When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Sweden's strategic situation was pretty desperate by early 1635, but to appreciate just how desperate it was, we have to look away from the Holy Roman Empire, and towards the East, where in Poland, the truce was about to expire with Sweden's dynastic enemy. Worse, for Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, the grand plan of distracting Poland by orchestrating a Russian war had failed as well, leavin...

What's your favourite podcast series under WDF's umbrella? We've covered an awful lot, and a wide range of history, from the obscure, to the famous and infamous, to the shockingly misunderstood. We've come a long way in these ten years, and picking ten of my faves was a difficult task, but after a brutal process of elimination, here it is - complete with music to get you all nostalgic. Do you agre...

After ten years of history podcasting, I've come across many remarkable and fascinating historical figures, but can I pick a favourite? The task is a difficult one, so to make it easier for myself, I picked ten. Find out here which figures make the cut, as I rank them from number ten all the way down to number one. Did my choices surprise you? Do you feel a particular character was unfairly malign...

On 18 May 2012, When Diplomacy Fails Podcast broke into the history podcast scene, and the rest is history! For more than a decade, this show has granted me opportunities and experiences I never dreamed possible. It made me who I am today, from my past jobs, to my education, literally down to where I am professionally and personally right now.  This is the story of how something as simple as...

As spring 1635 approached, France had a choice to make. She could remain neutral, and allow the Imperial-Spanish triumph to overwhelm the Swedish and Dutch. Or, she could join their struggle, and end once and for the Bourbon-Habsburg cold war that had lasted a generation. It's decision time for Cardinal Richelieu... **DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!** 1) To support the podcast financially in r...

Get your tickets to Intelligent Speech Conference now! It's on Saturday 25 June, so don't delay! Matchlock and the Rebel is out NOW! Grab your copy of this Thirty Years' War historical fiction series here. Wallenstein exhausts Emperor Ferdinand's patience, the Battle of Nordlingen ushers in a new era of Habsburg supremacy, and an Austro-Spanish alliance is forged just in time to meet France on the...

We're ten years old! Wish WDF a happy birthday by buying the NEW and IMPROVED edition of Matchlock and the Embassy! The death of Gustavus Adolphus at Lutzen cast a long shadow over the year 1633. Could the Swedes rebound, and consolidate their gains, or would the Emperor avenge himself on his ungrateful subjects, after a worrying season of setbacks? As it turned out, nothing came easy to either si...

After going on a tear for 18 months, Gustavus Adolphus had finally caught Wallenstein, in a town just outside of Leipzig. Considering the enormous amount of men under recruitment, their army sizes were somewhat small, but that didn't make the battle any less ferocious. Indeed, Lutzen can be viewed as a turning point, not merely in the conflict here, but also in early modern warfare. The Swedish ca...

Real quick - turns out Indira Ghandi is NOT related to Ghandi at all, and is in fact the daughter of Nehru. What are the odds of that? Thanks to Andrew Mence for the correction! For this bonus interview episode, I'm very excited to be joined by Dr Jennifer Sciubba! Here she talks about her new book, 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death and Migration Shape our World - which you can get here! We h...

With Breitenfeld changing the balance of power in the Empire, Gustavus had much to do as 1631 became 1632. First was the matter of Count Tilly's battered survivors from the battle, who had since been reinforced, and guarded the entrance to Bavaria. But over the horizon was an even greater threat to the Swedish King - Albrecht of Wallenstein, the Holy Roman Emperor's last hope. The two titans faced...

The Battle of Breitenfeld was a turning point in the Thirty Years War, but equally important was what Gustavus Adolphus chose to do after. In his race to conquer, Gustavus tore down the Rhine, seizing a wide range of cities, from Wurzburg, to Mainz, to Frankfurt. In the process, he upset the contract between the Emperor and his subjects like never before, demanding an answer which would come from...

From the moment Gustavus Adolphus landed in Northern Germany, it was clear that his triumph was impossible so long as the Protestant Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony refused to join his side. Throughout spring and summer of 1631 though, Gustavus' luck finally began to turn, thanks in part to his liberal use of intimidation, and the horrendous miscalculations of the Emperor. Pointing his cannons...

