[PATRONS]
Has there ever been a King of Poland quite like Stan? Stanislaus Lechynski had already led a fascinating life by 1734, but what happened after he was forced to bow to the inevitable...
2021-03-15 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Stop me if you think you've heard it. Guy travels incognito to a girl in far off land. Confirms girl will marry him. Girl's father agrees to marriage. Girl's father is actually the ...
2021-03-08 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In late October 1733, France declared war on Austria. Yet that doesn't even tell a fraction of the story of what was really going on Poland in 1733, and why it seemed to matter so m...
2021-03-01 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The early 1620's were a period of strange diplomatic behaviour for Britain, trapped as it was between the visions of a perpetual peace forged by marriage, and the realities of Europ...
2021-02-22 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
East and West Europe collide as Poland's vacancy is filled, and Stanislaus Lechynski arrives in Poland via a secret carriage ride. Directly disobeying the demands of the Austrians a...
2021-02-15 06:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
King James of Britain was a complex fellow, and while his son is arguably more infamous, the father had some issues of his own to get through too. Most particularly, in the Spanish ...
2021-02-08 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Can't we just leave Poland alone? It would seem not, as summer 1733 progressed, and all eyes focused on that Commonwealth...or did they? The Spanish and French, having settled their...
2021-02-01 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
What happened when the most intensive, bitter conflict Europe had to offer spilled over into the other conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Elector Palatine? The Spanish and Dutch had fo...
2021-01-25 08:27:07 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Europe was a mess of conflicting loyalties and interests in the early 1730s. The six main powers: Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, Russia and Spain all had their own reasons for s...
2021-01-18 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In today's episode we look at the story of the Dutch in a time of peace and tranquility - or at least, peace - and ask what went wrong. The problem was that the United Provinces wer...
2021-01-10 19:52:56 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
How did the three black eagles - Austria, Prussia and Russia - manage to skew the Polish royal election of 1733 their way? How did they come to land on Augustus III, the uninspiring...
2021-01-04 01:09:49 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In our FINAL EPISODE OF 2020, we continue our fascinating story of how the War of Polish Succession came to be. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and thank POD 2020 is nearly over! 2020-12-21 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
After many episodes examining Frederick's woes, here we change our focus and look at that conflict long in the background - the Spanish Dutch War, which was resuming after twelve ye...
2020-12-14 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
This latest episode is chock full of the diplomacy you love, and researching it was made possible thanks the generous support of my patrons - Go Patrons Go!
Welcome to episode...
2020-12-07 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Welcome to our coverage of the 30 Years War, where we cover the period 1622-23. It was a time of significant defeats and changes, but also of moments of great triump and success for...
2020-11-30 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The 1720s were a grim time for the Commonwealth, as King Augustus had spent as much of his credit as he was going to get, and Poland's enemies seemed to be suffocating her in a supp...
2020-11-23 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we examine the years between roughly 1620-22, as Frederick moved into his new home in The Hague, just as the war between Spain and the Dutch was about to resume. Li...
2020-11-16 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The Silent Sejm of 1717 occupies us in this episode, as we explain why it's not quite as awful as you might think, and why it didn't lead automatically to the end of Polish independ...
2020-11-09 06:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, the Battle of White Mountain shatters Frederick's regime, but how did we get here? Let's roll back the clock a bit....
Frederick’s prospects were fair so lo...
2020-11-02 06:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we have Confederates, unruly Kings and Tsars to contend with, but we're also winding the story back to 1709. My mission here is to understand why the Silent Sejm of...
2020-10-26 06:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
The Winter King had to carry on, and over November 1619- April 1620, he did just that. Frederick embarked on his royal progress, doing his best to persuade those he met that he was ...
2020-10-19 05:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
After more than twenty years, the Great Northern War was finally coming to an end. It had sucked in most of Europe at one time or another, but by September 1721, the Tsar of Russia,...
2020-10-12 05:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Have some spare time on YouTube? Why not check out friends of the show...
2020-10-05 05:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Episode 17: The Scales of the North examines a pivotal but also a forgotten moment in Polish history. Picture the scene - it's early 1720, and all the Commonwealth's nobility have g...
2020-09-28 05:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Almost exactly 401 years to the day since Frederick accepted the Bohemian Crown, we return to our 30 Years War narrative, with episode 19!
In this episode, we reach the long-a...
2020-09-21 05:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Welcome to our Q&A! Herein we answer loads of questions, including...
Who was the best diplomacy player in the conflict? How many in Bohemia actually wanted Freddy as King...
2020-09-16 15:41:25 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Congratulations to the winners of our competition - Chris Borsilli [Facebook] and @DonoghMC [Twitter]. Get in touch with your addresses so I can send a book your way lad...
2020-09-08 20:08:33 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
Over three decades, history spat out a wide range of fascinating stories and tales, but in this episode I'm going to focus on one in particular - the incredible story of Frederick V...
2020-09-02 05:31:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
We've been on quite a journey over the last 18 episodes, and I think it's time we take stock. In this episode, we do just that. If you're new here or if you're aren't sure whether t...
2020-08-26 05:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
[PATRONS]
In this episode, we examine the years 1718-1719, as the Treaty of Vienna group, consisting of George of Hanover, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Elector of Saxony, moved to cement th...
2020-08-10 05:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post