Was the 18th century Russian peasant braver; or simply more afraid of Cossacks?
score:4
Accepted answer
It was Sun Tzu, in the Art of War, that advocated putting soldiers in death ground to make them fight.
"Put them in a spot where they have no place to go, and they will die before fleeing. If they are to die there, what can they not do? Warriors exert their full strength. When warriors are in great danger, then they have no fear. When there is nowhere to go they are firm, when they are deeply involved they stick to it. If they have no choice, they will fight."
That, in essence is what Fermor did at Zorndorf. He didn't exactly defeat the Prussians, but he inflicted a "Pyrrhic victory" that was only slightly less costly than their defeat at e.g. Kolin.
An American commander, Daniel Morgan, did a similar thing during the American Revolution at the Battle of Cowpens. Facing a young, aggressive British commander, he placed his army with its back to the Broad River. It was a battle plan that basically insured the destruction of either the American or British army (the British lost).
Russian soldiers weren't necessarily braver than others, but their commanders were more likely to put them in "death ground."
More post
- 馃摑 Did Alexander the Great win or lose against Porus (before the eventual 'fleeing')?
- 馃摑 Why did the GHQ not promote English during the occupation?
- 馃摑 Why were the Germans and Russians so fixated on an unlikely "separate peace" in 1945?
- 馃摑 What were the post World War 2 effects on Germany?
- 馃摑 What did Ben Franklin mean when he said "The sun of liberty is set; you must light up the candle of industry & economy"?
- 馃摑 In the painting "Ariadne", by Arthur Streeton, why are the sails of the ship white?
- 馃摑 Exact date of Aquitania uprising over Charlemagne?
- 馃摑 When was the last name introduced in World History?
- 馃摑 Is Wikipedia's identification of Lebed an error?
- 馃摑 Were there any other systems which resemble the complex election procedure for the doge of Venice
- 馃摑 In which document was the exact course of the northern part of the German-Polish border decided?
- 馃摑 Before the discovery of India, was it self sufficient in all areas?
- 馃摑 What's a good general history book on Italy, 1400-1600?
- 馃摑 How were nobles 'promoted' in aristocracies?
- 馃摑 What is the history of the use of word dividers in Greek?
- 馃摑 Was Kaaba initially a Shiva temple?
- 馃摑 What is the greater significance of the Boer War?
- 馃摑 What / When was the first use of concentration camps in history?
- 馃摑 Was there a major Mexican military disaster in the Navajo Wars?
- 馃摑 What was the penalty for disobeying flu safety regulations in the 1918 epidemic?
- 馃摑 America vs. Australia as a "Penal Colony"
- 馃摑 What does D路G路R路IMP路S路A路G路H路B路REX路A路A路B路L路D stand for?
- 馃摑 How could West Berlin had access West Germany/world while the wall was up?
- 馃摑 Did non-Indians go into Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)?
- 馃摑 Was the US's pre-emptive bombardment of Iwo Jima insufficient?
- 馃摑 What are these historical references (from a novel)?
- 馃摑 Who is the youngest monarch to have issue?
- 馃摑 How accurate is Karl Heinz Frieser when he said that the blitzkrieg was a myth?
- 馃摑 What did the Japanese believe about the USA capability of making/using additional atomic bombs?
- 馃摑 How were ethnographic maps in the 19th century made?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 馃摑 Was the 18th century Russian peasant braver; or simply more afraid of Cossacks?
- 馃摑 Was it widespread during the 17th and 18th Century for British country people to be evicted and replaced with more profitable agriculture?
- 馃摑 How was the linen weaving trade learnt in 18th century Scotland?
- 馃摑 Was the enclosure responsible for the supply of factory workers in 18th and 19th Century England?
- 馃摑 What was the typical range of travel of a Pennsylvanian resident for everyday life in the late 18th early 19th Century Pennsylvania?
- 馃摑 What was the average age of first marriage in 18th century Russia?
- 馃摑 Who was the 18th century French eccentric who proposed the Dutch colonize SW Australia?
- 馃摑 Was the Tsar's property separated from state property in Russian Empire in early 19th century (regarding land)?
- 馃摑 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 馃摑 Why was sugar cultivation more profitable in the Caribbean/Brazil than West Africa?
- 馃摑 Why was Kaliningrad placed under the Russian SFSR rather than the Lithuanian SSR?
- 馃摑 Was Hiroshima targeted because its mountains would "rebound the explosion back into the city for more damage"?
- 馃摑 Would a common person in the 18th century have heard Mozart's music during his lifetime?
- 馃摑 What was the political consciousness of a 15th century English peasant?
- 馃摑 Was violent or nonviolent protest more effective in the context of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement?
- 馃摑 Since the inception of the United States, has the term "America" ever referred to something more than simply "the United States"?
- 馃摑 During feudalism in Europe, was one's allegiance to the lord more or less important than the allegiance to the king?
- 馃摑 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 馃摑 Why do some 17th and 18th century maps depict Ottoman sanjaks north of the Danube in Wallachia?
- 馃摑 What was the role of the Russian Orthodox church in Soviet Russia?
- 馃摑 Typical fortifications around major cities in the 18th century
- 馃摑 At the Battle of Zama, was the Roman army more "native" than the Carthaginian?
- 馃摑 Did the Russian Empire have a claim to Sweden? Was there ever a time where they could have pursued it?
- 馃摑 Why was ancient Christianity more successful than the Roman pantheon and Judaism in gaining followers?
- 馃摑 Was the Macedonian phalanx more effective than hoplites?
- 馃摑 What exactly were the dealings of Ea-Nasir ("The Worst Businessman Of The 18th Century BC")?
- 馃摑 Was 18th century Prussia really so militarily obsessed?
- 馃摑 Where and how did scientists of the 18th and 19th century learn foreign languages?
- 馃摑 What was the South actually afraid Lincoln or Congress would do that precipitated the Civil War?
- 馃摑 Who was the first Russian in space (not Soviet)?