Podcasts about habsburg

Bad Kissingen gehört heute zu den berühmtesten Kurorten Deutschlands. Doch im 19. Jahrhundert war die Stadt weit mehr als ein Ort für Erholung und Heilwasser. Jeden Sommer verwandelte sie sich in eine europäische Bühne: Kaiser, Könige, Politiker, Künstler und wohlhabende Bürger trafen sich in den Parkanlagen, an den Quellen und in den eleganten Gesellschaftsräumen. Mitten in dieser Welt erscheint Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich. Sisi kommt nicht nur als berühmte Monarchin nach Bad Kissingen, sondern vor allem als Patientin. Der Wiener Hof, das strenge Zeremoniell und die ständige öffentliche Beobachtung setzen ihr immer stärker zu. Sie leidet unter Migräne, Schlafstörungen, Erschöpfung und innerer Unruhe.Die Ärzte empfehlen Bewegung, frische Luft, geregelte Tagesabläufe – und eine Kur. Doch was bedeutete eine Kur im 19. Jahrhundert eigentlich?Wir tauchen ein in eine Welt aus Trinkkuren, Spaziergängen, Badeanwendungen, Kurkonzerten und gesellschaftlichen Begegnungen. Eine Kur war damals nicht nur Medizin. Sie war Rückzug, Begegnungsort, gesellschaftliches Ereignis und manchmal sogar eine politische Bühne.Bad Kissingen wurde für Elisabeth zu einem weiteren Ort ihrer lebenslangen Suche nach Freiheit. Wie Possenhofen, Madeira, Korfu oder Ungarn versprach auch dieser fränkische Kurort Abstand vom Wiener Hof. Doch selbst hier blieb sie die berühmteste Frau Europas – beobachtet, erkannt und von den Erwartungen ihrer Zeit eingeholt.

Matthew Longo, The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain. The focus shifts from political elites to young activists in the Hungarian "borderlands." In late June 1989, inspired by a speech from Otto von Habsburg, a young woman named Maria and a man named Ferenc hatch an audacious plan in the city of Debrecen: they will throw a party—the Pan-European Picnic—at the Iron Curtain itself. Maria, showing incredible initiative in a country with few phones, begins calling government officials and border guards to organize the event. The original vision for the picnic was "euphorically ignorant": the organizers imagined a thin fence where Hungarians and Austrians could pass sausages and beer to one another. In reality, the Iron Curtain was a "death zone" several kilometers wide, filled with watchtowers, dogs, and layers of fencing. However, the process of de-electrifying and dismantling the fence was moving faster than expected. The organizers eventually secured a location near the town of Sopron and convinced the authorities to allow a one-time-only opening of a border gate, allowing Austrians to cross into Hungary to celebrate "European togetherness." (2)1930 BUDAPEST

The autopsy of Charles II of Spain found a heart the size of a peppercorn, corroded lungs, and a brain reduced to a liquid state. He was a man who couldn't chew, hadn't walked until age eight, and whose own physicians decided witchcraft was the most plausible diagnosis.Most history books read that as tragedy. On this channel, we read it as a balance sheet.The Habsburg motto was Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube — "Let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry." That wasn't romance. It was an operating manual. For 200 years, the family built the world's first global empire by turning marriage contracts into property deeds. And then they couldn't stop. Two centuries of cousin and uncle-niece marriages produced a king with an inbreeding coefficient higher than a full sibling union — the mathematical endpoint of a consolidation strategy that couldn't be modified without dissolving the empire it built.The Habsburg jaw wasn't a genetic curiosity. It was the state itself becoming physically unable to feed the population it ruled.═══════════════════════════════

Eine geplante Strafaktion gegen die Schwyzer wird zum ersten Sieg von Bauern gegen Ritter. Was sich am Morgarten ereignet hat, wirkt nach – bis heute.

Stop 4 on our summer world tour takes us to the heart of central Europe — the Czech Republic, a country about the size of South Carolina with a fiercely proud cultural identity and joyful, irresistibly danceable folk music. In this episode, we explore the patchwork of Czech folk traditions across its three historical regions — Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. We trace how ordinary Czech people held tightly to their music and language through centuries of Habsburg rule, how a small Bohemian dance became a global craze in the 1840s (and never really stopped), and how the warm, layered sound of the Moravian cimbalom gives this region's folk music a character entirely its own. We also visit a composer who grew up the son of a village butcher-turned-folk-musician and went on to become one of the most celebrated names in classical music history — Antonín Dvořák. Czech folk music didn't just survive foreign rule. It traveled the world. What We Cover in This Episode The Czech Republic's geography and its three distinct folk music regions: Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia How centuries of Habsburg rule suppressed Czech language and culture — and how folk music became an act of cultural resistance The Czech national revival of the 1800s and what it produced The polka — its Bohemian origins, how it swept across Europe and America, and why it's still alive in Czech-American communities across the Midwest and Texas today The cimbalom — the hammered dulcimer at the heart of Moravian folk ensembles The verbunk — an athletic Moravian solo dance with roots in military recruitment Antonín Dvořák and how his folk-rooted upbringing shaped some of the most beloved music in the classical repertoire, including the Slavonic Dances How Czech folk music is being celebrated and reinvented by younger musicians today Free Downloads for This Episode

Mehr als 100 Jahre galt der legendäre »Florentiner«-Diamant als verschollen. Jetzt ist er in Kanada wieder aufgetaucht – und mit ihm die Frage: Wem gehört er eigentlich? Die Habsburger sind sich sicher: Es ist Familienbesitz. Doch Österreichs SPÖ-Vizekanzler Andreas Babler lässt gerade prüfen, ob der »Florentiner« und die anderen Juwelen nicht eigentlich der Republik Österreich zustehen.Im Gespräch mit Karl von Habsburg und SPIEGEL-Reporter Fidelius Schmid gehen wir in dieser Folge von »Inside-Austria« der Frage nach, wie der Familienschmuck der Habsburger überhaupt nach Kanada kam, warum der »Florentiner« zum politischen Zankapfel wurde – und ob auch noch weitere verschollene Schmuckstücke auftauchen könnten.Im Podcast »Inside Austria« rekonstruieren der SPIEGEL und der österreichische STANDARD gemeinsam Fälle, Skandale und politische Abgründe in Österreich. Wenn euch unser Podcast gefällt, folgt uns doch und lasst uns ein paar Sterne da. Kritik, Feedback oder Themenideen gerne an insideaustria@spiegel.de oder an podcast@derstandard.at Den Inside Austria Newsletter findet ihr hier. Fehlerhinweis: In einer früheren Version der Folge hieß es, dass Karl I. der Sohn von Sissy sei. Wir haben die Stelle korrigiert. +++ Alle Infos zu unseren Werbepartnern finden Sie hier. Die SPIEGEL-Gruppe ist nicht für den Inhalt dieser Seite verantwortlich. +++ Mehr Hintergründe zum Thema erhalten Sie mit SPIEGEL+. Entdecken Sie die digitale Welt des SPIEGEL, unter spiegel.de/abonnieren finden Sie das passende Angebot. Alle SPIEGEL Podcasts finden Sie hier. Den SPIEGEL-WhatsApp-Kanal finden Sie hier. Hier geht es zu unserem SPIEGEL Shop. Alle Newsletter vom SPIEGEL finden Sie hier. Hier geht es zur SPIEGEL Akademie. Sie möchten den SPIEGEL mitgestalten? Registrieren Sie sich bei SPIEGEL Perspektiven. Informationen zu unserer Datenschutzerklärung.

