When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

By Zack Twamley

Society & Culture History

What's When Diplomacy Fails Podcast about?

A podcast covering the build up to, breakout of and consequences of various conflicts in history. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Presenting: History Challen...

08.17.2023

Join Ole and I for a fascinating chat about History Challenge, a new way for educators and students to make history thrive! If you want to try it out for yourself, the latest version of this project is available in ...

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast episodes:

08.17.2023 Presenting: History Challenge w/ Ole Petter Høie Join Ole and I for a fascinating chat about History Challenge, a new way for educators and students to make history thrive! If you want to try it out for yourself, the latest version of this project is available in ...
07.12.2023 30YearsWar: Conclusion And so it ends. After 82 episodes and what feels like thirty actual years, we finally wrap up this fascinating period of history. Thanksss so much for tuning in! Make sure to stay to the end to learn about our ...
06.29.2023 30YearsWar #82: A Return To Prague [1648] The final episode of our series involves no shortage of intrigue, scheming and mistrust, yet it is also the moment when diplomacy arguably succeeded. After three decades of war, Europe, and the Holy Roman Empire in particular, had come to ...
06.14.2023 30YearsWar #81: The Last Campaign [1648] Although the Dutch and Spanish had made their peace, 1648 had room for one more campaign, and there had arguably never been so much on the line. With warfare came the chance to secure more leverage at the peace table, ...
06.03.2023 The State of America and the Brexit Debacle - ft Thom Daly Please consider supporting our podcast friend Benjamin Jacobs during this difficult time. In this special episode, Thom Daly joins me to rant about the state of education in America, how Republican ideologues ban what they don't understand, how misinformation and ...
05.31.2023 30YearsWar #80: Cardinal Sins [1647-1648] Here, in our third-last episode of the series, we take the time to analyse Cardinal Mazarin's motives. What kind of role did religious motivations, strategic motivations, political or economic or any other kind of motivation have upon his behaviour? Was ...
05.18.2023 30YearsWar #79: Bavarian Bargains [1646-1647] As the war raged, Maximilian of Bavaria was forced to reconsider his position towards his Emperor. As the Habsburgs' most faithful and important German ally since the beginning, the rumours that Max was contemplating a truce had to be taken ...
05.03.2023 30YearsWar #78: Alsace and Pomerania [1646-1647] By the end of 1646, two massive problems plagued the negotiators. For France, the matter was Alsace, a huge chunk of territory along the sensitive Rhine region, which had long served as a buffer between the French and Imperial spheres. ...
04.19.2023 30YearsWar #77: Dutch Loose Ends [1646-1648] Check out our series Diplomacy: Britain vs America to nerd out on a forgotten era of Anglo-American confrontation, complete with war scares, gunboat diplomacy, and me pronouncing many things incorrectly! It's time to get all emotional, as we tie up ...
04.05.2023 30YearsWar #76: The Emperor's Dilemma [1645] The Battle of Jankau in 1645, followed by Allerheim later in the year, confirmed that the Emperor could expect few miracles from the battlefield. Bavaria seemed teetering on the edge, making secret moves towards the French, while the Spanish buckled, ...
03.15.2023 30YearsWar #75: Westphalian Woes [1645-46] The wide range of interests and powers that gathered at the two Westphalian cities each tell a fascinating story. Whether it was the two French agents that loathed one another; the Dutch tradition of representing each of the seven provinces; ...
03.01.2023 30YearsWar #74: Destination Westphalia [1645] After so long dancing around the issue, here we finally look at the moment when the Westphalian towns of Osnabruck and Munster hosted delegates from all across Europe and the Empire. Why were the French so eager to arrive with ...
02.18.2023 30YearsWar #73: The Pen and the Sword [1644] Don't forget that for a limited time you can get 16% off an annual Patreon membership - sign up now to get 40 hours of exclusive content AND listen to our new series on Anglo-American diplomacy from 1838-1846. Your support ...
02.01.2023 30YearsWar #72: Torstensson's War [1643-45] Don't forget that for a limited time you can get 16% off an annual Patreon membership - sign up now to get 40 hours of exclusive content AND listen to our new series on Anglo-American diplomacy from 1838-1846. Your support ...
01.25.2023 National Honour and Victorian Diplomacy Don't forget that for a limited time you can get 16% off an annual Patreon membership - sign up now to get 40 hours of exclusive content AND listen to our new series on Anglo-American diplomacy from 1838-1846. Your support ...
