The last great bluff mentioned in part one of this article—that of tricking a superior force into surrendering—has been used many times. In 1812, the British force aligned with Shawnee warrior Tecumseh took Fort Detroit using about the same tactic. In fact, military history is full of tales of bluff and trickery. Here’s a few more tasty tidbits of military lore. Taking a Bridge by Charm Alone…
By the eighteenth century, Russia was in some sense a “western” society. For many years, Russia lagged behind the West in terms of technology and trade. During the eighteenth century leaders were influenced by the west and made many changes to expand Russia and modernize. Under Ivan the great and Ivan the terrible, Russia was able to expand and gain new territory. Peter the great introduced western ideas.…
Here, Napoleon sealed his army’s fate with the decision to fight the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. His army lost more troops and the most amount of artillery pieces in any given battle, encouraging the Russian Army that the tides of war were now shifting in their favor. Napoleon’s Grand Armée could no longer fight and survive in the harsh winter conditions, so and so states, “The retreat from Moscow, as we know, was a catastrophe for those still dragging themselves through the…
Napoleon had established the Continental System, a trade embargo between mainland Europe and England, whcih ultimately signed his downfall. Russia had broken the pact and had failed to support France. Hence, Napoleon ordered major invasion of Russia with almost 800,000 troops. Alexander I, the King of Russia dragged his army ahead of Napoleon, forcing him to give chase and be caught in the bitter Russian winter. After only 5 months, Napoleon's army was diminished to only about 100,000.…
During the period 1855 – 1956 Russia was involved in many major wars, all of which played an important role in its development. With the exception of the Second World War many of the wars Russia was involved led to defeats for them and these defeats exposed the weakness of the Tsar or government in charge. War outlined the flaws in the presiding system and highlighted Russia’s faults, and thus placed a spotlight upon the shortcomings of the Russian leadership. Such pressure prompted the Tsars and other leaders to react and change in order to appease a nation on the brink of an oncoming revolution therefore Trotsky’s statement that ‘war was a locomotive of Russian history’ is true as it led to significant changes such as the Emancipation of the Serfs and the Abdication of Tsar Nicholas.…
(Document A). He was key asset in fighting Napoleon's recently landed troops. In a cunning yet brutal act, Louverture defied the French and ordered that the port city the French were to be landing at be burned. Louverture’s army then retreated to the mountains (where they knew the territory), while the French found their foothold destroyed. The French then advanced into the jungles,where they were destroyed by Louverture’s forces, as they did not know the territory (Document F).…
In short order, reinforcements arrived and the French fought to keep and regain every piece of territory that was lost. With great determination to protect…
On July 16, 1918, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and his five children, along with his loyal servants, descended downstairs and gathered together for a family photo shoot. However, the family photoshoot turned out to be a deceptive trick created by a communist leader, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik troops to lure the royal Russian family, the Romanovs, out of hiding and to end Russia’s monarchical rule. Once the Romanovs and their servants made themselves known “...suddenly, a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned down the imperial family in a hail of gunfire” (“Romanov Family Executed”). Not only did they open fire on the family members but the troops also continued stabbing those who were barely remained…
Source A shows a painting based on a terrible day in St. Petersburg January 9th, 1905. Analysing this painting, we can see the lined-up palace guards, many firing at the protestors while they collapse, and scramble for safety. Bloody Sunday started an attempted revolution for great change. This protest ended in a catastrophe and gained Nicholas II the name; ‘Bloody Nicholas’ due to his palace guards opening fire on the protestors upon confusion and chain reaction further impacting the lives of Russians. Such an event where Nicholas wasn’t around would give a terrible nickname.…
The dramatic downfall of Tsar Nicholas was the ended the Romanov dynasty in Russia. It ended autocracy as a political system in Russia and lead to the creation of the Soviet Union which went on to spark major tensions with the world in the Cold War. This historical turning point shaped much of 20th century history and the lives of over 293 million people. In between this huge political drama and cataclysmic revolution appears a most mysterious and dark individual who has become a legend in Russian history.…
The Cossacks rode right into the crowd and slashed with their sabres like madmen. A terrible confusion rose. ”(Source E). The awful events of this day marked a change in Russian attitudes, previously the Russian people had view their Tsar as the ‘little father’ a protector of Russia however now he was seen as ‘Bloody Nicholas’ the man who’s institutionalised brutality and incompetency be it directly or indirectly to the deaths of thousands of innocents, it was this shift in attitudes that gave way to anti-tsarist propaganda from the Bolsheviks and a revitalised interest by the Russian people in changing the way Russia was…
Another Russian attempt to intervene, under Prince Michael Gorchakov was repulsed by the Turks. An Easter bombardment destroyed a great deal of the Russian defenses, while the resignation of Conrobert led to the appointment of General Pelissier, a more able commander. Finally, the capture of Kerch on 24 May, which secured allied command of the Sea of Azov, severed the Russian overland supply lines. Over the remains of the summer, the allies slowly nibbled at the Russian defenses, while the battle of the Traktir saw the final Russian attempt to relieve the city defeated by French and Sardinian troops. Finally, on 8 September 1855, the French launched one of the few well planned attacks of the war, aimed at the Malakoff, one of the two key strongpoints of the defense.…
Genghis Khan had one of the largest land empires from 1206 till the time of his death in 1227 and he was a ruthless leader that left tragedy in all of the lands that he conquered. Genghis Khan once said that "A man's greatest work is to break his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all the things that have been theirs, to hear the weeping of those who cherished them"(Nakate). Genghis Khan killed his enemies and left despair all around him. Genghis Khan had many negative impacts on both Russia and China in many different ways.…
The result was the establishment of communism. The Russian Civil War and Battle had many similarities. Like when Stalin dethroned Lenin out of authority “Following an attempt on Lenin’s life” (Raleigh). That corresponds to when Napoleon got rid of Snowball “Nine enormous dogs…dashed straight for Snowball…in a moment he was out the door and they were after him” (Orwell 67). Both events focus on the creation of their “communist” plan that happened after the destruction of the old…
Prince Mentschikoff threatened the Ottoman Empire and as a result the Czar of Russia was forced to back up his prince our else he would look weak. He also believes that the Czar Nicholas backed his prince because he already disliked Napoleon the Third and the war would give him a pretense to start a war with Napoleon using the Ottoman Empire. According to Rambaud, Czar Nicholas purposely sent Prince Mentschikoff when he did because both the French and English embassies didn’t have chiefs in Constantinople. The threat, which may or may not have been authorized by Czar Nicholas, was also accompanied by Russian troop deployments to the Russian- Ottoman boarder. Rambaud also states that the war had nothing to do with Russia making an attempt to grab the holy land for themselves.…