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I still feel this whole debacle was mishandled on purpose if it wasn't staged to begin with…..and yes I know how that sounds, but there are some sick sick people out there who will do anything for money or for more regulations against offshore drilling. Who knows, this might have been by design to end the offshore drilling debate…or at least to tilt the argument in the favor of the environmentalists. Flame away in 3…2…1…:)
I will finish my archives visit tomorrow morning. It has been a very productive trip. I found a few items that bolster my thesis and exploded some claims made in another history of the battle I am writing about.
Outstanding!
Had Hitler been killed, his replacement might have sued for a separate peace with the Western Allies and that was something Stalin feared more than Hitler alone.
If the attacker has the troops to waste, the defender always loses. See World War I or the Crusades if you think I am wrong. Defense is a strategy of the weak. Despite the fact that the defense is always stronger, interminable defense has morale effects that no amount of superior tactics can overcome. Napoleon was right in that "in war the moral is to the material as 3 is to 1".BTW, wastage is the correct military term for the troops killed or incapacitated in normal military operations.
Grant was the first Union general to fully understand this. MacCllelan built the Army of the Potomac, but he didn't have the heart or stomach to use it. Grant didn't have such reservations.
The South's advantages were 1. strategic depth filled with rugged terrain and a complex network of waterways (which later were used against them)2. fighting a defensive war -- the South didn't have to win, they just had to hang on long enough to win politically3. knowledge of the battlefield -- Northerners had to update their maps while Southerners already knew their country well4. superior officer corps early in the war (later the Union fielded a more professional grade army as attrition hurt the South more)5. superior cavalry (throughout the war until very late with the rise of Sheridan)6. superior spy network (see Mary Chesnut's Diary)There are more and I'll let others list them.
I spent this afternoon in the archives and Vienna. I must be a geek because I think it is so cool to actually have the original After-Action Reports in my hand, written by the very same generals I have read so much about. Talk about holding history in your hands. I found a contemporary mp the Austrians used to plan their defense with notations on where units actually were versus where they were supposed to be. That map alone makes me question some accounts of Koniggratz I have read. I will go back tomorrow and Thursday and will probably want to come back one more time before I finish my thesis. It is very interesting and fun, once again, I must be a geek if 150 year old papers are cool.
You've got the "bug" -- the one that bites you inside the Ivory Tower. LOL
Oh trust me Notch, I wholeheartedly understand what you've been through. I've repeatedly told the others here that if you're conservative leaning, you're in for some bumps in the road that may discourage you from the field altogether. I think Scout1067 has experiences something similar and he seems to be shying away from academia for this reason (which is unfortunate if he really wanted to teach). But I understand it, and I sympathize with everyone going through it.
I think there should be passion on the subject, expertise and personal opinion in certain areas, but REALLY turns me off and makes me just shut my brain down and do the minimum to get by in the class is a teacher who pushes his religious and political agendas on me without any consideration that I probably have a totally different perspective on both and his job is NOT to tel lme that my political/religious views are wrong and thus makes my history knowledge irrelevant, but is supposed to make me see how those two subjects, from multiple points of view, shaped history and my values are equally as relevant as his.
Sounds like to me you've had a bad experience along the way.
Please take a look at our page: http://www.medievalists.net/2009/04/24/castle-for-sale-guide-to-buying-a-castle/ - we work with Patrice Besse and other castle sellers - we got about 30 castles up on this section. It is one of our most popular sections on our site.
I doubt anyone here has that kind of money. LOL 🙂
So will Sarah Palin go down as a modern day conservative parallel to Huey Long? Or will the liberal textbook writers forget she ever came on the scene?What about Father McLaughlin? Is he another example? I think Long could be characterized as a demagogue. McLaughlin as a crusader. Palin as a novelty. Or am I off base?
How do we know 100% for sure that this is the lost Persian Army and not just a random caravan that was buried alive? Do we have swords, shields, and helmets there to verify they were soldiers? ( The article said some bronze weapons were found with an earring and a bracelet). Is this enough for proof? What about horse skeletons? It might be a mass grave that was uncovered from some other sinister event in the past.
The South had a right to secede, but was wrong in doing so. The North had no right to invade the South, but was right in doing so since the slaves were freed, and our Union was preserved. It's a case of had the South gotten its way, things would have been worse for the world down the road (thinking about the World Wars here). The Fire-Eaters were the real villains. Their uncompromising vehemence sent the nation hurtling toward fratricidal war. It was an avoidable war, but the sins of the nation had to be purged (both sides had their sins)…..well this is how many folks viewed it at the time. Both sides prayed to the same God and implored Him to grant them victory in the field. (How ironic is this?) The Civil War was a sad sad war, and most nations would not have survived such carnage, but not only did America survive it, it became a far stronger nation because of it.
