After an interesting prelude, we are finally ready to tackle the main event of our series - the Suez Crisis. In this introductory episode, we explain what's in store, who to prepare for, what we're wary of and exactly why you should be excited for part 2 of this eventful series. Remember, the first two episodes will be out for FREE in line with getting everyone in the mood, but be sure to head over to our Patreon page to access all 20 of these episodes in full. For only a fiver a month, all of t...
Sep 06, 2018•21 min
The fire by rank tactic used by Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries had surprising beginnings, as we learn in this episode. While key military thinkers like Maurice of Nassau in the Netherlands played a pivotal role in changing how infantry were viewed and used on the battlefield, it is highly likely that he acquired inspiration for these ideas not just from Europe’s Ancient past, but also from Asian innovations many thousands of miles away. The adoption of the musket on a wide scale and it...
Sep 02, 2018•35 min
Episode 34: Building Inchon examines the extensive diplomatic and political preparation which the Truman administration engaged with in the weeks before MacArthur’s landing at Inchon on 15th September 1950. Truman was forced to deal with several issues, including the independently minded actions of some of his own personnel, like the Secretary of Defence, who would be forced to resign. We see a new policy report NSC 81 come to the fore, even while it didn’t promise a whole lot it still managed t...
Aug 26, 2018•40 min
Check out the Sound Education Podcast Conference at Harvard University, where you can meet yours truly and listen to some brilliant minds in podcasting over 2-3 November 2018! Episode 33: Chinese Chequers continues where we left off last time, as the implications of the American approach to Korea and Taiwan are heavily felt in Beijing. Mao now had reason to believe that the war could be turned to his advantage, and that a Chinese orientated Korean satellite on the sensitive border region was wor...
Aug 19, 2018•43 min
Episode 32: Chinese Whispers follows on from Truman’s speech requesting those yummy defence budget increases, by rolling our coverage back to the immediate aftermath of the American intentions to intervene which were announced on 26th June 1950. For Mao Zedong, our main focus for the next two episodes, the really aggravating aspect of Washington’s policy wasn’t that the Yanks were suddenly supporting Seoul with more enthusiasm – it was instead the fact that America now identified Taiwan as being...
Aug 12, 2018•37 min
Episode 31: Laying Down The Gauntlet looks at the other side of the coin and how the Americans reacted to the developing war in the late summer of 1950. MacArthur attempted to follow War Plan SL-17, which stipulated that a landing at Inchon should take place in response to a Northern surge down the peninsula, but problems existed in this plan, and MacArthur faced a conundrum throughout July 1950 as he tried to adapt to the curious nature of the communist advance. Pusan, it was clear, would be th...
Aug 05, 2018•34 min
We return with part 6 of our series on 17th century warfare, and in this episode we have something very special for you guys – an examination of the sick man of Europe, before he was sick, but when he was certainly maligned and looked down upon. For some time, it has been supposed that the Ottoman Empire could not keep pace with Western Europe, and that her eclipse by the West European powers in the 1700s was an inevitable, rational process which can be partially explained by the Turk’s reluctan...
Aug 02, 2018•31 min
Episode 30: Unfriendly Fire switches gears from the Anglo-American to the Asian angle in the war. We encounter some more controversial points, as we learn just how instrumental Stalin was in blunting the force of the North Korean People's Army, as he manipulated the situation to acquire the war he wanted. Stalin was creating in Korea a war which would draw the allies in further, and which would force the Chinese to respond. With this in mind, he couldn't afford to watch the North actually push t...
Jul 29, 2018•36 min
Episode 29: With Allies Like These looks further at the Anglo-American relationship from where we left off last time. After July 1950, the British were militarily committed to Korea under the auspices of the United Nations, and under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. If these facts made Britons nervous, these nerves were not soothed by the repeated examples of where the two allies differed in their attitudes towards the theatre. The British were hesitant to invest too much resources in a...
Jul 22, 2018•47 min
You can find American Moments here . It's a history podcast bringing you more of the history from America which you love, but may have forgotten... Episode 28: London Stalling, introduces us to the British participation in the Korean War, and how utterly transfixed on the American partnership Clement Atlee's administration was. A guiding reason why the British and their Commonwealth allies took part in the Korean War can be explained by the Anglo-American partnership, and the pressures felt in L...
