Age of Bismarck - Introduction

By late 1912, it appeared the period of Anglo-German detente was over. The Kaiser assembled a War Council, and apparently planned for a war of domination. In fact, appearances were deceptive, and alth...

21 Aug 20241h 13min

By late 1911, Germany had been embarrassed by the Second Moroccan Crisis, and the Anglo-French Entente had once again rallied. We might have expected Germany to double down on its provocative naval ca...

19 Aug 20241h 1min

Everyone knows the story of Britain and Germany before 1914. Or at least, they think they do.Anglo-German relations following the Russo-Japanese War seemed bound to enter a period of hostility, enable...

16 Aug 202454min

Austria-Hungary finally delivered its ultimatum to Serbia nearly four weeks after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The journey had been incredibly slow, and the outcome was nothing like the fait ...

14 Aug 202435min

On 20 July, the French President, Premier, and other statesmen docked at Kronstadt, aboard the fittingly named France.It began a tremendous spectacle of Franco-Russian cooperation, just as rumours wer...

12 Aug 202438min

As the French sailed for St Petersburg, the Austro-Hungarian government gathered in Vienna for a meeting of historic importance. It was here on 19 July 1914 that the infamous ultimatum to Serbia was f...

9 Aug 202433min

As the French President and Premier made their way to Russia, on board the France, they tried their best to keep up to date with what was happening outsides the confines of their vessel. Troubling rum...

7 Aug 202425min

With the Austro-Hungarian government on the same page at long last, it remained to follow through with the ultimatum. To Berchtold, this meant moving as quickly and as secretly as possible, so that on...

5 Aug 202454min