Military Blunders (mistakes)

[lymnli]

A Blunder is a spectacularly bad decision or action.

 

These Blunders lead the the annihlation of their own armies

 

 

 

DO you think the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Empire of Japan in 1941 was a blunder?

 

 

 

 

 

copy and paste is fine with me

 

 

 

The attack on Pearl Harbour by the Empire of Japan in 1941 a blunder?

 

YES[X]

 

 

 

The attack on Pearl Harbour by the Empire of Japan in 1941 a blunder?

 

NO[X]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do u think are some most unforgettable military blunders in human existance?

 

 

 

 

 

Well, the most infamous ones happened during WW2:

 

 

 

Japan

 

- Pearl Harbour (basially harmless attack, that brought the worlds superpower into the conflict)

 

 

 

-Kamikazes and Worshiping the Emperor (totally sucidial attacks that could've been avoided and retreat to regroup and counterattack the Chinese and Americans)

 

 

Germany

 

 

 

- Didnt finish Britain before turing to Russia *it can be debated that both allied countries were uncounquerable by the Nazis*

 

(Russia is bloody cold, supply lines were streching like a rubber band, treated the Russians brutally which lead to the Soviet's human sacrifice that was unheard of in the Western world and Russia's manpower out-dueled the German armed forces.)

 

 

 

-Hitler self proclaimed Field Marshal (Hitler had no experience commanding, he was only a foot soldier in WW1. His relunctance to allow his troops to fall back lead to his whole armies being captured by the Russians

 

 

Both Germany and Japan and even Italy

 

-attacking and conquered land too big to handle, there must be troops guarding these areas. Later in 1944 and 45, the Axis had to defend multiple fronts which it was unable to do successfully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tojo (Jap leader) and Hitler almost captured half of Humanity, and if there will only be Austalia, USA, Canada and South America left, will they hold against the ruthless Axis?

[megakiller32]

You missed out one major thing-

 

Iraq is a blunder- one morons lust for oil.

[Striker6]

Pearl harbour wasn't a harmless attack, thousands died, if anything it wasn't a blunder but a good military tactic.

[Bubsa]

The only thing I can see coming out of this thread are international flame wars, and opinions trying to be passed off as facts with no basis. And yet more flaming.

 

 

 

Sorry, but that's how this thread will turn out.

[jackalope14]

The only thing I can see coming out of this thread are international flame wars, and opinions trying to be passed off as facts with no basis. And yet more flaming.

 

 

 

Sorry, but that's how this thread will turn out.

 

 

 

Yea thats the problem. Anything that vaguely has to do with politics seems to end up in "international flame wars".

 

 

 

Ffs, I dont want to hear about iraq anymore!!! How about we talk more about military blunders that happened in the past, the middle ages for example. That would me much more interesting than hearing an Iraq war debate again.

[lymnli]

Pearl harbour wasn't a harmless attack, thousands died, if anything it wasn't a blunder but a good military tactic.

 

 

 

 

 

ya 2400 some Americans died, i didnt say its harmless, i said its almost harmless =)

 

Compared to the Atomic bombings, Pearl Harbour is like a scar, while the Bombings are like a point blank grenade explosion.

 

 

 

 

 

but no aircraft carriers were touched (didnt go as planned) and only a dozen ships were disabled.

 

 

 

The Americans moblized and recoved in matter of weeks.

[Satenza]

First World War - Digging Trenches.

[llcoolguy972]

Pearl harbour wasn't a harmless attack, thousands died, if anything it wasn't a blunder but a good military tactic.

 

 

 

 

 

ya 2400 some Americans died, i didnt say its harmless, i said its almost harmless =)

 

Compared to the Atomic bombings, Pearl Harbour is like a scar, while the Bombings are like a point blank grenade explosion.

 

 

 

 

 

but no aircraft carriers were touched (didnt go as planned) and only a dozen ships were disabled.

 

 

 

The Americans moblized and recoved in matter of weeks.

 

 

 

A lot of the carriers were out at sea, for really no reason at all. ;) But I agree with you, it was a huge blunder, not a good military tactic. If I remember correctly Japan's emperor said that they had 'woken a sleeping beast.' Also, mega, I agree with you 100%.

[Nero]

 

Japan

 

- Pearl Harbour (basially harmless attack, that brought the worlds superpower into the conflict)

 

 

 

-Kamikazes and Worshiping the Emperor (totally sucidial attacks that could've been avoided and retreat to regroup and counterattack the Chinese and Americans)

 

 

 

 

1.) They did give warning of the attack and they had to attack because the American naval presence is the pacific was cutting of Japan's oil supply or something like that. Read it somewhere forget where.

 

 

 

2.) Kamikazes were the last resort method of the Japanese. By your definition of a blunder (eg. mistake), this tactic was NOT a blunder.

 

 

 

How is worshipping the Emperor a military blunder?

