When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Korean War #44: Talking & Fighting

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Episode 44: Talking & Fighting picks up from last time with the Korean peace process, as the allies managed to sit down at last and talk face to face with the communists, at a place called Kaesong. As we’ll discover, getting the communists to sit and talk with them was only half the battle. The Chinese and North Koreans were well equipped to turn even the most genuine peace initiative into a great propaganda victory. When they weren’t applying their own brand of spin to the l...

Korean War #43: Peace Talks, Almost

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Episode 43: Peace Talks, Almost presents the situation on the frontlines as it stood in spring 1951, following some promising offensives by General Ridgeway which effectively crushed the Chinese capacity to launch another great offensive again. This incapacitation of the Chinese by no means meant that the communists were ready to roll over; indeed, the Chinese were still determined to hold on. As the allies crossed the 38th parallel for the second time, indeed, there was no genuine d...

Korean War #42: So Long, Old Soldier

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Episode 42: So Long Old Soldier bids farewell to General MacArthur in a podcast experience which has to be heard to be believed! Before we get to the point that MacArthur stood before Congress and gave that rousing farewell speech on 19th April 1951 though, we have to detail how it was that the relationship between President and General deteriorated to such a point that both parted ways. It was not, predictably enough, MacArthur’s choice. Yet, for a myriad of reasons, including Mac...

Korean War #41: Adored No More

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

Korean War #40: Shock & Awe

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

1956 Episode 2.4: Britain Bitten

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Episode 2.4: Britain Bitten, continues the narrative of an embarrassed and dissatisfied Britain butting its head against Egyptian stubbornness. In this episode we see what kind of Government Anthony Eden led, and how he shook it up, or failed to shake it up, after he assumed the premiership in spring 1955. Anthony may have deserved his turn, but he would quickly exhaust the sense of goodwill he had built up over the years. In spite of his reputation for integrity and bravery when sta...

Korean War #39: 'An Entirely New War'

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Truman continues to set up his General, as the allied soldiers wander into the consequences on the Manchurian border...

Episode 39: ‘An Entirely New War’ focuses on that moment in the conflict when the Chinese finally pulled the trigger and invaded in massive force between late October and late November 1950. After months of diplomatic manoeuvring, Mao Zedong seemed to finally have had enough and believed that the moment had come to act in force. T...

1956 Episode 2.3: Egyptian Conniption

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We're back with the first proper exclusive episode of 1956 part 2 - it's time to sink our teeth into some early 1950's Middle East diplomacy!

Episode 2.3: Egyptian Conniption, is a tale of Victorian Era attitudes and ludicrously delusional memorandums. As the British government underwent a change and waved goodbye to great old men like Churchill, it was clear at the same time that this new government had no intention of changing its imperial tune. Egyp...

Korean War #38: The Perfect Scapegoat

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Truman serves up MacArthur, and contrary to popular imagination, it was not the General, but the President, who schemed in the background - at least at this stage...

Episode 38: The Perfect Scapegoat introduces one of the most infamous aspects of the Korean War narrative to you guys – that insufferable tension between President and General which would eventually lead to the dismissal of the latter and harsh criticism of the former. It was a difficult...

Korean War #37: Burning Chinese

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Episode 37: Burning Chinese takes our story back a bit to late September, in roughly the same timeframe we covered in the last episode, to examine how the American policy was developed as the Chinese became ever more pressed to involve themselves. The official picture in Washington and among the UN allies, and of course in General MacArthur’s mind, was that no matter what they publicly said, the Chinese would not, could not intervene, and that thus, all evidence to the contrary was...

Korean War #36: Ordering Chinese

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Episode 36: Ordering Chinese picks up from the last episode, this time from the perspective of the Chinese, as in late September they were clearly faced with something of a quandary. Stalin was ramping up his campaign to urge the Chinese to intervene, and in response, the Chinese claimed that since Kim Il-sung had yet to ask for help, Beijing could not give it. Stalin thus set to work engineering his plan into motion, and ensuring that the North Koreans would indeed ask for help. It ...

1956 Episode 2.2: Suez, A Life

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There's plenty more where this came from! Make sure you tune in next month for episodes 2.3 and 2.4! Thanksss!

Episode 2.2: Suez, A Life examines that critical actor in the Suez Crisis… No I’m not just talking about the British, I’m also talking about the Suez Canal! A French investment opportunity, an ancient idea, and a British masterstroke, discover in this episode how this waterway became so monumentally important for British imperial interes...

1956 Episode 2.1: Bitter French Pills

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First – ask yourself, do you love history?

Second – answer yes, and have a listen to us here, as we unpack the Suez Crisis, in 21 easy steps!

For everyone, episodes 2.1 and 2.2 are out now, but for those Patrons at the $5 level and above, 1956 is about to get very interesting indeed! For the rest of the year we’ll be hitting you with the run up to, outbreak of and consequences of the SUEZ CRISIS. If you’ve been holding off from being a Patron up to now, then I can...

1956 Part 2: Introduction

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For Patrons, because of Patrons...

It's because of your much appreciated support that I'm able to invest my time into series like these. You guys are the best, and all of this quality stuff over the next year is dedicated to you.

