The Seminal Catastrophe Podcast

So no, I didn't die or anything. And better yet, I'm back! First, a bit of catchup.

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Happy (late...) Halloween!


Sources: 

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918, Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.

Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.

Marshall, Samuel Lyman Atwood. World War I. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

“Battle Halts While Troops Fight Wolves.” Oklahoma City Times. February 15, 1917.

“Pack of Wolves from Russian Frontier Raid German Border Villages.” El Paso Herald. February 21, 1917.

“Russian Wolves.” New York Times. July 29, 1917.

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The climactic showdown of the First Battle of the Marne now comes to a decisive, bloody end.

Please feel free to visit our sponsor, the WYLD Gallery!



IMAGES FOR TODAY'S EPISODE

Sources: 

Churchill, Winston. The World Crisis: Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923.

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918, Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.

Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.

Marshall, Samuel Lyman Atwood. World War I. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1962.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1922 Edition. Moltke, Helmuth von. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1922_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Moltke,_Helmuth_von

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“Now, as the battle is joined on which the safety of the country depends, everyone must be reminded that this is no longer the time for looking back. Every effort must be made to attack and throw back the enemy. A unit which finds it impossible to advance must, regardless of the cost, hold its ground and be killed on the spot rather than fall back. In the present circumstances no failure will be tolerated.”

Sources: 

Brose, Eric Dorn. A History of the Great War: World War One and the International Crisis of the Twentieth Century. London: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Churchill, Winston. The World Crisis: Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923.

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1962.

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We return to the narrative on the Western Front, to see how the French and British will plan their last desperate attempt to halt the German advance on Paris at the beginning of September, 1914.

IMAGES FOR TODAY'S EPISODE

Sources: 

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1962.

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This episode concludes our two week digression from the narrative. In it, we discuss some basic, fundamental military concepts and theories that have existed and been refined for millennia.

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Sources

Clausewitz, Carl von. On War (Third Edition). London: N. Trübner & Co., 1873.

Councell, Clara E. War and Infectious Disease. Public Health Reports Vol. 56, No. 12, March 21, 1941.

Dodge, Ayrault Theodore. Alexander: A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company: 1890.

Dodge, Ayrault Theodore. Great Captains: A Course of Six Lectures. Boston: Ticknor and Company, 1889.

Delbrück, Hans. Translated by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr. Warfare in Antiquity: History of the Art of War, Volume 1. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1975.

Smelser, Neil J. Theory of Collective Behavior. New York: The Free Press, 1962.

Encyclopedia Britannica. The Battle of Gettysburg. https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Gettysburg

Encyclopedia Britannica. World War I: Killed, Wounded, and Missing. https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I/Killed-wounded-and-missing

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Instead of plowing ahead with the narrative, for the next couple weeks we're going to pull back and examine some fundamental concepts of military organization and practice. In this episode, we examine the unit structure and rank hierarchy of the Armies of the First World War.

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Sources

Steuben, Baron von. Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States. Boston: Thomas and Andrews, 1792.

Boff, Jonathan. Military Structures and Ranks. British Museum, 2014. https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/military-structures-and-ranks

Columbia University. The Organization of Armies. https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/services/dropoff/schilling/mil_org/milorgan_99.html

Kast, Bernhard. British Infantry Division 1914/1916 – Visualization, Organization, & Structure. Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Clh5C38Eg&list=PLv0uEimc-uN-PxBv8vwDDysUnrcnM_i93&index=10

Kast, Bernhard. German Infantry Division 1914/1918 – Visualization, Organization, & Structure. Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3vTCOfKg0Y&list=PLv0uEimc-uN-PxBv8vwDDysUnrcnM_i93&index=9 

WorldWar1.com. The Organization of the German Army, August 1914. http://www.worldwar1.com/sfgarmy.htm

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In the course of less than a week, the Russians went from looking like they could take Berlin at their leisure to having half their invasion wiped out, with the other half falling back in panic. Now Hindenburg and Ludendorff turn their army against the Russian forces still in German territory to kick them out once and for all.

IMAGES FOR TODAY'S EPISODE

Sources:

Buttar, Pritt. Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 2014.

Gozdawa Turczynowicz, Laura de. When the Prussians Came to Poland: The Experiences of an American Woman during the German Invasion. New York: GP Putnam’s Sons, 1916.

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Hoffmann, Max. The War of Lost Opportunities. K. Paul, French, Trubner & Company Limited, 1924

Ludendorff, Erich. My War Memories: 1914-1918, Vol. 1. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1919.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1962.

Wheeler-Bennet, John W. Hindenburg: The Wooden Titan. Edinburgh: MacMillan and Co., 1936.

Hindenburg, Paul von. Aus Meinem Leben. Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1920. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30695/30695-h/30695-h.html

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Today we discuss one of the most pivotal battles of the First World War: the Battle of Tannenberg, as well as explore the personalities of and relationship between the rising team of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.

IMAGES FOR TODAY'S EPISODE

Sources:

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1962.

Wheeler-Bennet, John W. Hindenburg: The Wooden Titan. Edinburgh: MacMillan and Co., 1936.

Hindenburg, Paul von. Aus Meinem Leben. Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1920. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30695/30695-h/30695-h.html

Simkin, John. Erich Ludendorff. Spartacus Educational. https://spartacus-educational.com/FWWludendorff.htm

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Today, we watch as the Russian and German Armies on the Eastern Front begin to dance around one another in 1914, upon a land that had seen wars between these two peoples for centuries, in anticipation for the great climactic showdown that may very well determine the fate of the entire war.

IMAGES FOR TODAY'S EPISODE

Sources:

Cartwright, Mark. Northern Crusades. https://www.ancient.eu/Northern_Crusades/

Hart, Peter. The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Meyer, G.J. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Otte, Thomas G. The July Crisis: The World’s Descent into War, Summer 1914. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1962.

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