Yes, the reader might respond, but surely we are on firmer ground with regard to [Rommel’s] military skill! After all, no less a figure than British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called him “a great general” on the floor of the House of Commons. Even here, it is possible to make a counterargument. Rommel’s daring exploits at the head of the Afrika Korps (later enlarged and renamed Panzerarmee Afrika) were exciting, to be sure, but many officers in his own army reckoned them as an ultimately valueless sideshow. His disinterest in the dreary science of logistics, his “bias for action,” his tendency to fly off wherever the fighting was hottest are qualities that may make for an exciting movie, but they are problematic in an army commander under modern conditions, and they all contributed materially to the disaster that ultimately befell him and his army in the desert.
[…]
When Rommel arrived in Africa, he brought with him a fully realized art of war. He’d won a Pour le Mérite (the famed “Blue Max“) for a series of nail-biting mountain exploits in the 1917 Caporetto campaign; he had been a very popular tactical instructor at the Dresden Infantry School between the wars; he had commanded one of the army’s precious Panzer divisions (the 7th) during the 1940 campaign in the West. In France, Rommel had behaved more like an 18th century hussar cut loose on a raiding mission than a divisional commander. He led from the front, braved enemy fire on numerous occasions, and turned off his radio from time to time rather than risk receiving orders to rein himself in. He drove forward so rapidly that the 7th Panzer became known as the “ghost division” for its tendency to drop off the situation maps and reappear where least expected. There were many in the German high command, including the chief of the General Staff Franz Halder, who didn’t much appreciate Rommel running amok, but as one analyst put it, “it was impossible to court martial such a successful general, so Rommel instead got the Ritterkreuz” [the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross].
Robert Citino, “Drive to Nowhere: The Myth of the Afrika Korps, 1941-43″, The National WWII Museum, 2012. (Originally published in MHQ, Summer 2012).
March 13, 2020
QotD: Rommel’s generalship
March 6, 2020
“[A] decision of such absolutely mind-boggling stupidity and irresponsibility that it could only have come from Justin Trudeau, himself”
Ted Campbell on the Trudeau government’s apparent abject surrender to the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs (“apparent” because we still don’t have any details of the “deal”):
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ agenda seems simple enough to me. They don’t like the notion that the Wet’suwet’en people can elect band councils that might act for the good of the people and < quelle horreur > the people might even disagree with the hereditary chiefs. Some (male) hereditary chiefs seem to have managed to strip some other (female) chiefs of their titles because they, the female chiefs, sided with the elected councils. This is, in 21st century British Columbia, something of a replay of 17th century Europe and the end of the divine right of kings, except that the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs might succeed where Charles I and Louis XVI failed because they have the dimwits in the Trudeau cabinet on their side.
To make matters worse, as John Morris of the Canadian Press points out in an article published in the Globe and Mail, the government negotiated with the hereditary chiefs, only ~ with the people who broke the law; and they ignored the elected leaders ~ the people who played by the rules.
How typically Trudeau: he surrenders, cravenly, to the reactionary, anti-democratic lawbreakers and, simultaneously, shuts out the elected representatives of the Wet’suwet’en peoples. Is that the Canada in which we all want to live? Is that the sort of “leadership” for which millions of Canadians voted in 2019? I think not. Justin Trudeau is both a fool and a coward and his party, the Liberal Party of Canada, has a duty to Canada: throw the bum out!
But, not to worry, the Trudeau regime’s
propagandistspress agents will tell us that it’s all good, we “won,” something or other … didn’t we? And who cares if we lost something nebulous like honour and responsibility? It’s all about reconciliation, isn’t it? What do trivialities like democracy and the national interest matter when really important things, like preserving the power of hereditary chiefs over elected councils, are at stake? But that reactionary system seems to have been strengthened, and so “It was a famous victory.”
“Poltava” – The Great Northern War – Sabaton History 057 [Official]
Sabaton History
Published 5 Mar 2020Bullets break the silent air, a wasted battleplan! It was a long and harsh march through the lands in the east, where the Swedish army of Charles XII sought to bring the Russian Empire to its knees. The Swedish king had the vision of a great victory, in which he captured Moscow and destroyed Tsar Peter I’s ambitions once and for all. However, as in late June 1709, the exhausted and hungry Swedish troops finally met the Tsar in open battle near the fortress of Poltava, it all seemed impossible. A relentless and fateful battle would commence. A battle after which only one empire would continue to rise while the other would fall.
