There will be no new episode of The History of the Twentieth Century this week, owing to the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the USA. The podcast will return next week with episode 117: “What are the French Doing?”
Author: Mark
116: What Did You Do in the Great War?
Although there was a great deal of political resistance to conscription in the United Kingdom, declining numbers of new volunteers forced Parliament to enact mandatory service. Meanwhile, all the Great Powers are experiencing manpower shortages and increasing pressures on their economies, caused by the demands of the Great War.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
“Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile!”
Composed by George Asaf and Felix Powell in 1915. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.
“Your King and Country Want You”
Composed by Paul Rubens in 1914. Public domain.
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.
115: Let Them Raise Hell
The revolutionaries in Mexico ousted the dictator Victoriano Huerta, but then fell into fighting among themselves. Huerta, meanwhile, schemes with the Germans to take back the Mexican presidency, while the US government tries to stop him.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
“Marcha de Zacatecas”
Composed by Genaro Codina and Fernando Villalpando in 1892. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.
“Himno en Honor de Aguascalientes”
Composed by Esteban Ávila Mier and Miguel Meneses in 1867. Public domain.
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.
114: Beautiful Tightropes of Logic
After ten years of further work, Albert Einstein publishes his General Theory of Relativity, which changes our understanding of the very nature of reality.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Symphony No. 8 in F
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1812. Public domain.
Performed on recorder by Papalin, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 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.
113: Simpson’s Circus
Once German East Africa proved to be more difficult to subdue than originally thought, the British seek to wrest control of Lake Tanganyika from the Germans as a first step.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Overture to Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)
Composed by Richard Wagner in 1840. 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 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.
112: The Banana Wars II
Political instability and mounting foreign debt wrack Haiti and the Dominican Republic. With the Great War raging in Europe and fears of German meddling, US Marines take control of both countries.
You can listen to my interview on “Stocks and Jocks” here.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
“America the Beautiful”
Music composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“Marines’ Hymn”
Music composed by Jacques Offenbach in 1859. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“Bullets and Bayonets”
Composed by John Philip Sousa in 1915. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Corps 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.
111: The Bulgarian Summer
With the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war, and with Serbia still holding out, an alliance with Bulgaria became increasingly attractive to both sides in the Great War, and both sides attempted to sway Bulgaria to join their coalition.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Tragic Overture
Composed in 1880 by Johannes Brahms. Public domain.
Performed by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.
“Farewell of Slavianka”
Composed in 1912 by Vasily Ivanovich Agapkin. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Coast Guard 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.
110: The Shell Shortage
In 1915, as the Great War ground on, it became increasingly apparent that the war would be long and costly. All of the combatant nations experiences economic strains in varying degrees, which led in turn to political unrest. In the UK in particular, this took the form of declining support for the Liberal government, especially in light of repeated military failures, such as at Gallipoli. There was also a scandal over the particular question of why Britain seemed unable to supply its troops with sufficient quantities of artillery shells. These strains led to a Cabinet reshuffle and the creation of a new coalition Government of all political parties.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Skizze
Composed in 1901 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by Peter Bradley-Fulgoni, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-nc 3.0 license. Source.
“Dorabella” from The Enigma Variations
Composed in 1899 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by The DuPage Symphony Orchestra, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC 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.
109: I Am Ordering You to Die
In early 1915, the British responded to a Russian plea for help against the Ottomans by shelling the Dardanelles. In the months that followed, the War Cabinet, spurred by Winston Churchill, approved a plan to land large numbers of soldiers at Gallipoli in an effort to open a sea route to Russia and perhaps force the Ottoman Empire to quit the war.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Turkish Street Music
Recorded in Istanbul by Freesound.org user xserra, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.
The Crown of India
Composed in 1912 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“Venus, the Bringer of Peace,” from The Planets
Composed in 1916 by Gustav Holst. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Air Force Heritage of America 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. Photograph by Nedim Ardoğa used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
108: This Isn’t War!
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.)
Listen:
Playlist:
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.