01.14.2023 Introducing Diplomacy: Britain vs America 1838-1846 To get this series and 40+ hours of extra content, make sure you sign up for an annual Patreon membership to get 16% off NOW! I couldn't have got this far in the PhD without the support of you lovely ...
01.11.2023 30YearsWar #71: Au Revoir Richelieu [1643] Get 16% off an annual Patreon membership and access to our new series examining Anglo-American Relations from 1838-46 when you sign up now! The Battle of Rocroi was a signal French triumph, but it did not transform the face of ...
12.18.2022 30YearsWar #70: Enter Torstensson [1641-42] Give yourself an early Christmas present including over 40 hours of extra content when you sign up on Patreon! I'll even lie about you in the opening monologue! Pay for a year's membership and get 5% off! 1641 was the ...
11.30.2022 30YearsWar #69: Maiming Spain [1640-41] By 1640, two rebellions shook Madrid to its core, and had a dramatic knock on effect on Spain's ability to support its Habsburg cousins in Vienna. In summer, Catalonia erupted in revolt after years of provocations and intransigence. When Portuguese ...
11.19.2022 Frederick the Great and the Invasion of Silesia - with Alec Avdakov In this episode I'm joined for a great conversation about Frederick the Great's 1740 invasion of Silesia, by a guy who knows a whole lot about it - Alec Avdakov from the Life and Times of Frederick the Great Podcast! ...
11.09.2022 30YearsWar #68: With Allies Like These [1640-41] By 1640, both the Habsburgs and their foes had reached something of a crisis. There were opportunities to be had, if a new campaign could be pursued, but where to find the money, and how to support the soldiers in ...
10.26.2022 30YearsWar #67: The Ravages of War [1639] War is hell, as the saying goes, but just how bad was the war by the late 1630s, after two decades of fighting? As we learn here, the worst aspects of the conflict didn't come from the deaths in battle, ...
10.12.2022 30YearsWar #66: A Tale of Two Crowns [1639-40] King Philip IV of Spain and King Charles of Britain had a surprising amount in common by the late 1630s. Both were presiding over a deteriorating situation domestically and abroad, and during the Battle of the Downs in October 1639, ...
10.06.2022 The Future of WDF When will I be finished the PhD? What series do I have planned to follow the Thirty Years War series? What will patrons get next? Will we ever see a second Delegation Game? all of these are pressing questions, and ...
10.06.2022 My Ten Favourite Podcast Guests Want to do some research? Want to nerd out on a massive selection of history books? Perlego has you covered, and you can get your first week for free and 50% off your first month by signing up here! After ...
09.22.2022 30YearsWar #65: A Tour of the War [1637-38] The war which began in the Habsburg humiliation at Prague had arguably crystallized by the late 1630s, and thus begins perhaps my favourite period of the conflict! We now have battles raging in Northern Germany, where Johan Baner's Swedish-German force ...
09.06.2022 30YearsWar #64: Death of an Emperor [1637] Get 50% off your first month and a week's free trial when you sign up to Perlego with my link! Use the code WDF2022 and access an incredible catalogue of academic and library books - I'd be lost without Perlego, ...
08.19.2022 30YearsWar #63; The Road to Wittstock Having looked at Sweden's failed plans for Poland, and then at Richelieu's ultimate survival, we return here to the Swedish theatre - this time, the pressure is all on the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, who somehow had to turn everything ...
08.04.2022 30YearsWar #62: The Great Showdown Since my laptop died, I would REALLY appreciate your support in getting a new one. RIP my twelve year old lappy! After so many years of cold war, finally, by 1635, France and Spain were destined to face each other ...
07.20.2022 30YearsWar #61: The Eastern Context Sweden's strategic situation was pretty desperate by early 1635, but to appreciate just how desperate it was, we have to look away from the Holy Roman Empire, and towards the East, where in Poland, the truce was about to expire ...
07.14.2022 My Ten Favourite Series What's your favourite podcast series under WDF's umbrella? We've covered an awful lot, and a wide range of history, from the obscure, to the famous and infamous, to the shockingly misunderstood. We've come a long way in these ten years, ...
07.11.2022 My Ten Favourite Historical Figures After ten years of history podcasting, I've come across many remarkable and fascinating historical figures, but can I pick a favourite? The task is a difficult one, so to make it easier for myself, I picked ten. Find out here ...
07.08.2022 Ten Years of When Diplomacy Fails Podcast - A Retrospective On 18 May 2012, When Diplomacy Fails Podcast broke into the history podcast scene, and the rest is history! For more than a decade, this show has granted me opportunities and experiences I never dreamed possible. It made me who ...