Mitten in der Altstadt Jerusalems, nur wenige Schritte von der Grabeskirche entfernt, weht bis heute die österreichische Fahne. Das Österreichische Hospiz zur Heiligen Familie ist weit mehr als ein Hotel – es ist ein lebendiges Zeugnis der jahrhundertelangen Verbindung zwischen den Habsburgern und dem Heiligen Land.In dieser Folge führt uns unsere Reise an einen der außergewöhnlichsten Orte der gesamten Podcast-Reihe. Wir erkunden die verwinkelten Gassen Jerusalems, sprechen über die Entstehung des Österreichischen Hospizes und begleiten Kaiser Franz Joseph auf seiner wohl ungewöhnlichsten Reise.1869 bricht der österreichische Kaiser zu seiner längsten Auslandsreise auf. Anlass ist die feierliche Eröffnung des Suezkanals – eines der größten technischen Bauwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts. Gemeinsam mit den Herrschern und Diplomaten Europas erlebt Franz Joseph ein Ereignis, das den Welthandel dauerhaft verändern wird. Doch für ihn ist die Reise noch lange nicht zu Ende. Wenige Tage später zieht der Kaiser nicht als Staatsgast, sondern als Pilger in Jerusalem ein. Aus Ehrfurcht steigt er vor den Toren der Heiligen Stadt vom Pferd und durchschreitet die engen Gassen zu Fuß. Er besucht die Grabeskirche, Bethlehem und den Jordan, spendet für Kirchen, Klöster und Bedürftige aller Religionen und hinterlässt im Österreichischen Hospiz einen bleibenden Eindruck. Bis heute gilt sein Aufenthalt als einer der bedeutendsten Momente in der Geschichte des Hauses.Gemeinsam werfen wir einen Blick auf die Eröffnung des Suezkanals, die politischen Veränderungen des 19. Jahrhunderts und die Bedeutung des Österreichischen Lloyd für die Habsburgermonarchie. Gleichzeitig entdecken wir, warum das Österreichische Hospiz bis heute eine Oase der Gastfreundschaft im Herzen Jerusalems geblieben ist.Eine Folge über Glauben und Geopolitik, technische Meisterleistungen und persönliche Demut – und über einen Kaiser, der für einige Tage nicht als Herrscher, sondern als Pilger Geschichte schrieb.

The 2026 World Cup group-stage is over – and we're already under way with the knockout phase of the tournament!Among the teams in the last 32 are seven knockout debutants: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada, DR Congo, Egypt, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Cape Verde, who have been the story of the tournament and face Lionel Messi's Argentina next. But which other countries reached the knockouts on their first-ever World Cup appearance? And which others made it through the group phase with three draws?Elsewhere, there are some ties with intriguing political backdrops. Austria face Spain in a battle of the two branches of the Habsburg family, while co-hosts Mexico and Ecuador go head-to-head in the Latin American Embassy Derby. There's also a sinister history between Germany and Paraguay, an assassination plot involving England and DR Congo, and an air base that will link the USA and Bosnia forever.Plus: South Korea's president intervenes following the country's miserable World Cup performance, Marcelo Bielsa has a full-scale meltdown on camera and Tunisia stake a claim for being the worst team at the World Cup.Sign up to The Sweeper's Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/SweeperPodFollow Joey D'Urso on Instagram here:https://www.instagram.com/joey.durso/And Joey D'Urso's Substack is here:https://joeydurso.substack.com/Chapters:00:00 – Intro02:38 – Debutants and draws05:10 – Knockout newcomers10:50 – Cape Verde's Messi meeting17:51 – Political pairings28:11 – Regrets and recriminations

Graz ist heute eine lebenswerte Universitätsstadt, UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe und kulturelles Zentrum der Steiermark. Doch hinter den roten Dächern, Renaissancehöfen und barocken Kirchen verbirgt sich eine weit größere Geschichte:Graz war zeitweise eines der wichtigsten Machtzentren der Habsburger.In dieser Folge reisen wir in die steirische Hauptstadt und fragen: Warum muss man die Habsburger verstehen, wenn man Graz verstehen will?Im Mittelpunkt steht zunächst die Rolle von Graz als Residenzstadt Innerösterreichs. Nach der habsburgischen Länderteilung von 1379 wurde Graz zum politischen Zentrum für Steiermark, Kärnten und Krain. Aus einer regionalen Handelsstadt wurde ein Ort, an dem Verwaltung, Militär, Religion und europäische Machtpolitik zusammenliefen.Besonders prägend wurde Graz durch Ferdinand II. Der spätere Kaiser wurde 1578 in Graz geboren und von Jesuiten streng katholisch erzogen. Als Herrscher von Innerösterreich betrieb er eine konsequente Rekatholisierung seiner Länder. Viele seiner Überzeugungen nahm er später mit in die Reichspolitik. Der Dreißigjährige Krieg begann zwar in Prag – doch vorbereitet wurde er, zumindest teilweise, auch in Graz.Doch Graz erzählt nicht nur von Macht, Religion und Konflikt. Mit Erzherzog Johann begegnen wir einer ganz anderen Seite der Habsburger. Johann interessierte sich weniger für Hofzeremoniell als für Bildung, Landwirtschaft, Technik und die Lebensbedingungen der Menschen. Seine Liebe zu Anna Plochl machte ihn zusätzlich zur legendären Figur der Steiermark. Bis heute gilt er vielen als der beliebteste Habsburger dieser Region.Ein weiterer Schauplatz der Folge ist der Grazer Schlossberg. Über Jahrhunderte galt seine Festung als nahezu uneinnehmbar. Selbst Napoleon konnte sie militärisch nicht entscheidend bezwingen. Erst nach der österreichischen Niederlage von 1809 wurde ihre Schleifung politisch erzwungen. Dass Uhrturm und Glockenturm bis heute stehen, verdankt Graz seinen Bürgern, die ihre Wahrzeichen gewissermaßen freikauften.Diese Folge zeigt Graz als Stadt der Gegensätze: Residenz und Festung, Zentrum der Gegenreformation und Ort des Fortschritts, Schauplatz großer Politik und menschlicher Geschichten. Graz erzählt nicht nur österreichische Geschichte. Graz erzählt ein Stück europäische Geschichte.

