PODCAST · history
A History of Europe Key Battles
by Carl Rylett
A podcast on European conflicts from the perspective of each side to provide an alternative to the traditional national narratives. Going chronologically from the Ancient Greeks onwards I described to some extent how each battle was won or lost by particular decisions, tactics, technology or fortune. But the aim of each main narrative will be to place each battle in the context of the overall history of Europe. New series on the Interwar Years 1918-1945 begins 18th July 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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84.3 Britain in 1920's, the General Strike
How Ramsay McDonald, Britain's First Labour Prime Minister ended up demonised by his own party, accused of betrayal to the movement. Stanley Baldwin, of the Conservative Party, became Prime Minister for the second time in 1924 and rejoined the Gold Standard. Also, the Wall street Crash, and…
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84.2 Britains' First Labour Government 1923-24
The 1920s in Britain witnessed great social change. It was also a watershed in the political history of the country with the first Labour Government of 1923-1924 Picture: Ramsay MacDonald www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope...
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84.1 Britain in 1920s (David Lloyd George)
The 1920s was a key decade in British history, marked by the struggle to cope with post-war challenges, and the transition away from a society led by aristrocats. A key figure was Liberal leader, Prime Minister David Lloyd George (pictured) www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope...
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83.5 Germany's Descent into Dictatorship
International negotiations lead to the Kellogg-Briand pact, bringing hope for eternal peace in Europe. However, Germany suffers the double blow of its most able statesman Gustav Stresemann, together with the economic fallout of the Wall Street Crash. Political instability leads to President...
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83.4 Post WW1 Germany, President Hindenburg
President Ebert dies of illness, prompting a presidential election, which is won by the former WW1 military commander Paul von Hindenburg. International negotiations continue, culminating in the Treaty of Locarno, in which France, Germany and Belgium agreed never to attack each other again.…
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83.3 Germany's Reparations Problems
Post World War One Germany Struggles to pay the reparations demanded in the Treaty of Versailles. Picture: President Ebert asked Gustav Stresemann, leader of the DVP party, who formed a government coalition in 1923 www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope...
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83.2 Early Weimar Republic and Adolf Hitler
The early years of Adolf Hitler as he becomes politically active and joins the Nazi party. Meanwhile the Weimar Republic struggles with harsh post-war conditions and attempted uprisings from both the Left and Right. Photo: German police sent to put down a left-wing rebellion known as the March...
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83.1 Birth of the Weimar Republic
After World War One, political upheaval in Germany leads to the overthrow of the German monarchy and establishment of a new republic based in the town of Weimar. Photo: Proclamation of Weimar Republic, 9 November 1918. www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope...
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82.2 Fascism in Italy in 1920s
Mussolini consolidates his control of Italy, using a combination of intimidation, violence and occasional compromise to establish an authoritarian regime. He introduces a number of projects to boost Italy, including strengthing the currency, agricultural refor, after-work clubs and family…
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82.1 Rise of Fascism in Italy, Mussolini's March on Rome
After World War One Italy suffered social unrest due to economic hardship and nationalism. Benito Mussolini led a new Fascist movement which took power in the March on Rome in October 1922 Picture: Benito Mussolini Opening Music: The Charlston. End Music by Nico Vettese www.historyeurope.net...
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81.3 The Irish Civil War
A delegation from Ireland meet the British and make an agreement for Irish autonomy but makes a compromise to keep under under the British Crown. The Irish break into two sides, one supporting the treaty, one opposing it and demanding full independence and a republic. The ensuing Irish Civil War...
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81.2 Irish War of Independence
The Irish form a shadow government in opposition to the British, with their own courts and tax collections. Meanwhile, Irish volunteer fighters wage guerilla warfare against the British police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary. Picture: West Connemara Flying Column Opening Music: The Charlston....
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81.1 War of Irish Independence - Background
In January 1919 a group of recently elected Sinn Fien MPs gathered in Dublin. There they proclaimed the establishment of an Irish Republic and adopted a ‘Declaration of Independence’, which asserted Ireland’s right to be a sovereign nation. I describe here the background to the Irish people's...
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80.1 Europe After World War One
An overview of the situation across Europe after World War One. The Treaty of Versailles. The post-war division of territories. The German Revolution and the question of financial reparations. Picture: The heads of the "Big Four" nations at the Paris Peace Conference, 27 May 1919. From left to...
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79.4 Birth of Turkey 1922
Conclusion of the Turkish National Struggle 1919-1922. Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk, leads the Turkish Nationalists against the armies of Greece. The Battle of Sakarya River between the Turks and Greeks is a key battle of European history and shapes of the future of their respective...
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79.3 Turkish National Struggle 1919-1922
Turkish National Struggle 1919-1922 The Ottoman Empire emerges defeated from World War One. The Entente Allies impose harsh conditions in the armistice whereby the Ottomans lose most of their territory including parts of Anatolia. However, Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk, raises an army to...
