Marlborough&039;s War Machine 1702-1711
История / Летописи и сражения
Основная информация:
Название: Marlboroughs War Machine 1702-1711
Жанр: Нет
Автор: James Falkner
Год выпуска: 2014
Формат: PDF
Размер: 78 МВ
ISBN: 655620588595
Язык: Английский
СКАЧАТЬ Marlboroughs War Machine 1702-1711 БЕСПЛАТНО EPUB - DOC - DJVU - RTF - PDFОписание: Blenheim, Ramilles , Oudenarde, Malplaquet – much has been written about the brilliant victories of the Duke of Marlborough’s Anglo-Dutch army over the armies of Louis XIV of France during the War of the Spanish Succession. Less attention has been focused on the men and the military organization that made these achievements possible - the soldiers, the commanders, the army structure and administration, the logistics, engineering, weapons and finance. That is why James Falkner’s penetrating account of the composition and operation of Marlborough’s army is of such value. His clear analysis gives a fascinating insight into Marlborough’s war machine and into the conduct of war in Europe 300 years ago.
Any army is a ‘war machine’, and whether it achieves success or failure,
or is used for good or ill, that is its only purpose. First and foremost,
however, an army is what its commander is – if the commander succeeds,
then so too does the army with laurels and glory to match, but if he
fails, then the army is in consequence led to ruin and disgrace. Accordingly,
this book must primarily be about Queen Anne’s Captain-General,
John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough, and his famous exploits as a
military commander during the War of the Spanish Succession between
the years 1702 and 1711. However, the story must plainly also be about the
men whom the duke was entrusted to lead into battle by England (Great
Britain, as it was known from the Act of Union in 1707 onwards) and the
States-General of Holland. Those troops made up the only effective military
force in northern Europe that could take the field to face the French,
and so, just as the duke’s fortunes were the fortunes of his men, so too
were they the fortunes of those two countries and their allies at a time of
acute European crisis. Of Marlborough’s unsurpassed record of success it
was said in perfect truth that ‘He passed all the rivers and lines that he
attempted, took all the towns he invested, won all the battles he fought,
was never surprised by the enemy, was ever beloved by his own soldiers
and dreaded by those of the enemy.’