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Dreifachhammer in der Qualifikation von Le Mans: Sowohl der Vorjahressieger von Ferrari als auch die beiden Peugeot 9x8 sind bereits an der ersten Hürde gescheitert – und bestreiten nun am Donnerstagabend nicht die Hyperpole, in der die ersten 15 Startplätze vergeben werden. Stattdessen sichert sich ein Adeliger aus dem Hause derer von Habsburg in einem Alpine – einem Auto also, das bislang noch nie etwas gerissen hat und Ende des Jahres aus der WM ausscheiden wird – überraschend die Bestzeit vor zwei LMDh aus den USA: zwei Cadillac. Wie ist die Zeitenjagd am Mittwochabend verlaufen? Woran ist Sieger-Ferraristi Phil Hanson gescheitert? Das erörtert Podcaster Norbert Ockenga, der Chef der Zeitschrift PITWALK, in diesem PITCAST. Und bei einer weiteren Liveschalte in die Box von Peugeot Sport bezieht Peugeot-Teamchef Emmanuel Esnault in seiner Analyse ausgiebig Stellung zum Ausscheiden der beiden Löwen-Wagen. Mehr zu den 24 Stunden von Le Mans steht auch in der neuen Ausgabe der Zeitschrift PITWALK: https://shop.pitwalk.de/magazin/127/ausgabe-84?c=6

Send us Fan MailHereditary monarchy seems like a ridiculous way to pick a leader, yet it dominates most of human political history. We argue the reason is transaction costs: succession systems survive when they settle “who rules next” cheaply enough to prevent recurring civil war. • Why hereditary monarchy is historically prevalent compared with democracy and universal suffrage • Why “divine right” stories often rationalize a choice people already find tolerable • Thomas Paine's critique of hereditary succession and what it misses • Hobbes on the state of nature as what happens when sovereignty is contested • Succession as the master coordination problem of political order • Transaction costs applied to elections, enforcement, legitimacy, and rent seeking • Why elective monarchy can become an armed auction for total power • Bright line rules versus discretionary selection and why speed can beat “better” • How constitutional design lowers the cost of leadership transition when it works • The legitimacy problem and why dynasties converge on endogamy • The genetic consequences of endogamy and the Habsburg cautionary tale • Twedges, book recommendation, and a listener letter on board game “math trades” LINKS:Thomas Paine, Common Sense, February 1776Michael Munger, The Ugly Pig, 20224A.P. Martinich, Thomas Hobbes:  A Biography, 1999.Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651.Neal Schultz, Suicide Kings: Hereditary Monarchy, 2025Tbadel Barter AppCosmos Institute, Coasian Bargaining at Scale, 2025 UPDATE: An interesting, and more clearly articulated, application of the reasoning here.... https://aminga.substack.com/p/how-transaction-cost-economics-explainsIf you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com !You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz 

Heute reisen wir nach Bratislava – oder genauer gesagt: nach Pressburg.Die heutige Hauptstadt der Slowakei war über Jahrhunderte hinweg einer der wichtigsten Orte der Habsburgermonarchie. Hier tagte der ungarische Landtag, hier wurden Könige gekrönt und hier entschied sich mehrfach das Schicksal Mitteleuropas.Im Mittelpunkt unserer Reise steht Maria Theresia. Als ihr Vater Karl VI. im Jahr 1740 stirbt, übernimmt die erst 23-jährige Erzherzogin ein gewaltiges Reich. Doch kaum sitzt sie auf dem Thron, greifen ihre Nachbarn nach dem habsburgischen Erbe.Preußen, Bayern, Frankreich und Sachsen wittern ihre Chance. Viele Beobachter sind überzeugt, dass die Monarchie vor dem Zusammenbruch steht.In dieser scheinbar aussichtslosen Situation reist Maria Theresia nach Pressburg. Dort sucht sie die Unterstützung der ungarischen Stände – und erlebt einen Moment, der in die Geschichte eingehen wird.„Vitam et sanguinem!“ – „Leben und Blut!“Der Ruf der Ungarn wird zu einem Symbol der Loyalität und markiert einen Wendepunkt im Österreichischen Erbfolgekrieg. Wir besuchen den Martinsdom, die Krönungskirche der ungarischen Könige, folgen dem historischen Krönungsweg durch die Altstadt und entdecken, warum Pressburg für fast 300 Jahre eine Schlüsselrolle in der Habsburgermonarchie spielte.Eine Folge über Macht, Loyalität, politische Inszenierung – und über eine junge Frau, die ein Imperium rettete.

