A History of Europe, Key Battles

The Paris Peace consisted of a group of distinct treaties, but the main concern of the delegates was the settlement with Germany, embodied in the Treaty of Versailles signed in June 1919.

Germany’s eastern frontiers presented far greater problems. 

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Music composed by Edward Elgar, Enigma variations, Variation IX (Adagio) Nimrod

Picture - Treaty of Versailles, Big Four

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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In Spring 1918 a massive German offensive made significant territorial gains, but ultimately not the intended breakthrough, and the Allied forces stood firm. Exhausted and demoralised at the scale of casualties, the Germans were pushed back in a major counter-attack in the late Summer and Autumn. And on 26 September, the Allies launched a general offensive along the entire Western Front.

Meanwhile, the Habsburg empire was fast falling apart as various nationalities declared independence. 

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Music composed by Alexander Scriabin, Etude in C sharp minor. Courtesy of musopen.org

Picture - US 64th regiment celebrate the Armistice

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After the Russian withdrawal from the frontlines following the October revolution, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk is negotiated between Germany and Russia.

The Germans sought to conclude war on the Eastern Front as quickly as possible, while at the same time trying to establish an informal empire in east-central Europe, one composed of newly independent nation states on Russia’s western periphery. However, back on the German home front, after four harsh winters and widespread hunger, political unity was fraying, and riots and strikes occurred across the country. 

Everything now depended on the success or failure of a German Spring Offensive on the western front. 

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Picture - German Spring Offensive - British Lewis gun team at the Battle of Hazebrouck 1918

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While the nations of Europe fought each other to a bitter stalemate, the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, urged both sides to make peace. However, no agreement is made and the United States joined the war on the side of the Entente allies.

In the meantime, the Germans ordered a general withdrawal at the western front, abandoning the battlefields of the Somme in order to establish a shorter, straighter and more well-fortified line, the so-called ‘Hindenburg Line’. The eastern front is more volatile, seeing the collapse of the Russian army, a major defeat for the Italians at Caporetto and the fall of Jerusalem to the British

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Music composed by Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis), courtesy of musopen.org

Picture - Allenby enters Jerusalem 1917

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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As the year 1917 dawned, Europe had been at war for two and a half years, and pressures on the home fronts were becoming intolerable. Every participant nation came under huge strain.

In Russia the Tsarist regime falls in March, but the interim government is unstable and itself falls in the famous October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin, who promises to withdraw Russia from the war.

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Music composed by Frederich Chopin (The Polish Dancer)

Picture - Vladimir Lenin, 1 May 1920 by Isaak_Brodsky

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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Europe entered the year 1916 exhausted by one and a half years of conflict of a scale hitherto unimaginable, with profound effects on citizens at home, as well as those on the front line.

The most intensive battles on the western front in 1916 are at Verdun and the Somme, with extraordinary numbers of casualties.

Meanwhile, on the eastern front the Russians launch a major attack, the Brusilov offensive.

Romania declared war on Austro-Hungary on 27 August 1916 and promptly invaded Transylvannia. 

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Music composed by Erik Satie (Gymnopédie no. 1), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36)

Picture - Verdun - Gervais-Courtellemont_french_anti-aircraft_guns

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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For the Germans, 1915 was a year that should not have been. Their whole strategy had been based on a quick war, but they now found themselves embroiled in a two-front war – on the eastern front against Russia, and on the western front against France fully mobilised and also Britain.

Throughout 1915, in a succession of attacks of increasing intensity, the various armies learned the techniques of the new kind of war at very heavy cost.

In February 1915, Germany launched the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes with an attack on the Russians in East Prussia. Meanwhile, the Austrians attempted to push deep back into Galicia, with huge numbers of casualties on all sides.

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Music composed by Frederich Chopin, Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op. 6 no. 2

Picture - Skoda_305_mm_Model_1911_LOC_War_of_the_Nations

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The first months of fighting in the First World War had seen no major breakthrough from any side. The Germans had captured about ten percent of France, and reached within sixty miles of Paris, but then reached a stalemate as both sides fortified their positions with great long lines of trenches running from Belgium to the Swiss border.

Both sides attempt to bring other countries into the war to help break the stalemate and to tip the balance in their favour. The Italians, though deeply divided, decide in the end to join the side of Britain, France and Russia. And an allied attack against the Ottomans fails at Gallipoli.

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Music composed by Freredich Chopin, Mazurka in C Sharp Minor

Picture - Sinking of the Lusitania

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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The Russians strike hard against their most powerful enemy, Germany. Austro-Hungary help their German ally although their military forces are under-resourced, in large part because through the years the Hungarian parliament had restricted military finding by using it as a bargaining chip for political concessions.

While the Austrians attack Serbia, the Germans achieve a significant victory against Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg.

