Just a reminder that there will be no new episode this week. Episode 104, “The Birth of a Nation,” will be released as usual on Sunday, February 4, 2018.
103: Colonialism without Bloodshed
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.
Listen:
Playlist:
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.
102: They Showed Us the Way
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.
Listen:
Playlist:
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.
101: Strike a Blow Somewhere
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.
Listen:
Playlist:
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.
100: These Desert Places of the Earth
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.
Listen:
Playlist:
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.
099: Jihad
The Ottoman War Minister, Ismail Enver Pasha, contrived to bring the Empire into the Great War as a German ally. This opened up interesting strategic possibilities against Britain in Egypt and Russia in the Caucasus. The Grand Mufti of Constantinople declared jihad against the Allied powers.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
“Leylim Ley”
Traditional. Public domain.
Performed by EKVelika. Public domain recording. Source.
Adagio in G minor
Attributed to Tomaso Albinoni, but probably composed by Remo Giazotto in 1958. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
098: Shackled to a Corpse
Once it became clear that the Great War was not going to end in a matter of weeks, as most observers expected, Germany found itself in an unenviable position: surrounded by numerically superior enemies and stuck in an alliance with Austria, a nation whose military contribution to the war effort might charitably be described as “disappointing.”
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Mazurka
Composed c. 1860 by Henri Wieniawski. Public domain.
Performed by Jean-Claude Féret and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0 license. Source.
Mazurka
Composed c. 1820 by Frédéric Chopin. Public domain.
Performed by Edward Neeman. 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.
097: The Banana Wars I
By the early twentieth century, the United States had substantial economic interests in Central America, notably in banana cultivation, most of which was intended for export to the US. American companies owned or controlled the plantations, the railways, the ports, and sometimes the local governments, derisively termed “banana republics.”
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Carnaval – Latin Rhythms
Recorded at the 2015 Carnaval Grand Parade in San Francisco by RTB45, 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
096: The Rape of Belgium
During the initial offensive in the West, the German Army committed numerous war crimes in Belgium, including rape, firing on civilians, arbitrary executions, and property destruction, including the burning of the library at the Catholic University of Leuven. The Allies would take maximum propaganda advantage of these crimes, sometimes exaggerating them.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Poème élégiaque
Composed in 1893 by Eugène Ysaÿe. Public domain.
Performed by Jean-Claude Féret, violin, and Christine Féret, piano, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. 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.
095: The Far Seas
At the moment the Great War began, there were a number of German cruisers stationed all over the world. Though they were outnumbered by the Royal Navy, they attempted to interfere with British shipping, causing the Allies a lot of grief in the opening weeks of the war.
Listen:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Composed in 1912 by Frederick Delius. Public domain.
Performed by Jeff Manookian, 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5. Photograph of Emden used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 DE license.