The ask a Historical Question thread

[OttoFIN]

Did Finland have any value or was it just a piece of land during the 18th century?

[Black Watch 1745]

Spoiler

What use were cavalry in WW1? Now I know that they transported things and other stuff, but what use were cavalry regiments that fought? They would get obliterated in the trenches.

EDIT: Sorry for double post.

[close]

  With cavalry they were trained in more of a dragoon role at the beginning of the war, although this did vary from army to army. The British Army had had to fight the Boer Commandos so had learned a little from that. Whilst there were plenty of officers who thought that a traditional cavalry charge would win the war in a day it was clear that was not going to happen. Contrary to films, we never did launch many charges and the few times we did we did not even get close to the enemy lines (we got held up by barbed wire that the Belgian farmers had put there before the war). Funnily enough in 1918, when the fighting moved out of the trenches, they had a use again (mainly reconnaissance) but also supporting the armour and infantry. During the Germans first Spring offensive a Canadian Cavalry regiment charged the Germans and helped slow up the advance although they suffered very heavy casualties. I think the Belgians launched the last cavalry charge of the Great War in October of 1918. For most of late 1914 to early 1918 though the cavalry was either dismounted and sent to the trenches or remained in reserve for the breakthrough that never came.
  As others have said, on the Eastern Front cavalry was used extensively. The Eastern Front was much longer than the Western Front so it was impractical to build a continuous line of trenches like in the west. Probably the most famous Cavalry Charge of the war was at Beersheba in late 1917 where the ANZAC Cavalry charged the Turks. If my memory serves me right the Turks forgot to adjust their sights so their shots largely missed the oncoming cavalry.
  Here are some articles for more information on the cavalry that fought on the Western Front:
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article16.htm
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article4.htm
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article13.htm

EDIT:

Spoiler

Did Finland have any value or was it just a piece of land during the 18th century? 

[close]

  I am not an expert on the Great Northern War, nor  the Russo-Swedish conflicts over Finland which continued on and off till the Napoleonic Wars, but I would imagine that it would have been vital in controlling the Baltic, not to mention the lumber that could be used. I am not sure if Finland possessed any other resources that would have been useful.

[Duuring]

If Finland was owned by a rival state, this also meant that any attacker could march into the heartland of Russia by simply crossing the border.

[The Mighty McLovin]

Spoiler

What use were cavalry in WW1? Now I know that they transported things and other stuff, but what use were cavalry regiments that fought? They would get obliterated in the trenches.

EDIT: Sorry for double post.

[close]

  With cavalry they were trained in more of a dragoon role at the beginning of the war, although this did vary from army to army. The British Army had had to fight the Boer Commandos so had learned a little from that. Whilst there were plenty of officers who thought that a traditional cavalry charge would win the war in a day it was clear that was not going to happen. Contrary to films, we never did launch many charges and the few times we did we did not even get close to the enemy lines (we got held up by barbed wire that the Belgian farmers had put there before the war). Funnily enough in 1918, when the fighting moved out of the trenches, they had a use again (mainly reconnaissance) but also supporting the armour and infantry. During the Germans first Spring offensive a Canadian Cavalry regiment charged the Germans and helped slow up the advance although they suffered very heavy casualties. I think the Belgians launched the last cavalry charge of the Great War in October of 1918. For most of late 1914 to early 1918 though the cavalry was either dismounted and sent to the trenches or remained in reserve for the breakthrough that never came.
  As others have said, on the Eastern Front cavalry was used extensively. The Eastern Front was much longer than the Western Front so it was impractical to build a continuous line of trenches like in the west. Probably the most famous Cavalry Charge of the war was at Beersheba in late 1917 where the ANZAC Cavalry charged the Turks. If my memory serves me right the Turks forgot to adjust their sights so their shots largely missed the oncoming cavalry.
  Here are some articles for more information on the cavalry that fought on the Western Front:
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article16.htm
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article4.htm
http://www.renegademiniatures.com/article13.htm

EDIT:

Spoiler

Did Finland have any value or was it just a piece of land during the 18th century? 

[close]

  I am not an expert on the Great Northern War, nor  the Russo-Swedish conflicts over Finland which continued on and off till the Napoleonic Wars, but I would imagine that it would have been vital in controlling the Baltic, not to mention the lumber that could be used. I am not sure if Finland possessed any other resources that would have been useful.

Very nice insight. Thank you!

[BabyJesus]

Was Stalin worse than Hitler?


Note: they are both awful people

[Nipplestockings]

Nope. Stalin was more of a narcissistic idiot than Hitler. Most of the deaths he caused were due to his own stubbornness and incompetence rather than malicious intent.

Hitler was a sadistic lunatic. Inb4 a 'moderate' defends Hitler.

[Scot Grey]

Question: Who really won the battle of Waterloo? The British or Prussians.

[Mr T]

The Allies. Neither the Prussians nor the Allied army under Wellington could have won without the other in support.

[joer5835]

I always die a little from the inside when people only mention the British or the Prussians at Waterloo when discussing he allied side. Yeah, just forgot about the KGL, the Dutch, the Belgians, the Hannoverians, the Nassaus and the Brunswickers.

[OttoFIN]

Were there consription during the 18th century?

[The Mighty McLovin]

Were there consription during the 18th century?

Of course.

[OttoFIN]

Were there consription during the 18th century?

Of course.

Was it any different?

[The Mighty McLovin]

Were there consription during the 18th century?

Of course.

Was it any different?

I'm not sure. I'm sure, though, that conscription wasn't as full scale as in the First World War.

[Nipplestockings]

Jya m8. Napoleon revolutionized the system of mass conscription. That's why Napoleon was able to raise armies so much more quickly than other countries.

http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/18thcentury/articles/thesuccessofnapoleon.aspx

Man, all the old EU players who knew a shit ton about the napoleonic wars aren't here anymore. Except durrring and a few others. But they're all dutch so they don't count.

[joer5835]

But they're all dutch so they don't count.

U fooking wot m8

But ontopic: No, conscription was really a thing that came up during the Napoleonic Wars.