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Music composed by Alexander Scriabin - Etude in C Sharp Minor

Picture - Tannenberg Bundesarchiv, East Prussian German Infantry

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The first main clash of the First World War was on the borders of France and Germany and in Belgium. The Belgians put up more resistance than the Germans expect. However, the Battle of the Frontiers, on the Franco-German border, from 7 August to 6 September 1914 was a disaster for the French army, who suffered very heavy casualties. Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force were making their way to the front.

The war was set on a grim path of attritional fighting, and with both sides able to draw on millions more men it became virtually impossible to secure an easy victory. As stalemate was reached, the dreadful realisation set in that the combatants would be in this for the long haul.

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Music composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Preludes, Op. 32, Lento, in B minor)

Picture - French Bayonet Charge

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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne. A month later Austria retaliates by declaring war on Serbia, which in turn brings Russia and the other great powers of Europe into conflict. As Edward Grey memorably expressed it: “The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again on our lifetime”.

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Music composed by Frederic Chopin (Mazurkas in C sharp minor)

Picture - Franz Ferdinand, Sarajevo

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand trigger the First World War?

I also describe how the long struggle between European powers for mastery in central Africa reaches its climax. 

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Picture - The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII

Music composed by Frederic Chopin (The Polish Dancer)

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An analogy often given to the Balkans leading up to the First World War is a tinderbox, awaiting a flame to ignite it and set off a major conflagration across Europe. In fact, the region suffered a large-scale conflict already two years before the First World War began.

Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro had all acquired their independence from the Ottoman Empire over the course of the 19th century. None of them, however, were happy with the territory under their control. Each aspired to lands still under Ottoman rule in Albania, Macedonia and Thrace. 

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Music composed by Frederic Chopin (The Polish Dancer)

Picture - King George I of Greece and Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria at Thessaloniki

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The Italian invasion of Libya 1911.

After initial successes, the Italians face strong resistance against the Ottomans and Libyans

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Music composed by Edward Elgar (The Crown of India, March of the Mogul Emperors)

Picture - Italian landing at Tripoli

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Following their countries independence in the mid 19th century, the Italians hoped to establish their status among the Great European Powers by acquiring colonial possessions. Their first main attempt was an unsuccessful invasion of Ethiopia, with a defeat at the Battle of Adowa in 1896

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Music composed by Frederic Chopin

Picture - Battle of Adwa

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In the first years of the 20th century the Austrian Empire faced numerous problems, most of all the rising sense of nationalism among its various peoples. Attempting a more assertive foreign policy, the Austrians set about a plan to formally annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, which since 1878 had been administered by Vienna but still remained under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. However, this decision backfired terribly, triggering a six month diplomatic crisis which almost led to general war 

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Music: Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony

Picture - Le Petit Journal, Balkan Crisis 1908

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The Ottoman Empire is in disarray and its treasury bankrupt. Under Sultan Abdul Hamid, the Red Sultan, there are violent suppression of uprisings of the Armenians in Anatolia. And in the Balkans the Macedonians and Albanians appeal for independence. A rebellion in Macedonia leads to the The Young Turk revolution and the overthrow of the sultan.

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Music: Mazurkas by Chopin

Picture - Sultan Abdul Hamid

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Tsar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated in March 1881. He was probably the most liberal of all tsars of Russia, but succeeded by reactionary leaders Alexander III and then Nicholas II. Nicholas unwisely provokes Japan into a war, and is defeated, which is a catalyst for an attempted revolution in Russia in 1905

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Music composed by Petr Tchaikovsky (Symphony nr 6 in B Minor)

Picture - Russian battleship Oslyabya, the first warship sunk in the battle of Tsushima /Bombardment during the siege of Port Arthur

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A summary of the main events from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 to the beginning of the First World War in 1914

At the end of the nineteenth century the Balkans had multiple crises. The Treaty of Berlin 1878 was an attempt by the Great Powers of Europe to find a framework for stability in a region with various competing interests, many of them incompatible with each other. In effect, it created two spheres of influence in the Balkans: the Austrians’ in the west and the Russians’, together with the Serb allies, in the east.

No side, however, was satisfied with Treaty. The Bulgarians were furious at having been denied the larger territory which they had won in battle. And the Serbians harboured ambitions for their borders to be expand southwards to areas inhabited by fellow Slavs, but under control partly of the Ottoman and partly the Austrians.

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Music composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

Picture - Congress of Berlin

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In April 1877, two Russian armies invaded the Ottoman empire. The focus of the war became the siege of Plevna in Bulgaria. The strong resistance there gave the Turks real hope for a final victory, or at least holding off the enemy and forcing a more favourable diplomatic solution. 

