Biggest "You Blew it!" moments in History (Pre-1900)
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new Zealanders evacuating Crete after they had bloodied German paratrooper and mountain troops. The entire invasion was a close-fought battle. In the long-run, it was a Pyric Victory because of all the German transport airplanes destroyed and all the casualties among elite paratroopers and mountain troops.
That was the last major airborne attack staged by Germany. After that German paratroopers shifted to defence and mountain troops were used as "firemen" to plug gaps in German lines. Both forces were bled dry by the end of WW2.
I just finished reading "Hitler's Mountain Troops" and have jumped at the Bundeswehr Luftlande und Lufttransport Schule ... so I may be a bit biased.
That was the last major airborne attack staged by Germany. After that German paratroopers shifted to defence and mountain troops were used as "firemen" to plug gaps in German lines. Both forces were bled dry by the end of WW2.
I just finished reading "Hitler's Mountain Troops" and have jumped at the Bundeswehr Luftlande und Lufttransport Schule ... so I may be a bit biased.
Piérola taking the reings of the country in the war with chile This man was known as vain, conceited and being self-centered,
the first thing he did was cut off all support and supplies to the southern army stationed in Tacna, where the second stage of the war with Chile was about to take place he did this because he feared that Rear Admiral Lizardo Montero, a man who had fought and defeated Piérola years before in one of the many revolutions that he began to take power , now was in command of the army of the south Therefore, he had him as a political enemy and he if he won he would have been seen as hero and thus take the presidency from him. Thinking like this, he condemn the Peruvian forces to absolute abandonment,at the worst time possible there was in Lima at that time there were two divisions of eight thousand soldiers each that General Lacotera had formed, by order of the previous government and who remained immobile in their barracks as periola had no intention to send them to the south.
worst of all he told the comander in arequipa to not hurry to tacna thisis why he was 150 km away when the battle of alto de la alianza took place, despite the 2x1 odd and the better equipmet of the chilean army the battle was close the chilean where saved by their reserves of munition and the cavarly moving said munition to the front lines as the peruvian and bolivians had run out .
later the invading army began to disembark in the vicinity of Lima, all comanders recommended that they go out to meet those Chilean troops who were disembarking to beat them separately, preventing them from concentrating, however Piérola, reluctant to any advice, remained immobile allowing the Chileans to calmly disembark and move to Lurín
the first thing he did was cut off all support and supplies to the southern army stationed in Tacna, where the second stage of the war with Chile was about to take place he did this because he feared that Rear Admiral Lizardo Montero, a man who had fought and defeated Piérola years before in one of the many revolutions that he began to take power , now was in command of the army of the south Therefore, he had him as a political enemy and he if he won he would have been seen as hero and thus take the presidency from him. Thinking like this, he condemn the Peruvian forces to absolute abandonment,at the worst time possible there was in Lima at that time there were two divisions of eight thousand soldiers each that General Lacotera had formed, by order of the previous government and who remained immobile in their barracks as periola had no intention to send them to the south.
worst of all he told the comander in arequipa to not hurry to tacna thisis why he was 150 km away when the battle of alto de la alianza took place, despite the 2x1 odd and the better equipmet of the chilean army the battle was close the chilean where saved by their reserves of munition and the cavarly moving said munition to the front lines as the peruvian and bolivians had run out .
later the invading army began to disembark in the vicinity of Lima, all comanders recommended that they go out to meet those Chilean troops who were disembarking to beat them separately, preventing them from concentrating, however Piérola, reluctant to any advice, remained immobile allowing the Chileans to calmly disembark and move to Lurín
I'm not sure if Caesar giving Brutus and Cassius clemency and continuing to keep them around was a screw-up on his part, or he's justified in thinking they wouldn't kill him. But them announcing they had killed Caesar and thinking people would agree that sic semper tyrannis was an undeniable screw-up
I submit the Count of Soissons using a loaded pistol to lift his visor and accidentally shooting himself after winning at La Marfee in 1641. Fire arms safety is important, even for a prince of the blood.
I know that's only one version of events, but it's much more fun than a run of the mill assassination.
I know that's only one version of events, but it's much more fun than a run of the mill assassination.
None really come to mind. Brazil was quite successful in accomplishing what it set out to do - to build an authoritarian semi-police state which protected agrarian and elite interests at the expense of the common people.
Idk, maybe Dom Pedro I’s abdication? He went from being a hero to being a villain in under nine years. After he won the independence war he could have had a long and brilliant reign, but his illiberal tendencies and foreign entanglements in Cisplatine and Portugal eventually led to his abdication.
I’m not very good with factual history though, so there are certainly minor examples throughout the 19th century.
Yes! if he'd kept a force in being and danced around in hopes Harrison would make more mistakes, Harrison would have done something suicidal. Ditto any US army before the Civil War.
The ming expeditions weren't a blunder to stop. They were expensive prestige missions for some tribute, not means to expand trade. In that respect they succeeded. The only justification to keep them would be to find the Americas, but If China found the new world, they wouldn't do any thing with it. As far as china could know, it was just more land with nothing for them but space. China only vared about tobacco and silver, which they wouldn't find in western north America, and it's a maybe that they bother finding mesoamerica.
If Europeans mostly saw the Americas as an interference on the way to China, what would china see but harmless barbarians?
The ming's real blunder was not expanding the great wall across manchuria
If Europeans mostly saw the Americas as an interference on the way to China, what would china see but harmless barbarians?
The ming's real blunder was not expanding the great wall across manchuria
Miguel Lanius
Banned
The Portuguese, you mean?
Colombus was never taken seriously in Portugal, because his calculations of the Earth's size were wrong, the Earth's size was more or less know since the Ancient Greeks. If there was no continent on the way, Colombus would have starved on the ocean and died.
It is also fairly likely that the Portuguese already knew there was land to the west, before Colombus ever set sail.
Commodus wasn’t even that bad, he gets more shit than he deserves.
His men were dying left and right, a war chief is only as good as his successes, it was wise of him to retreat while he still could without too many losses.
Harrison was one of the handful of American generals in 1812 who knew what he was doing, so I wouldn't be that optimistic. Also, Tenskwatawa's control over the army was questionable. If he'd dispersed them, they may well have just gone home instead of fighting.
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Nah if Anything Bolivar blew it his political capital and health trying to make it happen, have he been smart, would have just helped colombia in their independance and return to venezuela, he would have been even more beloved in venezuela too
Bolivar forgives Santander instead of executing him and putting Rafael Urdaneta as vice president
And people call him a dictator, those people have never met a real one them
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