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Episode 121: The Red Danube (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-01 01:48:32
Imported:
2026-06
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Downloads

  • the red danube.mp3
  • Episode_121_The_Red_Dan... - audiogram.mp4
  • Episode_121_The_Red_Dan... - audiogram.mp4

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Content

On May 21st, 1809, the Austrians attacked the Grande Armée at the towns of Aspern and Essling. The ensuing two days were the hardest test of Napoleon's career to date.

Files

Previews only

Comments

Smooth Shrek

Ending 2024 with a bang! Happy new year!

JLD

I knew this morning that Aspern-Essling was coming. I dreaded it, but "It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny." Lol. Happy new year everybody.

Julian Weber

What a great start into the new year. Bonne année à tous !

JC

Happy happy new year

Odd Kjellberg

Great episode, glorious, disastrous and a very good start to the new year! While listening to the ordeal of the fighting soldiers I started to think about the citizens of these cities. What was their fate in these kinds of battles? Were they evacuated in time or caught between the battleing armies and bombarded by their own artillery? Perhaps a subject for a dispatch? 😊

Stuart Mathieson

Grear stuff. Fascinating, exciting and horrific. Why were the French army scounts unable to locate such a large force before it almost on top of them? Was there any repercussions to personnel or command structure in what appears to be a huge blunder? Did the Austrians employ any specific tactics to create the element of surprise?

John McCormick

It is chastening to listen to this history. So much blood, violence and life long suffering inflicted, to end up back where they started. A lesson not learned by the human race.

Deane

Question about Britain. If Nelson had lost the battle of the Nile, what would have been the consequences for history and how likely is it that France would have invaded the UK this? How serious was Napoleon about invading Britain? And how realistic is it that he could have ever pulled this off? Thanks

Jack Dermody

Question: were any resources allocated to counter the barges that were sent from upstream to destroy the bridges in this period (or later periods if not now)? Perhaps strong nets across the river or semi permeable dams before the bridge could act as a countermeasure? Happy New Year to all!

Plainwrap

Pretty sad to hear about Napoleon's best friend Lannes dying. At least we still have General Antoine-Charles Lasalle, Mr. "any hussar who wasn't dead by age thirty was a blackguard". Surely he'll still have time to get new boots, make his wife pregnant AND cheer up the Emperor next episode!

Arin Spanner

You’ve mentioned the rivalry for Napoleon’s attention between his now-deceased best friend, Jean Lannes, and his second-closest friend, Joachim Murat. What was it about Napoleon’s relationship with Lannes that led you to rank him above Murat? Did anyone else vie for the honor of being the Emperor’s best or second-best friend?

Chris Beer

Loved your inclusion of Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, one of my favourite songs. Happy New year from Austria!

Ian Nance

Great episode. Hearing about a loss for Napoleon had me wondering: what kinds of reviews or retrospectives did commanders engage in after a battle? With so much chaos during the battles themselves, were there processes in the aftermath for "reviewing the tape" to assess what went wrong and what went right?

Josefína Kurfürstová

Great episode. I am wondering what was the mood among the women who stayed behind in France, as the bloodshed got worse and worse? Is there any information? You often hear today of the grieving "mothers of the soldiers" or the widows who could be a particular moving force behind any opposition against a conflict where a lot of men is lost. Like any complainst to local magistrates over drafts, or even was there any changes to any allowances given to those families left behind a dead soldier as there is now more of them? Do we know anything about this or is the "mood in France" as opposition/support for war always driven by economic circumstances in the debate of the Napoleonic wars?

Rob Herman

For a bonus dispatch--could you please talk about how the engineers created temporary bridges? Putting together even a temporary bridge overnight seems like an incredibly daunting task and I'm not sure how they even began.

Deane

I started this podcast quite admiring Napoleon and being impressed with his merits and achievements for France. As time has gone on I am becoming more and more sceptical about whether he was a force for good. I fear he has slipped into despotism and self aggrandizement and is pulling Europe into more and more war. The balance is shifting from blame for these wars being on the ideologically driven and positioning coalitions to Napoleon himself. Spain was the most egregious example so far. This must have been how Europe and the French experienced the story too, but without knowing how it ended ultimately

Lord-Admiral of the Pyrenees

I’m not sure about the direction of the script for this seasons. I know you’re trying to shake things up but I think a lot of listens like to hear about Napoleon winning big. Not sure about this new “maybe Napoleon doesn’t always win” angle.

God's Eepiest Soldier
>>160107200

there's a book out very recently by jennifer ngaire heuer that might touch on this - it's called "the soldier's reward" and it's about marriage and conscription during the revolutionary & napoleonic periods

Microplastic Lizard Brain

A little outside the narrative but I am curious about the forces of production and industry behind the various powers. Is each state producing the majority of its war material internally? Is British industrial capacity playing a role in Austria's military refurbishment? Wondering how that stuff may tie in to Napoleon's desire to keep British trade out of the continent. Great episode, thank you for all you do with this show!

John McCormick
>>160150659

This is why I'm enjoying the podcast! Napoleon is a terrible, fascinating person who achieved things we would admire today among dreadful barbarities. He is also a model for several others to come in history, a necessary evil perhaps, but cannot let go when his time is done. Very worthy of our study!

William

This was a really good episode and I loved listening to it!

Pete Fenelon

Happy new year! I saved this episode for weeks to accompany me on my road trip. I was happy to see the magnanimous gesture toward the Habsburgs at the end!

Rwfssqsfc

When can we expect the next dispatch?

ageofnapoleon
>>162235364

Any day now. I have to record sitting down and I threw out my back, so sitting down is very painful at the moment. It's all ready to go, just waiting on my back to heal up enough that I can sit down for an hour.

Geoffrey Dellar

Wasn’t artillery of this era either solid shot or canister fire? How did the artillery light aspern?

Britt Cleaver

This was an amazing, exciting and tragic episode. One of my favourites so far. I loved all the quotes from Massena in this one, it really brings out his character. I also partly dreaded reaching the battle of Aspern-Essling, as I know what's going to happen to one of my favourite marshals. I can't believe we've arrived at this battle! Brilliant Work as always, thank you.