In this episode of OPERA Road Trip, host Sebastian F. Schwarz turns to Belgium—a country whose operatic culture emerged at the crossroads of Europe's great linguistic and political traditions. From the Habsburg courts of Brussels and the French influence on eighteenth-century musical life to the revolutionary atmosphere surrounding Belgian independence in 1830, the episode traces how opera became deeply interwoven with the cultural identity of the young nation. At the centre of that story stands La Monnaie / De Munt—one of Europe's most influential opera houses and a leading force in contemporary music theatre today. The episode features a conversation with Christina Scheppelmann and composer Iain Bell, whose opera Medusa recently received its world premiere in Brussels. Together, they discuss the realities of commissioning new operas in the twenty-first century, the collaboration between institutions and composers, and the importance of understanding the human voice not merely as a dramatic medium, but as one of the composer's central instruments. Special thanks to Iain Bell, La Monnaie / De Munt and Palazzetto Bru Zane for their support and participation in this episode.   Opera Road Trip is hosted by Sebastian F. Schwarz who is Casting Director of Milan's Teatro alla Scala and whose curriculum as an opera manager includes CEO and Artistic Director and Administrator positions at Theater an der Wien, Glyndebourne, Teatro Regio Torino, Festival della Valle d'Itria, Hamburgische Staatsoper and Wexford Festival Opera. He is Vice-president of the International Richard Strauss Society, member of the board of the European Musical Theatre Academy and co-founder of the Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera. All episodes: https://operavision.eu/features/opera-road-trip Music extracts for this episode: Introduction: Fidelio (Beethoven): Overture, op. 72 Ecerpts from Thésée (Francois-Joseph Gossec): Virginie Pochon, Les Agrémens, Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Guy van Waas Ecerpts from the duet "De ton epoux voila donc le partage" from La Caravane de Caïre (André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry): Katia Velletaz, Cyrille Dubois, Les Agrémens, Guy van Waas   Ecerpt from the Ouverture from Medusa (Iain Bell): Marie-Nicole Lemieux, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Michiel Delanghe   Excerpt from an Aria of Medusa from Medusa (Iain Bell): Claudia Boyle, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra, Michiel Delanghe Bonus Music: Excerpt from a duet from Hulda (César Franck): Jennifer Holloway, Edgaras Montvidas, Orchestre Philhamonique Royal de Liège, Gergely Madaras   Link to the recorded catalogue of rediscovered works published by Palazzetto Bru Zane: https://bru-zane.com/en/dischi/ OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme.   Watch live streams as the performances themselves unfold in the opera house. Enjoy a variety of shows - including opera, operetta, musical theatre, dance, ballet and concerts. Opera connaisseur or curious newcomer, there is something for everyone on OperaVision.

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/drugs-addiction-and-recovery

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals of the war and of the subsequent violent breakup of the Habsburg, German, and Ottoman empires magnified longstanding fears that an increasingly interconnected world offered the enterprising and unscrupulous new opportunities to break the law and evade capture. New kinds of international criminals and criminal enterprises demanded novel forms of international cooperation. Thus was born the International Criminal Police Commission, known today as Interpol. In the 1920s and 1930s, Interpol's police officials and the lawyers who collaborated with them created lasting programs to combat counterfeiting, sex and drug trafficking, terrorism, and human smuggling, and other forms of international crime, which they labelled "a scourge of humanity." Drawing on press reports, police files, and criminal records in numerous languages and across multiple countries, in A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2025), Dr. David Petruccelli explores the origins of Interpol and the role Central and Eastern European actors played in developing criminal policing and law during the interwar period to bring stability to their region and reshape international institutions and norms. He shows how legal experts replaced a liberal focus on individual rights with an emphasis on a collective of international societies and of police officers who looked to the international sphere as a space for eluding the constraints of the rule of law at home. In doing so, their initiatives posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programs pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans and laid the groundwork for more radical forms of persecution during the Second World War. While bringing to life the stories of individuals involved in shady activities across borders, A Scourge of Humanity explores the vigorous policing and harsh criminal laws established by Interpol to combat their crimes and highlights illiberal forms of internationalism that have left a lasting mark on our world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we celebrate the topping out of the Habsburg empire. By the middle of the 16th century it reached its furthest extent as a political entity ruled by one man. Over the last 42 episodes we have seen this family of minor counts playing their game of snakes and ladders until they had amassed lordships over Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and large parts of Italy. Today we look at how they finally got hold of the last bits, Bohemia and Hungary.The story features a dutiful younger brother, the most cruel execution I have ever heard of, a foolish duke and an even more foolish king, the collapse of a kingdom, a love story and the reason for the incessant Habsburg inbreeding. I hope that will be enough to fill the last episode of this season.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

On May 4, President Trump issued a proclamation which reads: In special honor of 250 glorious years of American independence and on the weekend of Rededicate 250—a national jubilee of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving—Jewish Americans are encouraged to observe a national Sabbath. From sundown on May 15 to nightfall on May 16, friends, families, and communities of all backgrounds may come together in gratitude for our great Nation. This day will recognize the sacred Jewish tradition of setting aside time for rest, reflection, and gratitude to the Almighty.  It is worth pausing on what an astonishing thing that is. For most of Jewish history, when the most powerful ruler in the world turned his attention to the Jews, it was not to encourage their devotion to Jewish law. It was to constrain the Jews, to tax them, to suppress them, to expel them, or to put an end to the miraculous story of the Jews in history. So did Pharaoh, Antiochus, Hadrian, the kings of England and Spain, and the tsars. Even more benign monarchs—the Habsburg emperors, or Napoleon—conditioned the protections of civic life on the Jews giving up some of their distinctiveness. America is exceptional. And now, in the year of America's 250th birthday, the incumbent of the most powerful office on earth has issued a formal proclamation encouraging the Jews to be more Jewish. To discuss this momentous occurrence, Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver is joined by the historian, writer, former government official, and Washington insider Tevi Troy, who recently wrote an article titled, "A National Sabbath for American Jews." The article appeared on May 14, 2026 in the Wall Street Journal, and is the point of departure for today's discussion.

We are coming closer to the end of our series on the Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg. We have seen the reconsolidation of Austria, the acquisition of Burgundy, the inheritance of Spain and today, we will look at the last stages of the Italian wars. This conflict, kicked off by king Charles VIII in 1494 had given “rise to changes of dominions, subversion of kingdoms, desolation of countries, destruction of cities and the cruellest massacres, but also new fashions, new customs, new and bloody ways of waging warfare, and diseases which had been unknown to that time”. Many players of this game had exited stage left and it was now just France and the Habsburgs in various alliances with the remaining Italian powers, who fought for control. The War of the League of Cognac, 1526 to 1530 was when brutality reached its zenith with the Sacco di Roma, the Sack of Rome that brought back the specter of the Vandals.A lot of drama to get through.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

Send us Fan MailWe're joined by American expat resident Cherie Siebert to trace Vienna from its Habsburg-scale grandeur to its everyday pleasures. Vienna can feel like a living museum and a laid-back neighborhood on the same afternoon. We talk through how easy it is to get around on foot and by public transportation, where palace areas like Hofburg, Schönbrunn, and the Belvedere fit into a real day, and why seasonal markets mix architecture, craft, and local tradition. From St Stephen's Cathedral's tower and crypt to the surprising places where Roman ruins appear under your feet, Vienna keeps handing you history.Then we follow the sound. Cherie shares her favorite place to hear classical music, the Musikverein Golden Hall, plus the pull of the Vienna State Opera. As for art, the city's deep museum bench, including Gustav Klimt's iconic “The Kiss.” We also make room for the city's hard truths, including Holocaust memorial reminders found by simply wandering the center.To round it out, we get into Vienna coffeehouse culture, where to skip long tourist lines, why locals treat cake and coffee as a ritual, and how wine bars and nearby wine inns expand the food story. We also cover parks, Danube swimming spots, the Prater Ferris wheel at night, and easy day trips by train to Salzburg, the Wachau Valley, Bratislava, Budapest, and even Prague. If you enjoyed this, subscribe, and share the episode with a fellow traveler.**Cherie Siebert is an expat who lives in and loves Vienna. She is a teacher, jewelry maker, traveler and life-lover. Find her at artsfish@me.com Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember  (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and  'one of the top 100 Indie books of  the year'). She has contributed to dozens of guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles. Read her weekly essays on Substack._____Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has produced over 130 travel episodes! New episodes drop on the first Tuesday of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. All episodes are also on her website: placesirememberlealane.com_____Travel vlogs of featured  podcasts-- with video and graphics -- now also drop on YouTube.  

