AEIOU: A Podcast about Austria

We saw how Austria was a neoabsolutist hellscape before the Compromise of 1867. But with Franz Joseph losing wars and territory, he quickly transformed his remaining dominions into a democracy, although not necessarily a functioning one. In this episode, we take a quick overview of Austrian politics between 1867 and 1890, when new parties arose to challenge the liberal consensus.

ALL NEW EPISODE The title of this episode comes from an old saying about compromise, chosen because the topic this week is the Compromise of 1867, which created Austria-Hungary. It's also said a good compromise is one by which no one is happy. Unfortunately for Austria, it ends up a little unhappier than Hungary.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! This episode covers the end of the revolutions of 1848, finishing late in 1849, with both a new emperor (Franz Joseph) and a new war in Italy. The emperor will serve for much longer, and the war in Italy will be much shorter. In the meantime, forget about those revolutionary reforms for now.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! In this episode, we're faced with the same problem as before but in different form -- how can this be a podcast about Austria but have an episode set largely in a totally different country? Well, when you're a Great Power in the center of Europe, things can get complicated.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! This episode details the reign of Emperor Ferdinand, who gives old Charles II of Spain a run for his money on the award for most inbred Habsburg monarch. That the final year of his reign is also the most revolutionary year in all of Europe's history is merely a coincidence.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! In this episode, we'll wrap up the Napoleonic Wars and learn how Austrian Chancellor and Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich helped establish the Concert of Europe and ushered in an era of peace. Kind of. There was some peace. There was also a stabbing or two.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! Well, not really Belgium so much as the Austrian Netherlands, Liege, and a few other places. In this episode, we'll discuss how the French Revolution influenced events in Austria, and we'll learn a little bit about how ultimatums can backfire.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! In this episode, we talk about the monumental reforms undertaken during the reign of Joseph II, and we learn that, where Poland loses, Austria gains -- both territory and new ethnic groups!

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! In this episode, we discuss the reign over Austria of Maria Theresa, the only woman to rule the Habsburg Monarchy. We'll learn why she named all her daughters Maria, how she felt about religion and politics, and some of the permanent changes with which she left Austria.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! No, it's not another installment in the ongoing saga of the Roy family! It's the story of two wars of succession, one in Spain and one in Austria. Learn why the so-called Habsburg jaw indicated a bigger problem than just your chin arriving in any given room ten minutes before the rest of your head.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! I'm back after an extended absence and ready for more abuse! This week's podcast covers the rest of the Thirty Years War and its aftermath. War with the Empire's fellow Germans ultimately gives way to war with Denmark, war with Sweden, war with France, and war with the Ottomans.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! This week, we learn a new word -- defenestration -- and we learn why that word has been associated with the city of Prague. We also talk begin a discussion of the Thirty Years War and why it happened despite our previously discussed efforts to settle the religious question.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! In this week's episode, perhaps one of the most momentous series of events in the history of humankind and certainly among the most momentous in European history: Luther launches the Reformation and faces off against the most powerful man in the world.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! The third episode of this podcast introduces a familiar name to our growing lexicon: Habsburg. And what is an interregnum anyway? And why do we care? And finally, another Latin motto for Austria.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! In our second episode, we look at some of the more prominent members of the Babenberg dynasty, learn a little about Austrian vexillology, and find out more about why the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, or really an empire.

NEW AUDIO. I'm going through and (slowly) re-recording the first several episodes, permanently dumping the robotic voice. Please give me another try! Our first episode gives some background on what Austria is and how it's changed over a millennium. Then we jump right in with the history, providing some detail about the area's first dynasty, the House of Babenberg.