[rocketman089]

The redcoats taxing all of our damn tea :P

[vladmoney]

Dunkirk evacuation, Vietnam War

[lymnli]

 

Japan

 

- Pearl Harbour (basially harmless attack, that brought the worlds superpower into the conflict)

 

 

 

-Kamikazes and Worshiping the Emperor (totally sucidial attacks that could've been avoided and retreat to regroup and counterattack the Chinese and Americans)

 

 

 

 

1.) They did give warning of the attack and they had to attack because the American naval presence is the pacific was cutting of Japan's oil supply or something like that. Read it somewhere forget where.

 

 

 

2.) Kamikazes were the last resort method of the Japanese. By your definition of a blunder (eg. mistake), this tactic was NOT a blunder.

 

 

 

How is worshipping the Emperor a military blunder?

 

 

 

 

 

in the name of the emperor, they defended till the last man. surrendering is prohibited

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dunkirk evacuation, Vietnam War

 

 

 

true forgot to mention this on my post... even if its only a week after i did my essay on this topic =(

[Grim_Jokes]

in the name of the emperor, they defended till the last man. surrendering is prohibited

 

 

 

 

Actually, the Emperor wanted to surrender. The generals on the other hand wouldn't allow that. Nor the Japanese people. Too much shame in defeat.

[Ambassadar]

I love military history. I'll just do some random posts when I feel in the mood of different blunders that were massive in the course of history.

 

 

 

The Spanish Armada- Queen Elizabeth gets legitimized. Spain's naval power is broken. England becomes a major player on the world stage. This is the defining moment that establishes the Royal Navy's dominance on the seas that has never been broken. England continues the trend started by this battle and uses it to go on to become possibly the greatest world power of the 18th and 19th century. Spain gradually weakens over the same time until Napoleon conquers them. The defining moment that took both countries on their paths to glory and failure was the English defeating the feared Armada.

[Ginger_Warrior]

I was always told Pearl Habour was an act of desperation by the Japanese, it wasn't a mistake for them. They knew they couldn't sustain a war effort, so they tried to hodl the Americans to ransom, but because they lack so many raw materials, this was hopeless. Some would argue that America's decision to not supply oil to the Japanese caused Pearl Habour.

 

 

 

The biggest mistake of WWII was unquestionably Hitler's decision to invade Russia. They had already signed the Nazi-Sovet Pact some two years before, so they were under no real threat. Indeed, Stalin was said to be amazed by the Nazis' decision to invade them - they had supplied them with raw materials the day before they declared war! He should have finished us off first, and we were gone. France had fallen in six weeks thanks to some naÃÆÃâÃâïve hope regarding the Maginot Line, and Britain's Home Front was exhausted. We were set to make peace when they invaded Russia and forced them into a war on two fronts.

[jjrox32]

When Persia attacked Greece. Apparently the Persian's had a untrained troops, because in almost every battle the Greek's won or that was a tactical defeat (Battle of Thermopylae), the Greek's were massively outnumbered (Battle of Plataea, Battle of Salamis). Of course the Greek's had thousands Spartan's though :P

 

 

 

The Greek's won that war somehow, and when the weakened Persian's retreated, they were eventually conquered by the Romans. If the Persian's didn't lose that war, they'd probably rule most of the world right now.

[runesmithie]

List of what I think are the greatest of the past century, courtesy of Wired

 

Highlighted ones are blunders, but I think you might find the rest interesting too.

 

 

 

 

 

Nuclear Apocalypse Near Misses

 

 

 

1. October 5, 1960

 

Early Warning System radar in Greenland mistakes a reflection off the moon for a massive Soviet missile barrage. Catastrophe is averted when radar operators catch the error.

 

 

 

2. October 25, 1962

 

A guard at an Air Force base in Duluth, Minnesota, shoots someone climbing a fence (not knowing itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s a bear), which triggers a miswired alarm at an Air National Guard base in Wisconsin. Nuclear-armed F-106 fighter jets scramble.

 

 

 

3. November 9, 1979

 

A training tape depicting a Soviet attack is inadvertently played on Norad computers. Senator Charles Percy (R-Illinois), visiting at the time, describes a scene of ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Åpanic.ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

[pama2901]

Hessians partying too much on Christmas day, 1776, in Trenton.

 

They got owned \

[warren211]

i remember hearing the news once. either sweden or switzerland (keep confusing the two, no offence to anyone here from those countries) had unarmed troops who accidently invaded luxembourg by getting lost and ended up in the country lol.

[angryjoe]

Iraq, not cos of the oil, but they didnt realise that aload of muzzas would blow themselves up.

[Ambassadar]

 

When Persia attacked Greece. Apparently the Persian's had a untrained troops, because in almost every battle the Greek's won or that was a tactical defeat (Battle of Thermopylae), the Greek's were massively outnumbered (Battle of Plataea, Battle of Salamis). Of course the Greek's had thousands Spartan's though Razz

 

 

 

The Greek's won that war somehow, and when the weakened Persian's retreated, they were eventually conquered by the Romans. If the Persian's didn't lose that war, they'd probably rule most of the world right now.

 

Persian and Greek style of fighting was completely different. The Persians relied on Cavalry, archers, and lightly armored quick strike infantry. On an open battlefield where they could maneuver they were deadly. Their weaknesses were if their leader fled, they would all flee(ala. Alexander's victory), and if they went head to head against heavy melee troops without the ability to maneuver they were at a disadvantage.

