In the spring of 1917, the German General Staff decided to deploy a new kind of weapon against the Russian army: a revolutionary exile named Vladimir Lenin. In this episode, we follow the journey of the "plague bacillus", Vladimir Lenin, as he travels from a cramped apartment in Zurich to the steps of the Finland Station.

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In the bitter winter of 1917, the 300-year rule of the Romanov dynasty ended with a bread riot. What began as a march by female textile workers demanding food spiraled into a revolution when the Tsar’s ultimate enforcers, the Cossacks, refused to charge the crowd.

We follow the chaotic escalation from snowballs to machine-gun fire, leading to the decisive moment when Sergeant Kirpichnikov convinced the Volhynian Regiment to shoot their own officers rather than their people. Finally, we board the "Ghost Train" with Nicholas II, trapping him in a railway siding at Pskov where, isolated and abandoned by his generals, the Autocrat of All the Russias was forced to sign his empire away with a pencil.

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When World War I began, the Allies believed the "Russian Steamroller"—an army of millions—would crush Germany by Christmas. Instead, the Imperial Army marched into a catastrophe that would break the back of the regime. In this episode, we move from the palaces of Petrograd to the frozen trenches of the Eastern Front to witness the military collapse of the Russian Empire.

We tell the tragic story of the Battle of Tannenberg, where a personal feud between two generals led to the annihilation of an entire army and a suicide in the dark forests of East Prussia. We explore the horrors of the "Great Retreat" and the "Shell Famine," where soldiers were sent into battle without rifles. Finally, we witness the fatal decision of Tsar Nicholas II to dismiss his generals and take personal command of the war, tying the fate of the monarchy directly to the dying war effort.

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After the chaos of the 1905 Revolution, the Romanov dynasty had one final decade to save itself from extinction. In this episode, we explore the strange twilight of the Russian Empire, a period dominated by two men who could not have been more different: Pyotr Stolypin, the ruthless Prime Minister who tried to force Russia into the 20th century with the "hangman's noose," and Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian mystic who dragged the monarchy back into the dark.

From the assassination at the Kiev Opera House to the terrifying secret of the Tsarevich’s hemophilia, we trace the path of a government paralyzing itself from within. Join us as we recount the "Ministerial Leapfrog" of World War I and the bizarre, chaotic night in the basement of the Moika Palace where a prince, a grand duke, and a politician tried to save the Tsar by murdering his favorite holy man.

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In May 1941, the balance of the war at sea shifted on a knife-edge. The German battleship Bismarck, the most powerful warship in Europe, slipped into the North Atlantic with orders to sever the convoy lifelines sustaining the United Kingdom. What followed was one of the most intense naval operations in history, spanning thousands of square miles of ocean.

In this episode, we follow the narrative of the chase from the first sightings in the Baltic to the freezing mists of the Denmark Strait. We examine the shocking destruction of the HMS Hood, the desperate cat-and-mouse game that followed, and the critical role played by the Swordfish biplanes of the HMS Ark Royal. This is the complete story of the hunt, the tactical decisions made by Admirals Lütjens and Tovey, and the final destruction of the German giant.

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In January 1066, the death of King Edward the Confessor triggered a succession crisis that would change the course of English history. Three men laid claim to the English throne: Harold Godwinson, the powerful English Earl; William, the bastard Duke of Normandy; and Harald Hardrada, the last great Viking warrior.

In this episode, we reconstruct the narrative of the momentous year that followed. We detail the contrasting lives of the three contenders, the exhausting forced march to the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and the tactical stalemate at the Battle of Hastings.

He travelled with a zoo of elephants and giraffes, spoke six languages, and was excommunicated four times. To the Pope, Frederick II was the Antichrist; to his admirers, he was the Stupor Mundi (Wonder of the World).

This episode dives into the wild life of the 13th-century Emperor who prioritized scientific observation over religious dogma. From his ruthless experiments on human subjects to winning the Sixth Crusade without drawing a sword.

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In 1324, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali Empire, embarked on a journey that would redefine wealth and power in the medieval world. We explore the logistical marvel of the trek, the diplomatic standoff in Cairo that crashed the Egyptian economy, and the enduring architectural legacy that transformed Timbuktu into a global center of learning.

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