Warfare

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a pivotal moment in the history of Russia, marking the beginning of a period of significant political and social change. This revolution was a precursor to the larger and more impactful Russian Revolution of 1917, which ultimately led to the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty and the establishment of the Soviet Union.                                  picture coortsey:wikipedia.org The roots of the 1905 Revolution can be traced back to various factors, including social, economic, and political discontent among the Russian population. Russia at the turn of the 20th century was characterized by a rigid social hierarchy, with the autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II at the top. The majority of the population, particularly the peasants and industrial workers, faced harsh living conditions and lacked basic political freedoms. One of the major triggers for the revolution was the...

 First Battle of Ypres      Picture courtesy  quizzclub.com On October 19, 1914, close to the Belgian city of Ypres, Allied and German forces began the first of what would be three battles to control the city and take the advantage of the positions on the north coast of Belgium during the First World War. After the German advance through Belgium and eastern France was curtailed by a great Allied victory in the First Battle of Marne and Second Battle of Marne   in late September 1914, the so-called name “Race to the Sea” began, as each army attempted to outflank the other on their way northwards, hastily constructing trench fortifications as they went. The race ended in mid-October at the city named Ypres, the ancient Flemish city with its fortifications guarding the ports of the English Channel and access to the North Sea beyond. After the Germans had taken control of the Belgian city of Antwerp early in October, Antwerp’s remaining Belgian forces along w...

  Picture courtesy  wikipedia.org The World War I Battle of Cambrai first battle marked the first large-scale use of tanks for a military offensive. British force of nine infantry divisions, five cavalry divisions and three tanks brigades was led by General Julian Byng sprung a surprise attack near Cambrai, France, on November 20, 1917. Although the British tanks and infantry overwhelmed German defenses on the first day, the cavalry exploitation was slow to develop. On Nov. 30, the Germans counterattacked and regained most of the ground lost. Officially finished by Dec. 7, the battle decisively demonstrated the power of tanks and altered the course of future warfare. The battle of Cambrai was famous for two things: it saw the first greatest tank attack in history and, of equal importance, the first preregistration of artillery for an offensive. The idea for the large-scale use of British tanks started in early August 1917, when J. F. C. Fuller (second general staff officer, Ta...

 On July 15, 1918, near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France, the Germans with their last battle which would be their final offensive push of World War I. Dubbed the Second Battle of the Marne, the conflict ended several days later in a major victory for the Allies. Picture courtesy britannica.com The German general Erich Ludendorff, convinced that an attack in Flanders, the region stretching from northern France into Belgium, was the best route to a German victory in the war. Hence, he decided to launch a sizeable diversionary attack further south in order to lure Allied troops away from the main event. The resulting attack at the Marne, launched on the back of the German capture of the strategically important Chemin des Dames ridge near the Aisne River on May 27, 1918, was the latest stage of a major massive German offensive—dubbed the Kaiserschlacht, or the “kaiser’s battle”—masterminded by Ludendorff during the spring of 1918. On the morning of July 15, then, 23 di...

The World War I First Battle of the Marne which brought to the first use of radio intercepts and automotive transport of troops in wartime. After French commander in chief Joseph Joffre ordered an offensive mission in September 1914, General Michel-Joseph Maunoury’s French Sixth Army opened a gap between Germany’s First and Second Armies. Maunoury exploited the gap with help from the French Fifth Army and British Expeditionary Force, while Ferdinand Foch’s Ninth Army thwarted the advances of the German Second and Third Armies. By Sept. 10, the Germans embarked on a retreat that ended north of the Aisne River, beginning a phase of the war that would be marked by trench warfare. Picture courtesy wikipedia.org The First Battle of the Marne was fought to the to area of north and east parts of Paris in early September 1914. The opportunity opened for Anglo-French forces to reverse the hitherto victorious German advance through Belgium and France when First Army commander Heinrich von Kluck,...

The battle of Verdun started on 21st February and continued till 18th December, 1916. World War 1 was the engagement in which the French repulsed a major German offensive. It was one of the largest, longest and most ferocious battle until World War 1. French casualties were about 400,000, German ones to about 350,000. Some of about 300,000 troops were killed. German Gen,  Erich von Falkenhayn was believe that war would be either lost or won in mainland of France, and he also felt that a strategy of attration was Germany's best hope of achieving it's dreams. In a letter to German emperor William 2 in late 1915, German Gen. Erich von Falkenhayn believed that the war would be won or lost in France, and he felt that a strategy of attrition was Germany’s best hope of achieving its goals. In a letter to German Emperor William II in late 1915, he argued that Britain was the most formidable of the Allied powers, but he conceded that it could not be assaulted directly, save by submarin...

