An international women’s conference prepares to meet in The Hague, in an effort to find a way to end the war through private diplomacy. At the same time, one hundred miles away, Germany uses poison gas as a weapon of war for the first time on the Western Front. (It had already been used against the Russians.)

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano
Composed in 1913 by Alban Berg. Public domain.
Performed by Carol McGonnell, clarinet, and Steven Beck, piano, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

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

 
The sinking of Lusitania demanded some kind of response from the United States government. But what?
 
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Suite No. 1, “In a Haunted Forest”
Composed in 1891 by Edward MacDowell. Public domain.
Performed by The University of Chicago Orchestra and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

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

 
While the British sought the decisive naval battle that would settle things once and for all, Germany devised a new form of warfare, which led to the sinking of Lusitania.
 
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Prelude from Das Rheingold
Composed in 1869 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

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

 
Germany’s largest colonial holding in Africa was German East Africa (modern Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi). When the Great War began, the first British attempts to take control of the territory failed.
 
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Lacrymosa from Requiem in D Minor
Composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; arranged for piano by Franz Liszt. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

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

 
The NAACP is formed. Jack Johnson becomes the first black world heavyweight boxing champion. Leo Frank, The Birth of a Nation, and the Ku Klux Klan. Our African-American History Month episode.
 
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Prélude from Carmen Suite No. 1
Composed in 1875 by Georges Bizet. Public domain.
Performed by Papalin and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

“Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre
Composed in 1870 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 ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
Germany claimed Southwest Africa in 1884. This episode traces the history of that territory during German rule until its capture by South Africa in 1915.
 
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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Funeral March from Siegfried
Composed in 1871 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 ℗ 2016, 2017, 2018 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

 
By the end of 1914, the Western Front had degenerated into hundreds of miles of stalemate. Nothing like it had ever been seen before, and 1915 promised to be more of the same. Allied commanders tested new tactics in the hope of breaking the deadlock.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Jimbo’s Lullaby,” from Children’s Corner
Composed in 1908 by Claude Debussy. (Arranged for wind ensemble.)
Performed by the Riverside Wind Consort, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

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

 
At the beginning of 1915, the Central Powers had to confront the fact that they were under what amounted to the biggest siege in the history of warfare. To hunker down behind barbed wire was to guarantee defeat. They needed to strike a blow somewhere.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Composed in 1901 by Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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

 
The Great War was not limited to Europe. Many of the European nations involved in the war had colonial territories in Africa, and when war began in Europe, it inevitably spilled over.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

African Drum Jam
Recorded in Shanghai, China by RTB45 and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Street Music
Traditional. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2016, 2017 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Map of Africa created by Wikimedia Commons user Sting and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.