Support Sabaton History on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sabatonhistory
Listen to “Poltava” on the Album Carolus Rex:
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Listen to Sabaton on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/SabatonSpotify
Official Sabaton Merchandise Shop: http://bit.ly/SabatonOfficialShopHosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Markus Linke and Indy Neidell
Directed by: Astrid Deinhard and Wieke Kapteijns
Produced by: Pär Sundström, Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Executive Producers: Pär Sundström, Joakim Broden, Tomas Sunmo, Indy Neidell, Astrid Deinhard, and Spartacus Olsson
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Sound Editing by: Marek Kaminski
Maps by: Eastory – https://www.youtube.com/c/eastoryArchive by: Reuters/Screenocean https://www.screenocean.com
Music by Sabaton.An OnLion Entertainment GmbH and Raging Beaver Publishing AB co-Production.
© Raging Beaver Publishing AB, 2019 – all rights reserved.
From the comments:
Sabaton History
2 hours ago
Just a quick correction: St. Petersburg was not named after Peter I himself, but after his patron saint St. Peter. Although the Russian Tsar made sure that he himself would be immortalized by founding St. Petersburg, Russia’s window to Europe.
March 3, 2020
Arnhem by Antony Beevor Book Review
TIK
Published 18 Jun 2018Antony Beevor’s book Arnhem is good — but it contains a flawed argument. So flawed, that there’s a ton of counter evidence that shows it doesn’t work. Here, I will explain the events of the Nijmegen battle, what Beevor’s incorrect statement is, why he has to say it like he did, and how he could have done things differently.
Check out the pinned comment below for more information, notes, links, and sources.
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From the comments:
TIK
1 year agoSelected Bibliography/Sources
Brereton, L. The Brereton Diaries: The War in the Air in the Pacific, Middle East and Europe, 3 October 1941-8 May 1945. Kindle, 2014.
Frost, J. A Drop Too Many. Kindle, 2009.
Hastings, M. Armageddon. Pan Books, 2004.
Robert J. Kershaw, It Never Snows in September. Ian Allan Publishing, 2007.
Mead, R. General Boy: The Life of Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Browning. Kindle, 2010.
Middlebrook, M. Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle, 17-29 September. 2009.
Neillands, R. The Battle for the Rhine 1944. Kindle, 2014.
Poulussen, R.G. Lost at Nijmegen. Kindle, 2011.
Ryan, C. A Bridge Too Far. Kindle, 1974
Urquhart, R. Arnhem. Kindle, 1958.
Sosabowski, S. Freely I Served. Kindle, 1982.Links
My “REAL Operation Market Garden” documentary https://youtu.be/vTUC79o4Kmc
“The BAD BOY of Operation Market Garden” A video on General ‘Boy’ Browning https://youtu.be/Dvv8GQIRYVU
The “Who to Blame? John Frost on Operation Market Garden’s Failure” video https://youtu.be/7C_HoMVhKAI
My discussion of Market Garden’s True Purpose using Monty vs Eisenhower’s Memoirs https://youtu.be/f79KgQVL3MM
A video on Kampfgruppen where I talk about some of the Market Garden Kampfgruppen https://youtu.be/zKWczZkQ130
My Book review of It Never Snows in September https://youtu.be/-RRdWCyHpG8
My A Bridge Too Far Book Review video https://youtu.be/D6vDlbsOkQEAdd me on Twitter @TIKhistory
Thanks for watching, bye for now!
February 12, 2020
Guderian – Myth & Reality
Military History Visualized
Published 24 Apr 2018Heinz Guderian, the father of the German Panzerwaffe, is one of the best known German generals from the Second World War. He is also known for his opposition to the Battle of Kursk (Operation Zitadelle) and the early deployment of the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, yet some historians noted recently that many of Heinz Guderian’s claims are not backed up by archives. Well, time to take a closer look.
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Pöhlmann, Markus: Der Panzer und die Mechanisierung des Krieges: Eine deutsche Geschichte 1890 bis 1945 (Zeitalter der Weltkriege)
Corum, James S.: The Roots of Blitzkrieg. Hans von Seeckt and German Military Reform
Macksey, Kenneth: “Generaloberst Heinz Guderian”; in: Ueberschär (Hrsg.) Gerd R.: Hitlers militärische Elite – 68 Lebensläufe (3. Auflage), S. 351-358
Guderian, Heinz: Panzer Leader (English Version of Erinnerungen eines Soldaten)
Guderian, Heinz: Erinnerungen eines Soldaten
Munzel, Oskar: Die deutschen gepanzerten Truppen bis 1945
Schacter, Daniel L.: The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers
Citino, Robert M.: The German Way of War. From the Thirty Years’ War to the Third Reich
Citino, Robert M.: The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943
» CREDITS & SPECIAL THX «
Song: Ethan Meixsell – “Demilitarized Zone”#ww2 #panzergeneral #Guderian
February 10, 2020
The coup that toppled Margaret Thatcher
Charles Moore published the third volume of his Thatcher biography last year (I’ve read the first two volumes, but not the final one). In Quillette, Johan Wennström reviews the book:
This November will mark 30 years since former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher left office. After she had narrowly failed to secure an outright win in a 1990 leadership contest triggered by a challenge from Michael Heseltine, her former defense secretary, the majority of Thatcher’s Conservative cabinet colleagues withdrew their support and forced her departure following what she described as “eleven-and-a-half wonderful years.”
