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  1. What if Tsar Nicholas II and his family successfully escaped Russia to the UK?

    Do you have a source for this? Not doubting you, just want to read more on this point. The Bolsheviks did have a number of grand dukes in their hands as of 1918 and almost all of them ended being executed without any show trial. Of course the former Tsar is on a different level, but it does not...

  2. Does Robert E. Lee get too much credit as a great general?

    I think the question of whether Lee is overrated requires us to specify which group we are talking about. Lost causers? Yes, absolutely because as far as they are concerned, he walked on water and fed the Army of Northern Virginia on five loaves and two fishes. Neo-lost causers? Yes, because...

  3. If WW1 generals were bad and wrong then what was right? What do you think they were supposed to do?

    Not sure that would have been practicable. The northern ports were not sufficiently developed, the straits obviously closed, that only leaves the far east east. It's probably possible to send over an army corps or two that way, but they will be affected by the same supply shortages the Russian...

  4. Operation Market Garden doesn't fail at Nijmegen

    William F. Buckingham's "Arnhem: The Complete Story" makes the case that it was Browning who insisted on the major effort on the first day being directed at Groesbeek Heights. According to Buckingham, Gavin disagreed with this but could not contradict a direct order; he did try to more or less...

  5. Does Robert E. Lee get too much credit as a great general?

    Yes, absolutely. I think I did not express my thoughts well there. What I wanted to say was that whenever a smaller army defeats a larger army without having some innate advantage, the commander of the smaller army must be willing to take the risk. Lee did it several times and Johnston refused...

  6. How did the Union Army Compare to its European Counterparts in 1865?

    I don't disagree with the rest of your post, but this in itself is not a mark against the Union army. The only European army that was able to destroy an enemy army in the field was the Prussian army in 1871 at Sedan. Taking the slightly wider period of time, from the Crimean War to the...

  7. Does Robert E. Lee get too much credit as a great general?

    It seems so obvious: unless one army is drastically superior qualitatively, whether in training or equipment or leadership or some combination of all three, the larger army will have an advantage and will prevail. I can't say for the Peninsula Campaign, but in the West, Johnson was always...

  8. Does Robert E. Lee get too much credit as a great general?

    To me it feels like in almost every situation, Johnston had an explanation of why the balance of strength and the best principles of military science made taking a risk inadvisable and made retreat the only realistic option. Wasn't there some dig against him that if he was given supreme command...

  9. Top 10 American Civil War Generals

    I wonder if it makes sense to have separate lists for tactical skills and strategy, though obviously many of the above would feature on both lists. Or maybe something for independent command and subordinate levels.

  10. In the Shadow of the Gargoyle: A Jisaburo Ozawa Timeline

    Sorry, just being glib. When I said "the way things are going", I was referring to Japanese successes rather than inter-service tensions. To put my foot deeper into my mouth, I assume it would be an amicable partition! Anyway, loving the story.

  11. In the Shadow of the Gargoyle: A Jisaburo Ozawa Timeline

    The way things are going, it seems like the Partition will be between the Japanese navy and the army.

  12. France Fights On (English Translation) - Thread II - To the continent!

    Pretty sure the Allied goal in the area is making sure Vienna's biggest street is named after Monty.

  13. Wrapped in Flames: The Great American War and Beyond

    I can see it, CSS James Hammond, a cottonclad battleship.

  14. Into the Fire - the "Minor" nations of WW2 strike back

    I somewhat disagree with your view of Stalin's reaction to the Western allies successes with the Axis satellites - it's too early for Stalin to be thinking of the post-war division of Europe. The USSR is still just hanging on for dear life: while they did better in the center than OTL, they have...

  15. Political Commissars standard in Western Militaries ?

    My spotty reading of Soviet World War II memoirs does not show commissars in a negative light, at least at the company/battalion levels. The ones were spent their time in the rear were viewed with contempt, the ones who spent time at the front were respected the political lectures were either...

  16. Political Commissars standard in Western Militaries ?

    I can't think of a way to make it work, but I can think of more than a few western commanders would have benefited from a politically savvy advisor/keeper outside their direct authority. "No comrade Montgomery/MacArthur, you really cannot say that in public." "No, comrade Patton, our department...

  17. Into the Fire - the "Minor" nations of WW2 strike back

    The allies might as well put out ads in the newspaper: "Any Axis satellite wishing to make a separate peace, write in confidence, c/o Vatican. Regime preservation not guaranteed. Territorial integrity on a first come basis."

  18. Would the Hunger Plan have worked like the Reich expected?

    I think most Nazi plans had two parts: the destructive (usually genocidal) and the constructive. I am sure the destructive part of the Hunger plan would have worked; maybe they would not have hit the target goal of mass murder, but starving millions of people to death is very plausible. What I...

  19. Until Every Drop of Blood Is Paid: A More Radical American Civil War

    Would gladly pay for a PDF (or any other format) if that's a possibility.

  20. AHC: Strong/Wealthy Portugal post-1755

    Would the Portuguese government refusing to flee to Brazil in 1807 make any difference? I think Junot got to Lisbon with something like a couple of infantry battalions, having dropped the rest on the way along with all of his guns. Presumably some determined resistance and a timely request for...
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