Versailles #33: We Need To Talk About Germany
When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
Zack Twamley
4.8 • 773 Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2019
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In episode 33, we assess the day of 7th February, where the allies attempted to respond to what the Germans had done the previous day of 6th Feb, when the Constituent Assembly gathered in Weimar. The only problem with this allied approach was that no single man knew what exactly was happening in Germany. They were armed only with vague ideas and preconceived notions, and certainly no practical solutions. The French offered venom and wrath, the British caution, the Americans sympathy. It was impossible to decide upon the future either of Germany or the peace conference as a whole when everything seemed to be in flux, but this would not stop the allies from trying their best.
As talk of Germany continued, so did plans for creating the ideal version of the League of Nations. After being presented only the previous week, a commission had gotten to work sorting through the difficulties and disagreements, which were unfortunately legion. The French, much like in the case of the German question, posed the most problems in the League discussion. But was this fair to blame the French? Could we instead be more justified in blaming the American President? Was Woodrow Wilson to blame for failing to delegate, and for viewing the creation of the League as his one truly important purpose? As we will learn here, the consensus is not present on any of these questions, because the truth is far from so simple…
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there, history friends. You're listening to When Nepalancey Fails, and my name of course is |
| 0:04.9 | Zach Twomley. If you've never listened to this podcast before, then this is episode 33 of a very |
| 0:10.0 | long-running project where we detail what happened 100 years ago, because in case you weren't aware |
| 0:14.9 | 100 years ago, people were trying to, well, end the First World War, a task which was easier said than done, |
| 0:22.4 | and it's not even that easy to say. This is probably one of the most in-depth podcasts you'll |
| 0:26.6 | find on the interweb, and the reason why we're able to go so in-depth is because I'm able to spend |
| 0:31.3 | so much flaming time on this show. Don't think I don't enjoy it, I really do love it. But sometimes it's hard to justify |
| 0:38.5 | spending all this time on your hobby. And that's why it's fortunate that you guys support this |
| 0:43.0 | podcast so well. Because of the monetary support and the moral support, I'm able to keep on doing |
| 0:48.1 | this as though it were my job. It brings me in enough of an income for it to be like a part-time job. |
| 0:53.4 | The other part of my job |
| 0:54.3 | is spent lecturing in university. You guys have made this dream of mine possible. Pretty much |
| 0:58.9 | everything I have right now in terms of my career is thanks to this podcast. So if anyone ever tells |
| 1:03.5 | you podcasting or history, for that matter, is a waste of time, tell them their waste of time, |
| 1:08.1 | and then walk away really dramatically and then wait for them to figure it out and see what happens next. |
| 1:12.2 | Seriously though, this podcast is a listener-supported podcast and I'm able to come to you several times a week |
| 1:17.9 | specifically because you guys support me so darned well. |
| 1:22.3 | If you would like to support this podcast monetarily, give a little bit in return for a large bit every month, then head on over |
| 1:28.6 | to patreon.com forward slash when diplomacy fails. You know it by now. You click on the link in the |
| 1:34.7 | description below, and if you choose $2, $5, $6, $66, $600,000, it's all the same. It goes to me, |
| 1:43.9 | and it helps me live, it helps me eat, and payday |
| 1:46.8 | comes every single month, which is really nice because when you're doing something like this |
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