When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Episode 46: Atomic Diplomacy looks at the fascinating tactic supposedly made use of by the Eisenhower administration in the first half of 1953. This policy of threatening nuclear war if the communists did not see sense worked, so the conventional account suggests, and it worked because NSC68 had so empowered American defensive capabilities. However, as we’ll see in this episode, Eisenhower’s tacti...

Our endless flurry of Korean War content continues as we pave the way towards the Versailles Anniversary Project! Stay tuned! Episode 45: The Culminating Factors brings several threads of our story together, as we count down towards the establishment of peace amidst the political climb of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who would be elected President of the US and wave goodbye to the Truman administration....

Episode 44: Talking & Fighting picks up from last time with the Korean peace process, as the allies managed to sit down at last and talk face to face with the communists, at a place called Kaesong. As we’ll discover, getting the communists to sit and talk with them was only half the battle. The Chinese and North Koreans were well equipped to turn even the most genuine peace initiative into a g...

Episode 43: Peace Talks, Almost presents the situation on the frontlines as it stood in spring 1951, following some promising offensives by General Ridgeway which effectively crushed the Chinese capacity to launch another great offensive again. This incapacitation of the Chinese by no means meant that the communists were ready to roll over; indeed, the Chinese were still determined to hold on. As...

Episode 42: So Long Old Soldier bids farewell to General MacArthur in a podcast experience which has to be heard to be believed! Before we get to the point that MacArthur stood before Congress and gave that rousing farewell speech on 19th April 1951 though, we have to detail how it was that the relationship between President and General deteriorated to such a point that both parted ways. It was no...

Episode 41: Adored No More examines the week following the shattering experience of Chinese intervention on a grand scale. With General MacArthur’s credibility in tatters, President Truman’s plan to apportion blame to his least favourite General now appeared to make all the more sense. MacArthur was under immense pressure to explain himself, and when he finally did, Truman’s response was to place...

Episode 40: Shock & Awe continues where we left off last time. This was the result of the Truman administration’s months of planning and theorising, and for the sake of NSC68 and the strategy of containment, it was believed to be the right one. The Chinese had finally intervened, and thus the efforts to make this so must have been considered a success. Yet, on the ground level, it was anything...

Truman continues to set up his General, as the allied soldiers wander into the consequences on the Manchurian border... Episode 39: ‘An Entirely New War’ focuses on that moment in the conflict when the Chinese finally pulled the trigger and invaded in massive force between late October and late November 1950. After months of diplomatic manoeuvring, Mao Zedong seemed to finally have had enough and...

 Truman serves up MacArthur, and contrary to popular imagination, it was not the General, but the President, who schemed in the background - at least at this stage... Episode 38: The Perfect Scapegoat introduces one of the most infamous aspects of the Korean War narrative to you guys – that insufferable tension between President and General which would eventually lead to the dismissal of the latt...

Since the founding of the United States, in every generation, in every field of business, politics, sports and society, we’ve watched in shock as corruption, deceit and desire bring down heroes, titans and those we thought we could trust. In the aftermath, we’re left with too many questions, how did this happen? Who is to blame? American Scandal, a new podcast from Wondery, will answer these quest...

Episode 37: Burning Chinese takes our story back a bit to late September, in roughly the same timeframe we covered in the last episode, to examine how the American policy was developed as the Chinese became ever more pressed to involve themselves. The official picture in Washington and among the UN allies, and of course in General MacArthur’s mind, was that no matter what they publicly said, the C...

Our biggest episode yet! Episode 36: Ordering Chinese picks up from the last episode, this time from the perspective of the Chinese, as in late September they were clearly faced with something of a quandary. Stalin was ramping up his campaign to urge the Chinese to intervene, and in response, the Chinese claimed that since Kim Il-sung had yet to ask for help, Beijing could not give it. Stalin thus...

Remember your NSC reports! NSC 68 : The reason we're all here (ish). NSC 81 : The public report on compromises that pleased everyone and meant nothing. Especially no mention of the Chinese... NSC 73 : The secret report which imagined Chinese involvement. NSC 76 : The report which confirmed that the Soviets would never get involved. Episode 35: Up In Flames examines that pivotal moment in the histo...

