Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

For this week's bonus, Joe, Nate and Tom hole up, safe and sound, behind sturdy city walls to tell the story of the fall of Constantinople and discuss Byzantine great replacement theory, doing nominative determinism on your fortress, and easy 5 Minute Hacks to reassign your attackers somewhere on the lahmacun-doner meat spectrum. Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/150311739

In this WWII Prequel, the Empire of Japan and the Soviet Union fight over the Mongolian border, a stretch of lifeless steppe with no cover, trees, or established supply lines. In what has been dubbed a "border conflict" tens of thousands of men, thousands of trucks, and hundreds of tanks are rushed to the frontline that only barely escapes spiraling into a much larger war...at least for a few years. Sources: Edward Drea. Nomohan: Japanese-Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939. Edward Drea. Tradition and Circumstances: The Imperial Japanese Army's Tactical Response to Khalkhin Gol. Glenn Barnett. Russo-Japanese Clash at the Battle of Nomohan. WWII History. May 2005. 4#3 Amnon Sella. Nomohan: Khalkin Gol: The Forgotten War. Journal of Contemporary History (1983) 18#4 Anthony Beevor. The Second World War. Alexi Shishov. Russia and Japan. The history of military conflicts

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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Constantine has a vision (or not) and takes the Roman throne in an incredibly one-sided battle that may or may not end with a different Emperor being drowned in the river. SOURCES: Lactantius. On the Deaths of the Persecutors. David Potter. Constantine: The Emperor. Ross Cowan. Milvian Bridge AD 312: Constantine's battle for Empire and Faith. Ludwig Heinrich Dyck. The Battle of Milvian Bridge: Battle for the Western Empire. Military Heritage. Feb. 2003. Volume 4, No. 4. http://www.classichistory.net/archives/constantine-christianity https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.xv.ix.html https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.i.xxviii.html

The second part oin our series about the rise and fall of the first Republic of Armenia in 1918-1920. Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/149346184

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys The conclusion to our series on the Kagera War!

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Support the show on Patreon and get the conclusion to our series right now! https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-episode-4-148529099 The Ugandan military stumbles over a series of problems of their own creation while the Tanzanians are defeated by a single independent contractor and a ferry boat. Part 3/4

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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON AND GET PART 3 RIGHT NOW https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-episode-3-147978927 Uganda goes to war after a bar fight sparks an invasion led by a man so crazy his men nicknamed him after the local insane asylum. PART 2/4

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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Idi Amin comes to power in Uganda, a military strongman, he lets his military run wild across the nation in a nearly decade long reign of terror. Amin, however, is a drunken, paranoid, monster. He purges his military, worried that someone would depose him. He imagines invasions of the British, Americans, Tanzanians, and the Israelis massing on his border. Finally, he invades Tanzania, sparking the Kagera War. This is the story of the fall of Idi Amin. Part 1/4 SOURCES: Tony Avrigan, Martha Honey. War in Uganda: The Legacy of Idi Amin. Ogenga Otunnu. Crisis of Legitimacy and Political Violence in Uganda, 1890-1979. Ogenga Otunnu. Politics and the Military in Uganda, 1890-1985. Yehudit Ronen. Libya's Intervention in Amin's Uganda: A Broken Spearhead. Tom Cooper. War and Insurgencies of Uganda. 1971-1994 George Roberts. The Uganda-Tanzania War, The Fall of Idi Amin, and the Failure of African Diplomacy. Alicia Decker. In Idi Amin's Shadow: Women, Gender, and Militarism in Uganda Mark Leopold. Idi Amin: The Story of Africa's Icon of Evil

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys The conclusion to our series on Lord Byron. Special thanks to Joel Butler for additional research in this episode. New sources in this episode: C.W. Crawley, The Question of Greek Independence: A Study of British Policy in the Near East, 1821-1833 (Cambridge, 1930), Caroline Finkel, Osman’s Dream (London, 2006), 425-428. W.H. Humphreys, W.H. Humphreys’ First “Journal of the Greek War of Independence” (July 1821-February 1822), Acta Academiæ Regiæ Scientiarum Upsaliensis, 11, ed. Sture Linnér (Stockholm, 1967), 23-24. H. Şükrü Ilıcak (ed.), “Those Infidel Greeks”: The Greek War of Independence Through Ottoman Archival Documents, 1 (Leiden, 2021), 1.

