145th Anniversary of the Battle of Königgrätz

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Since I wrote my MA thesis on the Battle of Königgrätz I figured I would put up a post here noting that today is the 145th anniversary of the battle, which was fought on July 3rd. The battle was significant for many reasons but the most notable is that it marked the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Prussians and thus signified the start of undisputed Prussian leadership of what would become modern Germany. After Königgrätz all the German states had no choice but to fall in line behind the Prussian Confederation and conform to Prussian practices. It was the culminating battle of the second of the Wars of German Unification … More after the Jump…

Was the Franco-Prussian War Modern?

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The Franco-Prussian war was a modern war although it was not the first of Europe’s modern wars.   The Franco-Prussian war was also not a total war because while it was intensive in manpower while it lasted, its limited duration did not force a radical reorganization of both countries economies in order for it to be waged. In order to determine whether the Franco-Prussian war was a modern war or not we must define what a modern war is.   Is it a war in which all the modern implements of war as well as the modern methods of raising armies are employed?  Is it a war in which all … More after the Jump…

Book Review: The Stars at War

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The Stars at War is actually three books in one volume; Insurrection, Crusade, and In Death Ground. I first read these about 10 years ago and loved them then. I have since reread them several times and they are well worth it. The story is exciting and never goes where you think it will. It is space opera on a grand scale. Essentially what happens is that the human race has expanded to the stars through a series of warp points and they have discovered that not only is the universe not empty, it is not full of peace loving aliens singing kumbaya either.   In fact, the opposite is … More after the Jump…

Dazzle Camo

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A Mrs. Nora Holloway from the Military Gear Blog (Opennes Note:  The blog links to an an online store so it could be subtle spam)sent me an email a few days asking me to share an article she wrote concerning the history and possible future use of Dazzle Camoflage on military ships and vehicles.   She posits that perhaps there may be a resurgence in the use of dazzle camo based on recent research showing it is marginally effective in low-tech environments.   Dazzle Camo was used extensivley on ships in WWII but for some reason I highly doubt that it will make a comeback. Painting and repainting military vehicles … More after the Jump…

Roman Infantry Attacks

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I recently re-watched the movie Gladiator and was struck again by the lack of historical accuracy in films. This is the scene of which I am writing about. What strikes me about this scene is the way the Romans stood and received the charge of the Germans after marching forward of their fixed defenses. To the best of my knowledge and everything I have ever read, the Romans did not stand and receive a charge in open field battles and especially not when fighting from fixed or field fortifications. Instead, whether attacking or defending; when the enemy was within 20-30m the Legionnaires would throw their Pilums and charge or counter-charge … More after the Jump…

Interesting Article in Stars and Stripes

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I am probably going to get beat up for posting this but here goes anyway. There was an interesting story (attached to the post here) in last Tuesday’s edition of European Stars and Stripes.   It concerned the lack of black heroes in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.   Two of the experts they interview for the article are John Sibley Butler, a Vietnam vet and business professor and Tyrone Williams the COO of the non-profit Black Veterans for Social Justice, Inc.. First off, I question the premise of the article in the first place, it makes out that somehow black soldiers are being discriminated against in the … More after the Jump…

Battle Analysis-The Ludendorff Offensives of Spring 1918

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In the spring of 1918 the German army attempted a series of war winning offensives on the Western Front that ultimately were to fail and their failure led directly to the German signing of an armistice in November of 1918.   The failure of the Ludendorff offensives as they were known was strategic and operational in nature.   The German army had devised a new tactical system and doctrine that broke the stalemate of the Western front.   What they could not do was follow through once the front had been broken. The Germans had developed the tactical system known as infiltration in response to the stalemate of trench warfare. … More after the Jump…

Posting Hiatus

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No posts for the next week or so as I will be on vacation visiting historic places I can post about and probably lounging on the beach as well.

WOW, What more can you say to a story like this?

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Education officials break down Stockton man’s door I don’t even know what to think about this. Surprise that the DOE has cops or shock that they would use a SWAT team to go after a student loan defaulter. Maybe those guys over at Prison Planet really are onto something. Of course, this could lead to all sorts of jokes about DOE cops toting rulers and detention slips too.

Tilting at Windmills: What the Hell is Obama, NATO, and the West Doing in Libya?

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I have been pondering this one for a while now.  What exactly, is the west trying to accomplish in Libya?  I have posted on this before here and here, and I am still puzzled as to what we are trying to accomplish in Libya, protect so-called innocent civilians or topple Qaddafi’s regime? The stated goal of the administration is to protect civilians in line with the UN Security Council resolution # 1973, but the way in which the air campaign is being waged certainly makes it seem as if toppling Qaddafi is the goal of the bombing.  Their were intense air attacks yesterday, and one of his son’s was killed … More after the Jump…

New RSS Feed

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I have added a new RSS Feed subscription form in the sidebar.  I hope that people are interested enough in what I have to say to subscribe.  I have reproduced it below. Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

Cyber War – The Threat for a New Generation?

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I hope that most people have heard of the stuxnet (Wikipedia, but the best description I have found)worm that supposedly infected and crippled Iran’s illicit nuclear program last year. It is supposedly the new wave of warfare, with faceless hackers in another country sending hordes of worms and viruses to cripple the enemy nation’s electronic infrastructure. The Pentagon has just completed a policy that supposedly says that an act of computer sabotage can be considered an Act of War under certain conditions. I wonder if the threat of cyberwarfare is as dire as it is made out to be? There are several attacks in recent years to draw lessons from. … More after the Jump…

Intriguing question: What happens if Iran develops the bomb?

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What happens if Iran develops the bomb? That is a question often asked in the press but never really answered.  A new report from the RAND Corporation seems to suggest that Iran may be in possession of a nuclear warhead within the next eight weeks.  Admittedly, that link is from an Israeli and thus not necessarily objective news source but the original question still stands.  What would the response of the world be to an Iranian announcement that they are now in possession of a nuclear weapon?  I don’t have any great confidence that it would be anything effective.  I foresee much gnashing of teeth in Western capitals, the Chinese … More after the Jump…

D-day: The 67th Anniversary

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None of us in America should forget D-day, today 67th anniversary of the opening of the Second Front against Hitler in WWII.  The national archives has an excellent page with a election of documents and photographs related to that day.  Her are some photos that will hopefully provoke some refection on the sacrifices of our grandfathers and what has been characterized as “The Greatest Generation.”  And a link to the text of an excellent speech by Ronald Reagan on the 40th Anniversary: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc Let us never forget our men and women in uniform.  

The Fronts of World War I in 1915 & 1916

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After Turkey’s entry into the war towards the end of 1914, the Dardanelles was closed to allied shipping and thus the only warm water route to Russian ports was closed.   The allied solution to this dilemma was to use the powerful British Navy in concert with a French battle group to force the Dardanelles and reopen the route to the Black Sea.   This operation gained added impetus with the massive Russian losses suffered in the previous year and because of the Turkish opening of a new front against Russia along their common frontier in the Caucasus. The first naval attempt to force the Dardanelles in February 1915 ended … More after the Jump…

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