Rarely in history has hubris and incompetence combined in such a fertile matrix as in those two idiots
At least Cadorna wasn't genocidal on top of being an incompetent buffoon with no regard for wasted lives....History Discussion: "You blew it! You had one job, and you blew it!" Moments in history
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At least Cadorna wasn't genocidal on top of being an incompetent buffoon with no regard for wasted lives....Well, in Talleyrand's defense, I'd have to say that a naval "war" with the US (and not much of one at that, comparatively) was the least of France's worries at the time...
And as far as officials of the First Empire trying to use their positions to enrich themselves, he was hardly the only one... or the most skilled at it
Rattenfänger von Memphis
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(1) " Let’s listen to Cassandra, for once. She says not to bring that giant wooden horse into Troy !"
(2) I have always wondered a very big “What If” French Admiral Villeneuve had taken that one slim chance and plunged on ahead to Brest and the English Channel, in 1805, instead of ducking into Ferrol and Cadiz, would Napoleon have been able to invade England ? According to Frank McLynn in his book “Napoleon, A Biography”, pages 330 – 331:
Frank McLynn said:
Here's a big one: Andrew Johnson, who I believe is truly worse than James Buchanan (tied with Woodrow Wilson for 2nd worst POTUS) and America in general allowing the sacrifices of the Civil War and Reconstruction to be vain, and letting the postbellum New South turn into a dystopian nightmare for the descendants of slaves.
Fair, but preventing that war was literally his job. It was specifically what the diplomats were IN France to do.Well, in Talleyrand's defense, I'd have to say that a naval "war" with the US (and not much of one at that, comparatively) was the least of France's worries at the time...
And as far as officials of the First Empire trying to use their positions to enrich themselves, he was hardly the only one... or the most skilled at it
Julian the Apostate. Seriously man you had the whole empire to yourself, things seemed good during your years when it comes to external enemies. The you decided to save the doomed Hellenic faith when Christianity was destined to rule? Why! And then you bungled the invasion of Mesopotamia. Why didn’t you wear a breastplate ffs!
Wasnt it like an early morning barely had breakfast ambush?
I can’t recall. But i don’t care if it’s the ass crack of dawn, you get some damn armor on. Even if it’s a couple of plates tied to you cheats and stomach.
Allan Donald not running on the last ball of the 1999 cricket world cup semi-final against Australia?
Many people around the world complain that they will not live up to their predecessors and ancestors but you have already surpassed one of yours
Well, there was another Italian whose actions are generally discussed in the After 1900 Forum...Rarely in history has hubris and incompetence combined in such a fertile matrix as in those two idiots
I see we have a similar list of the worst US presidents, though the order is a bit different.
On the topic of shitty presidents, I'd also like to nominate Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the US, for the role of Major Fuck Up™
You'd think a guy from New Hampshire would be pretty conductive to the Abolitionist cause, yet he was the most fervent defender of slavery in the US, giving Calhoun a run for his money. He was the president who passed both the Kansas-Nebraska act and Fugitive Slave Act, pissing on the Missouri Compromise and laying out a red carpet for the Civil War. And he did this all to preserve the Union in the face of secession. Pierce also pushed for an invasion of Cuba to expand slavery which blew up in his face diplomatically. And did I mention that he was also an outspoken critic of Lincoln during the Civil War?
One job, to preserve the United States. One fucking job. Almost makes me not feel bad when I learned about his family life.
All McClellan had to do during the Peninsular Campaign was grow some balls and crush Bobby Lee. Nuff said.
Christianity wasn't destined to rule, not yet - Ambrose and Theodosius did that. But the military adventure was just daft.
What doomed the various flavours of polytheism in Europe, in my opinion, it's that they didn't offer much to the average person - the "good" version of the afterlife, be it Elysium or Valhalla, was reserved for a glorious, select few (and even then, it was a late development, as the Homeric poems have everyone, heroes included, go to the same dark place), and the mores that were at the heart of these faiths were all about preserving the authority and hierarchy that was already in place.
While Christianity did eventually become the status quo, it was just as revolutionary, back then, as the mystery cults, except it was open to everyone - had Julian brought some of the traits of the Mediterranean mystery cults into the "revived" polytheism he wanted to champion, perhaps even merging them all in a brand new pantheon (with Zeus being deposed as king of the gods just as Chronos had been) maybe Greco-Roman polytheism would've been able to bounce back, just as the Hindu faith had to evolve in order to stand up to Buddhism.
TheSwedishHistorian
Banned
Mussolini staying out of ww1 or like every war he started.
Oh and Germany not declaring war on the US
Oh and Germany not declaring war on the US
I'd argue Henry VIII after Flooden Field. With Scotland's rulling class and military apparatus decimated, France both busy dealing with the Hapsburgs and less interested in fighting England aniway, since the conquest of Gascony and a regency in Edinburgh with a Tudor queen mother, he had a golden opportunity to at least turn Scotland into an English client. That would have made him the conquering king he so wished to be...
So did he do that? Nope, he instead wasted his people's blood and tresor (the later part including most of the substantial amount of money Cromwell got him with the dissolution of the monasteries) in Henry V cosplay, with multiple continental expeditions with hazy goals and little geostratic toughts behind them. By the end of his reign the chain of events that almost turned Scotland into the junior partner of a dual monarchy with France was already underway.
Admitedly later events in the area had a more favourable turn for England, to say the least, but Henry VIII deserve no credit for that.
So did he do that? Nope, he instead wasted his people's blood and tresor (the later part including most of the substantial amount of money Cromwell got him with the dissolution of the monasteries) in Henry V cosplay, with multiple continental expeditions with hazy goals and little geostratic toughts behind them. By the end of his reign the chain of events that almost turned Scotland into the junior partner of a dual monarchy with France was already underway.
Admitedly later events in the area had a more favourable turn for England, to say the least, but Henry VIII deserve no credit for that.
Thorvald Erikson: You meet your first Skrealings. Be polite to them. Sure, there's a language barrier, but remember, you want them as future neighbors. Killing 8 out of 9 is not polite.
Also, coming up with a name that translates as something other than 'wretched' might set a better tone.
The future of Vinland is riding on you.
Also, coming up with a name that translates as something other than 'wretched' might set a better tone.
The future of Vinland is riding on you.
Major General Lord Loudoun, at Moy Hall, 1746
You have 1700 soldiers with you, and you stop because of a bit of shouting and shooting and then get into a panic and run off down the road taking them all with you? There were just 6 Highlanders in front of you shouting at the tops of their voices, not an entire Clan army, you silly fool!
Charles 1st, 1642
If you had either talked with your Parliament and won enough of them over, or gone and arrested the entire lot all at once, you would not have lost a Civil War and then your head a few years later, and lost the powers of the British monarchy for good.
Thomas Farinher, 1666
You should have put some water in that oven of yours before going to bed. Then almost the whole city of London would not have burnt to the ground.
You have 1700 soldiers with you, and you stop because of a bit of shouting and shooting and then get into a panic and run off down the road taking them all with you? There were just 6 Highlanders in front of you shouting at the tops of their voices, not an entire Clan army, you silly fool!
Charles 1st, 1642
If you had either talked with your Parliament and won enough of them over, or gone and arrested the entire lot all at once, you would not have lost a Civil War and then your head a few years later, and lost the powers of the British monarchy for good.
Thomas Farinher, 1666
You should have put some water in that oven of yours before going to bed. Then almost the whole city of London would not have burnt to the ground.