The Unknown Soldiers Podcast

In 1864, a small kingdom stood alone against two great powers, in a war it couldn't win but its leaders still decided to fight. In Part 2 of the Wars of German Unification, we meet the four Prussian warlords who will forge Germany: especially their political mastermind - Otto von Bismarck, who turned an obscure political dispute into the first War of German Unification: the Second Schleswig War. This is a story of politics and war, a cynic who understood what was possible, an idealist who refused to see the impossible, and the soldiers who paid for both.
To the rest of Europe, 1864 was a footnote. To Denmark, it was the year that changed everything.
The axe forgets. The tree remembers.
Sources: https://www.unknownsoldierspodcast.com/post/the-wars-of-german-unification-source-list
Maps: https://www.unknownsoldierspodcast.com/post/maps-germany-part-2
Music:
All For Power by HumBellsMusic via Pond5.com:
https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/242058875-all-power-orchestral-hip-hop-30-second
"Military" by florews, via Pond5.com:
https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/111522136-military-epic-patriotic-cinematic
Silhouette of War by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Attribution 4.0 International (CCBY4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Music
promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Slow Walk Into The Sunset by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode #71, "The Crown from the Gutter", ended with the defeat of the German Revolutions of 1848. But what happened to all those idealistic young rebels and radicals after their revolutions were crushed and they had to skip town? A lot of them got on a boat…and made their way to the United States of America. History remembers them as the Forty-Eighters.
But soon the Forty-Eighters ended up in ANOTHER great struggle for liberty, this time to break the chains of slavery. Because over 200,000 German-Americans, led by the revolutionary exiles of 1848, fought for the Union Army in the American Civil War. Ten years after they had fought for freedom in Germany and lost, the Forty-Eighters, both men and women, fought for freedom in America. And this time, they won.
Sources: https://www.unknownsoldierspodcast.com/post/the-wars-of-german-unification-source-list

Before the 19th Century, there was no such thing as Germany. Not yet. The German people were scattered across dozens of separate countries, dominated by Austria and Prussia. But an idea was loose in Europe - that a people should rule themselves, that a nation should be free - and that idea was about to catch fire.
In Part 1 of the Wars of German Unification series, our big "context" episode, we trace the origins of German nationalism, the epic rivalry of Austria and Prussia, the influence of the French Revolution and Napoleon on German history, and the rising tide of revolution that led to the European Spring.
Because to understand the Wars of German Unification, the battles and the iron and the blood, we have to start with the first attempt to unify Germany, the one that failed.
We have to start with the road not taken.
We have to start with 1848.
Sources: https://www.unknownsoldierspodcast.com/post/the-wars-of-german-unification-source-list
Music:
Haydn String Quartet In C Major Emperor Hob Iii 77 Op 76 No 3 Movement 2, by Lynnepublishing via Pond5.com
https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/92945102-haydn-string-quartet-c-major-emperor-hob-iii-77-op-76-no-3-m
"Phoenix Uprising" by Allwaves via Pond5.com
https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/302066823-phoenix-rising-cinematic-trailer-theme-rebellion-sacrifice-i
Chasing Daylight by Scott Buckley | https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Voice of Earth by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Juggernaut by Scott Buckley | www.scottbuckley.com.au
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A brief introduction to the upcoming Wars of German Unification series, debuting September 21. Don't know your Kaisers from your Pfizers or your Prussias from your Ushers? Find the answers here!
Sources: https://www.unknownsoldierspodcast.com/post/the-wars-of-german-unification-source-list
Maps: https://www.unknownsoldierspodcast.com/post/maps-germany-part-1
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/unknownsoldierspodcast
https://twitter.com/unksoldierspod
Email me: unknownsoldierspodcast@gmail.com

In 1789, a mob stormed a fortress called the Bastille…and the world would never be the same. Over the next sixty years, the French rose up again…and again…and again, from 1789 to 1848, revolution after revolution after revolution, one great struggle that refused to end, one song that refused to die.
Or...James Houser's Cliff Notes version of French history from 1789 to 1848. Guillotines, flags, songs, speeches, and more than a little blood. The revolution will not always be civilized...but it will transform the world.
Sources: coming soon (in the large German Wars of Unification source list)
Music:
Brahms, Tragic Overture, Op No. 81, performed by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra. CC.
"Phoenix Uprising" by Allwaves via Pond5.com
https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/302066823-phoenix-rising-cinematic-trailer-theme-rebellion-sacrifice-i
"La Marseillaise", U.S. Navy Band c. 1987, public domain, from en.wikipedia.org
"Military" by florews, via Pond5.com: https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/111522136-military-epic-patriotic-cinematic
"Epic Finale" by Hakaneriksson, via Pond5.com
https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/59734878-epic-finale
Hearts Of Iron by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, Op No. 67, performed by the Fulda Symphonic Orchestra. CC.
Chasing Daylight by Scott Buckley | https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckleyMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Independence Day by florewsmusic, via Pond5.com: https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/item/197352388-independence-day-american-military-patriotic-national-backgr