When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 particul...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 P...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 res...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 t...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 wa...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 we...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 thos...

Great news history friends - I've finally done it, and taken a large weight off my shoulders by joining up with Teepublic, a podcaster's favourite merchandise company! This is where you come in, because you guys can now make this a success by heading over to our Teepublic storefront. As an added incentive, we arranged to launch when a 35% off sale was already on! All you have to do is click here!...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Last time in our 30 Years War story, Frederick V, a big time German ruler with small time power, accepted the Crown of Bohemia, and Europe seemed to breathe a s...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 episo...

I have a question for you - why don't you check out our new historical fiction series set during this very era - Matchlock! Our first instalment, Matchlock and the Embassy, is out NOW! Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. 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 actuall...

Order the book now! For God or the Devil is finally out!   After enduring Ferdinand’s repression, throwing off his yolk, formally deposing him and marching an army to Vienna, the Bohemians sought to go one better than all previous revolts had done. With Ferdinand deposed, this meant the crown of Bohemia was vacant, and it meant that someone else should be offered it. But whom? Someone, ideall...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Here we cover the years 1618-1619, when the fortunes of rebels, Hungarians, Habsburgs and everyone else in between would rise and fall. In this episode, we also...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Here we ask an important question – how did the Bohemia revolt become the Thirty Years War? After throwing the Habsburg magnates out the windows of the town hal...

Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Episode 15 - what's in the box? Well, Bohemia continues to descend into rebellion, but its activism did not stop merely on the local, national level. Instead, B...

Want to show your appreciation for Bismarck Rise? Oddly enough, you can do so by heading in a completely different direction! Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Fans of intrigue and drama, in addition to battles and complex characters, will love it! Order yo...

Get your tickets to Intelligent Speech online! Only $10 until 16 June, and catch your faves including me, as I do a Q&A! Make sure you head over to Patreon if you want more podding goodies, and to stamp your ticket for more Bismarck! Episode 7 – Domination and Manipulation: 1863-64. He had made his fair share of errors, but it was fair to say at the same time that Bismarck wasn’t going anywher...

You know what those Bohemians needed? Historical fiction! Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Episode 14 of the Thirty Years War, 'Bohemian Rampancy', is out NOW! Other than the ingenious title, w...

Get your tickets to Intelligent Speech online! Only $10 until 10 June, and catch your faves including me, as I do a Q&A! In this episode we examine the opening six months of Bismarck’s regime, and what a regime it was. It began, to Bismarck’s surprise, with a somewhat bumpy road. In the course of his first speech before the Landtag as Minister President, Bismarck discovered that his very reput...

Want to access these episodes all at once? Patreon is where you go my history friend! What were my five favourite moments from this series? Read this new blog post to find out... Episode 5 – Power at Last: 1861-62. Years of struggle and disappointment had finally led to this moment. On 22 September 1862, a fatalistic and hesitant King Wilhelm finally did it, he finally agreed to appoint Otto von B...

What could be better than our sponsor? How about a new series I made all by myself! Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Take a break from the Bismarck party, because Episode 13 of the Thirty Years...

Want to skip the queue and access all episodes of BismarckRise right NOW? OF COURSE YOU DO! Click here for more The Bismarck Party rolls on... As he soon discovered upon returning to Berlin in early 1859, he was not bound for a ministerial post, but a new role as the Prussian ambassador to Russia. It was still a great promotion for a man who had only a slim record of diplomatic training – now he w...

Want to skip the queue and access all episodes of BismarckRise right NOW? OF COURSE YOU DO! Click here for more Unsure of what's going on? Read this blog post for more information on BismarckRise. Episode 3 – The Ultimate Opportunist: 1853-59. The Crimean War changed everything in Europe. It left Austria alienated, her Russian ally bitter and the Tsar vengeful, after Austria’s display of perfidy....

Bismarck? Not here - what you want is something Bismarck himself would have longed to read! Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents. Order your copy of Matchlock and the Embassy by clicking here. Put that Bismarck party on hold, and check out the latest episode of...