Born during a ball in Ghent on 24 February 1500, Charles of Habsburg would grow up to rule an empire stretching from the Philippines to Prague and from Lima to Lauwersoog. But who was the man behind one of history's most powerful titles — and how did an unremarkable teenager come to be elected Holy Roman Emperor?In this episode, we explore the remarkable — and often dysfunctional — upbringing of Charles V. Raised like an orphan in the Burgundian Netherlands while his mother Joanna of Castile was confined at Tordesillas, Charles was shaped by two very different mentors: the theologian Adrian of Utrecht, who introduced him to Erasmus and laid the groundwork for his complex relationship with the Reformation, and William de Croy, Lord of Chièvres, who drilled into him the discipline of statecraft.We examine how Charles' worldview was rooted in Burgundian chivalric tradition, why his advisors kept him politically cautious in his early reign, and how the death of his grandfather Maximilian I in 1519 forced him to step up and fight for the imperial crown against the formidable Francis I of France.We also cover the extraordinary financial muscle of banker Jakob Fugger, the crucial diplomatic role of Margaret of Austria, and how a brief stop in Dover to visit Henry VIII helped prevent a Franco-English alliance that could have derailed everything at the Field of Cloth of Gold.Topics covered in this episode:Charles V's childhood in Mechelen and his education under Adrian of Utrecht and Lord ChièvresThe Burgundian chivalric culture that shaped his worldviewThe death of Maximilian I and the scramble for the imperial election of 1519The role of the Fugger banking dynasty in funding Charles' election campaignThe Field of Cloth of Gold and Habsburg diplomacy with Henry VIIIThe coronation at Aachen in October 1520 and what it meant for the future of the Holy Roman EmpirePlus: an update on upcoming episodes and a summer break announcement.

How did a woman rise to power, and keep it, in the fiercely male-dominated Habsburg Empire?From her distrust of the Enlightenment to her religious intolerance, and from family strategy to imperial power, Maria Theresa was a remarkable ruler driven by discipline, faith, dynastic ambition, and political will.Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger to discover how Maria Theresa held together a fractured empire, confronted war and court politics, and reshaped Europe.MOREHabsburg Women: Matriarchs of PowerListen on AppleListen on SpotifyWhen Women Ruled the Low CountriesListen on AppleListen on SpotifyPresented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcastSign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The last decade of emperor Maximilian's reign was overshadowed by all three challenges to the emerging Habsburg empire gaining strength. The Ottoman empire was piling on resources by taking over Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. A vigorous new king of France, Francois I was turning the tide in the incessant Italian wars into his favor. And finally the greatest of threats to the dynasty emerged as the Prince Electors were contemplating to raise that self-same Francois I to the imperial title.In this episode we will look at how the prematurely aged and exhausted emperor tried to shield his grandsons Charles and Ferdinand from the ton of bricks that was coming down on them. And we will look at his last days and legacy. Clocking in at 18 episodes, Maximilian did achieve one of his objectives in life, outpacing the great emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Let's find out whether he did this only in terms of number of HotGPod episodes, or in other ways too.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

These last dozen or so episodes we have examined the genesis of two of the three major strategic preoccupations of the Habsburg empire, the rivalry with the French kings and the relationship with the imperial princes. Today we will look at the build-up of the third major strategic challenge to the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottomans. One can argue, and many have, that the threat of an Ottoman invasion in the 1520s and 1530s prevented the emperor Charles V from clamping down on the protestants in the empire. By the time the border had been stabilised and the Habsburgs could focus again on the religious and political changes in the German lands, it was too late to reverse events. There is an element of irony here that I will refrain from elaborating on.When Constantinople fell in 1453, the Christian nations of Western Europe assumed that they could regain the ancient capital of Byzantium and even Jerusalem if only they were united under the crusading banner. By the time Suleiman the Magnificent appeared before Belgrade in 1521, that had become inconceivable. The Christian nations, and in particular the Habsburgs were on their back foot.So, what had happened in these 70 years that made the Ottoman armies appear unbeatable?The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

You have almost certainly seen the image in today's episode artwork before. It is a family portrait showing Maximilian, his first wife Marie of Burgundy, his son, Philip the Handsome and three children. When Bernhard Strigel painted this image in around the year 1516, Philip the Handsome was already dead for 10 years and Marie of Burgundy had gone more than 30 years before. Then there are the inscriptions over the heads of these well-known and easily identifiable figures. There is a lot of Habsburg chin on show here. But they do not describe Maximilian as emperor, but as Cleophas, blood brother of Joseph, husband of the divine Virgin Mary, Marie of Burgundy is Mary Cleophas, sister of the Virgin Mary, and Philip the Handsome as James the Lesser, apostle and son of the other two. Two of the three little boys are named as Joseph the Just and Simon the Zealot, the cousin of the lord. Who are these saints? Well they do appear in the bible, so they are real, but in very minor roles. One of them was even rejected as an apostle. But they do have something special, they are Jesus' aunt, uncle, nephews and cousin. And since he had died without offspring, his heirs. So this is a picture about succession and inheritance, not necessarily about family love.Ok, making the emperor the brother in law of Joseph is quite odd already, but let's talk about the three children. They were all alive when this picture was painted and roughly the age they are depicted as. The one in the middle is Charles, the future emperor Charles V. And the little boy cuddling up to Maximilian is his brother Ferdinand, the future emperor Ferdinand I., again identified as holy nephew and cousin. But who is the third child? Well, that is Louis, the future king Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, son of king Vladislav II and his French wife Anne de Foix. So no close blood relation. What does he do in one of the most famous Habsburg family portraits? It must have something to do with succession and inheritance.That is indeed what we are going to talk about today. Little Louis will be the key to the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this agglomeration of lands centered around Austria, Czechia and Hungary that stayed or was made to stay together for nearly 400 years.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

