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Location: Finally escaped The People's Republic of California
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Greatest military achievements of all time.
The American Revolution : Farmers and store keepers defeat greatest power on earth
The Vietnamese : again farmers and peasants defeat not 1 but 2 greater powers
The Afgans: Sheep Herderd and peasants out last the 2 world Super Powers
Finland holding their own against the Soviets during the winter war. Technically, they lost, but the fact that the nation remained independent is worthy of mention. Much the same, the Poles were able to hold their own during the Polish-Soviet war of 1920.
Interpreting greatest as in having the most marked effect on humanity. Not in terms of force disparities.
I would nominate halting the Persian invasion of Greece as I do not see our view of humanity being what it is without Greece or Grecian influence on Rome and then Christianity being spread so quickly without Rome. All three are critical to us in West.
An ironic nominee would be the The fall of Constantinople in 1453 as a blessing in forcing educated men to flee to Italy where the Classics were once again taught to new generations and create the Rennaissance which led to the Enlightment which leads to our current Western view of human rights.(and our society)
You know we could have a very good offshoot discussion on the importance of battles and wars vs. historic movements in terms of technology and trade as shifting and moving forwad human development.
Lord Jesus Christ takes the Roman Empire through Constantine the Great first Christian Emperor , which marked the end of the Roman Empire in 308 A.D. ..... Where the Roman Empire lingered until 426 AD Under a Christian belief , Economically broke in Rome which was ruled from Constantinople
Why is that laughable? A scantly armed militia managed to drag cannons more than 250 miles over almost non-existent roads undetected and quietly moved them into place overnight into a commanding position to beseige an armed, professionally trained garrison, leading to the almost bloodless capitulation of the colonies' most important city. It was quite a coup of logistics, planning, and subterfuge.
I only laughed at first. You put a better light on the feat than I was able to.
The American Revolution : Farmers and store keepers defeat greatest power on earth
The Vietnamese : again farmers and peasants defeat not 1 but 2 greater powers
The Afgans: Sheep Herderd and peasants out last the 2 world Super Powers
The United States never tried to conquer the Afghan nation. Our only intent has been to dislodge Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who were themselves invaders and we succeeded. Whether that success lasts is up to Afghanistan.
So I don't consider the Afghans to have outlasted the US, only the USSR.
Otherwise, these are all great military achievements. In fact Vietnam can be said to have overcome Japan as well as France and the US. That's not to mention China, both historically and in the modern age.
Last edited by mbradleyc; 02-02-2014 at 07:42 PM..
Agreed, and the Work of the NKVD and its S Department which conducted the work, was the inmtelligence triumph of all time when a detailed set of engineering drawings and technical comment was on the desk of L. Beria before the bombs were even dropped on Japan. Truman didn't have to tell Stalin we had a powerful new weapon. Stalin already knew had already ordered Beria to get him a working atomic bomb in 5 years or face the consequenses.
Why is that laughable? A scantly armed militia managed to drag cannons more than 250 miles over almost non-existent roads undetected and quietly moved them into place overnight into a commanding position to beseige an armed, professionally trained garrison, leading to the almost bloodless capitulation of the colonies' most important city. It was quite a coup of logistics, planning, and subterfuge.
It was definitely a masterpiece of planning and execution. Washington was bold enough to order it and Knox was smart enough to make it happen. I suppose the only things that are arguable (not laughable but arguable) are the storm that deterred a British attack on the position - while it seems unlikely, it's possible the British could have regained those cannons with a successful attack - and the overall impact it had on the outcome of the war, which was somewhat limited. A great victory for the Continentals for sure, but it basically just moved the theater of operations south to NY then Philadelphia which the British successfully took and where there was still strong Loyalist support, and the war lasted another five years.
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