We examine the geography and history of Russia, from the origins of the Kievan Rus in the Early Middle Ages, to the tumultuous time of industrialization, emancipation, and radical subversion at the start of the Twentieth Century.  We try reconstruct the circumstances and mindsets that led the Russian state to back up their allies in Serbia, in order to maintain their tenuous foothold in the Balkans and their pretenses of leading and protecting the Slavic world.

image:  Luzhetsky Monastery, Mozhaysk, Russia

Suggested further reading:  Braithwaite, "Russia: Myths and Realities";  Kort, "A Brief History of Russia";  Riasanovsky, "A History of Russia"

Please sign up as a patron to hear the previous installment on Bosnia! -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Origins of the First World War, pt. 5 -- Russia

In the age of absolutism, France had towered over European life and politics -- the only nation that was a major land power on the Continent and a colonial metropole with an overseas empire at the same time.  Yet by 1900, tossed about by repeated revolutions and coups and torn asunder by often petty internal culture wars, France was falling behind its rivals to become almost a second-rate power.  Once the Radical Party rode the Dreyfus Affair into government, they had to rush to reposition France to try to take advantage of the tensions and instability in the Balkans, and prepare the nation to possibly face off once more against their archrival across the Rhine -- Germany.

Image:  illustration of the "degradation" ceremony of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, in Le Petit Journal, 1895.

Christopher Clark's lecture on "France and the Origins of the Great War":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx_V4NAUuW8

Suggested further reading:  Romier, "A History of France," Norwich, "A History of France," Maurois, "A History of France."

Please sign on as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, including the earlier lecture on Germany -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Origins of the First World War, pt. 8 -- France

We are thrilled to bring our hit Virtual Museum Lecture Series to the podcast. With over 40 lectures on Youtube, we’re so happy to bring the lecture audio to the podcast format so that more of you can enjoy these fascinating stories and join in on the historical adventures.

On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing the exciting story of the First World War as it looked to the residents in St. Catharines with a lecture given by our curator Kathleen Powell titled ‘When the World Changed.” This lecture was originally recorded on December 1, 2021.

Enjoy the lecture.

VMLS via Podcast

VMLS via Podcast - When the World Changed

In this podcast episode, Larry Ostola talks to Graham Broad about his book, Part of Life Itself: The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, CEF published by the University of Toronto Press in October 2023.

This extensively annotated wartime diary illuminates the military service of Leslie Howard Miller (1889–1979), a Canadian soldier who served in the First World War. Miller joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in 1914. In his off-duty hours, he kept this extraordinarily eloquent diary of his training, deployment overseas, service on the Western Front, and periods of leave in the United Kingdom.

Graham Broad, working from a transcription of the diary produced by Miller’s family, includes a thorough introduction and afterword, as well as over 500 notes that situate and explain Miller’s many references to the people, places, and events he encountered.

Unpublished for over a century, written in bracing and engaging prose, and illustrated with Miller’s own drawings and unseen photographs, Part of Life Itself illuminates a bygone world and stands as one of Canada’s most important wartime diaries.

Graham Broad is an associate professor of History at Kings College at Western University.

Image Credit:  UTP

If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.

Part of Life Itself: The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, CEF

My Grandfather, Arthur Luzmore, wrote this account of his life as a soldier in the final year of the First World War. It tells of how he served in the trenches at Ypres, how he was taken prisoner, and what happened after the Armistice.

A Few Reminiscences, by A.C. Luzmore, performed by Andrew Cullum

In the very first episode of Salonika Secrets I tell the story and the possibility of trying to identify an unknown British Officer of the First World War in the Doiran Military Cemetery, Greece.

At the time of recording, I believe it could be one of two missing officers from the 10th Devonshire Regiment, Second Lieutenant Norman Fellowes Prynne or Lieutenant William Reginald Francis Miller.

Follow the podcast on Twitter/X @SalonikaSecrets

Unknown British Officer At Doiran Military Cemetery - Episode 1

To conclude our series on the origins of World War I, we trace how combat broke out on three different continents in the late summer and fall of 1914, and then examine the various real and imagined causes of the Great War, from the Anglo-German naval rivalry to French revanchism, and finally consider the deeper transformation in the idea of sovereignty in the West that gave a feud between an old empire and a new nation-state in the Balkans the power to ignite a global war.

Image: Mehmet Pasha Sokollu Bridge, Višegrad, Bosnia, with section destroyed, 1915.

