Napoleon's first major mistake was made in March of 1808, when Napoleon intervened in a dispute between the present king of Spain and the king's son. He placed them both in prison and put his own brother on the throne. The people of Spain did not take too kindly to this act and so began a bloody war that was not defined by major battles, but by guerrilla warfare that kept a large number of French troops occupied to keep control of the country. French troops would end up executing hundreds of Spaniards who were thought to be resisting French power. Britain saw an opportunity to weaken Napoleon's empire by landing 13,000 troops on the coast of Portugal, where they made their way up along Spain's coastline.
The American Revolution was a result of the colonists unrest caused by their abhorrence towards their British Mother Country. For several centuries the colonies had been subject to rule by the English Crown and it’s Parliament. They no longer wanted to be controlled by a country an ocean away, and in turn sought independence. A huge factor in the start of the American Revolution was the French and Indian War that changed the age-old bond between the colonies and England. Decades of conflict followed, starting with the revolt as a result of the Stamp Act in 1765, leading to the eruption of war in 1775.
“Everything in war is simple, but simplest things are difficult.” ~Carl Von Clausewitz War exists within the storm of violence, uncertainty, and chaos. Military commanders are responsible for either the survival or death of their Soldiers. Successful commanders must implement the commander’s activities in mission command in order to attain victory. Julius Caesar is one of history’s most famous and successful military commanders. In 58 BCE, Caesar launched an eight-year campaign into modern day France, Germany, and southern England.
MID TERM ESSAYS 1. What problems did Britain face after the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) and how did it propose to find solutions? How reasonable were London’s solutions and how did the colonists view them as an attack upon their liberty? Extreme war debt, Debt. Every war costs huge amounts of money; the British were simply trying to raise money to pay the costs of the North American components of the Seven Years War, which was the French and Indian War.
These series of attacks that singlehandedly changed the course of the war by planting seeds of unrest into the minds the American public are known today as the Tet Offensive. Since the 1940’s, General Vo Nguyen Giap was the Commanding General of the North Vietnam Army. Giap served under Ho Chi Minh and was one of the main forces in the victory at Dien Bien Phu, which drove the French forces out of Vietnam in 1954. During the battle of Dien Bien Phu, General Giap is quoted stating that he was, “…willing to lose ten men for every one enemy soldier killed” (Bui Tin 2002, 67). This statement by itself is a clear indicator that General Giap was willing to do anything to defeat the French and win the war.
For several decades, Great Britain and France had been at war against each other over the country of Canada. In the mid eighteenth century, the British and the French were battling to obtain the rights to Canada; more specifically the two nations were fighting for the ownership of the colony of New France and become the dominant player in North America. This was a colony dominated by French speaking Canadians and belonged to the country of France. What is more is the fact that Americans wanted to expand to the north and along with the British were concerned about having a French speaking, Catholic colony between them. As a result, it triggered a war between France and Britain.
The French and the Dutch were the other main Empire builders as they, as well as Britain, had aimed for similar countries and this caused many disagreements and frustration between these countries. We know this because the British and the French had the 7 years war and this was taken very seriously as 10 – 11,000 troops and this obviously shows the British went out to win that battle which they did in the end. Another scenario was when the British were kept under siege within the fortress of Quebec by the American Colonial Forces to try and drive the British out so they could encourage the French to take over so the British couldn’t take any more colonies as the French had many colonies in Canada. This was a very important and successful win as the English outwitted the French and it proved that England were more physically powerful. The South Atlantic system was crucial to increasing the political powers of
While Great Britain emerged a victor of the Seven Years war, it was nearly bankrupt at its completion in 1763. This led the British government to raise revenues throughout its empire in order to reset its forces. Ironically, while Great Britain was attempting to prepare for the next war against its European neighbors, it was creating the conditions for an unforeseen conflict with the
The war dragged on for three years. Eventually, Britain used 450,000 troops to defeat Boer forces that totalled 35,000 men. Milner and his generals were characteristically optimistic but they soon learned they were in for a protracted and bloody conflict. Military disasters abounded and 22,000 men were killed in the initial stages. The Boer War was a period of sustained violence.
The second was the unresolved hostility between Prussia and Austria, mainly over the control of Silesia following the eight-year War of Austrian Succession. Rich in natural resources, this region had been annexed by Frederick the Great in 1740, and was now dearly coveted by the Austrian Imperial crown. This led Maria-Theresa to press for a shift in the Austrian government’s diplomacy, by aligning itself with its two-century-old enemy France. The ensuing Diplomatic Revolution, whereby France, Austria and Russia faced Prussia and Great Britain only served to accelerate the arm’s race, as both the Franco-British and Austro-Prussian antagonisms were preserved. At the turn of the second half of the XVIIIth Century, France could still arguably be considered as one, if not the, dominant military power in Europe.