For Thatcher, the “coup,” as she referred to the events of 1990, had been unexpected. But as journalist Charles Moore explains in the third and final volume of his authorized Thatcher biography, Herself Alone (2019), the writing had been on the wall for some time. Thatcher’s style, which some considered abrasive, had turned senior figures against her. And many younger party members believed that if the party were to win a fourth consecutive election victory, in 1991 or 1992, it should be under a new standard-bearer (who turned out to be John Major).
An important underlying factor was the long-standing policy conflict regarding the European Community (or the EC as the European Union was then known), which pitted Thatcher against many in her own government, as well as against continental European leaders and George H. W. Bush’s White House. She was perceived as a “Cold Warrior” who was overly cautious in regard to the future of Europe, especially the project of European political and economic integration.
To some modern observers, that criticism of Thatcher remains apt. In a recently published book on international relations authored by former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, The Age of Disorder (Den nya oredans tid, 2019), Thatcher’s reluctance to endorse a speedy German reunification is attributed to her obsolete anxieties regarding “the dangers of a strong Germany.”
Moore’s latest volume, which focuses extensively on Thatcher’s views about Europe, shows her in a more nuanced light. In some ways, in fact, she was actually ahead of her time. And some of the current problems facing Europe, and the West more generally, might have been mitigated had her opinions been given a more generous audience.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the money for new hardcover books these days so I’ll have to wait until this volume gets a paperback edition or [shudder] get a library card and wait for it to show up at the local library.
January 29, 2020
The Roman Triumph
Historia Civilis
Published 5 Dec 2018Patreon | http://patreon.com/HistoriaCivilis
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Merch | http://teespring.com/stores/historiac…
Twitter | http://twitter.com/HistoriaCivilis
Website | http://historiacivilis.comSources:
The Jewish War, by Josephus: https://amzn.to/2Ub8JRq
Parallel Lives: The Life of Pompey, by Plutarch: https://amzn.to/2BP6vjq
Parallel Lives: The Life of Julius Caesar, by Plutarch: https://amzn.to/2BP6vjq
Letters to Atticus, Book 13, by Cicero: https://amzn.to/2Qa9SKv
The History of Rome, Book 1, by Livy: https://amzn.to/2PbCkX7
Natural History, Book 3, by Pliny the Elder: https://amzn.to/2PhX3Za
Roman History, Book 43, by Cassius Dio: https://amzn.to/2PgJ99C
Roman History, Book 44, by Cassius Dio: https://amzn.to/2PgJ99C
Roman History, Book 53, by Cassius Dio: https://amzn.to/2Pgdq8Q
Roman History, Book 54, by Cassius Dio: https://amzn.to/2Pgdq8Q
Roman History, Book 55, by Cassius Dio: https://amzn.to/2Pgdq8Q
The Life of Julius Caesar, by Suetonius: https://amzn.to/2QuwULE
The Fasti Triumphales http://www.attalus.org/translate/fast…
The Roman Triumph, by Mary Beard: https://amzn.to/2UafiDD
Rubicon, by Tom Holland: https://amzn.to/2E0x5HX
Cicero, by Anthony Everitt: https://amzn.to/2PgJJnO
Julius Caesar, by Philip Freeman: https://amzn.to/2DXortC
Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian Goldsworthy: https://amzn.to/2Q9rtlO
The Rise of Rome, by Anthony Everitt: https://amzn.to/2PeSEGw
“Circum Metas Fertur: An Alternative Reading of the Triumphal Route,” by Ida Östenberg. From Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, vol. 59, no. 3: https://bit.ly/2SpsjHJMusic:
“Honey,” by Nctrnm
“XY,” by Nctrnm
“The House Glows (With Almost No Help),” by Chris Zabriskie
“Hallon,” by Christian BjoerklundWe are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Patton | Based on a True Story
The Cynical Historian
Published 30 Aug 2018It’s finally time to review Patton! I have a lot to say about it, as you can tell by the time stamp. Way back when I started the Based on a True Story series, the second episode was a bit about what I considered to be the best ones — and this movie was at the top. I love this film, but for more reasons than most of you could know — so this is going to be a deep dive into the film and its subject matter. It’s ambiguous, narrowed in subject, and just a perfect examination of the man. As the New Yorker said during the movie’s release, “[Patton] appears to be deliberately planned as a Rorschach test.”