Sign up as a patron at any level, in order to hear patron-only lectures on Germany, Japan, and the events of the July Crisis: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Recently unlocked lecture on Bosnia & the Assassination: https://www.patreon.com/posts/origins-of-first-86366245

Origins of the First World War, pt. 14 -- Conclusions: Was the Great War Inevitable?

11am November 11th 1918 an Armistice is signed between England, Germany and France....
In Music and in Words the Podcast reflects on events throughout the world at 11am on that historic day!

11th November 1918 11am.

Peter Hill-Heaton recalls the visits to a neighbour in Queen Street, Castletown, who was bed-ridden after his encounter with poison gas during trench warfare in the First World War.

This oral history interview with Peter Hill-Heaton was recorded by James Franklin on 7 October 2024.
The full interview is available online here: https://culturevannin.im/watchlisten/oralhistory/peter-hill-heaton-878244/

Culture Vannin exists to promote and support all aspects of culture in the Isle of Man.
https://culturevannin.im/watchlisten/
www.facebook.com/culturevannin/
www.instagram.com/culturevannin/
https://www.youtube.com/@culturevannin8486

The WW1 gas survivor bed-ridden in Castletown

Larry Ostola talks to Gregory Kennedy about his book, Lost in the Crowd: Acadian Soldiers of Canada's First World War.

In December 1915, Acadian leaders in New Brunswick expressed concerns about their soldiers being "lost in the crowd" within the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. They successfully lobbied for the creation of a French-speaking, Catholic, and Acadian-led national unit. Over a thousand Acadians from the Maritimes, Quebec, and the U.S. Northeast joined this effort.

In Lost in the Crowd, Gregory Kennedy uses military archives, census records, newspapers, and soldiers' letters to explore the experiences of Acadian soldiers and their families before, during, and after the war. He highlights their enlistment rates, compares their experiences with English-speaking soldiers, and examines underreported issues like underage recruits, desertion, and army discipline. Kennedy also uses the 1921 Census to analyze the long-term impacts of the war on soldiers, families, and communities.

The book offers a fresh approach to military history by focusing on the Acadians, a francophone minority in the Maritimes, reshaping our understanding of French Canadians in World War I.

Gregory M.W. Kennedy is professor of history and dean of the Faculty of Arts at Brandon University and the author of Something of a Peasant Paradise? Comparing Rural Societies in Acadie and the Loudunais, 1604-1755.

Image Credit: McGill-Queen’s University Press 

If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.

Lost in the Crowd: Acadian Soldiers of Canada's First World War

Live recording, premiere / Brussels, 30-11-2024 (Osmose Festival 2024)
Stefano Poletto, oboe - Clotilde van Dieren, mezzo-soprano / https://clotildevandieren.com

Poésie de Guillaume Apollinaire ("Calligrammes", 1918)
Text:
Le 31 du mois d’Août 1914
Je partis de Deauville un peu avant minuit
Dans la petite auto de Rouveyre
[…]
Nous dîmes adieu à toute une époque
Des géants furieux se dressaient sur l’Europe
[…]
Je m’en allais portant en moi toutes ces armées qui se battaient
Je les sentais monter en moi et s’étaler les contrées où elles serpentaient
Avec les forêts les villages heureux de la Belgique
Francorchamps avec l’Eau Rouge et les pouhons
Région par où se font toujours les invasions
[…]
Je n’oublierai jamais ce voyage nocturne où nul de nous ne dit un mot
Ô départ sombre où mouraient nos trois phares
Ô nuit tendre d’avant la guerre
[…]
Et quand après avoir passé l’après-midi
Par Fontainebleau
Nous arrivâmes à Paris
Au moment où l’on affichait la mobilisation
Nous comprîmes mon camarade et moi
Que la petite auto nous avait conduits dans une époque Nouvelle
Et bien qu’étant déjà tous deux des hommes mûrs
Nous venions cependant de naître

English translation (Ron Padgett):
The 31st day of August 1914
I left Deauville a little before midnight
In Rouveyre’s little car
[…]
We said good-bye to an entire epoch
Furious giants were rising over Europe
[…]
I went bearing within me all those armies fighting
I felt them rise up in me and spread out over the countries they wound through
With the forests the happy villages of Belgium
Francorchamps with l’Eau Rouge and the mineralsprings
Region the invasions always come through
[…]
I’ll never forget that night trip when none of us said a single word
O dark departure when our three head lights were dying
O tender pre-war night
[…]
And when having passed that afternoon
Through Fontainebleau
We arrived in Paris
Just as the mobilization posters were going up 
We understood my buddy and I
That the little car had taken us into a New epoch
And although we were both grown men
We had just been born