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Music composed by Rimsky-Korsakov: Polonaise, and Russian Easter Festival Overture

Picture - The defeat of Shipka_Peak, Bulgarian War of Independence

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In April 1876 news spread across Europe of appalling atrocities being committed in Bulgaria, by Turks against local uprisings. These occurred soon after similar events elsewhere in the Balkans region – in Bosnia and Serbia. The strongest reaction came from Russia where widespread sympathy for their fellow Slavs led to a nationwide surge in patriotism

A new sultan in Constantinople, Abdul Hamid II, rejects any concessions, leading to war

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Music composed by Frederic Chopin - Mazurkas in C sharp minor

Picture - The Batak massacre carried out by Ottoman irregular troops in Bulgaria in 1876

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In 1875, the Balkans entered a period of turmoil as various nationalities (Serbians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians and Romanians) struggled for independence from the Ottoman Turks. Uprisings quickly spread across the region and resulted in a major war between the Ottomans and Russians from 1877 to 1878.

Meanwhile, Constantinople was suffering a renewed period of political instability which led to the overthrow of Sultan Abdülaziz in May 1876

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Music composed by Bedrich Smetana - Ma Vlast (My Fatherland), and Frederic Chopin- Nocturne in C sharp minor

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Philippa has written novels set in several different historical periods, especially the Tudor period. We discussed the period around the Glorious Revolution 1688 when the Prince of Orange invaded England from Holland and replaced James II as king, and the Battle of Sedgemoor 1685 three years before.

Some of Philippa's novels have won awards and have been adapted into television dramas. The most successful of her novels has been The Other Boleyn Girl, published in 2001. Philippa has also published a series of books about the Plantagenets, the ruling houses that preceded the Tudors, and the Wars of the Roses.

Her new book is called Dawnlands, the third in a series named Fairmile.

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For centuries, Europe’s German centre had been politically fragmented and weak. The continent had been dominated by states on the periphery, whose interest was to maintain the power vacuum at the centre. Now, however, for the first time, the Germans were united under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck and launched a major invasion into France, which ended up destroying the balance of power on the continent.

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Music composed by Frederic Chopin - Mazurkas in C sharp minor, Poloniase nr 7 and Predule nr 10

Picture - Bismarck and Napoleon III

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Following Prussia's victory at Königgrätz in 1866, the North German Confederation became an instrument for Prussian dominance. All northern German states not directly annexed by Prussia were put in the new Confederation in which Berlin assumed control of their foreign and military affairs, and most of their internal ones as well. A solid block of Prussian territory stretched now between France and Belgium in the west to Russian Lithuania in the east.

Tensions rise between Paris and Berlin, and Napoleon III of France blunders into a war against Germany for which he is not prepared

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Music composed by Brahms Symphony nr 3, parts of the 2nd and 3rd movements

Picture - German troops at Torcy, in September 1870

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The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 was brief, yet its consequences were profound. It was the culminating event in a rivalry that began with the rise of the house of Brandenburg-Prussia, most notably Frederick the Great’s unprovoked attack upon the Habsburg province of Silesia in 1740. From that time Austria and Prussia were involved in a long struggle for supremacy in Germany.

In 1866 Prussian armies invades Saxony and then the Austrian Empire with the main battle occurring on 3rd July 1866 at Königgrätz with immense armies on both sides.

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Music composed by Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, movements 3 and 4. Also Waltz nr. 15 in A flat major. Courtesy of musopen.org

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Any list of decisive battles of European history would be incomplete without a battle which occurred on 3 July 1866 near the town of Königgrätz, in the north of the today’s Czech Republic.

The victorious allies of the Schleswig War of 1864, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, soon after fall out with each other and go to war.

Austria faces great challenges - in the centre of Europe and facing in two directions – north and west to Germany, and south and east to a number of various ethnicities in eastern Europe and the Balkans

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Music composed by Camille Saint-saens: The Carnival of the Animals - Aquarium and Swan

Picture - Map of Central Europe

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When in November 1863 King Frederick VII of Denmark died, a dispute arose over who had a legitimate claim to rule over the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Otto von Bismarck saw this as a great opportunity to increase Prussian power in the region and decided, together with the Austrians, to invade Denmark.

The key battle in the war was the siege of Dybbøl in April 1864

This month, August 2022, I'm doing a cycling challenge to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. More info at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carl-rylett-cycle274

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Music composed by Anton Bruckner (Erinnerung) and Sergei Rachmaninoff (Preludes, number 10, Lento in B minor)

Picture - Siege of Dybbol 

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A border dispute between the German Confederation and the Kingdom of Denmark in the regions of Schleswig and Holstein breaks out into an inconclusive war in 1848-1850, and tensions remain into the 1860's.

Meanwhile, a common culture was developing across the German population of Europe, with the literary works of Goethe and Schiller, and philosophers Kant and Hegel. On the political scene, Otto von Bismarck rises to power as the Prussian chief minister. He urges the need for the king’s military reforms, famously stating that the great questions of the time would not be resolved by speeches or parliamentary votes but by ‘iron and blood’.

