What are your favorite historical misconceptions?

[Farnhamia]

That man landed on the moon.

A climate-change denier, a moon-landing denier ... what won't you deny?

[Death Metal]

That man landed on the moon.

Great. Now Buzz Aldrin is going to punch NSG out of existence.

Everyone thank Cosara.

[The Emerald Dawn]

That man landed on the moon.

Great. Now Buzz Aldrin is going to punch NSG out of existence.

Everyone thank Cosara.

And at 83, dude has a mean hook.

[Death Metal]

That man landed on the moon.

A climate-change denier, a moon-landing denier ... what won't you deny?

He might deny being a denier.

[Northern Dominus]

That man landed on the moon.

Great. Now Buzz Aldrin is going to punch NSG out of existence.

Everyone thank Cosara.

Good. I think I might be just starting to get tired of Bart Sibrel getting socked in the jaw on youtube repeatedly.

[The Emerald Dawn]

Great. Now Buzz Aldrin is going to punch NSG out of existence.

Everyone thank Cosara.

Good. I think I might be just starting to get tired of Bart Sibrel getting socked in the jaw on youtube repeatedly.

Heathen.

That is one of the best punches on YouTube.

[Northern Dominus]

Good. I think I might be just starting to get tired of Bart Sibrel getting socked in the jaw on youtube repeatedly.

Heathen.

That is one of the best punches on YouTube.

True. But it should be treated as a fine chianti. Reserved for special occasions of levity.

[Death Metal]

Heathen.

That is one of the best punches on YouTube.

True. But it should be treated as a fine chianti. Reserved for special occasions of levity.

Like gourmet cannibalism with a side of fava beans?

[Northern Dominus]

True. But it should be treated as a fine chianti. Reserved for special occasions of levity.

Like gourmet cannibalism with a side of fava beans?

....tsstsstsstsstsstsstss... yeah that's hard to get across in text.

[Northern Artic Islands]

That America won the space-race.

[The Emerald Dawn]

That America won the space-race.

That there was a space race.

[Hollorous]

You won't find any agrument from me about the Union army being the superior of the two. I think Grant is a strong candidate for best American general of all time.

The best? Certainly not. Grant was the blunt instrument that Lincoln used to hammer the South with. Lincoln needed victories, Grant gave them to him, but at a cost. And the cost was his horrendous casualty numbers. The Union army under Grant often took similar or worse losses to the Confederates; Grant however realized (unlike commanders he replaced like McClellen) that his army could take those losses.

I don't view "trading on even terms" as the hallmark of a tactical genius. He was competent, and knew how to play to the strengths of his Army (manpower and logistics), but he wasn't a better tactician than Lee, or certainly any other brilliant Generals in American history.

Again, I think the South only could've won the war by sapping the political will of the North to fight and getting a favorable settlement that allowed for their independence. They certainly weren't capable of flattening the entire North into submission. Basically the difference between winning and keeping the Union from winning, if that makes sense.

There's evidence that the CSA came pretty close to doing so. Lincoln's reelection wasn't a sure thing, and had the Copperheads actually been able to accumulate more political capital, and had the Union army not secured some of its wins, the USA could've backed out of the war.

Regarding Grant, that's a fair opinion, though I should point out that Lee's casualty rate was much higher by about an extra 60,000 casualities. Also, Grant didn't really trade on even terms until he fought Lee. While he was out west, he tended to inflict much greater losses on the Confederate army than what his army suffered. So the "one for one" assessment of Grant is pretty one dimensional, at least if you're focusing on his military career as a whole.

[Hollorous]

That the Patriots single handedly defeated the British in the American Revolution.

It's all part of the grand American tradition of slighting the French whenever possible.

[Northern Artic Islands]

That America won the space-race.

That there was a space race.

That there was space.

[The Emerald Dawn]

That there was a space race.

That there was space.

That "there" was.

[Kleomentia]

The Great Slavic Migration is one of them. Seriously people?

What does the misconception state that's not true?

The fact that Slavs came from eastern Europe to different areas in Europe. Have you ever gave it a single thought on if it really happened? Many mathematicians prove it didn't happen and that its false. Millions of people needed to travel in order to keep their DNA, and they also had to have tons and tons of supplies. Since whole families would be traveling. And then we have other nations giving their homeland to random barbarians that just come and say "I can haz your land, plz.". Most of which those "natives" were very known to be warrior nations. So no, the migration didn't happen. Slavs are in Europe far before that.

[Xathranaar]

What does the misconception state that's not true?

The fact that Slavs came from eastern Europe to different areas in Europe. Have you ever gave it a single thought on if it really happened? Many mathematicians prove it didn't happen and that its false. Millions of people needed to travel in order to keep their DNA, and they also had to have tons and tons of supplies. Since whole families would be traveling. And then we have other nations giving their homeland to random barbarians that just come and say "I can haz your land, plz.". Most of which those "natives" were very known to be warrior nations. So no, the migration didn't happen. Slavs are in Europe far before that.

Err... but we know this sort of thing did happen. Surely you don't think that the Magyars are indigenous?