After an interesting prelude, we are finally ready to tackle the main event of our series - the Suez Crisis. In this introductory episode, we explain what's in store, who to prepare for, what we...

Korean War #35: Up In Flames

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

Episode 35...

30YearsWar: 17th Century Warfare Episode 7

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

The adoption of the musket on...

1956 Part 1: Conclusion

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It's time we wrapped up this incredible story history friends, so I hope you'll join me for our final thoughts on this very gloomy episode in history. It's been quite a journey and I have learned so much. We have seen above all that the story of the Cold War is populated by so many experiences and stories, and that to ignore these is to ignore what made that struggle so painful and important. Thanksss for joining me for it all, and I look forward to seeing all for part 2!

Korean War #34: Building Inchon

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Episode 34: Building Inchon examines the extensive diplomatic and political preparation which the Truman administration engaged with in the weeks before MacArthur’s landing at Inchon on 15th September 1950. Truman was forced to deal with several issues, including the independently minded actions of some of his own personnel, like the Secretary of Defence, who would be forced to resign. We see a new policy report NSC 81 come to the fore, even while it didn’t promise a whole lot it...

1956 Episode 1.15: Socialism Stays

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Episode 15, Socialism Stays examines the international ramifications of the Hungarian Revolution as Moscow finally put it to bed. Of particular concern to Moscow and to the Hungarians was the stance of Yugoslavia, as its embassy in Budapest provided asylum to Imre Nagy and 40 other individuals responsible for guiding and leading the momentarily independent Hungarian state. The revolution may have been crushed within a few days, but it was evidently not going to be so simple to remove...

Korean War #33: Chinese Chequers

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Episode 33: Chinese Chequers continues where we left off last time, as the implications of the American approach to Korea and Taiwan are heavily felt in Beijing. Mao now had reason to believe that the war could be turned to his advantage, and that a Chinese orientated Korean satellite on the sensitive border region was worth fighting for. It would also demonstrate the Chinese strength, and give Mao a chance to pose as a defender of communism, which was important for his reputation an...

1956 Episode 1.14: Lessons Learned and Forgotten

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It's nearly time to wave good bye to Imre Nagy and the whole rotten Hungarian situation, but before we do that, let's get a bit depressed and learn how evil prevailed in 1956!

Episode 14, Lessons Learned and Forgotten analyses the final Soviet response in the first week of November 1956, as the lever was finally pulled on the apparent Hungarian experiment in independence. Having already removed his country from the Warsaw Pact and requested Western ass...

Korean War #32: Chinese Whispers

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

30YearsWar: 17th Century Warfare Episode 6

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We return with part 6 of our series on 17th century warfare, and in this episode we have something very special for you guys – an examination of the sick man of Europe, before he was sick, but when he was certainly maligned and looked down upon. For some time, it has been supposed that the Ottoman Empire could not keep pace with Western Europe, and that her eclipse by the West European powers in the 1700s was an inevitable, rational process which can be partially explained by the T...

Korean War #31: Laying Down The Gauntlet

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

1956 Episode 1.13: Crushing Hope

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Episode 13, Crushing Hope examines what the Soviets and Hungarians did in the last week of October. After somehow wresting a ceasefire agreement from the Soviet Union, the Hungarian revolution appeared – against all odds – to be secured by 28th October. Yet, this was merely a pause for Moscow, it was not the end. As Hungarians began to imagine that they could think and feel as they desired once more, Soviet tanks were preparing to move, and figures within Imre Nagy’s tightening...

Hello patrons!

It's been a while since I checked in on you guys. I just wanted to say a huge thanksssss to all of you again for the 4 millionth time. I also wanted to mention something that has been on my mind lately, so if you'd be good enough to indulge me (again!) then read on... I'm aware that 1956 hasn't been as well received as I'd hoped. We've been shedding patrons this month, and this day in particular for some reason. In the grand scheme of things, this is normal, but it reminded me that I perhaps s...

Korean War #30: Unfriendly Fire

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 Episode 30: Unfriendly Fire switches gears from the Anglo-American to the Asian angle in the war. We encounter some more controversial points, as we learn just how instrumental Stalin was in blunting the force of the North Korean People's Army, as he manipulated the situation to acquire the war he wanted. Stalin was creating in Korea a war which would draw the allies in further, and which would force the Chinese to respond. With this in mind, he couldn't afford to watch the Nor...

1956 Episode 1.12: Hope Springs

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Episode 12, Hope Springs examines a key moment not just in the Cold War, but also in Hungary’s national history. When enough was believed enough, and a Hungarian student protest exploded into something far more encouraging, and for the Soviets, far more dangerous. The demands of the protesters – joined by workers, peasants, Hungarian communists, soldiers and many more figures besides – were as disconcerting as the sheer force and threat which the protest posed to Soviet control...

Korean War #29: With Allies Like These

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

The British were hesitant to...

Korean War #28: London Stalling

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How did Britain get drawn into the conflict? Find out in this first of two episodes looking at British element...

Episode 28: London Stalling, introduces us to the British participation in the Korean War, and how utterly transfixed on the American partnership Clement Atlee's administration was. A guiding reason why the British and their Commonwealth allies took part in the Korean War can be explained by the Anglo-American partnership, and the pressures...