This month, August 2022, I'm doing a cycling challenge to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. More info at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carl-rylett-cycle274

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Music composed by Edvard Grieg (Peer Gynt Suite - Aase's Death, Anitra's Dance)

Picture - Otto von Bismarck

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Napoleon III of France and Cavour, chief minister of Piedmont come to an agreement to try to remove Austrian influence from the Italian peninsula, and provoke Vienna into war. One of the largest battles was at Solferino where there were three monarchs - Franz Joseph of Austria, Victor Emanuel of Piedmont and Napoleon III. The ensuing conflict lasted until 1861 when finally emerged the brand new nation of Italy

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Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi - Overture, Iphigenia In Aulis; La Traviata - Conclusion - Ah, fors' e lui. Courtesy of musopen.org.

Picture - Entry of Garibaldi to Napoli, by Franz Wenzel Schwarz

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The Napoleonic Wars had a dramatic impact on Italy, completing redrawing boundaries. Even though the French were defeated, many of their political reforms were to be both profound and long-lasting. And the temporary unification of parts of the peninsula encouraged Italians to be aware of a common nationality. Yet only decades afterwards would there be real change. Some of the protagonists were Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo Cavour, the Prime Minister of Piedmont

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Music composed by Franz Liszt - Die Loreley, S. 532 (Piano Solo)

and Mikhail Glinka - Trio Pathétique

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An allied army of British, French and Italians besiege the Crimean port of Sevastopol in late 1854. Fighting also took place in the Baltic Sea and in the Far East, and in the Caucasus mountains at the siege of the fortress of Kars. The main event at Sevastopol was particularly protracted and bloody as the allies attempted to break through into the city

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Music composed by Frederich Chopin: Preludes No. 7 'The Polish dancer'; Nocturne in F sharp major

Picture - Battle of Malakoff

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The Russians invade Moldavia and Wallachia (in modern day Romania) and destroy the Ottoman Black Sea fleet at Sinop. Under public pressure, the French and British governments, concerned about growing Russian power, decide to send in troops to force the invaders to retreat. Seeking to neutralise the Russian threat in the Black Sea and Mediterranean, the Allies decide to invade Crimea. One of several early skirmishes was the famous 'charge of the light brigade'

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Music composed by Frederich Chopin

Picture - British cavalry charging against Russian forces at Balaclava

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The Ottoman Sultans attempt to reform their army and state, under pressure from outside powers, most notably Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, who lays claim to protecting Orthodox Christians within the Ottoman Empire. The Crimean War begins when Russia invades the Orthodox territories of Moldavia and Wallachia in modern day Romania.

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Music from Frederich Chopin: Nocturne in B flat minor, no. 1, and Polonaise no. 1

Picture - The First Serbian Uprising (1804–1813) against the Ottoman Empire

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The powers of Europe, especially Britain and France are concerned by the decline of the Ottoman Empire and growing power and ambition of Russia. This episode focuses on the problems of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, who descendants once ruled a mighty empire that threatened Christendom, but in the 1800's was struggling under the pressures of modernity and the threat of regions breaking away e.g. in Egypt, Arabia and the Balkans. 

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Music: Chopin's Mazurka in C sharp minor, and Etude no. 3 in E major - 'Tristesse'; Mikhail Glinka - Trio Pathétique

Picture - Portrait of Sultan Mahmud II

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Revolutionary breaks out across Europe continent from France to Romania, Denmark to Italy. Slowly the authorities regained control but were unable to reverse all of the changes. Most governments, for example, kept some form of constitution, and liberals worked hard to defend what was left of their achievements. The events of 1848 gave millions of Europeans their first taste of politics, and remained an inspiration for later generations. 

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Music: Robert Schumann - Kinderszenen, courtesy of musopen.org

Picture: The revolutionary barricades in Vienna in May 1848

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In the first months of 1848, a tidal wave of revolution shook the political establishment of Europe to its foundations Events began with an uprising in Sicily in January, and by the end of the year the entire continent had been affected to some degree, including the overthrow of leaders in France, Austria, Italy and Germany

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Music: William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini, courtesy of musopen.org

Picture: Revolutionaries in Berlin in March 1848, waving the revolutionary flags

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King Charles X of France is overthrown and replaced by his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans. 

Meanwhile a 10 month long insurrection in Poland is crushed by the Russians. In the retribution which followed, eighty-thousand Poles are dragged off in chains to Siberia. 

The year 1830 also witnessed the formal independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire after a war which had begun nine years before.

And the Industrial Revolution gathers steam across western Europe

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Music from Feliox Mendelssohn, Italian Symphony, courtesy of musopen.org

Picture - Eugène_Delacroix (Liberty Leading the People)

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The Congress of Vienna 1814 at the end of the long Napoleonic Wars led to a period of relative peace on the continent of Europe. A network of institutions was established known as the ‘Concert of Europe’ where differences could be thrashed out before leading to war.

