What would turn into a four-year conflagration and take more American lives than two subsequent world wars together was expected by many at first to be no more than a "show of power" exhibited by both factions that would end in quick compromise. But, it soon became apparent that the South would not bargain. It didn’t matter that the industrial North was considered unbeatable with its larger population and its iron factories able to churn out artillery by the carloads. The pride of the South was wounded, and the scars were enough to inspire its men to victory in the first several engagements, including the First Battle of Manassas, 30 miles from Washington
Without the help of Sir Keith Park and the Royal Air Force, the casualty number would have been a lot larger. Sir Keith Park commandeered the 11th Group of Fighter Command. Keith also created a brilliant plan for the defense of London and the South East of England. Keith was in command of the squadron that fought for the Battle of Britain. The failure of the Luftwaffe to defeat the Royal Air Force in 1940 at the Battle of Britain is seen as Germany’s first major mistake in the Second World War against the western front.
1919-The year of Savage Peace The year 1818 was the year of ‘savage peace’ even though the world thought that the United States was a peaceful and prosperous nation. There were many reasons it was considered ‘savage’. People were fearful of communism. Terrorists’ bombs were exploding on the doorstep of the U S Attorney Generals Office, J. Edgar Hoover had just established the ‘FBI’ which was initially used to spy on suspicious people, and the League of Nations failed among other things that went wrong. One problem that caught my eye was the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed so many during that time.
The ones who believe this, do not comprehend the many different factors in war and how the route that was chosen was best for both parties that were directly affiliated with the bombings. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been fire bombed if the atomic bombs were not dropped, causing similar damage and death counts to the atomic bombs. According to Kyoko Iriye Selden, "The most influential text is Truman's 1955 Memoirs, which states that the atomic bomb probably saved half a million US lives— anticipated casualties in an Allied invasion of Japan planned for November. Stimson subsequently talked of saving one million US casualties, and Churchill of saving one million American and half that number of British lives"(1). With this amount of casualties projected, a land invasion would have trumped the death toll of D-Day.
Tuesday 13th December Why was the Battle of the Somme such a disaster for the British Army? On July 1st 1916, a battle commenced that made the bloodiest day inn British military history. 60,000 British men died on the first day of fighting, with a third of them perishing in the first hour. The aim of this essay is to examine factors of the battle and decide which one contributed the most to the failure of the battle. The plan for the Battle of the Somme was to assemble a huge new army of soldiers.
Poison gas was also used at Ypres for the first time. The Germans had used chlorine gas for the first time in this war and it had badly affected Canadians because they were unaware of this new weapon. Canada has won recognition for showing courage and a reputation during the war. “For holding the line amid the gas attacks of the first critical four days of the battle, the Canadians were praised for their courage and tenacity, a reputation that would only grow as the war continued.” (Second Battle of Ypres- The Canadian Encyclopedia). Within very little time, the Canadians had lost a lot of men but through this battle they had gained a reputation as a “formidable fighting force” (Veterans Affair of Canada).
So one has to ask was it worth it? Almost near years since we entered Iraq we are leaving with little results and a bill that doubles our debt and could continue to hold down our economy. There were over 4,400 lives lost, and that is just on the Americans side. We have not even began to scratch the surface of the effects on the native Iraqis and how many thousands of civilians have been killed and the millions that have been displaced by our war efforts. To go along with the 4,400 Americans that wont be coming home to their families, there were over 32,000 Americans wounded in this war.
During the war there was an imbalance of weapons with the Russian soldiers having one rifle between three men. The Lee Enfield was first produced in 1907; it had been designed by an American called James Lee and built at the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield - hence the rifle's name. The Lee Enfield enjoyed a good reputation with those who were issued with it. It had a ten-bullet magazine and its rate of fire in the hands of well-trained men was high. At the Battle of Mons, the advancing Germans believed that they were under fire from British machine guns.
So it all goes back to helping not hurting the people of Germany. The Soviets have had many attempts to take practical control over the entire city of Berlin, but this only helped the British and United States make clever plans like the Marshall Plan and the decision of the Airlift. The Berlin Blockade lasted from June 24th, 1948 to May 12, 1949, but still long enough to have killed many starving civilians. The Marshall plan in my opinion helped the most because $13 billion in economic and technical assistance were given to help the recovery of the European countries that had joined in the Organization for European Economic Co-operation. After all this happened in result to the Berlin Blockade, the Soviets started limiting their efforts to take control because they knew that other dominate forces like the United States and the Soviet Union and its
The bombing of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6th 1945 had a phenomenal and generally good effect on the world. Not only did it bring an end to the most horrific war the world has seen, but it has had unexpected benefits over the next 64 years. Immediately after the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, World War Two came to its conclusion more quickly and with less casualties than it were ever thought possible. Japan was a very patriotic and militaristic power, and the American generals knew that any sort of invasion would have been absolute bloodshed. Casualty predictions for an invasion varied widely, but were extremely high for both sides.