The Military History Thread

[mizlaplan]

I've been poking round and in the modern era the USA appears to be thought of as being the most warlike nation.
I wouldn't be surprised if the results are biased.
Apparently the most warlike/expansionist race is the Anglo-Saxons
Go us!

[palo5]

Originally Posted by uli12345

...I should remember, that Russia has not won a war after the last world war!

That's because it hasn't fought a war since 1945. You're probably thinking of Afghanistan, but that was a relatively small engagement and only took about 3% of available manpower

I don't count Georgia, Chechnya, Czechoslovakia or Hungary either, because they were even smaller

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by palo5

That's because it hasn't fought a war since 1945. You're probably thinking of Afghanistan, but that was a relatively small engagement and only took about 3% of available manpower

I don't count Georgia, Chechnya, Czechoslovakia or Hungary either, because they were even smaller

From a dictionary

war
1    [wawr] , verb, warred, war·ring, adjective
noun
1.
a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

Nothing in there mentioned about size of conflict
War is war......how on earth do you have half a war or a 2% war

[skullorchard]

Let's face it, human beings are very warlike people. We have the ability to destroy our planet with our weapons but our social skills haven't developed well enough to resolve major conflicts without resorting to war. We go to war for some of the most ridiculous reasons. "What? They have bigger penises than us! Bomb them."

[Mal Hombre]

The short and brutal truth is that War works,If it didn't It'd have stopped centuries ago....

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

The short and brutal truth is that War works,If it didn't It'd have stopped centuries ago....

Tell that to Hitler. It only 'works' if you think short term. Mostly, anyway

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

The short and brutal truth is that War works,If it didn't It'd have stopped centuries ago....

He's right, and as terrible as this sounds.......The world would not be what it is today if not for war.

If it was a better or worse place is a different story.........

[Lemo]

Originally Posted by Estreeter

He's right, and as terrible as this sounds.......The world would not be what it is today if not for war.

If it was a better or worse place is a different story.........

Recently I saw some program on Discovery about telegraph and then about radio. In both cases there where quoting of some scientists or inventors, involved in developing of those devices.
One of them sad something like that - now wars will become impossible, as any preparations to them will be of no surprise.
And another sad almost same thing, but he sought, that there will be no wars, because nations will become closer to one each other and as so they will prefer to talk, instead of using force to solve their problems.
I become realy sad, when I realised how wrong those bright peoples, who helped humanity with their work so much, where.

Originally Posted by mizlaplan

As a matter of interest I was wondering which has been the most warlike nation in the past 200/300 years?
Which country has had the most wars and attacked more countries than anyone else?
It's probably us Brits but does anyone know for sure?

I remember, that in some forum in kind of "USA vs Russia" one guy posted list of Americas war. Each war or operation USA done took one line there. And it was a realy huge list. I was shocked. Then later some of his opponent posted same kind of list about wars that Russia was in. I dont' know which list was bigger, but it was making the same impression.

Originally Posted by uli12345

All I wanna say is: Since 1945 Germany has been attacked nobody in the world!

I'm not a pro in this field, but aren't they were bombing Lybia and so on? I mean other such countrys in the region. Also they where taking part in Afghanistan war. I think that sending army to foreign country, that wasn't attacking you and wasn't planning to do so, and killing peoples here counts as attacking.

I should remember, that Russia has not won a war after the last world war!

Best regards
Uli

Russia plays important role in winning Vietnam war. Yeap, when it is international forum, some time you can speak about winning Vietnam war, not loosing it :-).
Russia won second campaing in Chechnya. I've heard some very respected and skilled russian military says that Russia was close to win the first campaign, if Yeltsin wouldn't sign peace with guerillas. But I'm not sure if it is correct and if it was realy so.
They also won war in South Osethia in 2008.

8 of august, a few days ago there was a day, when this war started, by the way.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by Estreeter

...
War is war......how on earth do you have half a war or a 2% war

I'll paraphrase an Australian historian: it's when some volunteer, and most don't. He was writing about Australia and WW1 (Les Carlyon, if you want to check him out. He's respected)

But you are taking me out of context. When I said the USSR only used 3% of available manpower for Afghanistan, it means 97% were not used, which was a good thing

[Brecht]

Originally Posted by palo5

That's because it hasn't fought a war since 1945. You're probably thinking of Afghanistan, but that was a relatively small engagement and only took about 3% of available manpower

I don't count Georgia, Chechnya, Czechoslovakia or Hungary either, because they were even smaller

The Afghanistan War of the 80ies is a pretty interesting case. Your knowledge and wisdom are required, Comrade. The notion of Soviets being uncapable of beating the US-backed Mujahedeen (predecessors of the present-day Taliban) is absurd. I think the Soviets realized at a point that this war wasn't worth wasting any more resources. No matter how powerful your army is, fighting a guerilla war is too exhaustive. My question is if you might share any thoughts on official and unofficial reasons why the Soviets just packed their bags and left?