Published on 3 Nov 2016
The dust of the 8th and even 7th battle hasn’t really settled on the Isonzo Front, but Luigi Cadorna is already unleashing the 9th Battle of the Isonzo River. The Austro-Hungarian troops under Svetozar Borojevic von Bojna can only look forward to the onset of winter because that will give them the long needed rest on the mountainous battlefield.
November 4, 2016
War of Attrition On The Italian Front – The Ninth Battle of the Isonzo I THE GREAT WAR Week 119
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November 2, 2016
Naval Tactics in the Age of Sail (1650-1815)
Published on 9 Sep 2016
» SCRIPT & REFERENCES «
http://militaryhistoryvisualized.com/
» SOURCES & LINKS «
Hughes, Wayne: Fleet Tactics. Theory and PracticeTracy, Nicholas: “Naval Tactics in the Age of Sail”, in: Stilwell, Alexander: The Trafalgar Companion.
Slantchev ,Branislav L.: Warfare at Sea: The Evolution of Naval Power
Konstam, Angus: British Napoleonic Ship-of-the-Line
Tritten, James: Doctrine and Fleet Tactics in the Royal Navy
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November 1, 2016
New Inventions And New Fronts – Fall 1916 I THE GREAT WAR WW1 Summary Part 6
Published on Oct 31, 2016
1916 is known as the year of battles and in the past three months you could see that there was still no end in sight. Romania joined the war opening another front and at the Somme and at Verdun the battles were still raging.
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October 30, 2016
Bomber Pilot Fame – Delville Wood – WW1 Remembrance I OUT OF THE TRENCHES
Published on 29 Oct 2016
It’s time for another exciting episode of Out Of The Trenches. This week we talk about the fame of bomber pilots, the Battle of Delville Wood and the importance of remembering World War 1.
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October 28, 2016
France Turns The Tide At Verdun I THE GREAT WAR Week 118
Published on 27 Oct 2016
Meticulous planning, patience and and improvement supply chain meant that the French were finally ready to push the Germans back at Verdun. And the recapture of Fort Douaumont was as much an odd story as was the capture a few months earlier.
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October 27, 2016
World of Warships British Cruiser Q&A
Published on Oct 23, 2016
Sunday bonus video! A few days ago I had to chance to put some questions to Karsin and Tuccy of the WoWs Dev Team regarding the new Royal Navy cruisers. Here’s what they had to say.
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October 25, 2016
The War Photographer – Ernest Brooks I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1?
Published on 24 Oct 2016
Ernest Brooks’ photos from World War 1 have become icons of the entire war and are even recognised today. But his experience as an official war photographer was not always glorious and especially in the beginning he staged photos instead of showing the real horrors of the war. But as the war dragged on, more and more photos captured small moments in this gigantic conflict that showed the humanity behind the numbers.
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October 23, 2016
Technical vs. Tactical Innovation – German Officers in the Ottoman Army I OUT OF THE TRENCHES
Published on 22 Oct 2016
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Indy is sitting int he chair of wisdom again and answers all your questions about the First World War. This week we talk about technical and tactical innovation, pals battalions and the German officers in the Ottoman Army.
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October 21, 2016
French Plans For Glory At Verdun – Romania Stops The Germans I THE GREAT WAR Week 117
Published on 20 Oct 2016
The front at Verdun has been quieter in recent weeks because the French are planing to retake all the lost ground and most importantly Fort Douaumont. Improved supplies, detailed planning and training give hope to the Poilus. The Germans on the other hand know that something is coming for them and when the morale couldn’t get much lower, the Romanians stop Erich von Falkenhayn in the Carpathians.
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October 20, 2016
Sea power and land power
At Samizdata, Brian Micklethwait has an interesting essay, including this discussion of the historical differences between naval and land powers (Athens and Sparta, Greece and Persia, Britain and France, etc.) and an insight into the odd growth pattern of the British empire after the introduction of steam power:
This contrast, between seafaring and land-based powers, has dominated political and military history, both ancient and modern. Conflicts like that between Athens and Sparta, and then between all of Greece and Persia, and the later conflicts between the British – before, during and since the time of the British Empire – and the succession of land-based continental powers whom we British have quarrelled with over the centuries, have shaped the entire world. Such differences in political mentality continue to matter a lot.
