AEIOU: A Podcast about Austria

This episode covers the end of the revolutions of 1848, finishing late in 1849, with both a new emperor (Franz Joseph) and a new war with Italy. The emperor will serve for much longer, and the war with Italy will be much shorter. In the meantime, forget about those revolutionary reforms for now.

In this episode, we're faced with the same problem as before but in different form -- how can this be a podcast about Austria but have an episode set largely in a totally different country? Well, when you're a Great Power in the center of Europe, things can get complicated.

This episode details the reign of Emperor Ferdinand, who gives old Charles II of Spain a run for his money on the award for most inbred Habsburg monarch. That the final year of his reign is also the most revolutionary year in all of Europe's history is merely a coincidence.

In this episode, we'll wrap up the Napoleonic Wars and learn how Austrian Chancellor and Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich helped establish the Concert of Europe and ushered in an era of peace. Kind of. There was some peace. There was also a stabbing or two.

Well, not really Belgium so much as the Austrian Netherlands, Liege, and a few other places. In this episode, we'll discuss how the French Revolution influenced events in Austria, and we'll learn a little bit about how ultimatums can backfire.

In this episode, I debut a new voice (my own -- still AI generated), we talk about the monumental reforms undertaken during the reign of Joseph II, and we learn that, where Poland loses, Austria gains -- both territory and new ethnic groups!

In this episode, we discuss the reign over Austria of Maria Theresa, the only woman to rule the Habsburg Monarchy. We'll learn why she named all her daughters Maria, how she felt about religion and politics, and some of the permament changes with which she left Austria.

No, it's not another installment in the ongoing saga of the Roy family! It's the story of two wars of succession, one in Spain and one in Austria. Learn why the so-called Habsburg jaw indicated a bigger problem than just your chin arriving in any given room ten minutes before the rest of your head.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try!

I'm back after an extended absence and ready for more abuse! This week's podcast covers the rest of the Thirty Years War and its aftermath. War with the Empire's fellow Germans ultimately gives way to war with Denmark, war with Sweden, war with France, and war with the Ottomans. 

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try!

This week, we learn a new word -- defenestration -- and we learn why that word has been associated with the city of Prague. We also talk begin a discussion of the Thirty Years War and why it happened despite our previously discussed efforts to settle the religious question.