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79.2 World War 1 in the Caucasus and Greece
As background to the Turkish National Struggle, this episode describes the events in the Caucasus Mountains in World War One, - conflict between Russia, the Ottoman Empire, the Germans, and nationalist groups of Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Separately I talk about Greece's involvement…
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79.1 Ottoman Empire, World War 1, Battle for Gaza
The Ottoman Empire in World War One - the fights for the Suez Canal, Gaza, Jerusalem and Arabia between the British and Turks Picture: General Allenby enters Jerusalem Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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78.3 Polish-Soviet War - Conclusion
In 1920 the Polish and Soviet Russian armies clashed in a series of battles across a wide area of eastern Europe including Ukraine and Lithuania. The Soviets advanced deep into Poland and reached the gates of Warsaw, with the aims of capturing the city and., more widely, exporting their…
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78.2 Polish-Soviet War - Part 2
The Polish Army make a pre-emptive strike against Soviet Russia. They invade the eastern borderlands, and take large amounts of territory, especially in Ukraine, but they fail to break the Russian army. Meanwhile, the Ukrainians attempt to form an administration in Kyiv Picture: Vladimir Lenin...
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78.1 Polish-Soviet War 1919-1921 (Intro)
While Western Europe's borders were settled post World War One, fighting still raged elsewhere on the continent. The most significant was the Polish Soviet War, which raised issues such as the clash of ideologies, the Soviets’ attempt to export their revolution, the future of Europe itself. It…
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77.4 Russian Civil War, Conclusion
The Bolsheviks face numerous opponents across Russia, and struggle to gain control of all lands of the old Tsarist Empire. The White anti-Bolsheviks make a plan to move on Moscow www.historyeurope.net www.patreon.com/historyeurope Picture: By Hoodinski - Own work, CC BY 3.0,...
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77.3 Russian Civil War Part 3
Civil War rages across Russia from the north in Murmansk, across the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Far East, as well as in Ukraine and the Caucasus. However, the anti-Bolshevik fail to cooperate effectively Picture: Tsar Nicholas II with this family 1913 (murdered by the Bolsheviks in July 1918)...
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77.2 Russian Civil War, Beginning
The new Bolshevik regime quickly gains control of most of former Russia Empire, but meets stiff resistance in the periphery including Finland, the Caucasus and Ukraine. They sign a peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk and withdraw from the First World War Picture: Volunteer Army Infantry...
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77.1 October Revolution 1917
- Introduction to the new series on the Interwar Years - A recap of Russia's involvement in the First World War - The February 1917 Revolution and Provisional Government - Lenin's Bolsheviks seize power in the October Revolution www.historyeurope.net https://www.patreon.com/c/historyeurope Hosted...
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76.5 Battle of Lake Peipus 1242, Teutonic Knights vs Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod
The Battle of Lake Peipus or 'The Battle on the Ice' was fought on 5th April 1242 between a coalition of western crusaders led by the Teutonic Knights against an army from Novgorod, Russia, led by Alexander Nevsky. The conflict was made famous by a Soviet film of 1938 directed by Sergei…
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76.4 Novgorod, Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevksy appointed Prince of Novgorod, a Russian city with its own unique culture and proud history. Lead up to Battle of Lake Peipus 1242 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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76.3 Conquest of Livonia 1185-1238
Livonia in the 12th century was threatened by invasion from all sides; Danes, Swedes, Germans, Poles and Russians. Key events in the episode; 1201 - Founding of Riga (capital of modern day Latvia) by Bishop Albert 1219 - Capture of Tallinn (capital of modern day Estonia) by Denmark in the…
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76.2 Teutonic Knights - Origins & First Campaigns
The Teutonic Order was set up in the Holy Land as a German equivalent of other military orders. The first campaigns in Europe were in response to invitations from the King of Hungary and then a Duke of Poland. And so began their conquest of Prussia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
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76.1 The Baltic Sea, Early History and Wendish Crusade
The geography and early history of the Baltic Sea. Also the beginnings of the Northern Crusades against the Baltic pagans. The first major campaign is the Wendish Crusade of 1147 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Announcement - The Interwar Years
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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75.1 Interview with Stuart E Eizenstat
A special episode where I interview Stuart E Eizenstat - an American diplomat and attorney. Mr Einzenstat worked on Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign. After winning said campaign he became President Jimmy Carter’s Chief Domestic Policy Adviser. Later he went on to become President Bill...
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74.19 Treaty of Versailles
The Paris Peace consisted of a group of distinct treaties, but the main concern of the delegates was the settlement with Germany, embodied in the Treaty of Versailles signed in June 1919. Germany’s eastern frontiers presented far greater problems. www.patreon.com/historyeurope…
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74.18 Endgame, 1918
In Spring 1918 a massive German offensive made significant territorial gains, but ultimately not the intended breakthrough, and the Allied forces stood firm. Exhausted and demoralised at the scale of casualties, the Germans were pushed back in a major counter-attack in the late Summer and Autumn....
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74.17 The Final Gamble, 1918
After the Russian withdrawal from the frontlines following the October revolution, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk is negotiated between Germany and Russia. The Germans sought to conclude war on the Eastern Front as quickly as possible, while at the same time trying to establish an informal empire in...