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys In this week's episode, we begin part one of a 2-part series describing the life and times of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous Romantic poet of the early 19th century who went to Greece in hopes of fighting for independence against the Ottomans, and immediately died. But, who was this man? And is describing something as "Byronic" a good thing? Spoiler: uh-oh. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bostridge, Mark. “On the Trail of the Real Lord Byron.” The Independent, November 4, 2002. https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/features/on-the-trail-of-the-real-lord-byron-126324.html. Brand, Emily. The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in Georgian England. Paperback edition. John Murray, 2021. Brewer, David. The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 2001. http://archive.org/details/greekwarofindepe0000brew. Burton, Danielle. “Lord Byron and His Pet Bear.” Derbyshire Record Office, October 22, 2024. https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/lord-byron-and-his-pet-bear/. Byron, George Gordon, Ernest Hartley Coleridge, and Rowland Edmund Prothero Ernle. The Words of Lord Byron. London : J. Murray; New York, C. Scribner’s sons, 1898. http://archive.org/details/worksoflordbyron11byro. Byron, William Byron. The trial of William Lord Byron, Baron Byron of Rochdale, for the murder of William Chaworth, Esq; before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, ... On Tuesday the 16th, and Wednesday the 17th of April, 1765: on the last of which days the said William Lord Byron was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter. ... 1765. 1765. http://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-trial-of-william-lor_byron-william-byron-ba_1765. “Edward Blaquiere, British Officer, Founding Member of the Philhellenic Committee of London.” Εταιρεία Για Τον Ελληνισμό Και Τον Φιλελληνισμό, October 27, 2020. https://www.eefshp.org/en/edward-blaquiere-british-officer-founding-member-of-the-philhellenic-committee-of-london/. Jones, Thomas. “On Top of Everything.” Review of Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame, by Benita Eisler. London Review of Books, September 16, 1999. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v21/n18/thomas-jones/on-top-of-everything. Kunst Museum Winterthur. “Bildtext: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer.” Accessed December 9, 2025. https://www.kmw.ch/ausstellungen/friedrich/digital/wanderer/. Marchand, Leslie A. Byron: A Portrait. The University of Chicago Press, 1979. MacCarthy, Fiona. Byron: Life and Legend. London: John Murray, 2014. Patanè, Vincenzo, James Schwarten, and John Francis Phillimore. The Sour Fruit: Lord Byron, Love & Sex. John Cabot university press Copublished by the Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. Rizzoli, G. B. “Byron’s Unacknowledged Armenian Grammar and a New Poem.” Keats-Shelley Journal 64 (2015): 43–71.

The Italian military suffers its first combat casualties since WWII while engaged in a stupid, quixotic, and self-sabotaging "peacekeeping mission" in Somalia c. 1993. And the battle took place in an abandoned Barilla pasta factory. Yes. Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/146061189 30% off all merch on our site until January 1! Check it out here: https://www.llbdpodcast.com/ BIBLIOGRAPHY: Biddle, Stephen "The Somali National Alliance in Somalia, 1992–94". Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militia Tripodi, Paolo (2 August 1999). The Colonial Legacy in Somalia: Rome and Mogadishu: from Colonial Administration to Operation Restore Hope. https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2013/07/05/news/somalia_anniversario_battaglia_check-point_pasta-62413996/ https://brigatafolgore.net/en/2-july-1993-the-battle-of-the-check-point-pasta/ https://www.ilfaroonline.it/2018/07/02/2-luglio-1993-attacco-mogadiscio-ceckpoint-pasta/228435/ https://www.military.com/history/battle-of-checkpoint-pasta-italys-black-hawk-down-moment-somalia.html

