
 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’, together with the Serb allies, in the east.
No side, however, was satisfied with Treaty. The Bulgarians were furious at having been denied the larger territory which they had won in battle. And the Serbians harboured ambitions for their borders to be expand southwards to areas inhabited by fellow Slavs, but under control partly of the Ottoman and partly the Austrians.
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Music composed by Ludwig van Beethoven Picture - Congress of Berlin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

74.1 First World War - Introduction, and Treaty Of Berlin 1878

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 will describe 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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. 
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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 Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

74.19 Treaty of Versailles

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. 
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Music composed by Alexander Scriabin, Etude in C sharp minor. Courtesy of musopen.org Picture - US 64th regiment celebrate the Armistice Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

74.18 Endgame, 1918

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 unity was fraying, and riots and strikes occurred across the country.  Everything now depended on the success or failure of a German Spring Offensive on the western front. 
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Picture - German Spring Offensive - British Lewis gun team at the Battle of Hazebrouck 1918 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

74.17 The Final Gamble, 1918

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 is more volatile, seeing the collapse of the Russian army, a major defeat for the Italians at Caporetto and the fall of Jerusalem to the British
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Music composed by Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis), courtesy of musopen.org Picture - Allenby enters Jerusalem 1917 Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

74.16 War of Attrition on the Western Front 1917

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.
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Music composed by Frederich Chopin (The Polish Dancer) Picture - Vladimir Lenin, 1 May 1920 by Isaak_Brodsky Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

74.1 First World War - Introduction, and Treaty Of Berlin 1878

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