Jul 15, 2018•37 min
Those crazy folks over at Wondery have a podcast called American History Tellers, which you can find and subscribe to here. In this teaser, you can get a preview of what AHT has coming - namely, a six part series examining the American Revolution from several different perspectives. For an exploration of this pivotal event in world history which you won't get anywhere else, make sure you check out American History Tellers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 12, 2018•10 min
Apologies for the birdsongs in advance... We've got a real treat for you in the latest episode of the Korean War guys, as niche diplomacy and underrated tales become our prime focus. Here we examine the tales of Turkey and New Zealand, and their journey towards intervention in the Korean War... Episode 27: Avengers Assemble tackles two fascinating case studies in the allied intervention in the Korean War. We ask here why did Turkey and New Zealand, two states well removed from the events going o...
Jul 08, 2018•44 min
Our series on 17th century warfare continues with a look at how French armies were constituted, and how their attitudes towards certain tactics changed. We begin with an examination of the massive increases of European armies across the board, but we soon refine our focus, and examine the machinations of King Henry IV of France (r. 1594-1610), who made the most of new theories in infantry and cavalry tactics. The story is by no means a straightforward one of consistent, sensible progression. Ins...
Jul 06, 2018•38 min
Within this episode we continue to surge ahead with our narrative of the Korean War through the lens of that body. We look at how it coped with the progress of the North Koreans throughout the summer, and how its members were eventually persuaded to pass a few important resolutions, and to send armed delegations of their own. In this episode, we see collective security come to life, and it is a fascinating sight to behold. We also touch on several things that we'll investigate in more detail in ...
Jul 01, 2018•40 min
Paul Kendrick's Korean War Podcast This is in some sense a two-pronged episode, where we look first of all at the days between 27-30 June 1950, and explain how the Truman administration managed to manipulate the strategic situation on the Han River to its own ends. Then, once we bring our story up to 30 June, we deliver a kind of overview, where we examine the conflict between late June and September. This episode will give you a handy introduction to what course the war took, and for those unfa...
Jun 24, 2018•36 min
UNprecedented - get it, because UN = United Nations, and it's unprecedented because it's never happened before?! I'm a genius! Episode 24: UNprecedented looks at the role of the United Nations, which the US used, for a variety of reasons, to frame its intervention in Korea. Here we look at the key moments in the history of UN, and we chart its development over the late 1940s as it became more heavily involved in the issues of the post-war world. Many nations placed their faith and trust in this ...
Jun 19, 2018•42 min
The Korean War is back with a bang! Episode 23: What Lies Beneath takes us to the halls of Washington, where as we saw in the last episode, the US was surprisingly slow to respond to the North Korean invasion. What kind of methods did the Truman administration make use of to achieve its policy goals? In this episode we will examine what lay beneath the shocked exterior of the American reaction to the invasion of South Korea. Far from surprised, everything was going according to plan. It remained...
Jun 17, 2018•41 min
In our latest episode of 17th Century Warfare, we put the Military Revolution to the test, by applying a key aspect of it - the trace italienne system - to 17th century France! Expect talk of fortresses, historian John A Lynn and lots of talk about context.... So...get ready to lay siege! In this episode we use the case study of French fortifications to examine the trace italienne, the name given to the modernisation of European fortifications along the Italian model. These forts had low, thick ...
Jun 12, 2018•39 min
Time to get a bit technical, but I promise it'll be anything BUT boring! Get your thinking caps on history friends, because in this episode we’re going to assess the most important element of the historiography of the 17th century – the Military Revolution theory. The Military Revolution idea states that Europe underwent fundamental – you might even say ‘revolutionary’ changes during the late 1500s and 1600s. These changes were affected by improvements in military technology, and the adoption of...
Jun 10, 2018•35 min
In my time my poor father was as diligent to teach me to shoot, as to learn me any other thing; and so I think other men did their children: he taught me how to draw, how to lay my body in my bow, and not to draw from strength of the body: I had my bows bought me, according to my age and strength; as I increased in them, so my bows were made bigger and bigger; for men shall never shoot well, except they be brought up in it…But now, we have taken up whoring in towns, instead of shooting in fields...