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references:
Brian Sobel and George S. Patton IV, The Fighting Pattons (Westport: Praeger Publishing, 1997). https://amzn.to/2u2WI57MacMillan Compendium, America at War (New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1994), 726-727. https://amzn.to/2m6o4mx
John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft, Who’s Who in Military History: from 1453 to the Present Day, (London: Routledge, 1996), 231-232. https://amzn.to/2KWv53M
Paul Fussell, “Patton”, in Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies, ed. Mark Carnes (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996). https://amzn.to/2J5iGc7
Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen, Based on a True Story: Fact and Fantasy in 100 Favorite Movies, (Chicago: A Cappella Books, 2005), 269-272. https://amzn.to/2m2sSZQ
Frank Sanello, Reel v. Real: How Hollywood Turns Fact into Fiction (Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003), 177-181. https://amzn.to/2N072BB
http://www.historynet.com/patton-film…
https://dailyhistory.org/How_accurate…
http://jbell2ja.umwblogs.org/history-…
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008…
https://www.moviemistakes.com/film960
Special thanks to my mom, dad, and uncle for making sure this was accurate and providing media for the end bit, especially my father (Mark Hall-Patton), who proofread the script as well.
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Wiki:
Patton is a 1970 American epic biographical DeLuxe Color war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, who based their screenplay on the biography Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and Omar Bradley’s memoir A Soldier’s Story. The film was shot in 65 mm Dimension 150 by cinematographer Fred J. Koenekamp and has a music score by Jerry Goldsmith.Patton won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Scott won Best Actor for his portrayal of General Patton, but declined to accept the award. The opening monologue, delivered by George C. Scott as General Patton with an enormous American flag behind him, remains an iconic and often quoted image in film. The film was successful, and in 2003, Patton was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. The Academy Film Archive preserved Patton in 2003.
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#History #Patton #Review #Accuracy #GeneralPatton
January 13, 2020
MANNERHEIM | History and his Line
TIK
Published 22 Jun 2017Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim towers over all other characters of the Winter War, and of Finnish history in general. This video is a brief introduction to one of the great leaders of the 20th Century (and according to a TV poll in 2004, the greatest Finn of all time). Full script is available as captions/subtitles, and the source I used for this video is –
Trotter, W. The Winter War: The Russo-Finnish War of 1939-40. Aurum Press Ltd, 2003.
If you’d like to help me make these videos, consider supporting me on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TIKhistory
January 10, 2020
Pierre Poilievre’s bid for federal Conservative leader
Chris Selley on the varying reactions to the notion of Pierre Poilievre as Andrew Scheer’s replacement:
Glee is spreading among Liberal partisans at the thought of Pierre Poilievre succeeding Andrew Scheer as Conservative leader. The theory is he is so pugnacious, so obnoxious, so poisonously, sneeringly partisan as to be literally unelectable.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre at a Manning Centre event, 1 March 2014.
Manning Centre photo via Wikimedia Commons.It is true that the man longtime Conservative cabinet minister John Baird nicknamed “Skippy,” in tribute to his enthusiastic Question Period performances, does not suffer from an excess of gravitas — though Poilievre’s reported support for his leadership bid from Baird and Jenni Byrne, a former senior adviser to Stephen Harper, lend him some within party ranks. His candidacy hasn’t made any measurable dent thus far in public opinion polls. And the opposition war rooms would certainly have fun unpacking his baggage.
Never mind Poilievre questioning the value-for-money proposition of compensating residential school victims (for which he apologized), or his use of the term “tar baby” in the House of Commons (for which he did not, and nor should he have, because it was a perfectly apt and inoffensive analogy in the context he used it), or the dreaded Green Light from the Campaign Life Coalition. Having been Harper’s parliamentary secretary, Liberals will blame him for every supposed atrocity of the Harper era.
All that said, the notion that people widely viewed as pugnacious, obnoxious and partisan-to-a-fault can’t win in Canadian politics is belied by reality. A quick glance around the federation brings Jason Kenney, Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau immediately to mind.
