When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
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PINYL #13: 'The Devil You Don't Know'
🕑 Added 2020-06-29 05:01:00 +0000 UTC[PATRONS]
Resuming our Polish tale, in this episode we look at the apparent end of Sweden, except Sweden's King didn't seem to realise this fact. If King Charles XII did realise it, then accepting the loss of his kingdom's power was another thing entirely. The sharks continued to circle all around him, but Charles hadn't made it this far by coasting - his reputation, though diminished, was still fearsome. Added to this was the fact that Tsar Peter wasn't operating alone - he was now depending on allies like Hanover and Prussia, to help him land the killer blow against his foe. Could these powers be trusted?
And what might happen if some wouldn't pull their weight at the critical moment? Could CHarles somehow, against all odds, pull it out of the bag once again? Precisely because he feared Charles' ability to defy the odds, Peter was on tenterhooks until the killer blow was landed. Landing it, would be a challenge in a league of its own. In the meantime, Poland was worn down under Russia's new supremacy, and King Augustus couldn't have cared less...
