make initial gains in the Spanish Netherlands moving swiftly to take control of the fortress cities of Ghent and Bruges. Looking to strengthen their supply routes back toward France they move toward Oudenarde. The allies move fast and manage to surprise the French army just to the North of the city. The troops engage but it’s all a bit ...
Apr 28, 2010•41 min
Historyzine now moves into the year 1707 in the saga of the War of the Spanish Succession. This year the allies are looking to attack Toulon and hopefully make more gains in the Spanish Netherlands. The Duke of Marlborough has an army of 80,000 in the Low countries facing off against Villars who has 100,000 under his control. Prince Eugene leads an army of 35,000 against Toulon and the Earl Galway is left with only 15,500 in Spain which he uses to bring the Duke of Berwick to battle at Almanza. ...
Feb 19, 2010•48 min
Historyzine 17 features 1706 and the Aftermath of Battle of Ramilies as well as the relief of Turin in our War of the Spanish Succession section. In the linguistic history trivia bit we’ll be looking at a couple of printing terms which have morphed into regularly used modern day phrases. The phrases I’ll be focussing upon are, uppercase and lowercase as well as getting ahold of the wrong end of the stick. They’re a fascinating couple of phrases and I very much enjoyed researching their provenanc...
Jan 29, 2010•1 hr 2 min
This is Historyzine, Episode 16 featuring 1706 and the War of the Spanish Succession. In Spain, Lord Peterborough and the Archduke Charles are busily not speaking to each other when perhaps they should be putting Charles on the throne and consolidating their power. In Flanders in this same year the Duke of Marlborough is leading his troops up against the French at the Battle of Ramillies. This is a particularly fascinating battle as it is a very clear demonstration of military distraction techni...
Nov 05, 2009•38 min
Historyzine follows the Duke of Marlborough as he conducts an epic journey of almost 2000 miles by carriage and barge during the fierce winter months in order to soothe and cajole the various allies. The Duke visits the Elector Palatine, The Margrave of Baden, the King of Prussia and the Electoral Prince of Hanover and then returns to the Hague in the Netherlands to sort out the paperwork for the forthcoming campaign. This isn’t the most dashing and exciting of the stories surrounding the Duke a...
Sep 08, 2009•27 min
Family History – connecting up with large scale history. I’ve recently spent a considerable amount of time delving into my family history and been quite delighted by the reflection of large scale events such as the industrial revolution, highland clearances and the potato blight of 1846 that are to be found in the movements of my ancestors. Exploring the phrase – Fork it over . Is it a man with a pitchfork handing over his produce to the landlord or is it a pickpocket thing? A review of ‘In Our ...
Feb 28, 2009•38 min
The history of Europe was altered forever by the Battle of Blenheim. In this episode I talk about the aftermath of the battle and look at the celebrations in England. The country is delirious with delight and Marlborough is granted the estate of Woodstock and given funds toward the building of a palace to commemorate the victory. That palace was built and named after the battle as Blenheim Palace It is a truly overwhelming place to behold. I’ve visited several times and have always been quite br...
Oct 22, 2008•42 min
In Historyzine 12 our main feature is 1704 and the battle of Blenheim. John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) is rampaging around Bavaria with the Dutch, Hesse, Austrian, Hanoverian and English troops. Gathering against him under the command of Marshall Tallard, Marshall Marsin and the Elector of Bavaria are the troops of France and Bavaria accompanied by various mercenaries. Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Despite his careful planning Marlborough finds no siege train waiting for him in...
Aug 27, 2008•54 min
The 2nd special episode from the reenactment weekend of 12th, 13th of July 2008 in the town of Oudenaarde in Belgium. This was the 300th anniversary of the battle of Oudenaarde in which the forces of the Anglo Dutch Austro German alliance managed to achieve a convincing victory over Louis XIV and the forces of the French and Spanish crowns. We interview some of the reenactors (including Colonel Holcroft Blood’s Regiment) and try to capture some of the atmosphere of the town square at night. Hope...
Jul 16, 2008
A special episode featuring a report from the reenactment of the battle of Oudenaarde over the weekend of 12th and 13th of July, 2008. I’ve travelled over to Belgium and am staying in the town of Oudenaarde as they commemorate this battle from 300 years just outside the town. Reenactors from all over Europe are here with guns, cannons, horses and bags of enthusiasm. This is only a short podcast and is out of sequence with the series on the Spanish Succession that we’ve been doing. We’re on 1704 ...