07.06.2022 30YearsWar #60: Richelieu's Last Stand As spring 1635 approached, France had a choice to make. She could remain neutral, and allow the Imperial-Spanish triumph to overwhelm the Swedish and Dutch. Or, she could join their struggle, and end once and for the Bourbon-Habsburg cold war ...
06.24.2022 30YearsWar #59: The Great And Terrible Get your tickets to Intelligent Speech Conference now! It's on Saturday 25 June, so don't delay! Matchlock and the Rebel is out NOW! Grab your copy of this Thirty Years' War historical fiction series here. Wallenstein exhausts Emperor Ferdinand's patience, ...
05.25.2022 30YearsWar #58: Out With The Old We're ten years old! Wish WDF a happy birthday by buying the NEW and IMPROVED edition of Matchlock and the Embassy! The death of Gustavus Adolphus at Lutzen cast a long shadow over the year 1633. Could the Swedes rebound, ...
05.11.2022 30YearsWar #57: The Lion at Lutzen After going on a tear for 18 months, Gustavus Adolphus had finally caught Wallenstein, in a town just outside of Leipzig. Considering the enormous amount of men under recruitment, their army sizes were somewhat small, but that didn't make the ...
05.04.2022 "Eight Billion and Counting" - Dr Jennifer Sciubba and Demographic Security Real quick - turns out Indira Ghandi is NOT related to Ghandi at all, and is in fact the daughter of Nehru. What are the odds of that? Thanks to Andrew Mence for the correction! For this bonus interview episode, ...
04.26.2022 30YearsWar #56: The Lion and Wallenstein With Breitenfeld changing the balance of power in the Empire, Gustavus had much to do as 1631 became 1632. First was the matter of Count Tilly's battered survivors from the battle, who had since been reinforced, and guarded the entrance ...
04.13.2022 30YearsWar #55: Hear The Lion Roar The Battle of Breitenfeld was a turning point in the Thirty Years War, but equally important was what Gustavus Adolphus chose to do after. In his race to conquer, Gustavus tore down the Rhine, seizing a wide range of cities, ...
03.30.2022 30YearsWar #54: Protestant Germany Joins Sweden From the moment Gustavus Adolphus landed in Northern Germany, it was clear that his triumph was impossible so long as the Protestant Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony refused to join his side. Throughout spring and summer of 1631 though, Gustavus' ...
03.23.2022 Story Games History: Why YOU Should Be Excited! We are joined today by Ole from Immortal Games to talk about Story Games History. Story Games History is a ground-breaking concept for making history more accessible, both to casual fans, and for learning purposes. Ole talks about his plan ...
03.16.2022 30YearsWar #53: Making A Magdeburg Magdeburg, the city where the Thirty Years' War changed. As the Swedes gathered in North Germany, and the Imperials moved to counter them, their paths led to Magdeburg, a city on the River Elbe with a history of defiance. The ...
03.09.2022 Russia Invades Ukraine - Has Diplomacy Failed? Well, he did it. He actually did it. After month of posturing, years of undeclared war, and even longer lying to our faces, Putin authorised Russia's invasion of Ukraine. How did it come to this? Is Putin the only variable ...
03.02.2022 30YearsWar #52: Sweden The Deal Get your copy of the second edition of A Matter of Honour: Britain in the First World War! In early 1631, Gustavus Adolphus was in desperate need of allies and subsidies. Fortunately for him, Cardinal Richelieu of France was only ...
02.16.2022 30YearsWar #51: The Swedish Case For War Get your copy of the second edition of A Matter of Honour: Britain in the First World War! Check out the Twitter thread on Audiblegate, where I went viral, being seen by nearly 1 million people! In spring and summer ...
02.02.2022 30YearsWar #50: The War In The North IF YOU LIKE, FOLLOW THESE LINKS! 1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon! 2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group! 3) To keep ...
01.19.2022 30YearsWar #49: The Peace in the East With Denmark exiting the war in Germany, everything seemed to be looking up Ferdinand in spring 1629, but there was a problem. While on the military front, the Emperor still held the edge, on the diplomatic front, forces were conspiring ...
12.31.2021 The Trent Affair #5: From The Brink In Episode 5 of the Trent Affair - our final episode, for now! - we ask the big questions, and finish our narrative which stretched across both sides of the Atlantic. At the last moment, it seemed, calmer heads had ...
12.29.2021 The Trent Affair #4: Ultimatum Received Listen here to our penultimate episode on the Trent Affair, and the moment when peace or war hung in the balance! After a tense wait, Britain's ultimatum finally arrived in Washington. How would Lincoln and Seward respond to its terms? ...

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