Welcome to the first primer episode for Glory & Defeat. In this first primer episode we will take a broad look at the industrial revolution and the emerging new ideologies of the 19th century: Communism and Nationalism.
The year 1848 was pivotal in European history. All across the continent revolutionary movements erupted and demanded a new order. This would be no different in France and in the German states.
After Napoleon I had conquered and then lost Europe, France went through multiple revolutions. In 1851, Napoleons nephew and French president Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte took control and in 1852 crowned himself Emperor Napoleon III. The new French Empire wanted to regain the glory of Napoleon's uncle and together with his wife Empress Eugenie he ruled a state known for lavish balls and spending.
French and Prussian animosity have been swelling in the background since the German Wars of Unification started in the 1860s. The French Duc de Gramont hopes that a victory over Prussia could restore French prestige while Prussian Chancellor Bismarck needs a reason to fulfill his dream of German unification from above. When the crisis about the Spanish throne escalates with the Ems Dispatch, the die is cast and the Franco-Prussian War begins.
After the failed revolution of 1848, the German states within the German confederation were still moving towards unification. This movement would come from the citizens this time though but from the top. Prussia's chancellor Otto von Bismarck was using clever and aggressive diplomacy to outmaneuver his biggest German rival: Austria.
With the official declaration of war from France, Prussia mobilizes and calls in the defensive alliances with the other German states within the North German Confederation but also with Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden. And while the bigger armies still assemble, the first skirmishes happen near the French border.
While the French and different German Armies are gathering we are taking the time this week to take a look at military organization and warfare in 1870. As a special guest we also have Cap And Ball on the show who introduces the famous Chassepot and Dreyse rifles which will be important in this conflict.
The battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 was one of the most brutal battles of the WW2 Pacific Campaign. The small volcanic island of Iwo Jima had an important strategic position for the US military. But the Japanese Army had learned how to defend in previous hard fought battles on other islands like Guam, Peleliu or Guadalcanal.
Napoleon's Downfall: Invasion of Russia 1812 (Full Documentary)
The Franco-Prussian War was a pivotal moment for Europe in the 19th century. It unified Germany into a single empire while toppling the French one. In six month the world got a taste of modern warfare and a bitter rivalry that would last into the 20th century.
The Rhine river was the last major natural obstacle on the Western Front of WW2 in early 1945. The Allied armies needed to cross the symbolic river to enter the heart of Nazi Germany. While General Patton's 1st Army crossed the river at Remagen first, the actual set-piece battle of the Rhine took place further north and involved the biggest airborne operation in a single day in the entire war.
The two Schleswig Wars of 1848-51 and 1864 mark an important period in European History. Intertwined with the 1848 revolutions, the First Schleswig War's settlement tries to uphold the European status quo. But the unhappy belligerents soon find themselves at war again in 1864 when Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck uses the Second Schleswig War as a first step towards German unification.
After settling the Schleswig-Holstein question in 1864, Austria and Prussia are uneasy allies. Both are the biggest players in the German confederation. In Bismarck's dream of a united Germany, he sees Prussia as the only leader and wants to force the so called "small German solution" without Austria. And so, in 1866 a war between Austria and Prussia (plus other German states like Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover) breaks out to settle this question once and for all.
The Battle of the Bulge was one of the last German offensives during the Second World War. It caught the US Army off guard in the Ardennes sector but ultimately the Allies prevailed. But did Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ('Operation Watch on the Rhine') ever have a chance to succeed and reach Antwerp?
The American invasion of Okinawa was the last big island operation on the Pacific Front. It took the US Marines and Army troops several months to defeat the last Japanese resistance on the island in one of the costliest American victories of the 2nd World War - but in the end not even Japanese Kamikaze attacks and using the civilian population could avert the outcome.
When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, Napoleon's failed campaign was on many minds. Hitler specifically wanted to avoid a repetition of 1812 and even when his luck ran out was adamant to avoid any comparisons.
It's common wisdom that the nuclear bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused the Japanese surrender at the end of the 2nd World War. However, there has been a fierce historical debate if this narrative omits the role of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 - or if this invasion was actually the main cause for the surrender.
The Crimean War between the Ottoman Empire and Russia (and later the UK and France) has been called the last crusade and the first modern war at the same time.
The question about the first modern war has caused lively debates among historians and YouTube comment sections alike. In this video we take a look at a few candidates and some arguments why they are or aren't modern wars.
After the Warlord Era, the Chinese Civil War was primarily fought between the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-Shek and the Chinese Communists. Several attempts to defeat the Communists failed because they used effective guerilla tactics or simply evaded the enemy to fight another day, like during the famous Long March.