Artificial intelligence or the pandemics were two recent crises framed as almost magical non-human actors. They both reshaped the boundaries of human agency. By now,the language explaining them is often one of rupture and unprecedented transformation. AI or COVID-19 were described as opaque, autonomous and difficult to control. Yet the fear of the non-human as a destabilising force is not new. What we would like to pinpoint in our series it that societies, when confronted with such moments of rupture, authorize forms of exclusion and violence based on (ir)rationalism.Our focus throughout this series will fall on the vampire and witchcraft epidemics. European societies once confronted witches, revenants and vampires as threats to moral and political order. These figures emerged at moments ofepidemic disease, religious fracture and institutional weakness. They explained crisis. This new dossier revisits those episodes of collective anxiety. Whilst the differences between AI, pandemics and zombies, witches and undead are substantial, these moments reveal the fragile boundary between the rational state and collective hysteria. The imagery resulted can be a fine barometer ofthe how states respond when agency seems to escape human control or what mechanisms of blame, purification and boundary-drawing are activated.In our third podcast, we host Ádám Mézes, with whom we discuss the fascinating topic of vampire contagion in the Habsburg Empire and its broader impact on the history of science. As in the earlier conversation with Kateryna Dysa on witchcraft trials, the discussion begins with a deceptively simple question: what exactly is a vampire, and who has the authority to define it? The first clear definition of vampires in the Habsburg lands comes from a medical report written in 1732. It describes the vampire as “a returning dead, a revenant, a physical corpse that (…) it is also to spread its condition to its victims”, asour guest emphasizes. Because Ádám Mézes focuses on the Habsburg case, most of the written sources he uses come from medical personnel and members of the clergy. These reports were mediated through translators and shaped by theconceptual frameworks of imperial officials. Many of them interpreted the unfamiliar beliefs through the categories of Catholic demonology. Thus, religious confessions played an essential role in defining vampires. The conversation then moves to the specific political and epidemiological context of the Habsburg military frontier, which strongly influenced the perception about vampires. Officials stationed along the frontier were trained to watch for signs of contagious disease. When several unexplained deaths occurred in the same village, suspicion quickly spread. As John Blair emphasized in our first podcast of this series, reports of vampires often emerged as a possible explanation for the sudden wave of deaths.In an ironic twist, the focus on vampires had an important effect on scientific investigation. Mézes brings the examples of two physicians who exhumed and dissected bodies suspected of being vampires. At that time, systematic research on human bodies was morally and legally constrained. However, by observing cases of suspected vampirism, such physicians could produce empirical insightsabout the human body and the process of decay. Our discussion concludes with possible avenues for future research. Our guest emphasizes that primary sources in Orthodox and Catholic monastic archives, as well as administrative records, still require investigation. In turn, thehistorians should move away from the literary stereotypes created in the 18th and 19th centuries and focus instead on reconstructing the complex social worlds in which the figure of the vampire first took shape.

The late eighteenth century history was a time in Europe when a brilliant old world collapsed and raucous new one rose to replace it. In this episode the biographer Veronica Buckley explains how the Hapsburgs, one of the great European families, responded to this revolutionary change. It was a stern challenge but inspired by one of the great matriarchs in European history, Empress Maria Theresia, her son Emperor Joseph II, his successor Leopold and their sister, Marie Antoinette, reacted as best they could in that perilous year, 1790. Veronica Buckley is the author of Seven Sisters: Captives and Rebels in Revolutionary Europe's First Family Read an in-depth article about this story on Unseen Histories. Show notes Scene One: 20 February 1790, Emperor Joseph II dies in Vienna Scene Two: October 1790, The French revolutionary Comte de Mirabeau meets with Emperor Leopold II in Frankfurt to discuss a possible intervention in France. Scene Three: November 1790, The Habsburg imperial family arrives in Pressburg for Leopold's coronation as King of Hungary. Memento: A piece of elegant jewellery belonging to Marie Christine. People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore Guest: Veronica Buckley Production: Maria Nolan Theme music: Firelight by Minka / Mozart - Piano Sonata in B-flat major, III. Allegretto Grazioso performed by Brendan Kinsella

In this episode of Gem Pursuit, we tell the extraordinary story of one of history's greatest lost diamonds - the legendary Florentine. A pale yellow diamond of almost 140 carats, the Florentine passed through some of Europe's most powerful dynasties, from the Medici family to the Habsburg emperors, before disappearing in the chaos that followed the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For more than a century, its fate remained one of the great unsolved mysteries in gem history. Was it stolen, recut, or lost forever? Now, after over 100 years in the shadows, the Florentine has resurfaced - and its survival opens a new chapter in a story shaped by empire, exile, war and inheritance. In this episode, Matthew Weldon and Fenia Sigkoudi explore the stone's disputed origins, its links to the Mughal world, its place in the Habsburg treasury, and the remarkable events that led to its rediscovery. This is part three of our ongoing diamond series. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you're subscribed wherever you listen, and if you have a moment, please rate and review the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. www.courtville.ie Get social with Courtville, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok This podcast was produced for Courtville by Tape Deck

Fleeing from janissaries, the party leaves Menedék a final time and sets off in the general direction of Zipser. Along the way, they come across an old witch in a hut who offers them what they desire most in life. Afterwards, they find a ruined cottage and rest for a week. Eventually, the party arrives in a semi-abandoned village, where they're given news of the Habsburg soldiers and learn of a shortcut to Zipser.   

