

The History of the Twentieth Century
Mark Painter
A chronicle of the history of the twentieth century, including art, music, popular culture, science, religion, and, of course, politics and war.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 24, 2017 • 43min
090 I Will See It Through
The Great War began as a confrontation between Austria and Russia. It soon became about a lot more than that, but for Austria, job one is defeating the Russians, or at least holding them at bay. The Austrian Army will prove incapable of accomplishing either.

Sep 17, 2017 • 44min
089 A Good Five-Cent Cigar
President Wilson pushes through more reform legislation, including the Federal Reserve Act. The outbreak of the Great War creates a financial panic in the US, and Vice President Marshall pines for the days of a really good five-cent cigar.

Sep 10, 2017 • 49min
088 The Miracle on the Marne
The German First Army was only thirty miles from Paris, and the final victory was tantalizingly close. But the German Army was weakening, and the French and British not so beaten as the Germans believed.

Aug 27, 2017 • 52min
087 The Cossacks Are Coming!
In response to pleas from the French, the Russian Army undertakes an invasion of East Prussia in the hope of taking some of the pressure off of France.

Aug 20, 2017 • 43min
086 Paris Cannot Hold Out
The failure of the French counteroffensive has the Allies in retreat across the front, and it now appears there is no stopping the Germans short of Paris.

Aug 13, 2017 • 43min
085 Serbien muß sterbien
The Great War started as a conflict between Austria and Serbia. Now, amid all the other conflicts emerging as the war goes continental, Austria makes its bid to punish Serbia for the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand.

Jul 30, 2017 • 42min
084 So Much the Better
The French plan to respond to a German offensive was a counteroffensive into the German center. The French attempted this on August 21-23; it was an utter failure.

Jul 23, 2017 • 50min
083 The Flight of the Goeben
The outbreak of the Great War saw one of the German Navy's newest and most powerful battlecruisers in the Mediterranean. She was a threat to the Entente and had to be stopped. Only...what exactly is she trying to do?

Jul 16, 2017 • 42min
082 No, Whatever the Consequences
The German war plan called for a massive offensive against France that would pass through Belgium, but one of the big unknowns in German war planning was whether the Belgians would resist, and if so, how fiercely.

Jul 9, 2017 • 44min
081 Offense to the Utmost
French strategists emphasized the importance of offense and planned to respond to a German invasion with an offensive of their own. British strategy increasingly revolved around joining with France in a ground war.