La Petite auto, for oboe and mezzo-soprano / Stefano Poletto & Clotilde van Dieren - live

This month we are honored to be joined by Evan Sullivan who is an assistant professor at SUNY Adirondack in Upstate New York. Evan is a historian whose research interests examine the intersections of disability, war and gender in the modern era, especially in the World War One era. Evan’s interest in this era stems from his master's studies and from some of the archival collections that he found researching his master's thesis. Evan gives us insight into his research trajectory, including how he started investigating disability history. We discussed how perceptions of disability are formed and whose stories are being told. Historically, there have been many cases where disability has been used to tell a story that does not match with the lived experience of the disabled people themselves. In many cases these stories were used more to satisfy the emotional/inspiration needs of the reader rather than tell the story and/or serve the needs of the disabled veterans. 

Would you like to check out Evan’s new book? Constructing Disability after the Great War: Blind Veterans in the Progressive Era: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p088247 

If you would like to check out more of Evan’s work, please visit his University profile: https://www.sunyacc.edu/staff-faculty/evan-sullivan

or personal website: https://evanpsullivan.wordpress.com/ 

You can also find Evan on various social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561801370318 

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/evanpsullivan.bsky.social 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.evanpsullivan_historian

Evan Sullivan - How was disability constructed after the Great War?

More war poetry here: https://soundcloud.com/anton-jarvis-206182017/sets/war-military

The Show by Wilfred Owen

What does it mean to be Northern? In Episode 68, Yorkshire ofcumden Stephen May talks about finding a sense of Northern identity, how he doesn't consider writing a profession and his latest novel, Green Ink.

Find out more:
https://swiftpress.com/book/green-ink/
X:
https://x.com/Stephen_May1
https://x.com/_SwiftPress
BlueSky
https://bsky.app/profile/swiftpress.bsky.social
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lifedeathprizes2016
https://www.instagram.com/_swiftpress

Music credit: 'Water of Tyne' performed by Edinburgh University Brass Band (2009) arranged by Jack Stobbs, edited and scored for Brass Band by David Dye. Used with kind permission of the publisher, arranger and performers.

Episode 68: Stephen May

Lyric first published in the 'Eastern Daily Press' as "The Ballad of Edith Cavell" and then in my Poppyland collection 'Doin Different; 39 'New Ballads from the East of England.'
Here set to an old folk tune as English as the grass. (The opening was recorded at Carrow Rd Norwich on Remembrance Day 2024.) Pic is of Cavell's memorial statue near the entrance to Norwich Cathedral.

She sees the pale gold August wheat,
The oaken greens of home,
A mind’s-eye Norfolk harvest wrapped
Around October’s bones.

6 paces off, 8 rifles point,
Death scarves her blue-grey eyes,
The woman stands and prays and waits
And still no shot arrives…

‘Love of country’s not enough
And when they shoot me dead
Let bitterness and hatred die,’
Our Norfolk angel said.

The British held the line at Mons,
The French were in retreat,
All stranded men came to her door
Through Brussels’ conquered streets.

4 sneaks and spies to smoke her out,
3 days’ interrogation.
She wouldn’t lie…. They shot her dead
For love of more than nation.

‘Love of country’s not enough
And when they shoot me dead
Let bitterness and hatred die,’
Our Norfolk angel said.

(spoken) Her life is flashing by, the days
With Eddy on the beach
When life was fresh and beautiful,
The country dear and sweet.

© Gareth Calway 2015 https://www.poppyland.co.uk/products/B79622


The Ballad of Edith Cavell

It was snowing when the train pulled into Myrtlesham Halt. The station was deserted. As the steam lifted, a young man with a large black metal army trunk alighted from the end carriage. He skidded on the icy platform as far as the ticket hall, then slumped on the bench, exhausted. Once he had caught his breath, the man resumed his solitary trek, slipping and sliding his way up the icy hill to the isolated cottage.

