10.53- The Balkans

Confused by how events in the Balkans could trigger a world war. Good news, you're not alone. The great powers of Europe are right there with you.

Direct Link: 10.53- The Balkans

Comments

[Liam]

You’ll be happy to know, mister Duncan, that I just preordered my copy of Hero of Two Worlds.

Great episodes as always and I’m more than happy to keep supporting you and the quality content you produce.

[Shane Doherty]

I half expected the summary to start with the tail end of the Migration period as the Byzantines lost control of the Danube frontier. That said I'm interested that you didn't cover how Pan-Slavic nationalism encounters issues not unlike Germany in Schleswig-Holstein with mixed demographics. I guess it's not strictly necessary for WW1 background, but I like when big ideas like nationalism are put under scrutiny.

[Nikola]

As a listener who is originally from the Balkans (Serbia), I must say I think you did a tremendous job with this episode, Mike! You managed to outline the big picture while giving enough nuance for a 30-minutes episode. I also like how you avoided the hackneyed tropes about the region as an inherently unstable "tinderbox" and instead explained the crises in the context of nationalism, post-Ottoman re-shuffling, and just the good ol' stately quadrille. Bravo! You did avoid the hard-to-pronounce names of the two Serbian dynasties though, haha! For anyone interested in learning more, I'd suggest a book by Maria Todorova, "Imagining the Balkans".

[Schwarzbär]

I just caught up on the episode before this. If it ever comes up again, your Schleswig is quite good, could maybe use a longer E, but could you pronounce the Holstein HOLshtine?

[Chris]

Hi Mike! Great episode as usual, a pleasure to listen to. I think one thing you may have missed is that Izvolsky's specific ask was that the Turks give the Russians the right to unrestricted traffic through the Straits. So it wasn't like they were just asking for ownership of Constantinople straight up, so to speak. It's a demand that makes Izvolsky seem a little bit less of a dupe! Because as you say, there is no way the other Great Powers would let that happen. Thanks again for everything you produce.

[Luke Smith]

I pre ordered the hero of two worlds from a local indie bookstore. I've been ploughing through the years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro so this will be a perfect follow up

[Charles]

This comment is out of place but I wanted to leave it anyway because I just listened to your supplemental episode: streets of Paris. It was a great review and recap of that period in Paris, which I shared as well and wanted to thank you for!

If you were up at 5am during the first Covid lockdown and saw a lone guy running through the Marais, then you saw this you saw me. I fully expect this comment to be "moderated" into oblivion but wanted to thank you for the great work. Another chef-d'œuvre! And a particularly special time to be in Paris.