Monarchy in Peril

Emeritus Professor Robert Aldrich / Associate Professor Cindy McCreery

Is the monarchy in peril? Join Emeritus Professor Robert Aldrich, and Associate Professor Cindy McCreery - both from the University of Sydney - on this 8-episode podcast series about monarchy. With the help of expert guests, the series will examine challenges faced by monarchies in modern history – such as revolution, assassination, and scandal – and why some monarchies have survived, and others have disappeared. The series is from the University of Sydney, School of Humanities and is produced by Peter Adams.

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Episodes

Long to rule? Monarchy, Republicanism and the Commonwealth

Republicanism has long been one of the major challenges to monarchy, and the majority of countries in the world are now republics. Yet monarchies endure. King Charles III reigns over the United Kingdom and also over fourteen realms in the Commonwealth of Nations, from Canada to New Zealand, and from the Bahamas to the Solomon Islands. Many former realms of the British monarch, however, have become republics, most recently Barbados, and Jamaica plans to follow suit. With Dr Harshan Kumarasingham ...

Jul 08, 2024•24 min•Ep. 8

Lost imperial crowns: Monarchy and decolonisation

The wave of anticolonialism and nationalism that swept the world after the Second World War brought about the independence of many former colonies. The old imperial monarchs lost their crowns, but what form of government would prevail in the newly emancipated states? Few of them, it turned out, restored pre-colonial monarchies, but that did not mean that old royal, princely and aristocratic families immediately lost the privileges and influence that some had even retained under colonial rule. Wi...

Jul 01, 2024•18 min•Ep. 7

African kings: Monarchy and its challenges

There were numerous emperors, kings and other hereditary rulers of nations in pre-colonial Africa, though European conquerors with racist perspectives common in the age of empire often demeaned them as only ‘chiefs’ of ‘tribes’. Many of the African rulers lost their political power under European overlordship, though their dynasties retained much cultural influence. Some managed to stave off foreign occupation, at least for a while, and a few even survived under colonial rule – and afterwards. I...

Jun 24, 2024•24 min•Ep. 6

Casualties of war: Monarchs and the First World War

Since many royal families were related to each other by marriage, wars turned relatives into enemies. Such was the case in the First World War, when the British King George V went to war with his German cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II. Most of the other European sovereigns as well were bound up in the belligerency of the Great War, facing the difficult task of trying to maintain some contact with their beloved dispersed families while supporting the wartime efforts of the nations over which they reigne...

Jun 17, 2024•20 min•Ep. 5

Take me to your leader: colonialism and monarchy

Colonial expansion gave European (and some other) monarchs vast new domains – Queen Victoria, Empress of India, ruled over a fifth of humankind. But colonial monarchs often displaced indigenous ones. The leaders to whom colonial invaders were led were frequently emperors, kings, sultans and other hereditary rulers. Some were killed in warfare while resisting the foreigners, others remained on their thrones as puppet ‘protected’ rulers, and still others were dethroned and forced into exile. In th...

Jun 10, 2024•19 min•Ep. 4

Monarchy - Assassinations and other violent occupational hazzards

Many monarchs and other royals have met violent deaths – on the battlefield, by execution after revolution or their coup, and by assassinations at the hands of terrorists or madmen. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were sent to the guillotine in 1793, and the Romanov royal family was massacred by the Bolsheviks in 1918. Others have managed to escape with attempts on their lives. In this podcast, we look at some of them, but in particular at two who were not so fortunate, Emperor Maximilian of Mexi...

Jun 03, 2024•17 min•Ep. 3

The Monarchy - What was true in Shakespeare’s time, is still true now.

Monarchy is one of the oldest and most widespread forms of government in the history of the world. Even today, more than forty countries have a monarch as the head of state. Love them or loathe them, monarchs are some of the most important figures in history. However, monarchs and their dynasties have faced many challenges through the centuries. This is the stuff of history and of drama, as anyone who has ever read or watched a play by Willliam Shakespeare will know.

May 27, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1

Scandals and affairs

Scandals of various sorts have punctuated the history of royal dynasties, caused by family feuds, dubious financial arrangements, and frequently by sexual affairs and marriages considered incompatible with royal tradition and dignity. Such scandals attract much public attention, but also raise questions about individual figures and the monarchies of which they are a part. Royals are also forced to devise strategies for surviving scandals. In this episode, we offer some fresh perspectives on one ...

May 27, 2024•27 min•Ep. 2

Introducing Monarchy in Peril

Join Emeritus Professor Robert Aldrich, and Associate Professor Cindy McCreery - both from the University of Sydney - on this 8-episode podcast series about monarchy. With the help of expert guests, the series will examine challenges faced by monarchies in modern history – such as revolution, assassination, and scandal – and why some monarchies have survived, and others have disappeared.

May 17, 2024•3 min

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