Myrtlesham Halt  - Isla

Update for listeners, and happy Father's Day wishes; excerpt from latest patron-only lecture on Italy between unification and the entry into the First World War.
Please sign up on Patreon to hear the latest lecture and all patron-only materials! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/italy-nation-war-131082248

Podcast website:  www.historiansplaining.com
Image:  The Paderno D'Adda hydroelectric power plant, Lombardy, 1895-8
Music: "Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu" / "Volare," by Domenico Modugno

Update & Excerpt -- Italy: Nation-Building & Entry Into World War I

Northern Voices explores Northern writers (published and unpublished), storytelling and publishing. The podcast is hosted by Jen Bowden, a writer, editor and journalist with a PhD in Creative Writing from Curtin University exploring biases against the North in the UK book industry.

Telling the stories of the forgotten First World War battlefields of the Salonika Campaign.

A marriage (and we are actually married, 45 years so far) of melody and rhythm. We do folk, indie, Americana, Norfolk noir, beat poems &  ghazals. Traditional tunes with contemporary beats. Music videos  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8wV0-DNiFs1R5G2VSytBQ
Maz lead & harmony vocals, acoustic guitar. Gaz vocals, voice, bass, drums & percussion, harmonium, recorders, lyre harp, field recordings.

Promoting and supporting all aspects of culture in the Isle of Man.

Culture Vannin awards grants and initiates schemes whilst supporting the work of development officers for music and language. The work of Culture Vannin has been fundamental to the revival of interest and support for Manx language and culture over the last twenty years.

Culture Vannin is the trading name for the Manx Heritage Foundation, registered charity 333 in the Isle of Man.

The official podcasts of the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre: Museum Chat Live! and One Hour in the Past. Find footnotes to podcast episodes at stcatharinesmuseumblog.com. Find us online at facebook.com/stcatharinesmuseum, Twitter and Instagram: @stcmuseum, and at stcatharinesmuseumblog.com. RSSVERIFY

History lectures by Samuel Biagetti, a historian (and antique dealer) with a Phd in early American history; my dissertation was on Freemasonry in the 1700s. I focus on the historical myths and distortions, from "the Middle Ages" to "Race," that people use to rationalize the world in which we live.   More info at www.historiansplaining.com

Please see my Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632, if you want to keep the lectures coming, and to hear the patron-only materials.

Immerse yourself in Canada’s history! Witness to Yesterday episodes take listeners on a journey to document a time in Canada’s past and explore the people behind it, its significance, and its relevance to today. If you like our work, please consider supporting it: https://bit.ly/support_WTY. To learn more about the Society and Canada’s history, subscribe to our newsletter at https://bit.ly/news_WTY.

Actor, (Stage, TV & film) Audiobook narrator (Over 60 available on Audible, Writer, (1 novel 2 plays)  Husband, Dad and Grandad.

Resource extraction impacts our daily lives and has helped push the climate to the brink, but there are people around the world living and fighting for alternative ways forward. Join hosts Christopher Chagnon and Sophia Hagolani-Albov and their guests on the last Friday of each month for a discussion of the impacts of extractivisms, alternative ways forward, and stories from people living the struggle every day. If you are someone who is interested in how our environment and societies have come to their current state, or learning about different ways we can move forward, this is the podcast for you.

Ex-BBC Broadcaster readings of poetry & stories + archive radio/audio features. PLEASE SHARE LINKS with others. 
I’m a self-confessed sound, speech and language nerd.