After the French Revolution, the basis of sovereignty shifted from individuals and families as leaders to nations and states. Throughout Europe a generation of individuals from the educated elite took the lead in developing movements of national liberation and liberal reform. But for more than thirty years the leaders of the Great Powers of the continent successfully managed to suppress these movements and clamped down on any signs of internal unrest or revolution

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Music: Frederich Chopin - Polonaise in A Flat Major; Franz Schubert's Symphony no.5

Picture: Congress of Vienna watercolour etching by August Friedrich Andreas

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The French army invades Russia. The Russians retreat deep into their own territory then confront the French at the inconclusive Battle of Borodino of September 1812. Napoleon leads his men into Moscow but is forced to abandon the city and return westwards in the middle of winter, resulting in devastating losses. The anti-French coalition regain the initiative at the huge Battle of the Nations and finally at the Battle of Waterloo.

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Music composed by Beethoven; Moonlight Sonata and Symphony No.6 in F major. Courtesy of musopen.org

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The French invade Prussia and capture its capital Berlin, and then move into Poland and take Warsaw. Napoleon and Tsar Alexander then agreed the Treaties of Tilsit. The greatest resistance to French dominance comes from the Spanish, aided by the British under the command of the Duke of Wellington.www.patreon.com/historyeuropewww.historyeurope.netMusic from Beethoven - Symphony Nr 5, courtesy of www.musopen.orgPicture: Charles Meynier - Entrée de Napoléon à Berlin, 27 Octobre 1806

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Peace could potentially have lasted after the treaties of Lunéville and Amiens of 1801 and 1802 had the great powers accepted each others’ spheres of influence. However, the agreements turned out to be just a short truce. Napoleon’s continued annexations in Europe and apparent ambitions in the Mediterranean and Near East alarmed the British and Russians. The French suffer defeat at Trafalgar but manage to occupy Vienna. The Russians then withdrew back eastwards, while the Austrians hastened to make peacewww.patreon.com/historyeuropewww.historyeurope.netMusic from Beethoven - Symphony Nr 3 'Eroica', played by Czech National Symphony Orchestra, courtesy of www.musopen.orgPicture: Jacques-Louis David - The Emperor_Napoleon in His Study at the Tuilerie

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Napoleon leads the French into Egypt but is defeated at the Battle of the Nile by the British. Afterwards the Russians and Austrians push back against the French in Italy, but then suffer a reverse at the Battle of Marengo. Marengo turned out arguably to be the most important victory of Napoleon’s career. Had he lost the battle, he would have lost the war and probably the consulship. Instead his narrow win secured his job and won him Italy.

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Music from Mozart - March in D major; Violin Concerto no. 3 in G major, II. Adagio, courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Jacques-Louis David - Napoleon Crossing the Alps

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The French invade Belgium in 1794 and the Netherlands in 1795. The coalition against them starts to fall apart as individual members came to terms. Russia, Prussia and Austria are distracted by their partitioning of Poland, which is wiped off the map.

Next the French invade Austria and Italy, the Italian campaign led by a promising young commander Napoleon Bonaparte.

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Music from Mozart (Symphony no. 40 'Prague'), courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Louis-François, Baron Lejeune - The Battle of Lodi 1796

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A French military victory at Valmy in 1792 and the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 focused the growing concern across Europe about the radical new regime in Paris. The true revolutionary nature of events in France was dawning on everyone, including the possibility of the export of the revolutionary principles. In France, there was further political turmoil in 1793 with the coming to power of Maximilien Robespierre, who embarked on a fully fledged reign of Terror

Music - Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, I. Allegro

Picture - Battle of Jemmapes, by Raymond Desvarraux

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The French king from 1774, Louis XVI, was poorly equipped for the role of national leader at a difficult time. His tragedy was that he had good intentions and a strong sense of responsibility. But he was shy and awkward and lacked the required political skills and charisma. Decades of failure for the French in foreign and domestic affairs, resulted in a profound crisis of legitimacy for the monarchy, resulting in the famous revolution of 1789

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Music from Hector Berlioz (Symphonie Fantastique), courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Jean-Pierre Houël - The storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789

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The Origins of the French Revolutionary Wars can be dated to 17th August 1787, when in Constantinople the Ottomans arrested the Russian ambassador Count Bulgakov in the Topkapi palace, and declared war on St Petersburg. Catherine the Great had deliberately provoked the Turks and now dragged in the reluctant Austrians into the war. The Austrian Emperor was Joseph II, the archetypal enlightened despot, who worked hard to reform his empire but from the top down. His reforms provoked the so-called Brabantine Revolution 1789-90 in the Netherlands which was similar in some ways to the contemporary French Revolution. 

