Month: July 2019

162: We Just Got Here

Mark Podcast
1918 US Marine Corps recruitment poster. The English bulldog is the mascot of the corps; note the use of the dachshund to represent Germany. It was widely reported in US newspapers of the time that German soldiers called US marines “Teufelhunden,” literally “devil dogs” or “devil hounds,” though the truth of this claim remains unclear.

The German offensives of 1918 were possible because Germany had achieved numerical superiority on the Western Front for the first time since 1914. The Allies scrambled to increase their own numbers and better coordinate their forces, but over all this activity hung the big question: “Where are the Americans?”

The US hustled to get as many soldiers as possible into the trenches quickly, but there were also difficulties at home in producing enough weapons and equipment. With a mid-term election looming, the Wilson Administration had to fend off accusations that it had bungled the war effort.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“U.S. Field Artillery March”
Composed in 1917 by Edmund Gruber and John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 


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.

161: Kaiserschlacht

Mark Podcast
Germany's 1918 offensives.
Germany’s 1918 offensives.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the end of the war on the Eastern front freed up large numbers of German soldiers for use elsewhere.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff chose to redeploy those soldiers to the Western Front in a final effort to end the war with a German victory.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Fantasie from Siegfried
Composed in 1876 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 


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.

160: The Fourteen Points

Mark Podcast

Leon Trotsky challenged the Allies either to enter peace negotiations or state what great purpose justifies continuing the fighting. Socialists in Germany have called for peace without annexation or indemnities. The new Austrian Emperor has put out peace feelers.

So what are the Allies fighting for? What do they require in exchange for peace? On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson lays out his Fourteen Points, a set of Allied demands that must be met to end the fighting.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Florentiner Marsch
Composed in 1907 by Julius Fučík. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 


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.