This war is infamous for its long artillery bombardment that eliminated any surprise but failed to destroy the German barbed wire. Many people call it the ‘bloodiest day in British military history’ but was it a complete disaster? When the battle began, the British army believed no man or barbed wire could have survived 1,750,000 shells being fired. However, as the British troops went forward in long lines, they were mown down by German machine guns that British artillery had failed to suppress. Even when this plan kept on failing, the commander-in-chief, Douglas Haig, refused to change his plan, which is what made the start of
Other then the fact that the British had an awful tactic, they did not have the right weaponry. Haig was a strong believer in Calvary, and was skeptical of the newer machinery. When the British walked across no mans land the Germans just mowed them down with their machine guns. At the end of this battle there was 400 000
If Nolan was acting as a military assistant to a more senior officer, he wouldn’t be critical of its commanders as suggested in Source 3, because it would be in his role to follow orders. Source 1 also disagrees that Nolan was to blame for the disaster of the Charge of the Light Brigade because it says that the Light Brigade opposed his theories on tactics so he could never have suggested it. This shows that it would have been almost impossible for Nolan to make the decision as others were against his ideas. However, Source 3 disagrees as it says that Nolan wasn’t to blame because it says, ill-suited to deliver Raglan’s order for the charge, suggesting that it was not in Nolan’s characteristics to follow orders from anyone else. This means that even if it was his responsibility to deliver the order he would not have done so because, as it also states in Source 3, he is headstrong so he is self-willed, portraying that Nolan is to blame for the disaster of the Charge of the Light Brigade by refusing to follow orders.
In source 4 we also learn that much must have depended on diplomatic relations with Maximilian and Ferdinand, however Henry’s allies proved unfaithful and unreliable. Source 4, is written by a member of the Government of England. The government is who Henry and Wolsey would go to for Money for these situations. The Government did not like how much Money Henry kept asking for so this could have been reflected in Keith Randall’s report. Henry spent 1.4 millions pounds on fighting wars between 1511-25 and this set England back a far way.
The tanks were not designed to travel over the rocky beach and resisted to movement in a mere matter of minutes since departing the boats. The artillery used, Bren guns and Tommy guns, was mediocre and in some instances their trajectory was too low so that their missiles failed to reach the appropriate destination. Although that was an unwanted nuisance it was not the main issue, the real problem was the lack of weapons. Since this was supposed to be a surprise attack the allies wished to be light in order to move quickly among the sea. This would include not bringing very important bombs and mortar shells and heavier guns, these weapons were close to or equivalent to the German artillery.
In turn this would destroy Britain commercially and their industrial economy allowing Napoleon to take over Britain however did not work and left Napoleon worse off then he was before. His next mistake was the Peninsular war and as a result weakened his empire even more by the Spanish guerrillas, Germans, and Italians turning against him. Lastly his third mistake lost him most of his soldiers and the tactic used to defeat him was the scorched-earth policy, by the Russians. These mistakes greatly weakened Napoleons Empire. The empire was then declared war on by Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria.
The German high command halted as the army was about to go for the kill (on orders from Hitler who at times would lose his nerve temporarily). Goering promised to destroy them with the Luftwaffe but despite the intense attack by the German air force, thousands of British soldiers escaped to fight another day. It was a psychological victory for England because it showed they were down but not out. Germany had won the day for sure, but despite the bloody beating England received, she was still standing.
The net result was that the army had less forces than it needed to ensure the successful execution of its missions, and this contributed to its defeat. Had the German army never been divided and the capture of the city of Stalingrad not been made a requirement, the Germans would have been able to concentrate their forces and defend their flanks, and the encirclement of the German army may well not have happened. Another lesson of the battle is the desirability of avoiding frontal assaults whenever possible. Frontal assaults enable the defender to exploit all the advantages of the defense, such as the emplacement of obstacles and the orientation of forces toward the expected enemy avenue of
Hitler got away with this because Britain had sympathy for Germany and in 1935 signed a naval agreement with them. France was angry that Germany was re-army but there was little they could do as most countries were doing the same, especially after the disappointment of the Disarmament conference.. The failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s also contributed towards the outbreak of war. It was powerless throughout the 1920s as it was more interested in trying to keep good relations with the other countries so it would have allies against Hitler if he ever attacked. The League also didn’t work because America didn’t join and it was the American President Woodrow Wilson who created it and it would never have worked unless all the nations were allowed to join.
Russia’s early hopes were soon dashed however. Russia’s best chance of victory came at the very beginning of the war when a large number of German troops were invading Belgium and France, but instead of ceasing this opportunity the Russian generals blundered into defeat after defeat. Russia’s dreams of a swift victory were all but crushed in the Tannenberg and Masurian disasters that set the stage for further defeats in 1915. The First World War was a new type of war, a war dominated by modern technology, technology that the Russians were struggling with. Meanwhile the Germans were making massive advancements in both new technology and it’s utilisation but also the strategic aspects of