they were the little mistakes and huge
oversights that altered the course of
world history welcome to watchmojo.com
and today we’re counting down our picks
for the top ten military mishaps for
this list we’re choosing those blunders
mishaps or actions that the militaries
in question would most likely not want
to go through with again if they could
go back in time number 10 the Battle of
Little Bighorn led by Lieutenant Colonel
George Custer the seventh Cavalry
Regiment set out to overthrow a small
Indian village at Little Bighorn
anticipating an opposition of no more
than 800 men American troops were
ambushed by over 1500 Lakota North
Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors and the
entire regiment including Custer were
killed though he was criticized for not
using new technology to subdue his foes
this mishap is mainly attributed to
Custer’s sheer miscalculation of Native
American tactical savvy and military
efficacy number 9 the Bay of Pigs
invasion during the night of April 16 to
1961 and into the early morning of the
17th over 1,400 American sponsored
paramilitary fighters launched an
amphibian attack on Cuba as an attempt
to take over Fidel Castro’s communist
regime the operation was a total debacle
they were immediately overwhelmed by
local militia and then soundly defeated
by Castro’s army after being captured
and interrogated the troops were sent
back to the States a costly
embarrassment for the u.s. the Bay of
Pigs invasion only served to escalate
tensions between the Democratic super
power and the fledgling communist state
number eight the Battle of the Alamo a
critical moment in the Texas Revolution
the Battle of the Alamo highlights the
importance of never letting your guard
down unaware of the Mexicans close
proximity to the Alamo mission defense
post most of its garrison left for a
fiesta
and since that meant it was now
significantly undermanned Mexican troops
were able to scale the walls of the
mission and kill all Texian defenders
inside having learned from this mistake
and emboldened by revenge the Texians
defeated the Mexican army later that
year which ended the revolution number
seven the Battle of AD WA late to
Europe’s Scramble for Africa Italy set
its colonial interest on Ethiopia at the
end of the 19th century in the evening
of February 29th 1896 and into the early
morning of March 1st the Italians
advanced towards the northern town of AD
WA but with little understanding of the
terrain and poor navigational tools the
troops were unintentionally split up
totally disoriented one Italian Brigade
advanced right into enemy hands
outmanned and outmaneuvered the Italian
troops were soundly defeated by
Ethiopian forces while it was a
humiliation for the Italians the Battle
of agua is a celebrated moment in
Ethiopian history number 6 the Vietnam
War in 1956 the u.s. deployed regular
combatants to assist anti-communist
forces in Vietnam by the late 1960s the
number of American troops tripled
despite their military advantage the
Americans had difficulty fighting in the
tropics against the guerrilla tactics of
the Vietcong with mass death and
casualties on either side this veritable
stalemate was seen as atrocious and
immoral by most of the American public
as it was several years before the end
of the American military’s participation
the Vietnam War is considered a dark
moment in US history
number 5 the Gallipoli campaign in April
1915 Allied forces sprang a naval attack
and amphibian invasion on the Gallipoli
Peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part
of the first world war the initiative
failed resulting in a drawn-out
eight-month battle that once again ended
an allied defeat a myriad of reasons
have been given to explain this
catastrophe but moe
experts agree that the Allies were
simply underprepared ill-equipped and
inexperienced a combination of mistakes
that would cost the lives of over
100,000 troops number four the French
invasion of Russia it was on June 24th
1812 that Napoleon began his attempt to
invade Russia with a coalition force of
more than half a million troops but
after pushing his Grande armée to
Moscow he found the city abandoned and
burned the Russian opposition would
neither fight nor surrender forcing
Napoleon to retreat at this point it was
November and Russia’s brutal winter
decimated the ill-prepared troops and
reduced the French army to 1/6 its
original size the Patriotic War of 1812
marked the beginning of the end for
Napoleon’s grand Empire
number three the Dieppe raid in August
of 1942 six thousand Allied troops led
by Canadians swooped in on the French
coastal city of Dieppe intended to be a
rapid seizure of the German stronghold
this World War two battle lasted less
than three hours and resulted in the
deaths of more than half of the Allied
forces involved no military objectives
were realized and while it was also
meant to boost morale
Dieppe only showed the Allied forces
glaring vulnerability on the Western
Front
number two the Iraq war under the
auspices that the Middle Eastern nation
was stockpiling weapons of mass
destruction a US coalition force began
occupying Iraq in March 2003 despite the
fact that they never found WMDs Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein was ousted and
a so called democratic government was
established but growing insurgency
against the American occupation later
marred these initial victories with
increasing casualties and deaths the
u.s. finally exited the war in 2011
though the loss of life is clear what
America gained from it remains ambiguous
before we unveil our number one pick
here are a few honorable mentions
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
number one Operation Barbarossa Adolf
Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union
during World War two bore an uncanny
resemblance to Napoleon’s fateful
blunder already waging a two-front war
his plans to invade the state were
delayed by two months though German
forces initially crushed resistance from
the USSR they were deep within
opposition territory by November like
the French before them they were also
ill-prepared for the country’s brutal
winter
Hitler’s loss in Soviet territory marked
the beginning of his ultimate defeat and
one of the deadliest military operations
ever it also showed the importance of
knowing your history do you agree with
our list
what blunder and battle deserves more
attention for more historical top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
[Music]