 

 

 

The Greeks favored heavy infantry in closed fighting formations. In a straight up battle they were deadly. Their weakness was being flanked because their formations didn't adapt well to changing directions.

 

 

 

 

 

Two factors played a huge role in the Persian defeats in Greece. First is a tactical factor is that the two main battles fought on land against the Greeks involved terrain where maneuvering was difficult and they were forced to go head to head with tough heavily armored Greek Hoplites. The second weakness was a strategic weakness involving supplies. When the Persians invaded Greece with their massive armies the only sensible way to supply their army was by sea. If their navy lost their army automatically had to retreat because they would have no supplies without the navy.

 

 

 

At Battle of Marathon where they were first defeated the Greeks were able to attack them near the coast before they could fully deploy in marshy ground that messed up the deployment of their cavalry. This enabled the Greeks to maximize their strengths while minimizing the Persian strengths.

 

 

 

After Thermopylae in the second great invasion Athens won a massive naval victory over the Persian navy that severely weakened their war effort and was the main cause of their eventual defeat.

[Giordano]

When Austria-Hungary delcared war on Serbia and starting World War I. At the end of the war Europe was devastated, primarily Gemany due to thier debts for the war against the Allies. This 'Great Depression' was a primary event that made Adolf Hitler elected. With him in power, he conquored other lands for more money for Germany along with his crazy ideas. This lead an alliance with Japan which helped the Japanese greatly. With the war on Japan harder, America wouldn't of created the Atomic bomb so soon. Thus the Cold War would of started later and perhaps ending at the same time, thus a shorter Cold War. Along with the 9 million lives lost in WWI, 60 million in WWII, and countless others during the span of the Cold War.

[Zonorhc]

Changing the Schlieffen Plan in WWI caused the German army unnecessary delays, and along with unexpected resistance from Belgium, contributed to the reduction of the war to a stalemate along the Western Front.

 

 

 

Tactical blunder during the battle of Cambrai, when idiot Haig deployed his infantry well ahead of his tanks, dismissing the latter as useless. Infantry was chewed to pieces by German machine guns without tank support, and the tanks were later torn apart with German artillery and AP machine gun fire because the infantry couldn't neutralise them.

 

 

 

Another deployment blunder in the battle of Agincourt, when French knights deployed ahead of their Genoese mercenary crossbowmen and infantry in order to get at the English on the other side of a muddy field. Unfortunately, smooth surfaces like armour and boot soles have a tendency to stick to mud, which they encountered rather rudely after their horses were shot to bits by English longbows. The ones who made it through didn't quite pay enough attention to the rows of sharpened stakes in front of the English position, either. If the knights had held back and let the crossbows do their work, the battle may have turned out quite a bit differently. Dismounted, the knights would have worked better as heavy infantry, since there was no way in hell to punch through plate armour short of crossbows and siege weaponry.

[malo2]

Japan

 

- Pearl Harbour (basially harmless attack, that brought the worlds superpower into the conflict)

 

Do you really thing japan did that without expecting a war? This was their way of starting it, and whats more effective than destroying the enemies best battle ships and carriers before the war even starts?

 

 

 

-Kamikazes and Worshiping the Emperor (totally sucidial attacks that could've been avoided and retreat to regroup and counterattack the Chinese and Americans)

 

The kamikazes were actually quite effective, correct me if I'm wrong :-k

[lymnli]

Japan

 

- Pearl Harbour (basially harmless attack, that brought the worlds superpower into the conflict)

 

Do you really thing japan did that without expecting a war? This was their way of starting it, and whats more effective than destroying the enemies best battle ships and carriers before the war even starts?

 

 

 

-Kamikazes and Worshiping the Emperor (totally sucidial attacks that could've been avoided and retreat to regroup and counterattack the Chinese and Americans)

 

The kamikazes were actually quite effective, correct me if I'm wrong :-k

 

 

 

Here we go.

 

There is a good chance that America wont join WW2, they were isolantionists. just like in WW1. (America was witnessing the Europeans and Asians getting annihlated by the Axis, yet they just sent war goods without declearing war)

 

The attack on Pearl Harbour only sunk 14 warships and about 4000 casualties (very minimal compared to how the Europeans and Asians are getting slaughtered)

 

Its obvious that the Attack could be avoided, since America probably wont distrub Japan. This is because when Japan invaded Philipines, America didnt even declare war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to a U.S. Air Force source:

 

 

 

Approximately 2,800 Kamikaze attackers sunk 34 Navy ships, damaged 368 others, killed 4,900 sailors, and wounded over 4,800. 14 percent of Kamikazes survived to score a hit on a ship; nearly 8.5 percent of all ships hit by Kamikazes sank.

 

 

 

 

 

tiny percentage of hit rate, while the planes and pilots were in desparate need. While the Americans' ships were flocking the Pacific.

 

We ask ourselves, could they have defended better without doing these sucidial tactics?

 

of/c i dont want them to do better, because they slaughtered my people, the Chinese.