This is it history friends, our last free episode of section 2 of 1956! If you like what you hear here, then make sure and track down the rest. Hours of content await, not just associated with this series. If you want to invest in Zack Twamley, in history podcasting and in WDF's future, then supporting us on Patreon is the best way to do that. I'd be most grateful, and you'd be filled with more hi...

PATRONS! HISTORY FRIENDS! Everyone in between! Part 2 of 1956 is now upon us, and here’s what you should do. First – ask yourself, do you love history? Second – answer yes, and have a listen to us here, as we unpack the Suez Crisis, in 21 easy steps! For everyone, episodes 2.1 and 2.2 are out now, but for those Patrons at the $5 level and above, 1956 is about to get very interesting indeed! For th...

After an interesting prelude, we are finally ready to tackle the main event of our series - the Suez Crisis. In this introductory episode, we explain what's in store, who to prepare for, what we're wary of and exactly why you should be excited for part 2 of this eventful series. Remember, the first two episodes will be out for FREE in line with getting everyone in the mood, but be sure to head ove...

The fire by rank tactic used by Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries had surprising beginnings, as we learn in this episode. While key military thinkers like Maurice of Nassau in the Netherlands played a pivotal role in changing how infantry were viewed and used on the battlefield, it is highly likely that he acquired inspiration for these ideas not just from Europe’s Ancient past, but also fr...

Episode 34: Building Inchon examines the extensive diplomatic and political preparation which the Truman administration engaged with in the weeks before MacArthur’s landing at Inchon on 15th September 1950. Truman was forced to deal with several issues, including the independently minded actions of some of his own personnel, like the Secretary of Defence, who would be forced to resign. We see a ne...

Check out the Sound Education Podcast Conference at Harvard University, where you can meet yours truly and listen to some brilliant minds in podcasting over 2-3 November 2018! Episode 33: Chinese Chequers continues where we left off last time, as the implications of the American approach to Korea and Taiwan are heavily felt in Beijing. Mao now had reason to believe that the war could be turned to...

Episode 32: Chinese Whispers follows on from Truman’s speech requesting those yummy defence budget increases, by rolling our coverage back to the immediate aftermath of the American intentions to intervene which were announced on 26th June 1950. For Mao Zedong, our main focus for the next two episodes, the really aggravating aspect of Washington’s policy wasn’t that the Yanks were suddenly support...

Episode 31: Laying Down The Gauntlet looks at the other side of the coin and how the Americans reacted to the developing war in the late summer of 1950. MacArthur attempted to follow War Plan SL-17, which stipulated that a landing at Inchon should take place in response to a Northern surge down the peninsula, but problems existed in this plan, and MacArthur faced a conundrum throughout July 1950 a...

We return with part 6 of our series on 17th century warfare, and in this episode we have something very special for you guys – an examination of the sick man of Europe, before he was sick, but when he was certainly maligned and looked down upon. For some time, it has been supposed that the Ottoman Empire could not keep pace with Western Europe, and that her eclipse by the West European powers in t...

Episode 30: Unfriendly Fire switches gears from the Anglo-American to the Asian angle in the war. We encounter some more controversial points, as we learn just how instrumental Stalin was in blunting the force of the North Korean People's Army, as he manipulated the situation to acquire the war he wanted. Stalin was creating in Korea a war which would draw the allies in further, and which would fo...

Episode 29: With Allies Like These looks further at the Anglo-American relationship from where we left off last time. After July 1950, the British were militarily committed to Korea under the auspices of the United Nations, and under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. If these facts made Britons nervous, these nerves were not soothed by the repeated examples of where the two allies differed...

You can find American Moments here . It's a history podcast bringing you more of the history from America which you love, but may have forgotten... Episode 28: London Stalling, introduces us to the British participation in the Korean War, and how utterly transfixed on the American partnership Clement Atlee's administration was. A guiding reason why the British and their Commonwealth allies took pa...