Sean McCann is invited to William Ramsey's podcast to discuss the most powerful order of knights in all history. The Order of the Golden Fleece was started to consolidate power maintaining the peak of power for centuries. The Habsburg family and the Holy roman Empire were one and they sit as the leaders of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Members of the order still maintain power today. They even created the Bilderberg conference. An integral piece of information for all of us to know.Find William Ramsey here:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.williamramseyinvestigates.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/william-ramsey-investigates/id1388815042⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.williamramseyinvestigates.com/store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Please donate to Wake the Dead!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onegreatworknetwork.com/sean-mccann/donate/⁠⁠⁠⁠BTC (bitcoin) address: 3Ptmi463Pu6HH1duop7rCKaxBriQkb4ina⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wakethedead⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/seanmccannabis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit Wake the Dead's store!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://wakethedead.creator-spring.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Find Sean McCann on X:⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/SeanWakeTheDead⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Wake the Dead telegram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/wakethedeadpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Find Wake the Dead on Discord:⁠https://discord.gg/W6fDghnf

“Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube" – ‘Let others wage war; thou, happy Austria, marry' is one of the few terms that almost anyone with a cursory interest in European history knows, only rivalled by the Voltaire quote thou shall not utter in my presence ever. It evokes the image of a handsome alpine boy full of charm and apple strudel wooing some princess into peacefully handing over the richest lands is Europe. And this narrative of peaceful transition to a benign dynasty is another one of the great propaganda successes of the house of Habsburg.The saying was attributed to Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary who had once occupied Vienna, then to the humanist Ulrich von Hutten, but first evidence of its use dates back to 1654, more than 150 years after the famous marriages that made an empire. From 1680 it was read out at Habsburg weddings to emphasise the peaceful nature of its rulers.It definitely did not originate in the days of Maximilian I when all these dynastic alliances were formed and bore fruit. Talking about gentle and peaceful transition was preposterous against the backdrop of a 15 -year long war over the succession to the grand Dukes of Burgundy, and the roller coaster ride that is today's topic, the way the Habsburgs acquired the crown of Spain.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

IIs the Middle East really experiencing its own version of the Thirty Years' War? It's a comparison that shows up occasionally in foreign policy debates. But does the analogy actually hold up?On this episode of The More Freedom Foundation Podcast, host Rob Morris takes a closer look at the popular claim that today's Middle Eastern conflicts resemble Europe's devastating seventeenth-century religious wars. Drawing on insights from the books America's Middle East: The Ruination of a Region and State and Society in Europe, 1550–1650, the episode examines both the appeal and the limits of the “modern Thirty Years' War” comparison.Rather than simply accepting the analogy, Rob explores a different historical lens: the political role played by the House of Habsburg during Europe's long period of upheaval. In early modern Europe, the Habsburg imperial system often positioned itself as both stabilizer and participant in ongoing conflicts across the continent. The episode asks whether the United States has played a similarly complicated role in the Middle East—shaping regional struggles, backing rival factions, and operating within a system where instability can sometimes serve strategic interests.In this episode:• Why commentators compare the Middle East to the Thirty Years' War• What historians say about state power and conflict in early modern Europe• How the Habsburgs navigated—and sometimes prolonged—continental wars• Whether U.S. involvement in the Middle East fits into a broader pattern of imperial politics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we turn our attention away from the Western Front and towards a often-neglected combatant of the First World War: the Austro-Hungarian Empire.When we think of military incompetence in the Great War, our minds typically turn to the Western Front—to Haig, to Passchendaele, to the "lions led by donkeys" thesis. But the Habsburg army, which fought the Russians and the Italians across vast and challenging theaters, offers an even starker case study in structural weakness and strategic fantasy.Drawing on Alexander Watson's superb *Ring of Steel*, we examine the multiple deficiencies that plagued the Dual Monarchy's forces in July 1914. The problems began with manpower. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a patchwork of nations and ethnicities, and loyalty to the Habsburg crown varied dramatically. In the German-speaking west, draft evasion stood at just 3%. In the Czech lands, it rose to 6-7.3%. Among Hungarians—still nursing grievances from 1848—over a quarter ignored their summons. And in Galicia and the South Slav lands, where illiteracy was high and irredentist movements simmered, more than one third of men failed to present themselves for service. Many had simply emigrated to America.But the deficiencies went far deeper than manpower. The army was desperately short of modern artillery. Its divisions had fewer guns than their Russian counterparts, and two-thirds of those were obsolete—bronze-barrelled pieces without recoil mechanisms or protective shields. Ammunition stocks were around half those of other great powers. The logistical infrastructure—barracks, depots, railways—was wholly inadequate for the expansion war would require.Perhaps most fatally, the army's tactical doctrine was frozen in the nineteenth century. The Chief of Staff, Conrad von Hötzendorf, was regarded as a genius within the officer corps. His 1890 manual on tactics remained gospel a quarter of a century later. He believed that "energy, decisiveness and action" could overcome firepower, that infantry could win "even without support from other weapons" through "unbendable steadfastness of will." Foreign observers watching pre-war manoeuvres were appalled: officers standing upright behind firing lines, troops advancing in close formations, a complete obliviousness to terrain. The German military attaché's verdict was damning: mere cannon fodder.The Central Powers' war plan demanded the impossible of both Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Germans were asked to defeat France in six weeks. The Austro-Hungarians were asked to hold the Russian army while simultaneously invading Serbia. Neither task was remotely achievable with the forces and doctrine available.**Topics covered:**- The multi-ethnic challenge of Habsburg recruitment- Draft evasion rates across the empire- Emigration and the loss of potential soldiers- Material shortages: artillery, ammunition, infrastructure- Conrad's tactical doctrine and the cult of the offensive- Comparisons with Russian military incompetence- The gap between strategic ambition and operational realityExplaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After having found a bizarre bell and a captured peasant woman next to a burned-out chapel in a clearing, the party's interactions with the Habsburg soldiers encamped there turns violent. The situation gets even darker when everyone discovers for whom the bell tolls.

Want to know What meal ended the House of Habsburg and was said by Voltaire to have changed the destiny of Europe? The risks associated with foraging, and what milk thistle might be an antidote for? Listen to find out!Send a text