We are joined today by Ole from Immortal Games to talk about Story Games History . Story Games History is a ground-breaking concept for making history more accessible, both to casual fans, and for learning purposes. Ole talks about his plan for approaching schools and colleges, adding more academic clout to this exciting project. Perhaps most interestingly, Ole explains how Story Games History wil...

Magdeburg, the city where the Thirty Years' War changed. As the Swedes gathered in North Germany, and the Imperials moved to counter them, their paths led to Magdeburg, a city on the River Elbe with a history of defiance. The city fathers of Magdeburg may have believed that their city would serve as the turning point of the war, but what they could never have imagined was the price which would hav...

Well, he did it. He actually did it. After month of posturing, years of undeclared war, and even longer lying to our faces, Putin authorised Russia's invasion of Ukraine. How did it come to this? Is Putin the only variable that matters? Does diplomacy still have a chance? Where do I see all of this going? You may not think you need yet another person talking about this war, but just in case you do...

Get your copy of the second edition of A Matter of Honour: Britain in the First World War! In early 1631, Gustavus Adolphus was in desperate need of allies and subsidies. Fortunately for him, Cardinal Richelieu of France was only too happy to help, but such friendship would come at a cost. France wasn't interested in throwing away good money. Instead, they wanted to effectively sponsor the Swedish...

Get your copy of the second edition of A Matter of Honour: Britain in the First World War! Check out the Twitter thread on Audiblegate, where I went viral, being seen by nearly 1 million people! In spring and summer 1630, Sweden's King could put it off no longer. The months of outrages, the insults, and the straight up interefernce in his business by the Emperor's proxies had gnawed away at his pa...

**IF YOU LIKE, FOLLOW THESE LINKS!** 1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon! 2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group! 3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter! 4) Matchlock and the Embassy, our new historical fiction novel, is out NOW! Get it here It's hard to imagine it now, but 400 years ag...

With Denmark exiting the war in Germany, everything seemed to be looking up Ferdinand in spring 1629, but there was a problem. While on the military front, the Emperor still held the edge, on the diplomatic front, forces were conspiring to turn the war on its head. Cardinal Richelieu recognised that if Sweden and Poland could be brought to the peace table, Gustavus Adolphus would be free at long l...

In Episode 5 of the Trent Affair - our final episode, for now! - we ask the big questions, and finish our narrative which stretched across both sides of the Atlantic. At the last moment, it seemed, calmer heads had prevailed, and an Anglo-American War was not required as the price for stained British honour.  But the two sides had come VERY close to such a nightmare, closer, in fact, than the...

Listen here to our penultimate episode on the Trent Affair, and the moment when peace or war hung in the balance! After a tense wait, Britain's ultimatum finally arrived in Washington. How would Lincoln and Seward respond to its terms? The Confederate commissioners would have to be returned, and a suitable apology offered, if the British were to be satisfied, but there was room for some manoeuvre....

Welcome to our third episode of the Trent Affair, here we confront an important question! Would the Americans choose peace, or would they choose war? The ultimatum had been sent on 2 December. The restrictions of communication meant that the British would be waiting a while for the answer - as much as a fortnight. But, in the meantime, what did the British government do? Incredibly, the British pr...

Welcome to the second episode of this special miniseries! Happy christmas and thanksss for tuning in! When news of the Trent Affair reached Britain, the British cried foul. The Government made immediate preparations to wrest a satisfactory reply from the Americans. Only the return of the commissioners and an American apology would satisfy Palmerston government. The British people demanded justice...

Hello and merry christmas history friends and patrons! To say thanksss for your support and patience over the last year, I thought I'd give you a special miniseries, set in an unfamiliar but fascinating era. Allow me to introduce you to the Trent Affair, also known as the crisis which nearly sparked off a third Anglo-American War! In November 1861, an American vessel boarded the Trent , a British...

By summer, 1630, the stage had been set for a Swedish intervention in the German War.  But how did Sweden get to the point where this became feasible, or justifiable? What had caused diplomacy to fail between the Habsburgs and Stockholm? What gripes did King Gustavus Adolphus have with the Habsburgs? Would you believe me if a told you that a tangled web of diplomacy is all to blame? Would you...