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON USE CODE DEC25 TO GET 50% OFF UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys In 1602, Savoy launched an invasion of Geneva, forcing the city-state's residents to rush to the walls and arm themselves with whatever they could get their hands on, including, in one infamous case, a pot of boiling soup. sources: Abplanalp, Andrej. “L’Escalade.” Blog: Schweizerisches National Museum. 11 Dec 2020. Online: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/fr/2020/12/l-escalade-de-geneve/, consulté le 01.12.2025. Aeschlimann, Jacques. “Tabazan, ou Le bourreau de Genève.” Geneva: La Sirène, 1961. pp. 97 Bonivard, François. Chroniques de Genève: Tome 2. Revilliod, Gustave, ed. Geneva, J.G. Fick: 1887. Online: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65402785/f154.item, consulté le 01.12.2025. Dufour, Alfred. “Histoire de Genève.” Collection “Que sais-je ?” Paris, Presse Universitaires de France: 2001. Fazy, Henri. “Genève, le parti huguenot, et le traité de Soleure (1574 à 1579).” Geneva, H. Georg: 1883. Monnet, Vincent. “Ce fut en mille six cent et deux…” Campus, v.61. December 2002-January 2003. Geneva, Université de Genève, 2002. Online: https://www.unige.ch/presse/campus/pdf/c61/rtheologie.pdf, consulté le 01.12.2025. Santschi, Catherine. “L’Escalade: Expositions des archives de l’état.” 2002. Online: https://archives-etat-ge.ch/page_de_base/lescalade, consulté le 02.12.2025. - "Blondel, Philibert", in: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), version du 13.11.2002. Online: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/025640/2002-11-13/, consulté le 02.12.2025. Schaetti, Nicolas. “La nuit de l’Escalade.” Bibliothèque de Genève: Expositions. 2023. Online: https://expos.bge-geneve.ch/escalade/, consulté le 30.11.2025. Schaff, Phillip. “History of the Christian Church. Volume 8: The Reformation in Switzerland. Chapter 8. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1890. Logos Research Systems, Inc digitized version. Online: https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8/hcc8.i.html, accessed 1 Dec 2025. “Quelle est la signification du texte en latin et allemand sur la gravure tirée du ‘Thésaurus philopoliticus’ de Daniel Meissner et visible au musée de la Réforme ?” Questions-Réponses. Bibliothèque de Genève. 2023. https://www.geneve.ch/themes/culture/bibliotheques/interroge/reponses/est-la-signification-du-texte-en-latin-et-allemand-sur-la-gravure-tiree-du-thesaurus-philopoliticus-de-daniel-meissner-et-visible-au-musee-de-la-reforme “Est-il vrai qu'une mère maquerelle appelée ‘Regina bordelli’ était en fonction à Genève jusqu'à la Réforme ?” Questions-Réponses. Bibliothèque de Genève. 2023. Online: https://www.geneve.ch/themes/culture/bibliotheques/interroge/reponses/est-il-vrai-quune-mere-maquerelle-appelee-regina-bordelli-etait-en-fonction-geneve-jusqua-la-reforme HLS DHS DSS: "Escalade", in: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), version du 26.11.2009. Online: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/008905/2009-11-26/, consulté le 01.12.2025.

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USE CODE DEC25 TO GET 50% OFF PATREON SUBSCRIPTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Joe and Tom are joined by Dr. Patrick Wyman, host of Past Lives and Tides of History to talk about the time the US Navy attempted to deploy flying aircraft carriers, which failed at a rate of 100% Sources: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/how-airship-became-flying-aircraft-carrier https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-u-s-navys-flying-aircraft-carrier-mistake-still-stings/ https://www.military.com/history/navys-short-lived-plan-dominate-skies-flying-aircraft-carriers.html https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/the-cursed-uss-akron-class.html https://magazine.atavist.com/2025/american-hindenberg-zeppelin-disaster https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1934/july/loss-akron https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-uss-macon/

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USE CODE DEC25 FOR OUR HOLIDAY SALE. https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys A group of people, forced into one of the worst jobs in human history, decide to launch a suicidal revolt to destroy the tools of the Holocaust. Sources: Lawerence Langer. Versions of Survival: The Holocaust and the Human Spirit Primo Levi. The Drowned and the Saved. Nathan Cohen. Diaries of the Sonderkommando - Confronting Fate and Reality. Tzipora Hager Halivni. Preparation for Revolt in Auschwitz-Birkenau: Heroes and Martyrs. Filip Muller. Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chambers. Henryk Tauber. Deposition made on May 24, 1945. Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the gas chambers. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/sonderkommando-uprising-auschwitz-birkenau