Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

Most humiliating defeats in History

Discussion in 'Military History' started by Totenkopf, Dec 11, 2008.

  1. Duckbill

    Duckbill Dishonorably Discharged

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2010
    Messages:
    214
    Likes Received:
    23
    Hello TH,

    To my recollection no use of airpower in history has destroyed any army as an effective fighting force. Even after the destruction wrought on the by repeated attacks from high tech allied air during the First Gulf War the Iraqi Army remained an effective fighting force.

    The massive bombing by heavy allied air craft during the opening of Operation Cobra stunned the front line troops, disrupted communications, and the chain of command, but the advance ground forces still encountered stiff resistance within a matter of hours.

    Air power has yet to prove that it can destroy enemy armies on the ground, or even damage them sufficiently to render them ineffective.

    Duckbill
     
  2. SgtMike

    SgtMike Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2010
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    I'M PROPOSING THE FOLLOWING:

    1.) CARRHAE - 53 B.C. Crassus led a 40,000-man Roman Infantry Army into the wide open deserts of Mesopotamia, where they (and Crassus) were annihilated by about 10,000 Parthian horse archers.

    2.) Dien Bien Phu - 1954. The French fought bravely and tenaciously but from the beginning they were out-manned, out-maneuvered, out-gunned and finally out-fought by the Viet Minh forces of the future U.S. nemesis General Giap!
     
  3. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Good choices! Carrhae led indirectly to the fall of the Roman Republic and civil war, and the stirrings of an imperial "monarchy", if you like.
    And what's left to be said about Dien Bien Phu?
    Welcome to the forums btw!
     
  4. R. Evans

    R. Evans Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2009
    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    18
    Italian colonial army soundly thrashed by Ethiopians at Adowa was very humiliating. So much so that Italy waited 40 years before taking revenge and conquering the country prior to WW2.
     
  5. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Now that's an unusual one! :)
    Yep, a great lesson in how not to go empire building!
     
  6. Mark4

    Mark4 Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Messages:
    1,361
    Likes Received:
    31
    That time when Dutch marines stormed Britian and sunk several British battleships during the 1600 was it in themes?
     
  7. Vladd

    Vladd Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2010
    Messages:
    140
    Likes Received:
    18
    GRW likes this.
  8. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
  9. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Vladd-
    Wasn't that the one where they killed several thousand of their own men in mistake for the enemy?
     
  10. Mark4

    Mark4 Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Messages:
    1,361
    Likes Received:
    31
    Yup that was it I'm good :)
     
  11. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Vladd-
    What a great story! :cool:
    It's got everything- emperor of a dying empire trying to relive his ancestor's glory days, military incompetence, bolshy soldiers, it's brilliant!
    "1788 The Battle of Karansebes
    The Austrian Emperor, Joseph II, decided that his mission in life was to rid the world of barbarians. He started by attacking the Turks in Transylvania. After camping in some marshland, 172,000 of his troops caught malaria, of which 33,000 died. When he heard that the Turkish Grand Vizier was on his way, Joseph took half his army to meet him near the town of Karansebes. On the way, some infantrymen bought some local brew from some peasants, whereupon their officers reprimanded them. The men took offence, and, in order to frighten the officers away, started shouting out that the Turks were upon them. The officers fell for it, and raised the false alarm too. Panic spread throughout the army and a stampede ensued. Austrians started fighting Austrians and many men were also drowned in the river or crushed. By daybreak, it became apparent that the Austrians had killed 10,000 of their own number. The Turks had still not even arrived."
    Some Great Military Blunders
     
  12. Mark4

    Mark4 Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Messages:
    1,361
    Likes Received:
    31
    Tet offensive
     
  13. syscom3

    syscom3 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2008
    Messages:
    1,240
    Likes Received:
    183
    Naval battle of Savo Island, off of Guadalcanal.

    Aug 8th and 9th 1942

    The USN gets utterly destroyed by the IJN. In my opinion, a more humiliating defeat than Pearl Harbor.

    Allied losses:
    4 heavy cruisers sunk,
    1 heavy cruiser heavily damaged,
    2 destroyers damaged,
    1,077 killed

    IJN losses:
    3 cruisers lightly damaged,
    58 killed
     
  14. Sloniksp

    Sloniksp Ставка

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2006
    Messages:
    6,321
    Likes Received:
    460
    While not sure if trully humiliating, the Soviet Union's campaign in Afghanistan was pretty crappy. Now that i think about, so was the GB's.
     
  15. syscom3

    syscom3 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2008
    Messages:
    1,240
    Likes Received:
    183
    This was a small battle with not many combatants. Shouldn't even count compared to far bigger battles.
     
  16. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Messages:
    14,288
    Likes Received:
    2,605
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    How so? And for whom?

    Both sides gained something -

    • the US regained the lost cities at terrible cost to the NLF and North Vietnamese
    • NLF and North Vietnam got a psychological boost when US leaders admitted they needed many more troops, and that the South Vietnamese troops were not up to the task.
     
  17. Mark4

    Mark4 Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Messages:
    1,361
    Likes Received:
    31
    It's defeat for both look at it this way yea sure we won hue, and kahsan and others the NVA suffer heavy losses they won't reacover anytime soon.The Vietcong is effectivly destroyed(or usless?) BUT the NVA got the advantage politicaly and Johnsons faliure to controlled the media had negitve effects on the folks at home. So start the protesters we won on the frontlines but failed at all else.

    I watched thoses videos thoses guys were lying they said bodies strewn in the embassy?
     
  18. R. Evans

    R. Evans Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2009
    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    18
    The Russo-Japanese War for the Russians. The fact that the IJN throughly crushed the Imperial Russian Navy and the Japanese Army beat them on land had to be deeply humliating to the Russians. Especially when you consider the views on race at the time. "Yellow men" beating "white men?" It was almost inconceivable and sent shock waves all over the world.
     
  19. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
  20. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Battle of Adwa, 1-2 March 1896
    An Ethiopian army under Emperor Menelik II crushed an invading Italian army, throwing them out of the area altogether and forcing them to recognise Ethiopian independence.
     

Share This Page