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74.16 War of Attrition on the Western Front 1917
While the nations of Europe fought each other to a bitter stalemate, the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, urged both sides to make peace. However, no agreement is made and the United States joined the war on the side of the Entente allies. In the meantime, the Germans ordered a...
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74.15 The Russian Revolution 1917
As the year 1917 dawned, Europe had been at war for two and a half years, and pressures on the home fronts were becoming intolerable. Every participant nation came under huge strain. In Russia the Tsarist regime falls in March, but the interim government is unstable and itself falls in the famous...
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74.14 Battles of Verdun and The Somme 1916
Europe entered the year 1916 exhausted by one and a half years of conflict of a scale hitherto unimaginable, with profound effects on citizens at home, as well as those on the front line. The most intensive battles on the western front in 1916 are at Verdun and the Somme, with extraordinary…
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74.13 Eastern and Western Fronts 1915
For the Germans, 1915 was a year that should not have been. Their whole strategy had been based on a quick war, but they now found themselves embroiled in a two-front war – on the eastern front against Russia, and on the western front against France fully mobilised and also Britain. Throughout...
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74.12 Turkey and Italy Enter the War, 1915
The first months of fighting in the First World War had seen no major breakthrough from any side. The Germans had captured about ten percent of France, and reached within sixty miles of Paris, but then reached a stalemate as both sides fortified their positions with great long lines of trenches...
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74.11 The Eastern Front 1914
The Russians strike hard against their most powerful enemy, Germany. Austro-Hungary help their German ally although their military forces are under-resourced, in large part because through the years the Hungarian parliament had restricted military finding by using it as a bargaining chip for...
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74.10 The Western Front 1914
The first main clash of the First World War was on the borders of France and Germany and in Belgium. The Belgians put up more resistance than the Germans expect. However, the Battle of the Frontiers, on the Franco-German border, from 7 August to 6 September 1914 was a disaster for the French…
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74.9 Europe Goes to War 1914
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne. A month later Austria retaliates by declaring war on Serbia, which in turn brings Russia and the other great powers of Europe into conflict. As Edward Grey memorably expressed it: “The lamps are going out all over Europe,...
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74.8 Countdown to Catastrophe (First World War)
Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand trigger the First World War? I also describe how the long struggle between European powers for mastery in central Africa reaches its climax. www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Picture - The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the...
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74.7 The Balkan Wars 1912-13
An analogy often given to the Balkans leading up to the First World War is a tinderbox, awaiting a flame to ignite it and set off a major conflagration across Europe. In fact, the region suffered a large-scale conflict already two years before the First World War began. Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia…
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74.6 Italian Invasion of Libya 1911-12
The Italian invasion of Libya 1911. After initial successes, the Italians face strong resistance against the Ottomans and Libyans www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music composed by Edward Elgar (The Crown of India, March of the Mogul Emperors) Picture - Italian landing at…
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74.5 Battle of Adowa 1896, Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
Following their countries independence in the mid 19th century, the Italians hoped to establish their status among the Great European Powers by acquiring colonial possessions. Their first main attempt was an unsuccessful invasion of Ethiopia, with a defeat at the Battle of Adowa in 1896...
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74.4 The Annexation of Bosnia 1908
In the first years of the 20th century the Austrian Empire faced numerous problems, most of all the rising sense of nationalism among its various peoples. Attempting a more assertive foreign policy, the Austrians set about a plan to formally annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, which since 1878 had been...
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74.3 The Red Sultan and the Young Turks Revolution
The Ottoman Empire is in disarray and its treasury bankrupt. Under Sultan Abdul Hamid, the Red Sultan, there are violent suppression of uprisings of the Armenians in Anatolia. And in the Balkans the Macedonians and Albanians appeal for independence. A rebellion in Macedonia leads to the The Young...
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74.2 The Russo-Japanese War and Revolution of 1905
Tsar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated in March 1881. He was probably the most liberal of all tsars of Russia, but succeeded by reactionary leaders Alexander III and then Nicholas II. Nicholas unwisely provokes Japan into a war, and is defeated, which is a catalyst for an attempted…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A podcast on European conflicts from the perspective of each side to provide an alternative to the traditional national narratives. Going chronologically from the Ancient Greeks onwards I described to some extent how each battle was won or lost by particular decisions, tactics, technology or fortune. But the aim of each main narrative will be to place each battle in the context of the overall history of Europe.
New series on the Interwar Years 1918-1945 begins 18th July 2025
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Carl Rylett
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A History of Europe Key Battles currently has 256 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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A podcast on European conflicts from the perspective of each side to provide an alternative to the traditional national narratives. Going chronologically from the Ancient Greeks onwards I described to some extent how each battle was won or lost by particular decisions, tactics, technology or...
How often does A History of Europe Key Battles release new episodes?
A History of Europe Key Battles publishes regularly with 256 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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A History of Europe Key Battles is created and hosted by Carl Rylett.
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