Jul 13, 2008•7 min
This issue features a review of the Richard Holmes book on Marlborough and in the section on the War of the Spanish Succession we look at the march of the allied troops across Europe and take a peek at some of the planning and attention to detail that made this march a success. John Churchill Some of the sources I use for this podcast can be found at Amazon.co.uk in the UK or at Amazon.com in the United States. If you wish to comment on the podcasts then please visit the website, historyzine.com...
Jul 11, 2008•22 min
It’s 1703 and all is not going well for the allies. Churchill’s ‘Great Design’ goes awry; the Hungarians revolt against the Empire and the Elector of Bavaria joins up with the French forces to directly threaten Vienna. This map should give you some idea of the threats to Austria in this year with armies in both Bavaria and Hungary posing serious threats. Anneisaman reviews The Missing Link Podcast and we look at the word CABAL. Some of the sources I use for this podcast can be found at Amazon.co...
May 28, 2008•34 min
In this episode we explore the phrase to gird your loins. We examine the case of Admiral Byng who was executed to encourage the others and we interview Tony Cox of the Binge Thinking History Podcast. There’s a shout out for a splendid forum at http://historum.com . I hope to meet up with some of you on there. In our section on the War of the Spanish Succession we continue to follow the events of 1702. We follow Admiral Rooke into Cadiz and then ponder the black-hearted treachery of Max Emanuel, ...
Feb 27, 2008•36 min
In episode 6 of Historyzine we look at early 18th century sieges, the changing nature of warfare and some of the reasons behind the reticence to commit troops to a fully fledged battle in this War of the Spanish Succession. We will focus particularly on the great French engineer Vauban, his fortresses and his techniques for laying siege to a fortress. There’s a plan of a Vauban type fortress here If you take a look at this pdf document you will be able to see some really good aerial photographs ...
Feb 07, 2008•31 min
In episode 5 of Historyzine we have a review of the National Archives Podcast Series; Historical webby gems Harry Lamin’s war correspondence Here we go around Wakefield Prison’s Mulberry Bush. And Episode 5 of our series on The War of the Spanish Succession features the campaigns of the Allies against the French forces on the Meuse in 1702. Marlborough is twice thwarted in his attempts to bring the French to battle, once by his Dutch deputies and then by the delightful General Opdam but then eng...
Jan 15, 2008•19 min
This is episode four of Historyzine. In this episode we review Parnell’s History Podcast and History Podcast plus we look at the requirement to read the Banns before a wedding can be legalised. In the feature on the War of the Spanish Succession the allies are busily arguing among themselves at the Hague trying to decide who will lead the allied armies. The French are threatening Nijmegen and John Churchill who is eventually appointed as leader of the alliance rushes off to try and organise his ...
Dec 24, 2007•41 min
This is episode three of Historyzine. In this episode we take a look at the podcast series, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. We pick apart the phrase, ‘sleep tight, mind the bed bugs don’t bite’ and of course we have the next part of our series looking at the War of the Spanish Succession. This week Eugene performs some fancy footwork in Northern Italy and the rest of the allies try to sort out some sort of compromise which will give them an excuse not to go to war against Louis XIV. Sources for t...
Nov 27, 2007•32 min
This is episode two of Historyzine. In this episode we review the delightful podcast TPN Napoleon, hosted by Cameron Reilly and J. David Markham and offer a shout out to ‘The Binge Thinking History podcast which, in episode 3 of that podcast gives some useful background to the English situation at the end of the 17th century. The main feature of this week is, of course, our running guide to the War of the Spanish Succession and in this episode we attempt to unravel the many strands that are the ...
Nov 22, 2007•24 min
The first episode of Historyzine features a review of the podcast, History According to Bob and a look at the phrase, ‘burning the candle at both ends.’ My featured subject at the moment is the ‘War of the Spanish Succession.’ In this episode we look at the 3 wars preceding this one and get some idea of the balance of power in Europe at the end of the 17th century. Sources for the War of the Spanish Succession If you wish to comment upon this podcast then please send feedback through the site ht...
Nov 13, 2007•20 min
