Speakers: Aaron Snyder, Laura Mello, Petra Nachtmanova, Zach Hart
Music: Petra Nachtmanova, Çağrı Bangevaz, Laura Mello
Writer: Laura Mello

During World War I, Germany pursued a lesser-known campaign in the Middle East, aiming to destabilize British and colonial powers through a mix of military and ideological strategies. Historian Salvador Oberhaus referred to this as the “orientalist war of illusions,” marked by Germany’s attempts to incite Islamic populations against colonial rulers, particularly in Persia (modern-day Iran), which served as a strategic link between the Ottoman Empire and British-controlled India.

One major project tied to this ambition was the Berlin-Baghdad Railway, intended to boost German influence and trade in the region. Although the railway remained incomplete, it symbolized Germany’s imperial goals.

Unlike the well-known British officer Lawrence of Arabia, German efforts involved loosely organized expeditions, often led by adventurers without clear oversight. One such figure was Captain Fritz Klein, appointed in 1914 to lead an expedition to seize British oil fields near the Karun River. His 400-man force included escaped Austro-Hungarian soldiers, German specialists, Turkish troops, and local Persian gendarmes.

Among them was Pedro Hermann Blumenau, a mining engineer of German-Brazilian background. Educated in Germany, Blumenau played a key role in exploring raw material sources, particularly for coal and oil to support Ottoman and German operations. Their journey spanned modern-day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, passing through cities like Aleppo, Baghdad, and Karbala.

Blumenau documented valuable mineral deposits, including the Salahije mine near Baghdad. However, the expedition also exposed them to the horrors of war, such as the Armenian forced marches and a typhus outbreak. After returning to Berlin, Blumenau joined Deutsche Erdöl A.G. but died in Istanbul in 1917.

This German campaign, though ambitious, had limited impact on the war’s outcome but remains a fascinating glimpse into wartime geopolitics and early energy interests in the Middle East.
...
Intangible Sound of Contact investigates the history of contact between distinct groups of people at the beginning of the 20th century. Based on the history of the Blumenau family, it addresses the German presence in Brazil and Turkey during the so-called new colonialism at the beginning of the 20th century.

The project considers listening as a phenomenon that relates artistic experiences to a specific territory.

More about it on:
http://lauramello.klingt.org/category/intangible-sound-of-contact/

Acknowledgments: Çiğdem İksilik, Lena Alpozan, Pia Entenmann, Sinem Tekel, Jutta and Hans-Joachim Blumenau-Niesel, Cathrin Hermann, Klaus Wolf, Wolfgang Musil.

Funded by: Alumnifonds Tarabya Cultural Academy, Goethe Institut Istanbul, German Minister of State for Culture and Media (Program Neustart Kultur).

Sources: - German Political Archive of the Foreign Office (References: RZ 201/13529 RZ 201/13530, RZ 201/19177, RZ 201/19015, RZ 201/21068, RZ 201/21069). - Veit Veltzke „Unter Wüstensöhnen. Die deutsche Expedition Klein im Ersten Weltkrieg" (Berlin 2014) - Sean MacMeekin: "The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power, 1898-1918" (Penguin, UK, 2011)

To discover the brazilian side of this history listen to the Audiowalk O Som Intangível do Contato under this link: https://explore.echoes.xyz/collections/ECqtvt88m7O4kwYK

Intangible Sound of Contact - Istanbul

History meets heartbreak in this emo-inspired song about the events that led to World War 1. From the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the rising tensions between empires, this track tells the tragic story of how a single moment sparked a global conflict. Dark, emotional, and intense—just like the war itself.

🎸 Lyrics that hit deep. History that changed the world.

If you love historical storytelling through music, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more dark history songs!
 
