Worst Military Loss in History
- Thread starter lwm3398
- Start date
Eh, its the Somme. Also, there was not near 2.7 million killed, or near 1 million for that matter. There was around 1 million casualties. People always say 60,000 Brits were killed on the first day!! That is also not right; there were some 60,000 Brit casualties about one third of which died. Number of deaths at the Somme is closer to 300,000 which still makes it one of the worst ever.Agrael said:
ok, i'd say the Pyrrhus as in "victoire a la Pyrrhus" which was the king of Epirus, that conquered the Roman peninsule but that having reached Rome, had lost all his men, and then returned with a victory that wasn't really one.
and for those that think the French are not great Warriors, 1fact: 1500 years of wars isn't something to take lightly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNN68H4e8mU so STFU jealous haters.
and for those that think the French are not great Warriors, 1fact: 1500 years of wars isn't something to take lightly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNN68H4e8mU so STFU jealous haters.
Actually I think 80,000 was the highest killed in combat in one battle in that war, at least my school history book says that.Redfefnir said:
But that's the thing, Thermopylae was a heroic last stand and all, but the Spartans still lost. The point I was trying to make was that if Sparta had held it instead of sending off most of their troops they could have put a complete stop to Persia's advance. The Spartans we're much better trained and in the tight canyons the Persains numbers we're meaningless. Being so far from home and supplies and having his campaign stagnate at Thermopylae meant that sooner or late the sheer economics of it would have forced Xerxes to give up and go home. Sparta's inability to hold such a strategically advantagous chokepoint is in my mind a glaring military failure.Obrien Xp said:
Ah, that's what you were getting at. I totally agree.Mako144 said:
I find that the cause of many failures is bureaucracy/religion/politics, once a general gets involved in politics, he will have to choose between one or the other. This was one of the issues in the Prussian Empire up until its fall in WWI. You can look at Rommel, as soon as you get into politics your screwed.
Since it happened just down the road from where I live i'm gojng with the Battle of marston moor.During the English civil war about 5000 men died in one day in one field. There is a monument there and when you go and stand by it and look across the field (which isn't even that big) It seems crazy that in a few hours 5000 people were killed there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marston_Moor link to the wiki page..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marston_Moor link to the wiki page..
The siege of Malta was pretty horrific I think the ottomans one in the end not sure but they took heavy losses considering what they were fighting against http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_%281565%29
Or even the Easter rising sure the British won in the end but they suffered nearly 240 casualties trying to cross a bridge guarded by 17 men. "The Sherwood Foresters were repeatedly caught in a cross-fire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men."
Or even the Easter rising sure the British won in the end but they suffered nearly 240 casualties trying to cross a bridge guarded by 17 men. "The Sherwood Foresters were repeatedly caught in a cross-fire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men."
The Battle of Thermopylae: 300 Spartans, as well as ~1100 other Greeks, hold off a Persian force many times their own size (actual figures are unknown, between 200 000 and 250 000, and 900 000, or up to 2.5 million).
The Spartans did lose in the end, but they did serious damage. Considering that they sent around 1500 total troops against 200 000+, it could be called the worst military loss in history.
The Spartans did lose in the end, but they did serious damage. Considering that they sent around 1500 total troops against 200 000+, it could be called the worst military loss in history.
The battle of Crecy; for the French.
The whole war for that matter. Other than establishing the superior awesomeness of the longbow mothing was actually acomplished in the hundred years war.
Following that were the religous wars in the 1600s; the thirty years war, etc...
Again, much raping and pillaging, litle in the ways of actual results.
And the casualties trumped any thing in the last century. Take your land wars in Asia(Vietnam, Afghanastan, etc...) and stick it; the Europeans came up with, and mastered, the idea of stupid, pointless wars.
The whole war for that matter. Other than establishing the superior awesomeness of the longbow mothing was actually acomplished in the hundred years war.
Following that were the religous wars in the 1600s; the thirty years war, etc...
Again, much raping and pillaging, litle in the ways of actual results.
And the casualties trumped any thing in the last century. Take your land wars in Asia(Vietnam, Afghanastan, etc...) and stick it; the Europeans came up with, and mastered, the idea of stupid, pointless wars.