Versailles #78: OTD 21st June 1919 - Ships of State
When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
Zack Twamley
4.8 • 773 Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2019
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
My agora friends and others are going to be in New York for a special conference on 29th June - meet Mike Duncan, Kevin Stroud, David Crowther and more! Search Intelligent Speech Conference now! Use the code WDF to get 5% off your ticket!
Within this episode we tell the incredible story of Scapa Flow, that infamous event in the twilight of the peace conference, where the German admiral von Reuter determined that he had no choice other than to scuttle his ships. As we will learn here though, the decision which the German admiral took was not a straightforward case of a German doing bold things, and debate rages on to this day over whether or not the act was a result of misunderstanding, or deliberate sabotage.
We also provide some background to the situation at Scapa Flow. How long had von Reuter's 74 ships been at this harbour, and why were they interned, rather than simply handed over as a surrender? What did the allies plan to do with his ships, and how did they plan to overcome thier disagreements? Could anyone really afford to add these 74 ships to their naval arsenal, or should they be used instead as a beacon of hope, by handing them to the League of Nations? Maybe they should just be destroyed in a grand ceremony, the symbol of the Anglo-German naval race sinking beneath the waves. As we will learn, the scuttling didn't merely embarrass the British, it also saved any potential antagonism between the British and Americans. Perhaps, in some respects, the act was even a blessing in disguise?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of the Versailles Anniversary Project is brought to you by Poland is not yet lost, |
| 0:05.8 | which actually has not been found yet because it's not due to be released until September, |
| 0:10.1 | but it's on the way for all patrons of the $5 level and above. |
| 0:13.7 | If you would like to hear the lesser-known story of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century, |
| 0:19.8 | to make sure you head on over to patreon.com |
| 0:21.9 | forward slash when diplomacy fails in time for the official launching of this project in September. |
| 0:28.0 | By pledging $5 or more a month, you'll be able to have access to this very fascinating story, |
| 0:35.3 | which will be running for several years as I get my PhD done and dusted. |
| 0:41.0 | It's something I've been looking forward to doing for a long time, and if you remember back to |
| 0:45.5 | the old days of retro when diplomacy fails, launching a series on Polish history was one of the |
| 0:51.2 | first goals I had for Patreon and for when diplomacy fails. |
| 0:55.8 | And once we hit that $500 goal, I made it my mission to decide what era of Polish history |
| 1:01.7 | you guys wanted to see. And for some reason, you voted for perhaps the most depressing period |
| 1:07.8 | of Polish history. So for that reason, not because I'm a glutton for punishment, |
| 1:12.0 | but because you guys voted for it, |
| 1:13.8 | the 1700s, the eventful 18th century, |
| 1:16.8 | is where our focus on Poland will reside. |
| 1:19.4 | I hope you'll join me for that, |
| 1:21.0 | but until then, history friends, |
| 1:23.5 | I hope you enjoyed this episode. |
| 2:07.6 | Music I hope you enjoyed this episode. You're listening to the Versailles Anniversary Project episode 78. |
| 2:17.8 | Today is the 21st of June 2019 and on this day in history 100 years ago, occurred the following events. |
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