When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Goodbye For Now

Between working full time and the impending arrival of baby WDF, I would be lying if I pretended as if nothing was going to change. It is, in fact, time to accept that I am only one man. But that's...

Age of Bismarck #26: Making Britain Prussian

[PATRONS]

In our last Bismarck episode for a while, we settle our affairs by examining the dramatic shift in British opinion, as much of the public, the political establishment, and the press...

Age of Bismarck #25: Skittish British

[PATRONS]

What was the British reaction to the outbreak of war in 1870? In this episode we examine the different political camps, who had varying degrees of sympathy for either Prussia or Fra...

Age of Bismarck #24: Russian to Prussia

[PATRONS]

As France declared war and searched for allies, one power was mysteriously off her potential list. Russia had more than a few reasons to want to see France squirm - Napoleon, after ...

Age of Bismarck #23: France Declares War

All of Bismarck's schemes had led to this - but if his enemies had been more cautious, or less reckless, the war would never have happened. How important a role did French statesmen like Napoleon, ...

#70: July Crisis Q&A

During this series we have encountered a wide variety of fascinating characters and controversial decisions, but even though the story of why the world went to war in 1914 is finally finished, that...

Age of Bismarck #22: Paris Embarrassed

By July 1870, the French people were fanatical in their desire for war with Prussia. That, at least, is what history has told us. But how true is it? Was the French people, or the French newspapers...

State of the Podcast Address 21 July 2025

It's been a while since I last checked in with you, and I've been sitting on some incredible news for a while now. If you'd like to know how things are about to change, then make sure you listen in...

#69: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 3

In our final part, we bring this saga of a series to an end by focusing our attention on the most focused on country of all - Germany. We know what Germany did from 1 August, from the declarations ...

#68: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 2

For generations, examinations of the First World War excluded arguably the most important actor - Russia. In this episode, we will hone in on the Tsar's court and his ministers. We will analyse the...

Age of Bismarck #21: Making the Ems Despatch

[PATRONS]

For a fleeting moment, Bismarck's entire strategy seemed to have collapsed, thanks to his King's honest desire to avoid war with France. The French had demanded that no Hohenzollern...

#67: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 1

By now we've seen the absolute worst that Europe had to offer in 1914. We've seen naive statesmen, misinformed statesmen, distrustful statesmen, desperate statesmen, and everything in between. But ...

The Unreality of Realism w/ Alexander von Sternberg

Something special for you here - Alex and I had a great conversation about realism in international relations on his History Impossible podcast, and he was good enough to let me publish it on my fe...

July Crisis Q&A

History friends, now that we're at the end of the July Crisis story, please feel free to place any questions here! If you've previously asked questions in posts on here that i haven't addressed, th...

#66: The July Crisis - Conclusion

What have we learned after 65 episodes of background, analysis, and day-to-day coverage of the most consequential diplomatic failure in human history? What can we say about those responsible for wh...

Age of Bismarck #20: Who's Foolin' Who?

As we know, Bismarck engineered the Hohenzollern candidacy for the Spanish throne, but what is generally not known, is that Napoleon watched him do it. In this episode, we examine this strange Fren...

#65: 5 August 1914 - 'This Frantic Stampede to Hell'

The world was at war, and there was much to do. In London, attention turned to the British Expeditionary Force. The BEF had been ruled out several times before, but that did not have to matter. How...

#64: 4 August 1914 IV - The Final Countdown

With only hours left until the ultimatum expired, the mood in London and Berlin was anxious and excited. Was this truly it? Was the Anglo-German relationship now destined to die in a war over Belgi...

Age of Bismarck #19: Everybody Hates Spain

To bring about the war Bismarck wanted, he would have to goad France into making it. This was easier said than done for a regime which seemed pacific and focused inward, as Napoleon attempted to re...

#63: 4 August 1914 III - A Mere Scrap of Paper

The 1839 Treaty on Belgian neutrality was a mere scrap of paper - that was the phrase which doomed Bethmann Hollweg, and Germany, to moral condemnation. It was the excuse which conquerors of all sh...

#62: 4 August 1914 II - The Last Ultimatum

No matter what Britain did, it was impossible for Germany to evacuate Belgium. War was inevitable. Why, then, did most of Britain not even realise it?

The straightforward image we have in ou...

Age of Bismarck #18: The Alliance That Wasn't

[PATRONS]

Why did France enter its war with Prussia without an alliance with Austria? On paper, the partnership seems obvious - team up with Vienna, defeated in 1866, and use the Habsburg des...

#61: 4 August 1914 I - Into Belgium

Germany's invasion of Belgium had finally begun. After several anxious days of negotiations, warnings, and second guessing, Berlin was firmly set on its path. But what path was that? War had been d...

#60: 3 August 1914 IV - Who Turned Out The Lights?

In the evening of 3 August, Germany finally declared war on France. The war, Berlin insisted, was caused by hostile French acts, but most knew better. The Italians certainly did. In a series of pai...

Age of Bismarck #17: France in Mexico

[PATRONS]

Of all the infamous tales of adventurous imperialism in the nineteenth century, the case of France in Mexico must rank near the top. What possessed Emperor Napoleon III of France to...

#59: 3 August 1914 III - House on Fire

Finally, Sir Edward Grey was ready to make his case to the House of Commons. Parliament had been starved of news for a week, and the press had done their best to fill in the gaps, but the whole cou...

#58: 3 August 1914 II - Brussels Doubts

The German ultimatum to Belgium had roused the Brussels government and rallied the nation, but other than this, much was still unclear by the early afternoon of this Bank Holiday Monday. News of Be...

Age of Bismarck #16: The End of Austria

[PATRONS]

From 1867, Austria as Europe had known it for centuries abruptly ceased to exist. In its place was the Dual Monarchy, a curious compromise designed to appease the Hungarian continge...

#57: 3 August 1914 I - Illusions and Delusion

The German army was firmly in control of German policy, but its next steps were obvious to any contemporary with even the slightest grasp of the situation. The detour into Belgium had been flagged ...

#56: 2 August 1914 IV - Let Loose World Madness

Even as Moltke examined Germany's strategic options, the world was turning against Germany. Berlin pressed its case by pointing out the Russian sins of dishonesty and pre-emption, but was anyone li...