#WorldWar1 #EmoMusic #DarkHistory #HistoryThroughMusic #WW1Song #TheGreatWar #EmoRock #HistoricalMusic #TragicHistory #HowWW1Started

The Spark That Lit The Fire

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 161

In many respects, things were not going well in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s in the wake of the First World War. The population was humiliated and impoverished, distrusted throughout Europe, and riddled with various problems of social and cultural degeneracy, not least rampant corruption and the relentless manipulations of Marxism. To address these problems, a grand experiment was performed under the direction of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Experiment. This Nazi Experiment was not just catastrophic but horrific, rightly an icon of the possible depths of human evil. Today, some would have us look at that experiment for inspiration, suggesting its terrible, monstrous evil mistells the tale. In this daring episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay reads directly from the source of the vile beginnings of the Nazi Experiment, the second chapter of Adolf Hitler's infamous Mein Kampf (https://der-fuehrer.org/meinkampf/english/Mein%20Kampf%20(Ford%20Translation).pdf). He does so to highlight the fatal errors Hitler was making even then, which he sees being repeated across certain rising sectors of the American and Western Right today. Join him for another hard-hitting episode that makes abundantly clear why Never Again is now.

New book! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/

Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support

Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe

Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames

© 2025 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Woke

Woke Nationalism and the Nazi Experiment

Armistice (Gods Of War) [2025 REMASTER]

Crédits: 

Voix par ordre d'apparition:  

Soldat Inconnu: inconnu
Chef de gare: Antoine Lelandais 
Maman du Soldat Inconnu: Odile Carissan
Marie, sœur du Soldat Inconnu: Annaëlle
Pierre, frère du Soldat Inconnu: Lucien

Sound Design 1: le Soldat Inconnu Guerre 14-18

Torchwood: Solo - World at War 1
Episode 1: Arrival

Starring Jimi Wolfe as Matt Vowles/Veritas, Robin J. Hopewin as Johnny Parker, Mart Aeonian as General Hathaway and Connor J. Sumner as Doctor Ivanov.

Also starring Ollie Hatton as Killer, Alan Overton as Bystander and Charley Chacona as Murder Victim.

It is 1914. The beginning of the Great War, and when a man claiming to be from the future arriving in the midst of a German bombing, the members of Torchwood will need his help to solve an impossible murder.

This is a Fan Audio Production.

Torchwood: Solo - World at War 1 | Episode 1: Arrival

Torchwood: Solo - World at War 1
Episode 2: Lord, Give Me Courage

Starring Jimi Wolfe as Matt Vowles, Robin J. Hopewin as Johnny Parker, Mart Aeonian as General Hathaway and Connor J. Sumner as Doctor Ivanov.

Also starring Courtney Gabbidon as Colin, Jamie Evans as General Thadding, Theordore Powers as Deimos, Simone B. as Phobos and Paul Pemberton as Private Edwards Myres.

Guest starring Jacki Smith as Private Alister Middle, Ewan Wallace as Gerald Karrin, Michelle Willows as Nurse Michelle, Nick Payne as Soldier 1, James M. Dean as Soldier 2, Jacob Overton as Soldier 3, John N. Harper as Enemy Soldier and Alan Overton as General.

It is 1915. When fear strikes the hearts of many, Torchwood are called in to find out what's happening on the battlefield. Courage is a man's strength and without it, this war will not be won.

This is a Fan Audio Production.

Torchwood: Solo - World at War 1 | Episode 2: Lord, Give Me Courage

In honor of National Military Month and Memorial Day, this poignant episode of Big Blend Radio's "English Connection" with Glynn Burrows—historian and owner of Norfolk Tours in England—reflects on how we can respectfully remember those who lived through and lost their lives in World War I and World War II.

Glynn shares personal insights into the deeply rooted culture of remembrance in the UK, where nearly every village, town, and city has a war memorial bearing the names of locals who sacrificed their lives. These tributes serve as daily reminders of a shared history of loss and resilience. Learn more in Glynn’s companion article, "What Does Memorial Weekend Mean to You?" here: https://blendradioandtv.com/listing/what-does-memorial-weekend-mean-to-you/

Glynn Burrows joins Big Blend Radio every fourth Saturday, sharing stories that spotlight England as a travel destination and delve into family history research. Listen to more of his episodes here:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzIUCV2e7qm2IK_1Zfh-xJ9eEVYhqqC3Z

This episode also features on our Big Daily Blend and Way Back When podcast channels. Explore the full Big Blend Radio Network at: Big Blend Radio Network on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-network/bigblendradionetwork

Giving Their Tomorrow for Our Today

Chip was a soldier who fought in the First Animal War, he was a killing machine. After the war ended, Chip was left with TEPT, also known as PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Anything that reminds him of the war, he freaks out, thinking he is at war, and starts killing everyone around him, thinking they are his enemies.

