general Military History Thread

[Octavia_Melody2 187]

Is anyone else on here a military/uniform history buff? I really like learning about the differences between uniforms and weapons over time and how combat evolved. I actually went to Military History through the Ages last year in Jamestown, Virginia and they had presentations and re-enactors all the way from the Greek Hoplites to modern Special Forces. I've posted some links below:

 

https://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-settlement/military-through-the-ages/

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK09g6gYGMvU-0x1VCF1hgA

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

Philip of Macedon in a letter to Sparta: "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army onto your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city."

Sparta's reply: "If."

Both Philip and his son, Alexander the Great, made a point to avoid Sparta entirely.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Someguyinablazer

[Octavia_Melody2 187]

Bumping this thread. Anyone wanna talk about the Napoleonic wars?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

Guns ruined the military now it's just cowards hiding and shooting there is no actual skill of battle anywhere. Anyone can take a gun and kill people not so many can do the same with a sword or bow . World would be better place without guns ruining everything.

[Black Sabbath 2,484]

13 hours ago, Manaka Hitomi said:

Guns ruined the military now it's just cowards hiding and shooting there is no actual skill of battle anywhere

I'm sorry, but have you actually made even the slightest amount of research about modern warfare? 

[Flutterstep 46,189]

15 hours ago, Manaka Hitomi said:

Guns ruined the military now it's just cowards hiding and shooting there is no actual skill of battle anywhere. Anyone can take a gun and kill people not so many can do the same with a sword or bow . World would be better place without guns ruining everything.

I have to disagree with you there. It's not like a video game where your bullet hits where you're looking at. You have to take into account how far your taget is, what material they are wearing, what's in proximity of the taget, are there any hazerds or civilians around, what stance you should be in, how heavy and manoeuvrable your firearm is, how many shots should be fired and at what rate, will there be bulletdrop, is the target on the move, is there enough ammo, will the wind or terrain effect your bullet, is the current equipment suitible for the task? The list goes on.

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

2 minutes ago, Flutterstep said:

I have to disagree with you there. It's not like a video game where your bullet hits where you're looking at. You have to take into account how far your taget is, what material they are wearing, what's in proximity of the taget, are there any hazerds or civilians around, what stance you should be in, how heavy and manoeuvrable your firearm is, how many shots should be fired and at what rate, will there be bulletdrop, is the target on the move, is there enough ammo, will the wind or terrain effect your bullet, is the current equipment suitible for the task? The list goes on.

 

2 hours ago, Yamet said:

I'm sorry, but have you actually made even the slightest amount of research about modern warfare? 

Yeah what i was saying was pretty much nonsense but what i was talking about mainly was guns compared to older forms of weapons like swords etc

[Guest]

I'm going to study history as a major with a related masters degree later on. Writing a thesis about a certain conflict doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

[Kevin Tang 2,422]

1 hour ago, Flutterstep said:

I have to disagree with you there. It's not like a video game where your bullet hits where you're looking at. You have to take into account how far your taget is, what material they are wearing, what's in proximity of the taget, are there any hazerds or civilians around, what stance you should be in, how heavy and manoeuvrable your firearm is, how many shots should be fired and at what rate, will there be bulletdrop, is the target on the move, is there enough ammo, will the wind or terrain effect your bullet, is the current equipment suitible for the task? The list goes on.

In video games, a gun looks very easy to fire. But I don't think it will be that easy in real life

[Denim&Venöm 16,453]

I'd like to thank the band Sabaton for getting me more involved with military history. Without them I would never have learned of the winter war, the Warsaw uprising, the Gallipoli campaign, the Falklands war or anything about the Swedish Empire. 

 

[Soren Peregrine 4,606]

I am huge on World War II history. I actually know what you call the 'untold truth' or 'other side of the story', and I have a book by a former US air force pilot who delved into all the US secret archives after they were finally opened to the public. He did an incredible amount of research, footnoted throughout the book. If you have any questions about WWII or interested in it, talk to me. I'd love to share what I know. 

 

On 5/1/2018 at 10:23 PM, Octavia_Melody2 said:

Anyone wanna talk about the Napoleonic wars?

I actually just finished reading about them in Winston Churchill's 'A History of The English Speaking Peoples'. I find it quite interesting how his greatest military blunder was deciding to invade Russia. One of the most important things European generals learn is this: Never invade Russia.

I also found it interesting how he almost came back into power at the battle of Waterloo. Just a few different moves and it would have gone badly for the british and the prussians. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by Soren Peregrine

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

On 5/23/2018 at 8:01 PM, Manaka Hitomi said:

Guns ruined the military now it's just cowards hiding and shooting there is no actual skill of battle anywhere. Anyone can take a gun and kill people not so many can do the same with a sword or bow . World would be better place without guns ruining everything.

You have never fired a gun before, have you? 

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

3 minutes ago, Stone Cold Steve Tuna said:

You have never fired a gun before, have you? 

That's right and i never will=)

[Black Sabbath 2,484]

Just now, Manaka Hitomi said:

That's right and i never will=)

Then it's a bit silly to comment on how easy one is to use, don't you think?

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

1 minute ago, Yamet said:

Then it's a bit silly to comment on how easy one is to use, don't you think?

yeah it is what i said in the earliest post was complete nonsense tbh I tried to emphasize my point bit too much there

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

During the Korean war, the Chinese intervened. They managed to push back American infantry. But not the Marines. The Marines just kept killing them. The war ultimately resulted in a stalemate, but before the fighting ended, a Chinese courier was captured, and was carrying a file describing the Marine Corps by their black leather collars. It translated roughly to "Do not engage the men wearing the black leather collars. They are criminally insane."

