Essay on The Guns of August

Napoleon made many mistakes in his invasion into Russia. He was a brilliant leader, but in the later years of his life his tactical genius faltered, perhaps due to illness. His invasion was planned with little preparation or focus, and without proper purpose. Napoleon may have been affected by illness, or even arrogance because of his previous victories. He believed that he was infallible, and so he did not assess the situation correctly. His oversights cost him a victory and eventually his title as Emperor of France. The Russian campaign was the greatest catastrophe in his entire career and signalled to those opposing him that he was no longer indestructible. Prior to the defeat, many had believed Napoleon to be an undefeated military genius and because of this few wished to oppose him. The crippling Russian failure exposed a weakness which the enemies of France were quick to exploit. Napoleon himself realised this and hurried home to France in an attempt to stop news of the defeat from spreading, though this was in vain. Britain, Russia, Sweden and Prussia prepared to go to war with Napoleon. In the year following his defeat, Napoleon raised an army of around 400 000 to go to war against the allied powers. However, this army was inexperienced and outnumbered. The defeat of the Grand Army had rid France of its best soldiers, and many in the new army had never fought before. Napoleon’s empire was collapsing on every front.

In Russia, Peter the Great used many tactics in order to be successful. During the time of his reign the Russian military was greatly improved upon. One of the major things that Peter worked towards was building an army superior to others. “... He rivitalized Russia’s army… he founded the Russian navy, and he required his nobles to serve as officers and drafted peasants to serve as soldiers under strict discipline and training,” (Hayes 410).

(Doc 3) There was no great reason for Russia to be in that war and it was one of the main reason the czar had so many people who hated him (Doc 10).

The argument that the First World War led to the downfall of the Tsardom in Russia is supported by how unprepared the military were from the outset and throughout the war. Poor conditions and lack of weaponry led to low morale. Production of weapons was seriously flawed as seen in the Russian front at Gorlice, where “many soldiers had no rifles and had to wait for a comrade to be killed before taking his weapon”3. “By the end of December 1914, 6,554,000 men had been mobilized with only 4,652,000 rifles available to them”4. Furthermore the appalling conditions that were reported in the Russian trenches caused outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid and cholera creating tensions amongst Russia's “indestructible army”5. The dreadful conditions caused soldiers to turn against their

The Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman, is about the start of World War I. It starts out talking about how King Edward VII strengthened the nations during his time alive. Along with King Edward strengthening the nations, Lord Palmerston, a Foreign Minister for England, was able to get a few countries to sign a treaty. “The treaty was signed in 1839 by England, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria” (Tuchman 18). After the treaty was signed, France and Russia formed an alliance so that if one were attacked, the other would help in the battle. Germany knew about this and formed a plan to defeat France before Russia could get there to help. When France

Due to heavy defeats the army’s moral was low and the shortage of food made soldiers lose hope in the Tsar. However, it was still an attempt to help secure the army which would then help to secure Russia. Overall, military changes were a bit of a failure and compared to repression, actually made Russian less secure than it was

Throughout the two World Wars, Russia had similar obstacles, but varied differently within the culture and governments of the country. For example, in World War I many were dying due to starvation or by being killed in battle and the administration was corrupt and not under a stable rule. Whereas in World War II citizens were being killed in combat and by the government. At this time the dictatorship that Joseph Stalin controlled was paranoid, but was unyielding when it came to war. Although the USSR had similar problems in World War I & II, the first battle created a struggling nation which contradicts to how it changed into a tough, power hungry nation by the time World War II ended.

Nicholas went into battle entirely unprepared for what was to come, relying on the large numbers of the defense forces; he did not account for any other aspects of the war. By late 1914, there were already high casualty rates and it was clear that they were fighting a losing war; the Russian army was fighting a twentieth century battle with ninetieth century training and weaponry. Due to poor financial planning the Tsar sent men into battle with inadequate supplies, there were only enough rifles for two thirds of the whole army, many soldiers were not given the adequate clothing needed to survive the harsh weather and there were food shortages all over the nation, this meant that if the men didn’t die in battle they would surely either freeze or die of starvation. In addition to the many hardships of the soldiers on the battlefield, peasants also found it difficult to survive the many months. There were extreme food shortages all over the nation which resulted in price increases averaging 300%, and though wages increased the living standards dropped with many having to constantly withstand malnutrition and unsanitary conditions.