That’s not to say they won because of those character traits: Kenney’s and Ford’s leadership opponents would likely have fared just as well. Trudeau hoodwinked many with his Sunny Ways fraud, but he might well have won as the classic born-to-rule Liberal he turned out to be. If his government continues venting credibility at the rate it established late in its first mandate, the next Conservative leader could well become prime minister no matter who he is.
After recounting the dismal tale of Sheer’s “leadership”, Selley recounts a favourite story about Boris Johnson which contrasts strongly with the Milk Dud’s occupancy of the job.
Again, that degree of swagger and eloquence is far too much to ask of Canadian politicians. But it shouldn’t be too much to ask a party leader to have enough confidence in his party, his members, his movement and his ideas to arouse him to at least some degree of annoyance when they’re unfairly deprecated. If Conservative members aren’t excited by the prospect of a Poilievre leadership, they shouldn’t be half as mortified as Liberals think they should be.
January 7, 2020
History Summarized: Alcibiades
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published 11 Jan 2016The oracle at delphi simply tells him, “congratulations”. The standard of nudity was his idea. Narcissus gets shy around him. Patroclus was his boyfriend first. He is … the most interesting man in Ancient Greece.
Extra special thanks to Blue’s professor, Mr. Samons, who taught him about Greek history and the comedic potential of marshmallows and triremes.
January 3, 2020
The Battle of Alesia (52 B.C.E.)
Historia Civilis
Published 24 Apr 2015Patreon | http://patreon.com/HistoriaCivilis
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Website | http://historiacivilis.comMusic is “The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch” by Chris Zabriskie. (http://chriszabriskie.com/)
December 15, 2019
The Nine Situations | The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Eudaimonia
Published 26 Nov 2017Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/EudaimoniaCha…
Buy the book on Amazon: http://geni.us/xgng
November 22, 2019
Battle of Savo Island 1942: America’s Worst Naval Defeat
Montemayor
Published 26 Aug 2017(Animated Map) – WARNING: lower the volume if you are using headphones. sorry for the audio.
I do not own the rights to the songs or images. This video is purely for educational purposes.
No copyright intended, all image rights go to:
-Wikipedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ba…-Naval History Heritage and Command
https://www.history.navy.mil/-Portrait of Richmond K. Turner
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Onli…–USS Jarvis
http://www.navsource.org/Images contained on this site that are donated from private sources are © copyrighted by the respective owner. Images credited to the National Archives (NA, NARA); Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC), formerly Naval Historical Center (NHC); and U.S. Navy (USN) are believed to be in the public domain. Some images credited to the United States Naval Institute (USNI) are from © copyrighted collections, the rest are believed to be in the public domain.
All songs by Ross Budgen https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKG…
-“Welcome to Chaos”
-“House Lannister Theme” – Game of Thrones Season 4 (Original composition)
-“Run”
-“Parallel”Sources-
Hammel, E. (2017, March 6). “First Battle of Savo Island: The U.S. Navy’s Worst Defeat”. Retrieved August 25, 2017, from http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/dail…
Hornfischer, J. D. (2011). Neptunes Inferno: the U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal. New York: Bantam Books.
Newcomb, R. F., & Newcomb, R. F. (2002). The Battle of Savo Island. New York: H. Holt.
Stille, M. (2013). The Naval Battles for Guadalcanal 1942 (Vol. 225). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.
Toll, I. W. (2016). The Conquering Tide: war in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
USMC Casualty list taken from:
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC…
October 25, 2019
QotD: Command and control in the US military
The crux of the author’s complaint is that military commanders have been relegated to the status of administrators and managers because the US Army is all about process and seems to care too little about results. The author complains, with reason, that headquarters, from battalion to the highest levels, have gotten larger and larger and more and more complex but appear to actually accomplish less and less. I think the same complaints can be, validly, made about Canada.
It is not surprising that Canada, like Australia, Britain, Chile and Denmark, has adapted at least some of the US military’s system ~ the USA has, after all, the most powerful military in the world. They must be doing something right, right?
Actually, since about 1950s, the US military has been distinguished by blunders and defeats at least as often as we have seen periodic displays of operational prowess: Viet Nam, Bay of Pigs, the failed hostage rescue in Iran, the invasion of Grenada, the second Iraq War all come to mind. The American military legacy has even spawned American satirical films about (constantly failing) American military command. That’s something I though only the Brits could do.
Ted Campbell, “Military command and control”, Ted Campbell’s Point of View, 2017-09-16.