 Blitzkrieg is a term used to describe a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces, including armored tanks and air support. Such an attack ideally leads to a quick victory, limiting the loss of soldiers and artillery. Most famously, blitzkrieg describes the successful tactics used by Nazi Germany In the early years of World War II, as German forces swept through Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland and France with astonishing speed and force.  Blitzkrieg Definition  Picture courtesy wikipedia.org Blitzkrieg, which means “lightning war” in German, had its roots in earlier military strategy, including the influential work of the 19th-century. Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz. Clausewitz proposed the “concentration principle,” the idea that concentrating forces against an enemy, and making a single but a hard  blow against a carefully chosen target (the Schwerpunkt, or “center of gravity”) was mor...

 In the final push to defeat the Axis powers of Italy and Germany during World War II (1939-45), the U.S. and Great Britain, the leading Allied powers, planned to attack Italy. Beyond their goal of crushing Italian Axis forces, the Allies wanted to draw German troops away from the main Allied advance through Nazi-occupied northern Europe to Berlin, Germany. The Italian Campaign, from July 10, 1943, to May 2, 1945, was a series of Allied beach landings and land battles from Sicily and southern Italy up to the Italian mainland toward Nazi Germany. The campaign seared into history the names of such places as Anzio, Salerno and Monte Cassino, as Allied armies severed the German-Italian Axis in harsh fighting and threatened the southern flank of Germany. The Allied advance through Italy produced some of the most bitter, costly fighting of the war, much of it in treacherous mountain terrain. The Allies Target Italy: 1943 Picture courtesy pinterest.com In Casablanca, Morocco, in January 1...

 On June 15, 1944, during the Pacific Campaign of World War II (1939-45), U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of the strategically significant Japanese island of Saipan, with a goal of taking control of a crucial air base from which the U.S. could launch its brand new plane long-range B-29 bombers directly at Japan’s home islands. Facing fierce Japanese resistance, Americans poured from their landing crafts to establish a beachhead, battle Japanese soldiers inland and force the Japanese army to retreat north. Fighting became especially brutal and prolonged around Mount Tapotchau, Saipan’s highest peak, and Marines gave battle sites in the area names such as “Death Valley” and “Purple Heart Ridge.” When the U.S. finally trapped the Japanese in the northern part of the island, Japanese soldiers launched a massive but futile banzai charge. On July 9, the U.S. flag was raised in victory over Saipan. U.S. Commanders Focus on Taking Saipan Picture courtesy history.com In the spring of 1944,...

Picture courtesy reditt.com World War II’s  was most infamous siege began a little over two months after the launch of “ Operation Barbarossa ,” Adolf Hitler’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, in defiance of a nonaggression pact signed two years earlier, some about 3 million German soldiers streamed across the Soviet frontier and commenced a three-pronged attack. While the center and southern elements struck at Moscow and Ukraine, the Wehrmacht’s Army Group North spread through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and moved on Leningrad, a city of over 3 million situated on the Neva River near the Baltic Sea. Hitler had long thought that Leningrad a key objective in the invasion. It served as the home base of Russia’s Baltic Fleet, and its more than 600 factories made it second only to Moscow in industrial output. While Leningrad’s civilians made a frantic attempt to construct trenches and antitank fortifications in the late summer of 1941, the Soviets’ unprepared ...

 The Battle of Kursk originated in July 1943 around the Soviet city of Kursk in western Russia, as Germany launched a brand new mission Operation Citadel, Hitler’s response to his devastating defeat by the Soviet Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad. The battle was Germany’s final chance to regain dominance on the Eastern Front during World War II and would be their final blitzkrieg offensive assault. In spite a massive planned assault on Soviet troops using heavy tanks, artillery and a very strong air power, postponements by German dictator Adolf Hitler gave the Soviets enough time to prepare for the onslaught. Ultimately, Germany’s plan to wipe out the Red Army once and for all was itself wiped out, but not before both sides experienced heavy casualties. Germany’s Epic Defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad Picture courtesy  noyabrsk-inform.ru By June 1942, Hitler had advanced into the Soviet Union and hoped to easily take control of the most important city of Soviet Union, the ...

 The Battle of Okinawa extended from April 1, 1945 till June 22, 1945 the battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest battle. On April 1, 1945—Easter Sunday—the Navy’s Fifth Fleet with more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops attacked on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. The invasion in Okinawa island was part of Operation Iceberg, a complex plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa. Though it resulted in an Allied victory, Japanese fighters, rainy weather and fierce fighting on land, sea and air led to a great death toll on both sides. Okinawa Island Picture courtesy    play.howstuffworks.com By the time American troops landed on Okinawa island, the war on the European front was going to end. Allied and Soviet troops had taken control much of Nazi-occupied Europe and were just weeks away from forcing Germany’s unconditional surrender. In the Pacific theater, howeve...