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Music from Joseph Haydn (Symphony 94, 'Surpise'), Christoph Gluck (the opera 'Iphigenie En Tauride') and Mozart (the Turkish March), courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - January Suchodolski - the Siege of Ochakov 1788

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In the last years of the 19th century the continent of Europe was turned on its head. France erupted into revolution in the middle of what was already a volatile situation, with various tensions between the Great Powers (Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Ottomans as well as France). The storming of the Bastille is an iconic moment, not just for French, but world history. It came at a time when French prestige was in decline and her foreign policy seemed adrift. The French support of the British colonies in America helped them gain independence but did little for France herself. Meanwhile the Austrian Empire faced its own challenges, led by Joseph I after the death of Maria Theresa, and the Dutch Republic also appeared on the verge of revolt

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Music from Hector Berlioz (Symphonie Fantastique) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Serenade in G Major or Eine Kleine Nachtmusik), courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Jacques Bertaux_-_Prise du palais desTuileries

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Russo-Turkish War 1768-74, Catherine the Great

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Seven Years War 1756-1763, Part 2

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Music composed by Joseph Haydn, courtesy of musopen.org 

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Seven Years War 1756-63, Part 1

Pictured - Frederick the Great

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Music - Joseph Haydn, Symphony 49 'The Passion', courtesy of www.musopen.org

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War of Austrian Succession Concludes

Pictured - Battle of Fontenoy

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Music - Winter by Antonio Vivaldi, courtesy of musopen.org

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Prussian Invasion of Habsburg Silesia by Frederick the Great

Pictured - Maria Theresa - ruler of the Habsburg dominions

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Music composed by Domenico Scarlatti, courtesy of musopen.org

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Background to the War of Austrian Succession 1740-48

War of Polish Succession 1733–35, Russo-Turkish War 1735–1739, War of Jenkins Ear 1739-1748

Pictured - Augustus II the Strong,  Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania until his death in 1733, which triggered the War of Polish Succession

Music composed by Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto for Bassoon in A minor, Concerto 11 in c minor, courtesy of musopen.org 

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Introduction to the War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748; the rise of Prussia and beginning of the European Enlightenment. Pictured - Frederick William I, the king in Prussia and elector of Brandenburg (reigned 1713-40), known as the "Soldier King" for building up the military of his state.

Music composed by Georg Philipp Telemann, courtesy of musopen.org

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The armies of Peter the Great and Charles of Sweden fight the Battle of Poltava 1709. The Great Northern War 1700-1721 afterwards continues for a number of years, notably the Battle of the River Prut 1711, where the Russians confront the Ottomans.

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Charles XII of Sweden launches an audacious campaign towards Moscow through Poland, linking up with the Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa (pictured)

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The Great Northern War - Charles XII, the young new king of Sweden, defends himself from attacks from his neighbours Russia, Denmark and Poland

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The conquest of Siberia, split in the Russian Orthodox Church between new and old believers, uprising of Stenka Razin, conquest of Azov near the Black Sea, and early years of Peter the Great (pictured)

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The French army of Louis XIV was on the ropes, but fought hard against the British, Dutch, Austrians and Prussians at the Battle of Malplaquet 1709. Peace was finally agreed in with the Treaties of Utrecht 1713 and Rastadt 1714, establishing a new balance of power on the continent.

Composer - George Friedrich Handel, Water Music

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War of Spanish Succession - Heavy fighting across Western Europe, including in Italy and the Iberian peninsula between troops loyal to Philip V and the French on the one side and Austrians, Dutch and British on the other. Meanwhile the Duke of Marlborough leads the British and their allies against the French at the battles of Ramillies and Oudenaarde

Music: composer Giuseppe Torelli, Tumpet Concerto in D 'Estienne Roger - 1. Allegro moderato

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The Battle of Blenheim was a major turning point in the War of the Spanish Succession. A British and Allied army, led by the Earl of Marlborough, marched rapidly southwards from the Netherlands to confront a Franco-Bavarian army

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Music composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Intro music by Nico Vettese (wetalkofdreams.com)

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Carlos II, the King of Spain, was dying. He had become king at the age of four in 1665 and throughout his life had suffered appalling physical ill-health. As the only surviving son of Philip IV of Spain and with expectations low that he would produce a heir, the question of succession was for a long time prominent in European politics. War indeed erupted in 1701 on his death

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The Nine Years' War (1688–1697) was a conflict between France and a European coalition which included the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, Savoy and Portugal. It was fought in Europe and the surrounding seas, in North America, and in India. The war encompassed the Williamite war in Ireland and Jacobite risings in Scotland, where William III and James II struggled for control of England and Ireland

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Music composed by Louis de Caix d'Hervelois

Intro music by Nico Vettese (wetalkofdreams.com)

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Louis XIV has become the historical embodiment of the style of absolutist government where the monarch personally directs all matters of state as he or she sees fit, with authority given as a divine right. When he ascended to the throne, France was the most populous country in western Europe, and he intended to use its resources to pursue glory for his dynasty and kingdom at the expense of his neighbours.