I don't even need to say that he is an inspiration for Flippy, from Happy Tree Friends.

Chip Theme - TEPT

This is the recording of the preface of my novel "On Part En Septembre" (We Are Leaving In September), available on Amazon (in French) at https://amzn.to/470RUi8 English translation coming soon.

Here is the text:

This morning I received a letter from another age, a missive that has traversed time. I offer it to you as a preface to this story.

Cul-des-Sarts, August 25th, 1914.

I'm writing to you from the past. It feels strange to know that you'll never be able to answer me or, more precisely, that I'll never be able to read you. That's the game of time that passes and never returns. But no matter that this is a monologue, I wanted to talk to you, to know myself alive through your reading. Isn't it magical that I can exist through you? You will be my voice, then, in the lines that follow.

It's a full moon tonight and the respite of a truce as sudden as it is suspect allows me to take up my pen to write you. I wonder whether, when you open this letter, our country—if it still exists—will at last enjoy the happiness of a lasting peace. A few months ago, I dreamed of something else, of a different summer. In August, before packing my bags for America, I planned to take the coastal road and walk the beach in the early morning. Have you heard of sand yachting? A sort of carriage with four solid wooden wheels, fitted with a sail? A certain André Dumont developed this leisure craft on the beach at La Panne. I wonder if in your time people still practice this unusual sport. I'd like to try it one day, when all this is over, when I'm done with the whistling of bullets and the crash of shells. What wouldn't I give for a sand yacht outing... But I'm wandering. Let's return to today, to this August of 1914.

It's the 25th, we'll soon be crossing the Belgian-French border. I can no longer feel the soles of my feet, the road has seemed endless these past forty-eight hours. The Germans have taken Namur, which we'd been defending fiercely since the start of hostilities, and under Colonel Verbist's orders we reluctantly decided to abandon our positions to take the road to France through the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse. After two days of forced march under a scorching sun, I've finally just received meager rations. We're told the Germans are on our heels and that, mad with rage at having found us in their path, they'll go all the way to the North Sea if they must to annihilate our army, down to the last soldier. I so wished to discover the sea this summer, for the first time. And then to take to sea, end of September. To set sail, for good. Have you ever been to the sea? Have you ever felt on your face the breeze they praise as so gentle? I've been told about the song of the gulls too, and shrimp fishing in the early morning.

It's strangely calm tonight. I'm no longer used to silence. Allow me to pause, just for a moment, to slip a little of this quietude into my memory box. I'll no doubt need it in the days to come. I don't know where we'll be tomorrow, I don't know if this journal will last another week, a month, a year or more. I wonder if I'll see its end or if it will escape me. I'm afraid, sometimes, of not being able to close the book of my life. I'm writing to you in the urgency of a tragic situation but I'd like to be able one day to share with you the return of happiness, as if this war whose cause I don't know were only a nightmare, a painful parenthesis in history. I'd like us to remember it as the last one, as a rainstorm, violent but redemptive. Tell me I was right, tell me that in your time war no longer exists.

"We Are Leaving In September", a novel by Frederick Tubiermont

https://www.instagram.com/mvq_soundtracks_official?igsh=MTdrYjBjcTNxa2FkMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

7" VINYL WITH DOUBLE GROOVE
Ringing Still Life (Corvo Records)

CD
Está Verde! (Creative Sounds)
http://www.creativesourcesrec.com/catalog/catalog_553.html

For purchases, drop me a line
mail@lauramello.org

www.lauramello.org
Contact & Booking: mail|at|lauramello.org
Brazilian born composer, musician, performer
DJ Grooviana - www.mixcloud.com/Grooviana

Brand new AI-generated radio, broadcasting from Southwest London - UK. Create your own AI jingles on aijinglemaker.com

Select Big Blend Radio interviews that are featured in the digital, interactive Big Blend Radio & TV Magazine and Parks & Travel Magazine. Hosted by Nancy J. Reid and Lisa D. Smith, mother-daughter travel team and publishers.

Originally from Wakefield West Yorkshire - now living in Wigan, Lancashire.
Bard Company/Crows Of Albion vocalist and Performance poet
Albums/Tracks can be purchased at: http://thecrowsofalbion.bandcamp.com/

Pursuing the light of objective truth in subjective darkness.

New tracks tagged #World War 1