Throughout most of modern human history, despots could completely command the land, including all inland waterways. but they could not command the oceans nearly so completely. Wherever the resources found in the oceans or out there beyond them loomed large in the life and the economy of a country or empire, there was likely to be a certain sort of political atmosphere. In places where the land and its productivity counted for pretty much everything, and where all communications were land-based, a very different political atmosphere prevailed.
You see this contrast in the difficulties that Napoleon had when squaring up to the British, and to the British Royal Navy. Napoleon planned his land campaigns in minute detail, like a chess grandmaster, and he played most of his military chess games on a board that could be depended on to behave itself. But you couldn’t plan a sea-based campaign in this way, because the sea had a mind of its own. You couldn’t march ships across the sea the way you can march men across a parade ground, or a continent. At sea, the man on the spot had to be allowed to improvise, to have a mind of his own. He had to be able to exercise initiative, in accordance with overall strategic guidance, yes, but based on his own understanding of the particular circumstances he faced. There was no tyranny like that of the captain of a ship, when it was at sea. But sea-based powers had many ships, so navies (particularly merchant navies), by their nature dispersed power. In a true political tyranny, there can be only one tyrant.
More fundamentally, the sea provided freedom, because it provided an abundance of places to escape to, should the tyranny of a would-be tyrant become too irksome and life-threatening. Coastal communities had other sources of wealth and power besides those derived from inland, and could hide in their boats from tyrants. Drive a sea captain and his crew mad with hatred for you and for your tyrannical commands and demands, and he and his ship might just disappear over the horizon and never be seen again. Good luck trying to capture him. If you did seriously attempt this, you would need other equally strong-minded and improvisationally adept sea captains whom you had managed to keep on your side, willing to do your bidding even when they were far beyond the reach of your direct power. One way or another, your tyranny ebbed away.
Other kinds of tyranny, or the more puritanical sort, were also typically made a nonsense of by seagoing folk, whenever they enjoyed a spot of shore leave.
[…]
The development of mechanically powered ships, since Napoleon’s time, served to make the deployment of ships at sea a lot more like marching them about on a parade ground. First, the significance of the wind and its often unpredictable direction is pretty much negated. And mechanically powered ships are also, especially in the days of coal power, much more dependent upon land-based installations, the arrangement of which demanded Napoleonic logistical virtuosity. Much of late British imperial politics only makes sense if you factor in the compelling need for coaling stations to feed ships. Sailing ships don’t run out of fuel. Modern ships do.
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October 18, 2016
Mimi, Toutou and Fifi – The Utterly Bizarre Battle for Lake Tanganyika I THE GREAT WAR Special
Published on 17 Oct 2016
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This episodes contains images that are orphaned works for which the copyright holder is not known.
The Battle for Lake Tanganyika in German East Africa was one of the most bizarre battles of World War 1. It only really started once the Royal Navy had carried two boats through the jungle and the mountains from Capetown. Their names: Mimi and Toutou. Their commander: Geoffrey Spicer-Simson, probably the weirdest high ranking officer in the entire war.
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October 16, 2016
Soldiers With Glasses – Industrial Centres – Frontline Generals I OUT OF THE TRENCHES
Published on 15 Oct 2016
Indy is answering your questions about the First World War again. This time we talk about:
– soldiers wearing glasses
– the different industrial centres of the major nations
– generals leading from the frontline and from the rear
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October 14, 2016
Deadly Routine On The Italian Front – The 8th Battle Of The Isonzo I THE GREAT WAR – Week 116
Published on Oct 13, 2016
While the 7th Battle of the Isonzo River was still raging, Italian chief of staff Luigi Cadorna was already planning the 8th. The war of attrition was going in his favour even though the Italian losses began to mount too. But how long could Austria-Hungary keep up against the constant pressure?
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October 11, 2016
The Game Of Thrones in Albania During World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR Special
Published on 10 Oct 2016
One of Indy’s favourite historical characters is actually King Zog of Albania. History’s heaviest smoker and probably the only monarch to pull out his gun and shoot at his own assassins. But King Zog is not the only reason why the story of Albania before and during World War 1 is so fascinating and complicated.
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October 9, 2016
The Chinese Labour Corps in Russia During World War 1 I OUT OF THE ETHER
Published on 8 Oct 2016
In another exiting episode of Out Of The Ether, Indy reads a great comment by a Russian fan about the situation of Chinese workers in Russia.
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