Jun 05, 2018•44 min
{ Don't panic! The Korean War is on a break, and will be back on 18th June } At long last! Our series on 17th century warfare has finally landed, with our first episode looking at…nothing to do with 17th century warfare…Hmmm. Not to worry history friends – untangling warfare in the 17th century requires a certain amount of background detail, and in this episode here we do exactly that. The feudal society and its relation to the military contract aren’t topics we would normally go anywhere near, ...
Jun 03, 2018•36 min
'This is a fight between God or the Devil. If his Majesty wants to side with God, he must join me. If he prefers to side with the Devil, then indeed he must fight me. There is no third way" Gustavus Adolphus may give us our podcast's theme, and our book's title, but there was much more to the Thirty Years War than the famed King of Sweden. In this introduction episode, we place you in the thick of this dilemma - neutrality was impossible, yet the consequences for picking one side or the other we...
May 27, 2018•18 min
1618-2018 - on this day 400 years ago, one of the most destructive conflicts in human history erupted within the walls of Prague's Hradschin Castle. As we recount here, the conflict was neither all the fault of the Bohemians, nor sustained by them for very long. Instead, several factors prolonged the conflict and kept Europe in rapture for three decades. For the next year or so, we here at WDF want to bring you on a journey into this conflict, on a scale and with an attention to detail which you...
May 23, 2018•24 min
Back again with the second part of our TALK episode, which concludes the analysis of the Thirty Years War timeline in the typical style which only a TALK episode can manage! Here we take the story from 1635 and discuss several battles, characters and important diplomatic developments before concluding on the Peace of Westphalia. Hopefully this will get you pumped for all the content that is to come! Remember to BEFIT! B is for blog E is for email wdfpodcast@hotmail.com F is for Facebook, the Pag...
May 18, 2018•55 min
Happy birthday to us! When Diplomacy Fails is 6 years old today, and to celebrate we're jumping right into the Thirty Years War once again, with another intro episode (2/5) this one looking at the timeline of the conflict up to the year 1635, but with a twist. I'm not by myself this time - today I am joined by TALK episode guest Sean. Far too much happens to really summarise here, but as usual, skip ahead past the BEFIT rundown for the bulk of the episode, and make sure to let me know what you t...
May 18, 2018•1 hr 3 min
We're jumping back into the Thirty Years War and this is all super exciting, but to some of you guys it may also be a tad overwhelming, as a lot of unfamiliar stuff is about to be thrown at you. With that in mind, this episode is designed to familiarise you with the main themes, the most important figures, and the most active powers in Europe at the time. We'll learn a bit about the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, meet the Habsburg family, and take a gander at some other related issues in...
May 13, 2018•34 min
You should know about our new sponsor - onlinegreatbooks.com! To access some fascinating books, nerd out with like minded enthusiasts, further your knowledge of some classical works, get 25% off your first three months AND help the show, head on over to... https://intellectuallinearprogression.com/when-diplomacy-fails/?level=1&discount_code=dip Episode 22: Crossing the Rubicon looks at the moment where the North invades, and the different pieces fall into place for some, and fall apart for o...
May 06, 2018•40 min
Make sure you check out the Human Circus - Journeys in the Medieval World, if you're a fan of fascinating stories and a well told narratives. Devon is a history friend and a proud member of the History Podcasting Platform, so show him some love and check his brilliant pod out! https://humancircuspodcast.com/ You can also subscribe to his show on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/human-circus-histories/id1194921513?mt=2&ls=1 Episode 21: In Support of My Thesis is a kind of culminati...
May 01, 2018•48 min
Make sure to give a warm welcome to our featured history podcast through the History Podcasting Platform: Noah Tetzner, and his History of Vikings Podcast. You can find Noah's excellent podcast here: http://thehistoryofvikings.com/author/noahtetzner/ Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-vikings/id1363609926 Episode 20: Korean Background Part 3 concludes our examination of the Korean elements of the Korean War, by looking at the events which shaped the peninsula...
Apr 29, 2018•40 min
There's an awful lot to get into here, but we have to start somewhere! In this episode, I explain why my plans have effectively gone up in smoke, and what I plan to do to rectify these new developments. Expect announcements on the future of Poland Is Not Yet Lost, 1956, the Korean War, the Age of Bismarck, the Versailles Anniversary Project, and a new body of work that I will be springing on you guys from 23rd May - the Thirty Years War. That's right! To mark the fact that it's the 400th anniver...
Apr 22, 2018•39 min