[Kleomentia]

The fact that Slavs came from eastern Europe to different areas in Europe. Have you ever gave it a single thought on if it really happened? Many mathematicians prove it didn't happen and that its false. Millions of people needed to travel in order to keep their DNA, and they also had to have tons and tons of supplies. Since whole families would be traveling. And then we have other nations giving their homeland to random barbarians that just come and say "I can haz your land, plz.". Most of which those "natives" were very known to be warrior nations. So no, the migration didn't happen. Slavs are in Europe far before that.

Err... but we know this sort of thing did happen. Surely you don't think that the Magyars are indigenous?

What makes your history more accurate then mine?

[Jinos]

The notion of the US winning WWII almost singlehandedly would be mine.

Without America's manufacturing base, the Allies would've lost the war. America brought to the Allies something that history, and most people in general, tend to gloss over, and consistently have dominated in this field for decades (even today); logistics.

[Xathranaar]

Err... but we know this sort of thing did happen. Surely you don't think that the Magyars are indigenous?

What makes your history more accurate then mine?

Umm... consensus of relevant experts?

Seriously, do you think Magyars are indigenous? What about Turks? If you don't then you have to admit such things are at least possible, and the best historiography I have seen on this indicates that Slavic peoples originate somewhere in the region of the Pripet Marshes, in Southern Belarus.

[Priory Academy USSR]

The notion of the US winning WWII almost singlehandedly would be mine.

Without America's manufacturing base, the Allies would've lost the war. America brought to the Allies something that history, and most people in general, tend to gloss over, and consistently have dominated in this field for decades (even today); logistics.

We would have lost without any of the Big Three, to be honest.

[Nicer potlimitomaha]

The notion of the US winning WWII almost singlehandedly would be mine.

Without America's manufacturing base, the Allies would've lost the war. America brought to the Allies something that history, and most people in general, tend to gloss over, and consistently have dominated in this field for decades (even today); logistics.

Not neccesarily.
Both in North Africa and Russia, the Axis suffered devastating losses that would have likely led to defeat even without the american reinforcements. Slower victory but the allies would have won nonetheless.

[Northern Dominus]

Without America's manufacturing base, the Allies would've lost the war. America brought to the Allies something that history, and most people in general, tend to gloss over, and consistently have dominated in this field for decades (even today); logistics.

Not neccesarily.
Both in North Africa and Russia, the Axis suffered devastating losses that would have likely led to defeat even without the american reinforcements. Slower victory but the allies would have won nonetheless.

Logistics isn't just manufacture on a large scale, it's the movement of those supplies to where their needed most.

Seriously, consider how Patton was able to sweep across Europe so quickly; it's because behind the hammer of the Third Army there was a vast network of ammo and fuel dumps with trucks going in and out of them to supply different parts. The second that logistical network was strained beyond capacity IE at the German border, the third army stopped.
I hate to lean on Patton but again, his biggest feat in WWII, the obscenely fast movement army from Saarburcken to Bastongne was largely due to using the US logistical network to get the fuel and ammo needed to move that quickly.

I'm not saying the Brits or the Russians were incapable of logistical feats, but the sheer size and speed of the logistical supply chain that the US set up during WWII, the mechanism that fed the fighting machine, that's what ground the Axis down to a nub.

[Ethel mermania]

Not neccesarily.
Both in North Africa and Russia, the Axis suffered devastating losses that would have likely led to defeat even without the american reinforcements. Slower victory but the allies would have won nonetheless.

Logistics isn't just manufacture on a large scale, it's the movement of those supplies to where their needed most.

Seriously, consider how Patton was able to sweep across Europe so quickly; it's because behind the hammer of the Third Army there was a vast network of ammo and fuel dumps with trucks going in and out of them to supply different parts. The second that logistical network was strained beyond capacity IE at the German border, the third army stopped.
I hate to lean on Patton but again, his biggest feat in WWII, the obscenely fast movement army from Saarburcken to Bastongne was largely due to using the US logistical network to get the fuel and ammo needed to move that quickly.

I'm not saying the Brits or the Russians were incapable of logistical feats, but the sheer size and speed of the logistical supply chain that the US set up during WWII, the mechanism that fed the fighting machine, that's what ground the Axis down to a nub.

how many german divisions fought the americans.
how many german divisions fought the russians.
i give the grounding to the ruski's

how many studebakers did the russians get may be a better arguement.

[Death Metal]

The notion of the US winning WWII almost singlehandedly would be mine.

Without America's manufacturing base, the Allies would've lost the war. America brought to the Allies something that history, and most people in general, tend to gloss over, and consistently have dominated in this field for decades (even today); logistics.

Hardly. By the time the US got fully involved, the Eastern Front was being pushed back towards Germany, and the African campaign was at a standstill.

The US' presence sped it up by about five years, but in reality, the war was decided the moment Operation Barbarossa began.

Remember: America may have got to Germany first, but the Soviets took Berlin.

Also, Patton is overrated. Logistics was all he brought to the table, as a strategist and a leader he was lacking. Rommel was everything you look for in a general, he only lacked logistics near the end because Hitler had stretched his resources so thin. If Hitler left the war to Rommel we'd all be speaking German now.

EDIT- And before you question what I've said about Patton, riddle me this: How come he became a president and not Eisenhower. Dude had Complete Asshole as his prestige class.