Sisters' End & Other Strange Romances is OUT NOW see link! All  of my Other Sexy Living Adult Audio Visual Stories are FREE here: https://www.isittodayhjfurl.com/
Thrill to FREE adult, dark, erotic, red hot audio-visual stories, Fuss, Blood Beasts, Joely's Swim and tuft! Enjoy adult, dark, erotic, red hot audio-visual stories Belle, Nessie, Jess, Captivity, Basque, Mae, and Lights! Cameras! Action! for FREE. Relish exclusive access to 10 Sisters’ End and Other Strange Romances tales (out in October!) adult, dark, erotic, red hot audio-visual stories Angie's Love, Strange Taste, Josie's Ride, and Body Heat. ALL 100%FREE! (I gave up trying to sell them!) Don't just stay warm! Stay hot
For those of you who like exclusive live audiovisual adult erotic stories featuring sensational women actors: Isla, Lizzie & Nikki who live my tales my website https://www.isittodayhjfurl.com is a must. 
BOOKS:
I've started to sell lots of books. As well as my first dark anthology Is It Today? you might be interested in these, all available as kindle or book on Amazon:
predatory: Two Girls*, Blood Beasts*, Captivity*, Crabs, Dancers, Why?, Jess*, Dani (Knight)*, La Parade des Chefs, Mae*, Marnie's Child*, Pig Beach*, Primordia, Red Sparkle*, Stretch Class, Supposed Paradise, them*, What Is The Point, When?, Wooden Doll, Worried About Wioletta, Belle*, The Appearance, The Arrival*, and Young Isla*.
*Audiovisual stories streaming live on my website. Some of them also feature in Blushes in the Dark with Deceit and Occasionally.
Basque - Love Stories: Heathen*, Myrtlesham Halt, Pretty, Still, Strange Taste*, Intimate Exchange*, Cheese and Spin, Snowdrops, Marion Filbert, You, Ana's Orbs, The Hide, Evie's Downfall, Say Hello to Pearl*, The Marital, The Potting Shed*, Allure*, The Bristling*, Selected, Really?*, Basque*, Taylin Stuns, Occasionally*.
*Audiovisual stories streaming live on my website. 
Basque Love Stories & Is It Today? are available from Amazon and Audible as audiobooks.
Thrill Ride: my debut novel, parts: Young Isla, Ride and Action! are streaming as live audiovisuals on my website.
My 1st novella, Soon She Must. fat, the opening part is streaming live, free on my website.
BEINGS: The Primal Cut my second novella (available in a choice of woke or daring covers) is now officially my best-selling book, reaching #2 in Literary Short Stories on Amazon Kindle (USA!), and loved, judging by the all-female ***** reviews, by women readers. 84 sold since publication in December 2024, 73 of them since June! 
The opening part Flyn is streaming live on my website,with eight more exciting parts: Beth, Ruth, Nessie, Young Neve, Haimi, Flyn, and many more to follow. 
Sister's End & Other Strange Romances, my new anthology, is having a cover specially designed by a talented young artist based in Bali. It is currently being formatted, should be out late September: kindle and paperback. The quote 'Love is rare, love is strange, nothing lasts, and people change', from Marilyn Monroe, says it all!
A Website Like No Other Author Website:
Visit https://www.isittodayhjfurl.com: my red hot audiovisual erotic 18+ stories are infinitely more exciting, good for your sex life, and longer lasting, too! Cherish the moment! xoxox
I write intriguing stories: dark, steamy, erotic romances, adult fantasies. Having them recorded by outstanding actors: sensational stage, film and TV actor Isla, amazing Lizzie, Nikki and Linnea, is a cherished dream come true. Welcome to my unique audiovisual website crammed full of incredible audio, flip-page ebooks, and stunning photos of my red hot characters, like Mae, one of my Top 25 for 2025: 
1. Angie's Love, 2. Helen's Friends, 3. tuft, 4. Climbers, 5. My Pregnant Pause, 5. Beings, 6. Two Girls, 7. Joely's Swim, 8. Josie's Ride, 9. Basque, 10. Blood Beasts, 11. The Kissing Gate, 12. Strange Taste, 13. Body Heat, 14. Red Sparkle, 15. Young Isla, 16. Captivity, 17. Soon, She Must, 18. Occasionally, 19. Mae, 20. Jess, 21. Allure, 22. them, 23. The Bristling, 24. Ride, 25. Action! All audiovisual versions of stories exclusive to my unique website!!!
Beings Reviews:
***** Amazon reviews ***** weird and wonderful ***** a suspenseful ride throughout ***** a rich well-constructed story about deadly women with a mysterious end game.
Videos:
Don't forget to check out my free BEINGS, Basque, Predatory and Is It Today? videos on You Tube! 
*****
BEINGS
***** Weird and wonderful
Who are these beautiful, deadly Beings? Hatched in some secret laboratory on a wealthy private estate, is their purpose to destroy humanity, or to take it to another level? Meet Nessie, a renowned geneticist, and her husband, the successful gynaecologist Karl. Meet their beautiful, deadly girl children. Meet the hapless men who succumb to their lethal charms, and pay the price. Part science fiction, part fantasy, part horror, part erotica – this book will intrigue and confuse you, amuse and maybe even shock you, but it won't bore you. HJ Furl has a weird and wonderful - and sometimes frightening - imagination but her book is definitely in the 'just one more chapter' league. – Perdisma, Amazon reader, UK
Check out BEINGS, out now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Draft2Digital. All my books and audiobooks are on Amazon: Is It Today?, Basque, Blushes in the Dark, Thrill Ride, Soon She Must, BEINGS, and predatory. 
Thank you so much for reading, listening to, and liking me!
Harriet-Jacqui xxx

New tracks tagged #First World War