oversights that altered the course of
world history welcome to watchmojo.com
and today we’re counting down our picks
for the top ten military mishaps for
this list we’re choosing those blunders
mishaps or actions that the militaries
in question would most likely not want
to go through with again if they could
go back in time number 10 the Battle of
Little Bighorn led by Lieutenant Colonel
George Custer the seventh Cavalry
Regiment set out to overthrow a small
Indian village at Little Bighorn
anticipating an opposition of no more
than 800 men American troops were
ambushed by over 1500 Lakota North
Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors and the
entire regiment including Custer were
killed though he was criticized for not
using new technology to subdue his foes
this mishap is mainly attributed to
Custer’s sheer miscalculation of Native
American tactical savvy and military
efficacy number 9 the Bay of Pigs
invasion during the night of April 16 to
1961 and into the early morning of the
17th over 1,400 American sponsored
paramilitary fighters launched an
amphibian attack on Cuba as an attempt
to take over Fidel Castro’s communist
regime the operation was a total debacle
they were immediately overwhelmed by
local militia and then soundly defeated
by Castro’s army after being captured
and interrogated the troops were sent
back to the States a costly
embarrassment for the u.s. the Bay of
Pigs invasion only served to escalate
tensions between the Democratic super
power and the fledgling communist state
number eight the Battle of the Alamo a
critical moment in the Texas Revolution
the Battle of the Alamo highlights the
importance of never letting your guard
down unaware of the Mexicans close
proximity to the Alamo mission defense
post most of its garrison left for a
fiesta
and since that meant it was now
significantly undermanned Mexican troops
were able to scale the walls of the
mission and kill all Texian defenders
inside having learned from this mistake
and emboldened by revenge the Texians
defeated the Mexican army later that
year which ended the revolution number
seven the Battle of AD WA late to
Europe’s Scramble for Africa Italy set
its colonial interest on Ethiopia at the
end of the 19th century in the evening
of February 29th 1896 and into the early
morning of March 1st the Italians
advanced towards the northern town of AD
WA but with little understanding of the
terrain and poor navigational tools the
troops were unintentionally split up
totally disoriented one Italian Brigade
advanced right into enemy hands
outmanned and outmaneuvered the Italian
troops were soundly defeated by
Ethiopian forces while it was a
humiliation for the Italians the Battle
of agua is a celebrated moment in
Ethiopian history number 6 the Vietnam
War in 1956 the u.s. deployed regular
combatants to assist anti-communist
forces in Vietnam by the late 1960s the
number of American troops tripled
despite their military advantage the
Americans had difficulty fighting in the
tropics against the guerrilla tactics of
the Vietcong with mass death and
casualties on either side this veritable
stalemate was seen as atrocious and
immoral by most of the American public
as it was several years before the end
of the American military’s participation
the Vietnam War is considered a dark
moment in US history
number 5 the Gallipoli campaign in April
1915 Allied forces sprang a naval attack
and amphibian invasion on the Gallipoli
Peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part
of the first world war the initiative
failed resulting in a drawn-out
eight-month battle that once again ended
an allied defeat a myriad of reasons
have been given to explain this
catastrophe but moe
experts agree that the Allies were
simply underprepared ill-equipped and
inexperienced a combination of mistakes
that would cost the lives of over
100,000 troops number four the French
invasion of Russia it was on June 24th
1812 that Napoleon began his attempt to
invade Russia with a coalition force of
more than half a million troops but
after pushing his Grande armée to
Moscow he found the city abandoned and
burned the Russian opposition would
neither fight nor surrender forcing
Napoleon to retreat at this point it was
November and Russia’s brutal winter
decimated the ill-prepared troops and
reduced the French army to 1/6 its
original size the Patriotic War of 1812
marked the beginning of the end for
Napoleon’s grand Empire
number three the Dieppe raid in August
of 1942 six thousand Allied troops led
by Canadians swooped in on the French
coastal city of Dieppe intended to be a
rapid seizure of the German stronghold
this World War two battle lasted less
than three hours and resulted in the
deaths of more than half of the Allied
forces involved no military objectives
were realized and while it was also
meant to boost morale
Dieppe only showed the Allied forces
glaring vulnerability on the Western
Front
number two the Iraq war under the
auspices that the Middle Eastern nation
was stockpiling weapons of mass
destruction a US coalition force began
occupying Iraq in March 2003 despite the
fact that they never found WMDs Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein was ousted and
a so called democratic government was
established but growing insurgency
against the American occupation later
marred these initial victories with
increasing casualties and deaths the
u.s. finally exited the war in 2011
though the loss of life is clear what
America gained from it remains ambiguous
before we unveil our number one pick
here are a few honorable mentions
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
number one Operation Barbarossa Adolf
Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union
during World War two bore an uncanny
resemblance to Napoleon’s fateful
blunder already waging a two-front war
his plans to invade the state were
delayed by two months though German
forces initially crushed resistance from
the USSR they were deep within
opposition territory by November like
the French before them they were also
ill-prepared for the country’s brutal
winter
Hitler’s loss in Soviet territory marked
the beginning of his ultimate defeat and
one of the deadliest military operations
ever it also showed the importance of
knowing your history do you agree with
our list
what blunder and battle deserves more
attention for more historical top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
[Music]
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