PastPorte: A Time Travelling Podcast PastPorte: A Time Travelling Podcast

EPISODE 5 | JOHNNY, GET YOUR GUN



On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.



FEBRUARY 1917. President Wilson orders the arming of merchant ships as America drifts ever closer to war. On 2 April 1917, President Wilson addresses Congress and on 6 April America declares war on Germany. But has help come too late? Britain sends Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Washington to press the Allied cause.



CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
LORD NORTHCLIFFE – Henry Goodman | KURT RIEZLER – Gunnar Cauthery | COLONEL HOUSE – Nathan Osgood | WILLIAM HINES PAGE – William Hope | EDITH WILSON – Laurel Lefkow | COUNT VON BERNSTORFF – Chris Pavlo | FRANCES STEVENSON – Tuppence Middleton | AJ BALFOUR – Tim Woodward



CREDITS
Script consultant - Professor Sir Hew Strachan | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Director - Elizabeth Rigbey | Sound design - David Chilton | Songs performed by Jessica Walker, with James Holmes on piano



A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation



#History #WW1

EPISODE 5



By the time America joined the War in April 1917, Britain was on the verge of bankruptcy. President Wilson had finally accepted that the US would have to fight if it wanted to help shape the peace, but there was concern in Britain that he did not appreciate how critical the Allied position had become. Professor Sir Hew Strachan considers how the peacemaker turned belligerent and the War Missions despatched by Britain to the US to press its case.



PRESENTER
Sir Hew Strachan is Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, University of Oxford (2002-2015) and Director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War (2003-2012). He is a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum, and a Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner.



CREDITS
Music - James Holmes on piano | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Recorded at Essential Music | A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation



#History #WW1

EPISODE 4 | IT’S A LONG WAY TO BERLIN



On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.



JANUARY 1917. Germany declares unrestricted U-boat warfare. President Wilson goes before the Senate to appeal to the world for ‘peace without victory’. But interception of a telegram from German Foreign Minister Zimmermann to the German Ambassador in Mexico City forces the peace broker President to reconsider his position.



CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
KURT RIEZLER – Gunnar Cauthery | COUNT VON BERNSTORFF – Chris Pavlo | LORD NORTHCLIFFE – Henry Goodman | COLONEL HOUSE – Nathan Osgood | EDITH WILSON – Laurel Lefkow | WILLIAM HINES PAGE – William Hope | FRANCES STEVENSON – Tuppence Middleton | PRINCESS BLÜCHER – Jasmine Hyde | AJ BALFOUR – Tim Woodward



CREDITS
Script consultant - Professor Sir Hew Strachan | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Director - Elizabeth Rigbey | Sound design - David Chilton | Songs performed by Jessica Walker, with James Holmes on piano



A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation



#History #WW1

EPISODE 4



The failure of the German peace initiative of December 1916 made it impossible for Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg to resist pressure from the army and the navy to adopt unrestricted U-boat warfare. On 31 January 1917, the Kaiser finally announced that Germany would sink all shipping, neutral as well as belligerent, without warning. Professor Sir Hew Strachan examines how German belligerence finally brought the US into the First World War.



PRESENTER
Sir Hew Strachan is Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, University of Oxford (2002-2015) and Director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War (2003-2012). He is a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum, and a Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner.



CREDITS
Music - James Holmes on piano | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Recorded at Essential Music | A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation



#History #WW1

EPISODE 3 | I DIDN’T RAISE MY BOY TO BE A SOLDIER



On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to seek permission to declare war. He was met with tumultuous applause and on 6 April 1917 America finally entered the conflict. A new drama from Martyn Wade - ENTER THE PEACE BROKER - brings America’s journey into war vividly alive. Based on first-hand accounts – diaries, letters and contemporary press coverage – it is a compelling story of duplicity and diplomatic intrigue, of colourful personalities engaged in great power politics, and of secret communications between Washington, London and Berlin set against the backdrop of war.



NOVEMBER 1916. President Wilson is recovering from the stress of the election campaign. In Britain, the Asquith coalition is about to fall. The push for peace intensifies and Wilson finds himself wrong-footed by a peace offer from Berlin. Is Germany in earnest or is it a cynical ploy?



CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
KURT RIEZLER – Gunnar Cauthery | LORD NORTHCLIFFE – Henry Goodman | COLONEL HOUSE – Nathan Osgood | EDITH BOLLING – Laurel Lefkow | AJ BALFOUR – Tim Woodward | MARGOT ASQUITH – Sophie Thompson | FRANCES STEVENSON – Tuppence Middleton | COUNT VON BERNSTORFF – Chris Pavlo | WILLIAM HINES PAGE – William Hope



CREDITS
Script consultant - Professor Sir Hew Strachan | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Director - Elizabeth Rigbey | Sound design - David Chilton | Songs performed by Jessica Walker, with James Holmes on piano



A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation



#History #WW1

EPISODE 3



The efforts of President Wilson’s adviser, Colonel House, to use the neutrality of the United States to broker a peace in 1915 and early 1916 had little hope of success. But by the end of 1916, the prospects for peace had improved. Professor Sir Hew Strachan considers Germany’s and America’s competing peace initiatives of December 1916.



PRESENTER
Sir Hew Strachan is Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, University of Oxford (2002-2015) and Director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War (2003-2012). He is a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum, and a Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner.



CREDITS
Music - James Holmes on piano | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Recorded at Essential Music | A ChromeRadio Production 2017 | With thanks to the Rothermere Foundation



#History #WW1