On July 28th of 1914, “Czar Nicholas II ordered partial mobilization of the Russian army” against Austria-Hungary (McGraw Hill). To support their alliance with Serbia, Russia began preparing for an attack on Austria-Hungary. Eventually, as other nations declared war and mobilized their own armies, this initial decision became one of the main reasons that World War 1 occurred in the manner it did, encapsulating most of the legitimate world powers of the time. The decision of Czar Nicholas to mobilize his army was a direct result of competition with other nations. The goal of these nations was to prove which country was stronger, in a sense, leading to even more conflict in the end.

Georgi Zhukov was the Soviet Union 's most prominent military leader during World War II. He was enrolled into the Imperial Army, serving well enough to merit a promotion to the rank of non-commissioned officer. During World War Two, he was the most successful Russian general. He was born in 1896 in Strelkovka, Russia. One of his famous battles was the battle of Khalkhin-Gol (also known as Nomonhan Incident in Japan).

The first five chapters fall under the first section, “Plans”. Tuchman relays in intricate detail the events leading up to the First World War as early as 1910, five years before the start of the war, with the funeral proceedings of King Edward VII of England. The “plans” referred to in the title relate to the plans of Emperor William II of Germany and his hopes of ruling all of Europe. There were also offensive plans being drawn up by the German and French forces, as well as insight on how France gained England as an ally. These chapters also highlight the fact that Germany was thought of as “steam rollers” due to the monumental size and force of their army.

The vast majority of Russia’s attacks in Germany were failures; even some of the highest-ranking Generals saw the war as complete chaos. The Army reserves consisted of little or untrained peasants or farm hands who had no idea about being a soldier. The weather was also an unforgettable factor as soldiers had to face freezing winters, and developed sicknesses in the masses such as Typhoid and Cholera.

As World War I was heading towards its end Russia was focusing on internal issues. Led by Vladimir Lenin the Bolsheviks embarked on a campaign against the war. Using propaganda which focused on trying to turn the allied troops against their officers Lenin looked to inspire a socialist revolution. The Bolsheviks were also fueled by the poor conditions of the Russian Army. Nicholas II, in a letter to his wife Alexandra, admitted the obstacles that the Russian Army faced, "Again that cursed question of shortage of artillery and rifle ammunition - it stands in the way of an energetic advance." Czar Nicholas tried to deny the fact that his Army was in no condition to continue the fight. Lenin and the Bolsheviks used this information to gain

The Soviet Union could have won the war with Afghanistan if only they had done their homework. They would have known that the will of the Afghan people was resistant and unyielding. Perhaps their initial military

In an excerpt from The Journal of Historical Review by Daniel Michaels, he examines the divisive historical climate of the Eastern Front in modern times amongst many historians. Daniel Michaels cites a wide array of accounts from different historians to greatly detail the tactics and actions employed by both the German and the Soviet military during World War II; going as far as to discuss the estimated military might in terms of the amount of personal and armor of both sides. Michaels establishes several differing topics regarding the front, from propaganda, to the controversy of whether or not Operation Barbarossa was a suicidal plan from the very start, and whether or not Stalin was an effective military leader for the Soviets. In one such instance, Michaels discusses a claim made by Russian historian, Viktor Suvorov, in his novel known as Suicide where he claims that the mere notion of the Wehrmacht attacking the Soviets might as well been, as the title states, suicide. Michaels merely paraphrases the novel’s main idea, stating that Suvorov argued that “Hitler and the Nazi leadership were irresponsible in launching a war against the much larger, better prepared, and better armed Soviet Union in the absurd belief that the USSR could be defeated in 90 days -- July-August-September. Hitler and the German high command unpardonably underestimated the strength of the Soviet armed forces, which Stalin had been building up since the mid-1920s”(Michaels). The division over the validity of the argument that the Germans had no chance at defeating the Soviets still remains somewhat contentious even today, and Michaels creates discussions out of several more topics regarding the decisive front of World War