Why Germany Lost the Battle for North Africa (WW2 Documentary)
The summer of 1944 saw the Allies land in France not once but twice. Two months after Operation Overlord, the Allies also landed in Southern France during Operation Dragoon. It was "the perfect landing" and opened up the important ports of Marseille and Toulon for Allied logistics.
In 1937 Japan invaded the Republic of China after already annexing Manchuria in 1931. With the international settlements in Shanghai, the military support through Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the general escalation of the war, many argue that 1937 marked the start of the Second World War in Asia.
Since the inception of the nuclear bomb, military strategists have tried to figure out how to use them best. During the Cold War, this led to two very different doctrines but on both sides of the Iron Curtain the military wasn't sure of you could actually win Nuclear War.
After Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Russia he was still able to put up a fight and was determined to beat the enemy coalition in the German lands. But after a spring campaign and the battle of Grossbeeren, and the later battles of Bautzen and the Katzbach, the Emperor was beaten at the Battle of Leipzig 1813.
After defeating the Axis in North Africa, the stage was set for the first Allied landing in Europe. The target was Sicily and in summer 1943 Allied generals Patton and Montgomery set their sights on the island off the Italian peninsular.
In 1937 Japan invaded the Republic of China after already annexing Manchuria in 1931. With the international settlements in Shanghai, the military support through Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the general escalation of the war, many argue that 1937 marked the start of the Second World War in Asia.
After the French success in the Battle of Na San, the battle of Dien Bien Phu is supposed to defeat the Viet Minh once and for all. But instead the weeks long siege becomes a symbol of the French defeat in Vietnam.
In 1965, US troops officially landed in Vietnam, but American involvement in the ongoing conflict between the Communist North and the Anti-Communist South had started more than a decade earlier. So, why did the US-Vietnam War break out in the first place?
The Anglo-Zulu War in 1879 is one of the most well known colonial wars of the British Empire. And while the British ultimately won and annexed the Zulu Kingdom, at the Battle of Isandlwana they suffered one of their worst defeats.
In summer 1943, Germany and the Soviet Union fought the arguably biggest single battle in history with millions of men, thousands of tanks and artillery guns – the battle of Kursk. The German Army wanted to hit the Red Army so hard that they couldn’t go on the offensive again. And indeed, new research shows that the Soviets suffered shockingly high casualties, up to 6 times more men and equipment. But why then did the Germans lose this historic battle?
In February 1943, Rommel’s panzers are again on the attack in North Africa. This time he’s facing untested US troops in the mountains of Tunisia - but the clock is ticking. As his veterans batter their way through the Kasserine Pass, the British are steadily advancing behind him. The Desert Fox has a bold plan to defeat the Allies in Tunisa for good. Little does he know, however, it will be his last battle in the field - and will soon lead him to total defeat in what some later will call Tunisgrad.
December 7, 1941: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the world and brought the US into the Second World War. But why did the Japanese resort to such an attack against a powerful rival and what did it have to do with the Japanese war in China?
In 1945 US forces are advancing towards Japan, but the road to victory will be bloody.
In 1965, tens of thousands of US troops are heading for war in Vietnam. Backed up by B-52 bombers, helicopters and napalm, many expect the Viet Cong guerillas to crumble in the face of unstoppable US firepower. Instead, in the jungles and swamps of Vietnam, the Americans discover combat is an exhausting slog in which casualties are high and they rarely get to fire first.
Fall 1943, Allied bombers are ramping up their daytime raids of Nazi German cities and industry. The bomber crews of the US 8th Air Force will pay the price against the German Luftwaffe. Formations such as the “Bloody Hundredth” 100th Bomber Group suffer some of the highest loss ratios of the Second World War – while in 1943 German war production continues to grow. So, let’s have a look why the 8th Air Force weren’t Masters of the Air over Germany quite yet.
In March 1943, German U-boats are on the attack – they sink 108 Allied vessels that month alone. Some Allied officials fear a German victory in the Atlantic is imminent. If the Allies lose the Atlantic, Britain loses its lifeline – and maybe even the war. But by May 1943, it will be the U-boats limping home in defeat. So how, in just two months, did the U-boats go from hunters to hunted?
After years of boots on the ground and bloody combat in Vietnam, US officials are publicly confident. The strategy of eliminating the Viet Cong is working. The North Vietnamese communist forces are on their last legs and victory is only a matter of time. Or so they say. But as 1968 and the traditional lunar new year festivities begin, US and South Vietnamese troops find themselves on the receiving end of a formidable North Vietnamese surprise attack: The Tet Offensive.