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Music composed by Francois Couperin

Intro music by Nico Vettese (wetalkofdreams.com)

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At the battles of the Boyne and of Aughrim 1690, a force of Irish Catholics, supported by Louis XIV of France, fought against a multi-national army commanded by William of Orange, head of the Dutch Republic, who was also the newly crowned King of England following a successful coup known as the Glorious Revolution 1688. The battles paved the way for English domination of the British Isles through the military suppression of the Irish, and in time Britain became more politically united.

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Intro music by Nico Vettese (wetalkofdreams.com)

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Soon after William of Orange took control of England in the Glorious Revolution 1688 and became King William III of England, he found it necessary to confront a rebellion in Ireland. With the support of King Louis XIV of France, the deposed King James arrives in Ireland to support Catholic resistance to William and to reclaim his crown

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Intro music by Nico Vettese (wetalkofdreams.com)

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In 1688 a large invasion arrived in England from the Dutch Republic, led by William of Orange. It was a risky move, driven partly out of fear of the English allying with Louis XIV of France, who was threatening to attack his country. King James II of England was fast losing popular support for his Catholic sympathies, a fact exploited in William's propaganda to the English.

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Music: Henry Purcell (Overture in G minor, Gordion Knot Untied)

Intro by Nico Vettese (wetalkofdreams.com)

Picture: William III Landing at Brixham, Torbay

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Siege of Vienna 1683

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Music: Palestrina (Adoramus te Christe); Elgar (March of the Mogul Emperors)

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Build-up to Siege of Vienna 1683

Picture: Jan Sobieksi

Music by composer Johann Jospeh Fux - Symphony in F Major, Partita in G Minor

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The Habsburg Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705) faces the twin challenge of the France of Louis XIV in the west and the Ottoman Empire in the East

Music: Christmas Concert by composer Arcangelo Corelli

Picture: Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg Palace, Vienna

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In the 1660's and 1670's the British (after the Restoration of the Monarchy led by King Charles II) and the Dutch fight a second and third naval war for control of the seas. It includes the audacious Dutch Attack on the Medway of June 1667

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Music: Henry Purcell - Chacony in G minor, The Gordion Knot Untied . Courtesy of musopen.org

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The death of Oliver Cromwell in September 1658 left the republican government in disarray. The mood of the country favoured the return of monarchy, and so King Charles II was invited to the restored English throne in May 1660. Soon after conflict with the Dutch Republic renewed with the Second Anglo Dutch War

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Music: Alessandro Scarlatti - Sinfonie di concerto grosso No 12 in c minor, La Geniale; Concerti Grossi No 5 in d minor, courtesy of musopen.org

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The Anglo Dutch wars were not only important events in their own right, but also the earliest in a sequence of naval wars which continued into the nineteenth century. At first sight the British Commonwealth government under Oliver Cromwell and the Dutch Republic had much in common and should have been allies, but trade and shipping disputes between them led to a conflict for control of the seas.

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Music: Henry Purcell - The Fairy Queen; Abdelazer (or The Moor's Revenge) courtesy of musopen.org

Art: Reinier Nooms - The Battle of Leghorn

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After the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and his Commonwealth government asserted their authority over Ireland and Scotland. They fought off an invasion from Charles's son, which was defeated at the Battle of Worcester 1651 and then attacked the remaining Royalist forces in the Scilly Isles, Channel Islands and the Americas. Meanwhile, tensions grew with the neighbouring Dutch Republic

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Music: Jean-Baptiste Lully - Le bourgeois gentilhomme, courtesy of musopen.org

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Turmoil in northern and eastern Europe continues with war involving Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire. The Cossacks of Ukraine lose their last hopes for autonomy. The Russians take a big step forwards to establishing themselves permanently upon the Black Sea and also in a position where they can take a closer interest in Central Europe 

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Music courtesy of musopen.org. Frederic Chopin, Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9 no. 2; Etude Op. 10, no. 3 in E major - 'Tristesse'

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A Cossack uprising breaks out in 1648 partly a response to local grievances but also an attempt to retain a degree of autonomy. However, by appealing to Moscow for help, Bohadan Khmelnitsky triggers the invasion of Sweden as well as Russia, which ultimately caused devastation, and the beginning of the end of Poland as a major power. The events are known as the Swedish Deluge, or just the Deluge in Poland, and as ‘the Ruin’ in Ukrainian history

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Music Courtesy of musopen.org

Mazurka in C sharp minor

Polonaise in A flat major

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First Part of a series 'The Ruin and the Deluge' on the turbulent late 17th century of eastern Europe. In 1648 the Cossacks start a major rebellion against their Polish overlords. In an attempt to retain autonomy for his people, the Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnitsky (pictured) appeals to Tsar Alexis of Moscow for help

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Music courtesy of musopen.org. Composer: Frederic Chopin

Nocturne in B flat minor, Op.9 no.1

Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op.6 no.2

Polonaise, Op. 71 no.1

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The English Civil War

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Build-up to the English Civil War, with growing tensions between King Charles I and the Parliament

