BLUEPRINT FOR ARMAGEDDON PODCAST SERIES

It’s the same gun essentially that both sides in the U.S. The gun itself weighed about 1200 pounds. …His big guns were firing 12-pound cannonballs. Nowhere is that more on display than in artillery, which 100 years ago in Napoleon’s time was already what Napoleon thought decided battles… The weapons that are on the way from Germany to Belgium to reduce these forts are the best example I can think of to show how much has changed since the last time the great powers fought each other in Europe 100 years before. Unfortunately for the Belgians, nobody knew quite how different the new cannons were until they showed up on the scene. But this was a new era, and the new cannons were nothing like the old cannons. When constructed in the 1880s and 1890s, the forts had been guaranteed to withstand the shelling from any cannon in the world. And they knew if they did, they had to have a weapon that was greater than anything the people who built these forts had ever envisioned. They knew that the Belgians might resist. As I said, the Germans had been preparing for this attack for a very long time. So Ludendorf calls for his ace in the hole. Those forts give Belgian troops a point of attack from which they can safely fire upon German soldiers if the German army presses on further into Belgium.

The Germans have taken Liege, but have not yet captured the string of forts surrounding the city. The moment comes in August of 1914, the opening salvo of the war as Germany invades Belgium. In this case, 19 th-century military tactics meet 20 th-century weaponry. A moment in history when it becomes evident that the world has crossed a threshold.

BLUEPRINT FOR ARMAGEDDON PODCAST SERIES

His most recent episode is part IV in a series on World War I called “Blueprint for Armageddon.” I’ve been re-listening to the first three parts of the series before starting the latest episode, and I came across one of those passages that exemplifies what I love about the podcast. So he’s essentially releasing serialized, full-length audiobooks. And Carlin often dedicates several shows to a single topic-the Mongols, the fall of the Roman Republic, World War II’s eastern front, etc.

He speaks not with the dry, date-obsessed drone that might come to mind when one thinks of a high school history class, but with the exuberance of a fan-someone who truly loves the stories of our world.Įach Hardcore History episode takes a few months to produce, but shows are 3-4 hours long. He’s fond of saying, “I’m not a historian, just a fan of history.” It is an apropos characterization. If I’d had Dan Carlin as a history teacher, I may have become a history teacher myself. One of my favorite podcasts is Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.

Blueprint for armageddon podcast