172: Pale Horse, Pale Rider II

Mark Podcast
1918 advertisement for Bayer aspirin. Note the emphasis on purity, the product’s American origin, and the pitch for Liberty Bonds.

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 


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.

171: Pale Horse, Pale Rider I

Mark Podcast
Municipal Auditorium, Oakland, California, 1918, converted into an emergency hospital ward to care for influenza patients.

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 


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.

170: Très Bien

Mark Podcast
New York Times, November 11, 1918.

After Bulgaria quit the war, it was clear the Central Powers were finished. By early October 1918, both Germany and Austria were exchanging diplomatic notes with the United States, discussing peace terms.

When the news that Berlin and Vienna were in peace talks with the Allies got out, it led to a rapid collapse of both governments’ domestic political support.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Das Liebesmahl der Apostel
Composed in 1845 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.

169: Tipperary mbali sana sana

Mark Podcast
The Chambesi Monument in Zambia marks the location where Lettow-Vorbeck received news of the Armistice.

German forces in East Africa, consisting mostly of African askari soldiers, fought a tenacious guerilla war against the British and their allies.

But they could not fight forever, and the war in East Africa ended once the Germans learned of the Armistice in Europe. But the war had changed things in Africa.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Infados”
Composed and performed by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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 ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Photograph by Carol Fleming, used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

168: The Black Day

Mark Podcast
Ferdinand Foch.

The German spring offensives of 1918 failed to force an end to the war before Allied numerical superiority became decisive.

By August 1918, Allied numbers were beginning to tip the balance. German morale was deteriorating, and mobile warfare had returned to the Western Front.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Overture to Tannhauser
Composed in 1845 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.

167: The Armistice of Mudros

Mark Podcast
Pre-war postcard showing the Turkish cruiser Hamidiye and its commander, Rauf Orbay

Bulgaria, after three years as part of the Central Powers coalition, was losing enthusiasm for the war. The cost to the small nation was high, and the rewards meager.

So when an Allied offensive broke the Bulgarian line in the Balkans, Bulgaria sued for peace. The loss of the line of communication to Germany and Austria forced the Ottoman Empire to follow suit.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Goldberg Variations No. 25
Composed in 1741 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed by Shelley Katz. 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.

166: An Unanswered Riddle

Mark Podcast
The Russian Orthodox church that today stands on the site of what was in 1918 the “House of Special Purpose.”

After Russia quit the war, both the Allies and the Central Powers hoped for a cooperative relationship with the new government in Moscow. The Allies would have liked to see Russia re-join the war effort.

But the Bolsheviks had a civil war to fight. They were not interested in making nice with the capitalist powers, as demonstrated by the execution of the Imperial family.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)
Composed in 1899 by Maurice Ravel. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab. 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.

165: You Die Waiting for It

Mark Podcast
“Viennese! Get to know the Italians!” Propaganda leaflet dropped over Vienna on August 9, 1918.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended the war in the East. The Battle of Caporetto neutralized the threat from Italy, for the time being. Together, these developments gave Austria-Hungary a military respite.

But this respite obscured the Empire’s domestic political troubles. Food was still scarce and public discontent was reaching critical mass.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Liebesleid”
Composed in 1910 by Fritz Kreisler. Public domain.
Performed by Emanuel Salvador and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

“Igre iz Bele krajine” (“White Carniola Dance”)
Traditional. Public domain.
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.

164: Grim Earnest, to the Death

Mark Podcast
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia.

The Great War offered Czech and Slovak nationalists like Edvard Beneš, Milan Rastislav Štefánik, and especially Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk the opportunity to pursue not only autonomy, but full independence from Austria-Hungary.

In order to achieve this, they would have to win the support of Allied governments. This was a challenge. In the Western Allied nations, few people could even name the minority ethnic groups in Austria-Hungary, let alone understand their national aspirations.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Hey, Slavs”
Traditional. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

“Lightning over the Tatras” (the national anthem of Slovakia)
Traditional. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy 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.

163: A State Not Yet Born

Mark Podcast
Czechoslovak Legion officers in Russia.

The Bolsheviks were able to delay convening the Constituent Assembly, and eventually force its dissolution, consolidating their control over the Russian government.

Meanwhile, Czech and Slovak soldiers who had been fighting in the Russian Army and did not wish to be repatriated to Austria-Hungary, where they could be executed as deserters, attempt to relocate to the Western Front. They will not make it.

  • Listen now:


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Internationale”
Composed in 1888 by Pierre de Geyter. Public domain.
Performed by the Choir and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre. Public domain recording. Source.

Vltava (The Moldau)
Composed in 1882 by Bedřich Smetana. Public domain.
Performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. 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.