Trafalgar Day 21 October

[A380]

Herts of Oak and all that. 200 and 7 years ago Nelson ( hero to many , war criminal to the Italians) defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets. This put to an end any prospect of Napoleon getting his Army of the North across the channel in the huge flotilla of invasion barges around Boulogne.

What if The Nelson touch had failed. The French would only have needed a couple of days to land in England.

Would that have seen us as part of the French Empire? Would the subsequent 200 years have been better, worse or just different kind of shit?

Urban confides that every poster will do their duty.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Would that have seen us as part of the French Empire? Would the subsequent 200 years have been better, worse or just different kind of shit?

Jesus, imagine having to speak French?

 

[A380]

Jesus, imagine having to speak French?

merde.

 

[DotCommunist]

nelson the butcher of Naples. Was only reading about that last week.

 

[A380]

nelson the butcher of Naples. Was only reading about that last week.

Hence the war criminal in Italy.

 

[A380]

nelson the butcher of Naples. Was only reading about that last week.

So would a Pax France been a better or worse 19th century than the Pax Britanica we got - I am being ironic in the terms used.

Slavery would have gone on longer, but India ( the whole subcontinent) might have come off better.

 

[Yossarian]

Vive l'Angleterre libre!

 

[tim]

I'm in Greenwich but will turn a blind-eye to any hornpipers and other cavorting naval types.

 

[MickiQ]

This looks to me like an excellent reason to give us an extra bank holiday

 

[Crispy]

This looks to me like an excellent reason to give us an extra bank holiday

Are there no famous military victories in July?

 

[Elpenor]

Are there no famous military victories in July?

Battle of the Somme July 1st

I believe there’s a popular one celebrated in parts of Northern Ireland too but not sure we want to latch on to that one

 

[Pickman's model]

what's wrong with waterloo day, june 18?

 

[A380]

what's wrong with waterloo day, june 18?

What’s wrong with both?

And in February we could have one to mark the opening of the Summer Kelp Fields.

 

[A380]

I'm in Greenwich but will turn a blind-eye to any hornpipers and other cavorting naval types.

Watch out for flat bottoms.

 

[ouirdeaux]

This looks to me like an excellent reason to give us an extra bank holiday

My first thought on seeing this thread was 'what government pillock has proposed this one'? I know we need a bank holiday in the long dreary months to Xmas, but preferably one that doesn't give the nutnuts an excuse to pretend that they valiantly saved the nation through their own efforts in yet another war.

 

[Teaboy]

Hence the war criminal in Italy.

Hundreds of years before the Geneva Convention?

Its pretty hard to break rules that are not codified and not written down and everyone thinks the rules are different anyway.

Fun game. Say they above to any deep south rebel-flag shagger about Sherman's Georgia campaign. Stand back and watch them explode, its quite a sight.

 

[A380]

Hundreds of years before the Geneva Convention?

Its pretty hard to break rules that are not codified and not written down and everyone thinks the rules are different anyway.

Fun game. Say they above to any deep south rebel-flag shagger about Sherman's Georgia campaign. Stand back and watch them explode, its quite a sight.

I think promising an entire army that was well dug in that if they surrendered to the British Royal Navy rather than their enemies they would be given safe passage with their arms. Then disarming them and handing everyone to their enemies for execution would have been deemed criminal to most, certainly under the existing codes of war.

Whereas, one could argue Sherman’s March to the sea and destruction of Atlanta was just an early example of a legitimate strategy to destroy the enemies war economy and morale. A precursor to area bombing if you will.

 

[A380]

Hundreds of years before the Geneva Convention?

Its pretty hard to break rules that are not codified and not written down and everyone thinks the rules are different anyway.

Fun game. Say they above to any deep south rebel-flag shagger about Sherman's Georgia campaign. Stand back and watch them explode, its quite a sight.

I also like to ask if the could cross the road anywhere they liked openly drinking a can of beer to get to a bookies to put a bet on in the land of the free.

 

[kebabking]

A French victory would have been a hammer blow to the soap industry...

 

[Teaboy]

I think promising an entire army that was well dug in that if they surrendered to the British Royal Navy rather than their enemies they would be given safe passage with their arms. Then disarming them and handing everyone to their enemies for execution would have been deemed criminal to most, certainly under the existing codes of war.

Whereas, one could argue Sherman’s March to the sea and destruction of Atlanta was just an early example of a legitimate strategy to destroy the enemies war economy and morale. A precursor to area bombing if you will.

There were no codes of war really, just gentleman agreements that were never agreed. These people viewed themselves as noblemen who fought in a noble and fair way. Truth is they were all tyrants who broke their own rules as often as they needed / wanted to. I was mainly musing that 'war crimes' is a loaded term and of limited use historically.

As for Sherman's campaign I agree with you. A brief brutal campaign to terrorise the enemy and break their will to fight now and in the future. Still, I wouldn't necessarily promote that opinion in a biker bar in Bumblefuck Mississippi or indeed most of Georgia itself.

 

[Pickman's model]

What’s wrong with both?

And in February we could have one to mark the opening of the Summer Kelp Fields.

ah - you're thinking of the waterman festival in which a copper is ritually drowned

 

[Pickman's model]

Whereas, one could argue Sherman’s March to the sea and destruction of Atlanta was just an early example of a legitimate strategy to destroy the enemies war economy and morale. A precursor to area bombing if you will.

go on then, make the argument

 

[Teaboy]

go on then, make the argument

Longstreet's Corp had to position more pickets at the rear than they did at the front. There was more of a risk from desertion than there was from the enemy and a prime reason for desertion was news of Sherman's march and his scourging of Georgia.

Rumour has it that to this day if you say 'heritage not hate' three times Sherman appears and burns your fucking house down.

 

[A380]

go on then, make the argument

I would argue that Sherman’s March to the sea and destruction of Atlanta was just an early example of a legitimate strategy to destroy the enemies war economy and morale. A precursor to area bombing if you will.

 

[A380]

ah - you're thinking of the waterman festival in which a copper is ritually drowned

Only began because no one had any matches

 

[Pickman's model]

I would argue that Sherman’s March to the sea and destruction of Atlanta was just an early example of a legitimate strategy to destroy the enemies war economy and morale. A precursor to area bombing if you will.

you would
but you won't it seems

 

[A380]

you would
but you won't it seems

You didn’t specify a good or strong argument did you?

 

[A380]

“Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the jubilee
Hurrah! Hurrah! The flag that makes you free
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea
While we were marchin' through Georgia”

Sounds a bit like Merlin engines en masse to me.

 

[Pickman's model]

You didn’t specify a good or strong argument did you?

give me the long version, ie 500+ words

 

[A380]

give me the long version, ie 500+ words

500 words isn’t long.