The second of two episodes on the re-birth of Poland. When the borders of Poland were finally settled, the nation was larger than most had anticipated, including lands to the east that had substantial minority populations.

All this territory came at a price: warfare and poor relations with the new neighbors.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Mazurka in A Minor
Composed ca. 1840 by Frédéric Chopin. Public domain.
Performed by Olga Gurevich. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The first of two episodes on the birth of Poland. Here, Poland arises from the chaos in the east following the Armistice.

This is a bonus episode, released on Christmas Day as a gift to my listeners.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Minuet in G
Composed in 1887 by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

We conclude our series on post-war Austria-Hungary by considering the births of the new nations of Austria and Hungary.

Also, the lives of two young Hungarians of the time who became influential figures in the US motion picture industry.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring)
Composed in 1882 by Johann Strauss II. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

String Quartet No. 2
Composed in 1917 by Béla Bartók. Public domain.
Performed by Luis Sarro and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

In the second of our three-part series on post-war Austria-Hungary, we look at the creation of Yugoslavia and the transfer of Transylvania to Romania.

Romania’s Queen Marie (above) played an important role in the peace talks.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Himna Kraljevine Jugoslavije” (The national anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.)
Composed in 1918 by Davorin Jenko and Josef Runjanin. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Romanian Folk Dances, No. 2
Composed in 1915 by Béla Bartók. Public domain.
Performed by Papalin. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

We begin our series examining the world of 1919 with the first of a three-part series on the post-war fate of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

We begin with Czechoslovakia. It has already declared its independence, but what should be its borders?

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Kde domov můj” (The national anthem of the Czech Republic.)
Composed in 1834 by František Škroup and Josef Kajetán Tyl. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The end of the war came suddenly and left the Allies scrambling to set up the peace conference that would negotiate the treaty that would formally end the Great War.

The first item on the agenda, at Woodrow Wilson’s insistence, would be the League of Nations.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Rapsodie espagnole
Composed in 1908 by Maurice Ravel. Public domain.
Performed by the University of Chicago Orchestra and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

Now that we have concluded the Great War, we take an episode to examine the most important lessons learned.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The United States held a mid-term election just before the Armistice. The United Kingdom called a general election just afterward. Both elections would affect the shape of the post-war world.

Also, we say farewell to Theodore Roosevelt, who passed away in January 1919.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major (“Eroica”)
Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

Once the influenza pandemic of 1918 got going, it swept the world in three waves. Because of the war and the mass movements of soldiers, it was carried into every corner of the world, including remote human communities that had never experienced influenza before.

The 1918 strain brought a much higher death rate than a typical influenza epidemic. Overall, the death toll was likely more than fifty million, making it the deadliest epidemic in human history, measured in absolute numbers.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Toccata in D minor
Composed ca. 1708 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed by Isolde Ahlgrimm. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The influenza virus has plagued the human race for some 12,000 years, but in 1918 the nature of viruses was not well understood.

There are multiple hypotheses as to how and where the 1918 strain evolved, but wherever it started, the conditions of the Great War allowed it to spread around the world.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G
Composed in 1721 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Arranged and performed by Papalin. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.