THE SECOND GRECO - PERSIAN WAR

480 - 479 B.C.

 

7,000 Greeks hold a 200,000 strong Persian army from advancing through the narrow pass of Thermopylae. About to be outflanked and encircled, three hundred Spartans and seven hundred other Greek allies decide to remain and hold the pass until the last, allowing the bulk of the Greek army to escape. 

The last stand at Thermopylae delayed the Persian advance by three crucial days. In the end the Greeks were wiped out but Persian losses numbered 20,000.

The loss at Thermopylae resulted in all central Greece being occupied by the Persians, forcing the Athenians to evacuate the capital city of Athens. 

Many military scholars believe that overall, the battle didn't contribute much of anything to the Greeks winning the war against Persia.

That it was in fact the decisive Naval Battle of Salamis later that same year in which the Greeks utterly destroyed the Persian fleet was the sole contribution to final Greek victory.

It must also be noted that the Greek victory at the battle of Platea was accomplished ( ironically with the core of the Greek Army comprising the survivors of Thermopylae ) which expelled the Persians from Greek soil the very next year. 

http://www.greatmilitarybattles.com/html/alexander_the_great.html

My question is, Which branch of the Greek armed forces contributed most to final victory, the Army or Navy?

 

 

 

 

 

 GRECO - PERSIAN WAR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FALKLANDS WAR 1982

Four years after gaining its independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina claimed sovereignty over a group of former Spanish islands which lay 300 miles off the Argentine coast and renamed them the Malvinas.

In reprisal for the Argentine detainment of three U.S. fishing vessels accused of poaching, the American warship USS Lexington was dispatched an destroyed the Argentine settlement In 1831, declaring the Malvinas free of Government before departing.

Two years later a squadron of Royal Navy warships arrived and deported the remaining Argentine resident's back to the mainland, claiming the islands for Great Britain. The British quickly set up a permanent settlement and began to take advantage of the rich and very lucrative fishing trade.

Well into the next century there was very bitter relations between the two countries as Great Britain continually ignored all Argentine protests and refused political requests to peacefully return the islands to Argentina.

http://www.greatmilitarybattles.com/html/battle_of_the_falkland_islands.html

My question is, who in your opinion has sovereignty over the Islands?

 

 

 

 

SINKING OF THE ARA BELGRANO

 

 

SINKING OF THE HMS SHEFFIELD

 

OPERATION RHINE EXERCISE 1941



 Following the successes in the Atlantic achieved by the U-boat arm of the Kreigsmarine during the winter of 1940 - 41, the German Naval high command began to formulate plans for a much more ambitious and daring operation.

The plan was to send a powerful battle group comprising the newly commissioned Battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz accompanied by the heavy battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau into the Atlantic to attack supply convoys bound for England.

The operation however began to fall apart almost from the outset as Scharnhorst was forced to undergo major machinery repairs and Gneisenau was seriously damaged by RAF torpedo and bomber strikes. The Tirpitz was then scratched from the operation as she had not yet completed her sea trials.

As a result the German force was greatly reduced to Bismarck and the newly commissioned cruiser Prinz Eugen. The Commander in Chief of the Kreigsmarine Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, believed it imperative to keep pressure on the hard pressed British supply convoys and decided to go forward with the revised operation.

What transpired instead of commerce raiding was the Battle of the Denmark Straight, in which the Battleship Bismarck sank the heavy battle cruiser HMS Hood and severely crippled the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales.


http://www.greatmilitarybattles.com/html/battle_of_battleship_bismarck.html


My question is, What if the Germans were capable of launching their original operation, would they have succeeded in destroying the British convoy system for the year 1941?

BISMARCK vs HOOD