Music: John Dowland - Lachrimae, or Seven Tears; Lassus - Susanne un jour (piano); Thoinot Arbeau - Orchésographie - Pavane: Belle qui tiens ma vie

Picture: Attempted Arrest of the Five members, by Charles West Cope

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Part 1 on the English Civil War. The reign of the first Stuart king of England, James I (James VI of Scotland) was relatively calm, but there were religious tensions, including the Gunpowder Plot 1605, and disagreements with parliament, which presaged the later troubles of his son Charles I

Music: Orlando Gibbons, Silver Swan

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Last decade of the Thirty Years War - French, Swedish, Spanish, German, and imperial armies fight to gain strategic advantage in a central Europe already devastated by many years of conflict and pillaging. Finally in 1648 the sides agree to the Peace of Westphalia.

Music: Claudio Monteverdi - Lamento della ninfa, 1638, dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand III

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The French, her foreign policy led by Cardinal Richelieu, enter the Thirty Years War after the Battle of Lutzen 1632

Music: Giovanni Paolo Cima - O Dulcedo Meliflua, 1610

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Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, launches a stunning attack into Germany and dramatically turns the tide of the Thirty Years War, concluding at the Battle of Lutzen 1632

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Before Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, got involved in the 30 Years War, he had already fought wars against Denmark, Poland and Russia

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Warfare engulfs central Europe as Spain and the Dutch renew their war and Christian IV of Denmark invades the Holy Roman empire. Ferdinand II declares the Edict of Restitution to reassert Catholicism and imperial authority

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The Thirty Years war is triggered by a revolt in Bohemia, and the famous Defenestration of Prague 1618. Frederick V of the Palatinate accepts the rebels' invitation to lead them, leading to the Battle of White Mountain for control of Prague.

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The 17th century was one of the most bloody of European history. The Thirty Years War in particular is notorious for the sustained carnage and destruction it caused, and still burns in German memory as the most bloody period in their history before the twentieth century. Today's episode describes the situation on the continent leading up to the conflict. Pictured: Emperor Ferdinand II and Frederick V of the Palatinate. Music: Giovanni Palestrina

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Sultan Osman II leads a massive invasion force to Poland, confident of victory after defeating a Christian army the year before. The Ottomans meet a combined Polish-Cossack army near the Romanian-Polish border by the fortress of Khotytn (pictured). And so commences a month long battle for control of the region.

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Cossacks raid the Black Sea coast as far as Kaffa and Istanbul. King Sigismund III of Poland vies for control of Moldavia, today a region in Romania with the Turks. In response Sultan Osman II declares war on Poland, gaining victory at Cecora in 1620 (pictured). The next year the Ottomans prepare a much bigger army for an invasion of Poland

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A succession of weak rulers begins the gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire. Their fight with the Habsburgs for control of Hungary continues with the Long Turkish War 1593-1606

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Background to the Battle of Khotyn 1621. The Cossacks occupy a central place in the history of Ukraine and surrounding region. They were not so much a distinct race but a way of life, a military caste whose service, though not always loyalty, was brought for concessions of land and limited independence. They inhabited a no-mans land in south-eastern Europe between the Christian states of Poland-Lithuania and Muscovy to the north, and the Ottoman Turks and their vassals to the south east

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The famous Spanish Armada of 1588 was only one of several battles in the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604. Elizabeth hoped to take advantage of her victory by striking another blow to the Spanish fleet but in truth her own forces were exhausted. The conflict continued for several more years, and became embroiled in continental affairs; the Dutch Revolt and rise of Henry IV of France. Finally, I look at the legacies of Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth I of England 

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The famous attempted invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588

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The Duke of Parma (pictured), sent by Philip II of Spain, makes good progress putting down tough resistance in the Dutch Revolt. Spanish success prompts Elizabeth I to get more involved

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Origins of the Dutch Revolt (1568–1648). Philip II of Spain inherits the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples and the newly discovered Americas as well as the Iberian Peninsula. Unrest breaks out in the Netherlands, and resistance grows against Philip's rule. Meanwhile, Anglo-Spanish relations are further strained by the discovery of a Spanish plot to kill Queen Elizabeth, the Ridolfi plot

Pictured: Philip of Spain and William of Orange, leader of the revolt

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The kingdoms of England and Spain are allies during the reign of Mary I of England and her husband Philip Habsburg, son of Emperor Charles V. Mary, however, dies childless and is succeeded by her sister Elizabeth, a Protestant. Meanwhile Mary Queen of Scots is briefly Queen of France, but on the death of her husband returns to Scotland, causing a dilemma for Queen Elizabeth.

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Something different this week - an interview with historian and author Jacob F. Field, whose works include:

One Bloody Thing After Another: The World's Gruesome History

We Shall Fight on the Beaches: The Speeches That Inspired History

And more recently - A History of Europe in Bite Sized Chunks

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