Kursk, even if the Germans win it has still boiled down to a war of attrition which they have no hope of winning.
I wonder whether restoring the Theme system might have been a viable alternative policy? It seemed to work OK dealing with Saracen raids in previous centuries, and had the advantage of not costing the treasury too much.
I don't recall suggesting that there was no Muslim infighting. If anything the fact that Muslims didn't consider the crusaders to be a priority goes with the idea that they could have lasted another century or so if they played their cards right.There was Muslim infighting too. In fact, to be honest, the Muslims never really considered the Crusaders a big threat. They were never one big monolith, there were different factions. And rivalries that are comparable to the later Hapsburg Valois one. The rulers honestly assessed the Crusaders as just one more faction to fight, and this faction was obsessed land that (despite containing Jerusalem was economically poorer, smaller and often incompetent to boot. To the Catholics, the Crusades change a whole lot, but for the Muslims, there were honestly bigger fish to fry. It wasn't until Victorian times when Muslim elites (that were outside Palestine itself) considered it more than a blip and annoyance to be quickly lost to history because... they noticed how much the Europeans cared about them.
Trafalgar, probably. Napoléon had already cancelled plans to invade England when it was fought, and realistically the best-case scenario for the French/Spanish there is a draw or very marginal victory - they are not going to decisively win.
You are underestimating the moral effect on the victors.
Pitt himself said after Austerlitz "Roll up that map of Europe, it will not be needed these 20 years".
He was wrong in detail of course, it only took 3 years for Bonaparte's plans to fall apart though it took 6 more for him to fail completely and another year for him to be properly chained.
But his pessimistic "bon mot" did represent the attitude of a large portion of the British Establishment.
Trafalgar settled the British nerves enough for them to resume their traditional "fraying the edges" strategy plus subsidising rebellion by Bonaparte's continental victims.
The impact of Trafalgar is not what it did to French plans but what it did to British resolve.
(Though of course, the unjustified contempt for the Spanish it put in Bonaparte's mind was significant too)
Except that Austerlitz occurred on 2 December 1805 - six weeks after Trafalgar...
true ... but the moral effect was the same
After the initial shock of the news of Austrian and Russian failure at Austerlitz where they had numbers on their side,
looking back at the British success at Trafalgar where they were significantly outnumbered
enabled them to decide that they could and should continue the war but only on their terms.
Keep in mind, the British made peace overtures the following year, under the "Ministry of the Talents", but Fox was turned down.
Trafalgar was an impressive victory for sure, but I don't know if it really affected the strategic situation that much.
And ultimately Austerlitz didn’t really either. It led to a “peace” that lasted a few months.
As to peace feelers. Britain offered peace to Bonaparte many times
Not true.AFTER picking a fight to begin with. The British broke the peace of Amiens. Granted, their Napoleon was a product of the hated revolution and the Bourbon guests of the Hannovers might have reminded them how much they missed the old order and with the Holy Roman Empire with Britain, how could they possibly lose the upcoming war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Third_Coalition ?
The problem was that the dynatoi gobbled up military land and often did not pay any taxes for them.Any attempt to restore the theme system would involve a massive crackdown of the dynatoi class, which most likely did not worth the trouble.
AFTER picking a fight to begin with. The British broke the peace of Amiens. Granted, their Napoleon was a product of the hated revolution and the Bourbon guests of the Hannovers might have reminded them how much they missed the old order and with the Holy Roman Empire with Britain, how could they possibly lose the upcoming war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Third_Coalition ?
Britain stood alone again for the best part of two years before Boneys attitude and demands drove first Austria then Russia to join them
Austerlitz did put an end to war for more than a couple of months with Austria. Prussia is another matter.And ultimately Austerlitz didn’t really either. It led to a “peace” that lasted a few months.
Austerlitz did put an end to war for more than a couple of months with Austria. Prussia is another matter.
That would be a interesting TL, brition making some kind of peace after the war of the fourth coalition, even only for a few years.You are underestimating the moral effect on the victors.
Pitt himself said after Austerlitz "Roll up that map of Europe, it will not be needed these 20 years".
He was wrong in detail of course, it only took 3 years for Bonaparte's plans to fall apart though it took 6 more for him to fail completely and another year for him to be properly chained.
But his pessimistic "bon mot" did represent the attitude of a large portion of the British Establishment.
Trafalgar settled the British nerves enough for them to resume their traditional "fraying the edges" strategy plus subsidising rebellion by Bonaparte's continental victims.
The impact of Trafalgar is not what it did to French plans but what it did to British resolve.
(Though of course, the unjustified contempt for the Spanish it put in Bonaparte's mind was significant too)
I know there's an argument to be made that it impacted tactics because it was a defeat of the Spanish Tercio. However, I think it has an outsized importance rather because it was used as a favorable augur and for propagandistic affect during the early days of the Regency of Anne and Mazarin and because it was the first victory of Conde who would go on to have illustrious career. But in and of itself I don't think it was the dramatic turning point its been made out to be.
Kursk, even if the Germans win it has still boiled down to a war of attrition which they have no hope of winning.