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

This is just a fun fact I found out about in History class, but did you know that the Army is older than America itself? That's right folks, the Army has been protecting America since before it even existed, the Army was created on June 14th, 1775, over a whole year before America was officially established on July 4th, 1776  

I like fun little trivia facts like that, there's some really interesting ones once you get into the fields of History and such 

[Octavia_Melody2 187]

Haven't checked this thread in a while. Guess I should come here more often. Somewhat relevant to the thread topic, today is July 20th, the same day that Tom Cruise, er I mean, Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_von_Stauffenberg

[KatonRyu 1,026]

On 5/27/2018 at 12:16 AM, Denim&Venom said:

I'd like to thank the band Sabaton for getting me more involved with military history. Without them I would never have learned of the winter war, the Warsaw uprising, the Gallipoli campaign, the Falklands war or anything about the Swedish Empire. 

I'm missing the Winged Hussars here, man! But yeah, Sabaton is great to learn about history.

I personally like to read up on the history of large conflicts on, of all places, TV Tropes. They have very large pages on at least World Wars I and II, and a number of other ones.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/WorldWarI
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/WorldWarII

Definitely worth checking out.

[Octavia_Melody2 187]

On 7/21/2018 at 5:55 PM, KatonRyu said:

I'm missing the Winged Hussars here, man! But yeah, Sabaton is great to learn about history.

I personally like to read up on the history of large conflicts on, of all places, TV Tropes. They have very large pages on at least World Wars I and II, and a number of other ones.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/WorldWarI
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/WorldWarII

Definitely worth checking out.

I love TV Tropes history/real life pages. Their explanation of The Troubles in Ireland is also good.

 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheTroubles

[SDP40F amtrak 2,441]

Well I live in military city 

[Soren Peregrine 4,606]

I have something to share about World War II here if you are interested, specifically about Japan.

 

I have been reading a very interesting biography of a Japanese man who survived the USG blowing up Nagasaki with the atomic bomb. He was actually a doctor who was sent to China to take care of the Japanese soldiers. One thing that I find intriguing is how he described the situation for the Japanese Army in China. When you read the history books nowadays, they all seem to frame Japan invading China as a complete slaughter of the Chinese. But here in this book, from his journal entries, you see that the high commanding officers of the Japanese forces already knew that the campaign was not going very well, and they were running out of supplies, and none could be made to replace them. This is a huge problem that people tend to forget when looking at wars. Economics plays the biggest role in war. The Japanese had built up the largest military in Asia, but as an island nation, they depended on trade and occupation to supply precious resources such as coal, iron, and oil. Once Franklin Roosevelt lured them into a war by cutting off all of their supplies (just about all of their resources came from the USA), any economist could see that they were going to lose a long war. They couldn't supply anything to their military to cover the losses that they received.

But the victors write the history books, and they wanted to make it Hollywood worthy, which is what you would expect from governments.

Edited July 31, 2018 by Soren Peregrine

[Octavia_Melody2 187]

On 7/30/2018 at 8:06 PM, Thanos said:

Well I live in military city 

What city is that, if I may ask?

On 7/30/2018 at 8:22 PM, Soren Peregrine said:

I have something to share about World War II here if you are interested, specifically about Japan.

 

I have been reading a very interesting biography of a Japanese man who survived the USG blowing up Nagasaki with the atomic bomb. He was actually a doctor who was sent to China to take care of the Japanese soldiers. One thing that I find intriguing is how he described the situation for the Japanese Army in China. When you read the history books nowadays, they all seem to frame Japan invading China as a complete slaughter of the Chinese. But here in this book, from his journal entries, you see that the high commanding officers of the Japanese forces already knew that the campaign was not going very well, and they were running out of supplies, and none could be made to replace them. This is a huge problem that people tend to forget when looking at wars. Economics plays the biggest role in war. The Japanese had built up the largest military in Asia, but as an island nation, they depended on trade and occupation to supply precious resources such as coal, iron, and oil. Once Franklin Roosevelt lured them into a war by cutting off all of their supplies (just about all of their resources came from the USA), any economist could see that they were going to lose a long war. They couldn't supply anything to their military to cover the losses that they received.

But the victors write the history books, and they wanted to make it Hollywood worthy, which is what you would expect from governments.

Not trying to start a fight here, but what is the name of the biography? All the sources I've read say that the invasion of China was deliberate slaughter.

[nolongerabout 403]

On 5/29/2018 at 3:23 AM, Stone Cold Steve Tuna said:

The Marines just kept killing them. The war ultimately resulted in a stalemate, but before the fighting ended, a Chinese courier was captured, and was carrying a file describing the Marine Corps by their black leather collars. It translated roughly to "Do not engage the men wearing the black leather collars. They are criminally insane."

My great grandfather served in the Gloucestershire Regiment during the first world war. The regiment reached the height of its fame during the Korean war, where at the Battle of Imjin River (Also known as the battle for Gloster hill) where 550 men of the regiment were surrounded by nearly 30,000 Chinese soldiers. They held out for two and a half days with no hope of rescue before they were eventually either killed or captured.

Casualty numbers were:

Glosters- 60 killed, 520 captured

Chinese- 10,000 wounded or killed

From then until it was merged into the Royal Wiltshires in 1994, then The Rifles in 2007, they were known as "The Glorious Glosters". Two members of the regiment won Victoria Crosses for their actions during the battle.

 

Edited August 7, 2018 by ForthEorl