Prague entered the First World War as the third city of the Habsburg empire, but emerged in 1918 as the capital of a brand new nation-state, Czechoslovakia. In Streetscapes of War and Revolution: Prague, 1914–1920 (Cambridge UP, 2024), Dr. Claire Morelon explores what this transition looked, sounded and felt like at street level. Through deep archival research, she has carefully reconstructed the sensorial texture of the city, from the posters plastered on walls, to the shop windows' displays, the badges worn by passers-by, and the crowds gathering for protest or celebration. The result is both an atmospheric account of life amid war and regime change, and a fresh interpretation of imperial collapse from below, in which the experience of life on the Habsburg home-front is essential to understanding the post-Versailles world order that followed. Prague is the perfect case study for examining the transition from empire to nation-statehood, hinging on revolutionary dreams of fairer distribution and new forms of political participation. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Prague entered the First World War as the third city of the Habsburg empire, but emerged in 1918 as the capital of a brand new nation-state, Czechoslovakia. In Streetscapes of War and Revolution: Prague, 1914–1920 (Cambridge UP, 2024), Dr. Claire Morelon explores what this transition looked, sounded and felt like at street level. Through deep archival research, she has carefully reconstructed the sensorial texture of the city, from the posters plastered on walls, to the shop windows' displays, the badges worn by passers-by, and the crowds gathering for protest or celebration. The result is both an atmospheric account of life amid war and regime change, and a fresh interpretation of imperial collapse from below, in which the experience of life on the Habsburg home-front is essential to understanding the post-Versailles world order that followed. Prague is the perfect case study for examining the transition from empire to nation-statehood, hinging on revolutionary dreams of fairer distribution and new forms of political participation. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Prague entered the First World War as the third city of the Habsburg empire, but emerged in 1918 as the capital of a brand new nation-state, Czechoslovakia. In Streetscapes of War and Revolution: Prague, 1914–1920 (Cambridge UP, 2024), Dr. Claire Morelon explores what this transition looked, sounded and felt like at street level. Through deep archival research, she has carefully reconstructed the sensorial texture of the city, from the posters plastered on walls, to the shop windows' displays, the badges worn by passers-by, and the crowds gathering for protest or celebration. The result is both an atmospheric account of life amid war and regime change, and a fresh interpretation of imperial collapse from below, in which the experience of life on the Habsburg home-front is essential to understanding the post-Versailles world order that followed. Prague is the perfect case study for examining the transition from empire to nation-statehood, hinging on revolutionary dreams of fairer distribution and new forms of political participation. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

This week, we're kicking off a two-part series on Charlotte of Belgium (sometimes known as Carlota of Mexico) while sipping on a Ranch Water. In Part One, we meet Charlotte as a beloved child turned purpose-driven young woman, then follow her whirlwind courtship with Archduke Maximilian of Austria and her arrival at the rigid Habsburg court. If that court sounds familiar, it's because we've been here before — this is the same world that made life miserable for Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi), married to Emperor Franz Joseph. Charlotte, however, seems to understand the assignment, quickly becoming everything a Habsburg princess is supposed to be… even as her marriage quietly begins to unravel. From whispered affairs in Italy to a voyage that breaks her marriage beyond repair, Charlotte's story takes a sharp, devastating turn. And just when it seems like things couldn't get worse, a knock at the door offers an unexpected — and dangerous — new role: Empress of Mexico. Cheers

What's not to love about John Henderson's 1996 family adventure, Loch Ness? Hannah, Mick, and Jen have no notes. Okay, they have a few. Like what kind of academic specialism has you hunting mythical creatures? What would a Habsburg prehistoric sea-beast look like? How hot is fixing a tap? And what's Rod Stewart's big beef? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world is a-changing. Maximilian I may still dream of the medieval universal empire where he will lead Christendom in an epic crusade to expel the Turks from the European mainland, even reconquering Jerusalem. Meanwhile his main adversary, king Charles VIII of France unleashed the fury of war in Italy, kicking off a struggle that would last for 50 years and replaced the medieval world of popes and emperors with a system based on the balance of powers.In the near term, this expedition to conquer the kingdom of Naples triggered not only the outbreak of Syphilis, but also the double marriage between Habsburg and Spain that Maximilian did not want, but ended up being the second of the three marriages that created an empire.Lots to get through, none of it boring..The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season. So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the Reformation

After 13 years of fighting in the Low Countries, Maximilian, the newly elected king of the Roman, returns home to a rammed full inbox. There is his cousin, the dissolute count Sigismund of Tyrol who is about to sell out the family fortune to the dukes of Bavaria. The king of Hungary is still occupying Vienna – and there is a new heiress out on the market, Anne of Brittanny.Some of the issues he tackles together with his now seriously elderly father, the emperor Friedrich III, others are very much his own tasks. In the process Friedrich creates a structurally new political entity, the Swabian League, Maximilian builds a relationship with Jakob Fugger, the money man who will grease the cogs of the Habsburg empire, and once again they fight, one battle after another.And despite tremendous success, this period from 1489 to 1493, ends with some epic humiliation, not in war, but in love. “No man on earth has ever been disgraced as I have been at the hands of the French” is how he summarised it.Come along and watch as the plot thickens.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season. So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic Knights

In this episode the 15-year long war over the Burgundian succession will come to its end. You may have thought it was done last time, but no. The revolutionary spirit of the Flemish cities is not yet broken and their most audacious move is still to come. And this time they are not going up against an archduke and regent, but against a newly elected king of the Romans.Maximilian of Habsburg's experience in Burgundy swung between moments of utter delight and happiness and depths of death, destruction and despair. It shaped this young duke who arrived aged 18 full of dreams of chivalry and left, aged 31 an battle hardened general with a clear view of where he wanted to take the empire. Get ready for the ultimate roller coaster.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season. So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the Reformation

The words High and Late Middle Ages conjures up images of fog rising up over a field where knights in shining armor are trading blows with double handed swords, mighty bishops overseeing the construction of monumental cathedrals and peasants toiling on the land as serfs. The reason we see it that way goes back to the chivalric literature that celebrated the aristocratic lifestyle where tournaments and poetry mattered more than the humdrum world of business.But let's just take a look back at the High Middle Ages, the time of Richard the Lionheart, Saint Louis and Frederick Barbarossa. Who controlled access to the great endeavor of the time, the conquest of the Holy Land? Who re-opened up the connections to the wider world, from Novgorod to India and China? Who were the most ferocious fighters who neither expected norgranted any quarter? Who had all the money?These were the great cities of Italy, of Flanders, of Picardie and Provence and of the Holy Roman Empire. Verona under the Della Scala in the 14th century generated tax revenues twice as high as those of England, Venice capacity was sixty percent of what France could generate. And these cities fielded armies that, as we know, defeated the Holy Roman Emperors, even the most capable ones like Barbarossa and Frederick II time and time again. Their absolute dedication to fight to the end was evidenced by their extremely heavy and slow war carts, the Carroccios and by the bravery of the Flemish Militia at the Battle of the Golden Spurs. And the first European since Roman times to make to India and China wasn't a Knight errant, but a Venetian merchant, nor were the vast lands on the Eastern side of the continent linked up by military force. The crusades, the grand project of the age was as much a venetian mercantile adventure as a religious pilgrimage, culminating in the sack of Constantinople in 1204. What happened? Where did all these city states go? And why?That is what we are going to discuss today, when we look at the showdown between Maximilian of Habsburg, widower of the last duchess of Burgundy and father of Philip, the universally recognised heir of the Low Countries and the Flemish cities, and specifically its largest, the city of Ghent.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts....