Ho Chi Minh and General Giap understood that they could not defeat the US through the use of conventional military tactics but could defeat them through an unconventional Peoples war. The Vietcong tactics were largely successful and effective, as they had extensive knowledge of the geography, topography and climate of Vietnam. Their tactics had also been hardened during the French war, making them more comfortable and experienced in their fighting. Furthermore, they avoided direct and open confrontation with the US forces in which they would be invariably outgunned. They operated mainly at night, which allowed them to have an advantage over the US soldiers who were unable to swiftly move about the unfamiliar terrain of Vietnam.
Some were extremely successful, and others not so much. People like Qin Shi Huangdi folded under the pressure, and became too paranoid of his own people. Octavian on the other hand, knew the possibilities of internal and external threat, but actually made successful reforms to eliminate the possibility. A lot of the success rate of these empires
A standard way that the Emperors used their power was for military purposes. Because Rome was a large and thriving empire; a strong army was needed for equally attacking and defending against opposition. Emperors could effortlessly find new recruits for enlistment to the Roman legions. This would provide the advantage of larger numbers of soldiers in a battle. This benefit allowed tactics such as the ‘wedge’ to be executed as more soldiers could reinforce the wedge from behind, which would consequently break the enemies’ formation (Roman Empire.net 2012).
He faced war when he knew he had too and gained power from each war he did face. He faced his enemies such as Spain and never backed down. Essentially this is what made France militaristically superior to other countries. The Fronde, of course stagnated the growth of Frances economy but he used his exploration to benefit him economically. He adopted the idea of mercantilism and gain power from it.
I also liked the way that the author went into every detail making the book easier for me to go back and review or read a certain topic again. I admired the way Napoleon won battles and was determined to win at any cost. I enjoyed the book, but I just have a different view or perspective than Owen Connelly of Napoleon. Owen Connelly negatively focused so much about Napoleon’s blunders. The author believes that Napoleon won many battles because of his enemies’ mistakes and not because of what he actually was…the greatest military mind that ever lived.
They fought in some of the bloodiest wars, just to gain power. Some scholars attribute this expansion to the greed and aggressiveness of people who were fond of war. It’s also said that fear drove Romans to expand the territories under their control in order to provide a buffer against attack. With allowing all these new citizens Rome had a bigger army, which was an advantage as they were conquering other territories. Rome also had the most advanced technology in the military department.
During wars, armies use the opposing sides’ disadvantages to work in their favor. The War for Independence was no different. England held the advantage of having the most dominant Navy in the world. Their naval power was incredibly overwhelming, especially to the colonists whose navy was nonexistent. Not only were the English more capable of winning a sea battle due to their superior Navy, they had the upper hand on land also.
It should be recognised that before Chiang became ruler, there were many domestic problems which overshadowed China which created an unstable society. China was in desperate need for reform, democracy and strong leadership after the torment of the warlord era. China’s most major domestic problem was undoubtedly the warlords which had shattered and fragmented China and had led to political unrest. Chiang was able to launch an offensive called the Northern Expedition to remove the warlords and their hold over China with an alliance with the CCP. This had a massive impact on the country as it had successfully stopped civil and political unrest which had previously been threating the harmony of the country.
This was also a big reason why the American citizens were against the Vietnam War. After gathering an abundant amount information from various sources it’s safe to conclude that Vietcong is much more advanced and well prepared to war than Southern Vietnam and America. America didn’t have adequate tactics, and were poorly supported by their people. Alongside, Vietcong was well prepared as they had previous experience from the Guerrilla war and were aided by various other countries, which were close to their homeland. Also, the war occurred on Vietnamese ground, which was familiar to the Vietcong’s because they were able to use this information to their
Because of the brutal and spontaneous attack on the Europeans, by the Natives (Document B), the Europeans had time to supply themselves with defenses against the Indians. The Natives were more adapt to close combat when the Europeans had more advanced and higher quality weapons. The way that the Europeans fought vs. the Native American truly made a difference in the outcome of a Battle (Document C). The technology that the Europeans possessed during a battle truly put them above the Natives. The Europeans did not want to continue down a this road of war with the Native Americans so in turn the Europeans wished to please them, and at some points were even spoiled more than there own settlers (Document E).