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01 December 2013

7 of the Worst Military Decisions Ever Made | RallyPoint.com Here at RallyPoint.com, we're huge fans of military history, for as George Santayana said, "Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it."

After studying tons of battles, campaigns, and key strategic decisions, the RallyPoint.com team came up with this list of 7 of the worst military decisions ever.  We wanted to cover a massive span of history.

Did we leave anything out?  Tell us here.


-- The RallyPoint.com team

Santa Anna's detour at The Alamo (February, 1836)
Rather than getting to the rebel capital, Santa Anna's Mexican army spent days fighting for an insignificant outpost that gave the Texan troops just enough time to prepare and defeat Santa Anna Bay of Pigs (1961)
A United States-backed 1961 attempt to overthrow Cuban President Fidel Castro with 1,500 Cuban exiles who were heavily outnumbered when they reached the bay. Furthermore, the US-promised air support never came to aid the exiles.

Invading Gallipoli (1915-1916)
A combined British, Commonwealth and French attempt to capture Istanbul fails completely at the Gallipoli peninsula. The Battle of Hattin (1187)
During the time of crusades, King Guy of Lusignan was fighting against the mighty Saladin of the Muslims. Unfortunately for King Guy, his troops were running low on water. The battle ended when Saladin found out about this and trapped his enemy in a plateau without water.

Nazi invasion of Soviet Union (September, 1941)
Hitler's ego-driven decision to split his army and invade the Soviets set Germany up for its defeat four years later.

Maginot Line (1930-1940)
France constructed sort of a tunnel after World War I to keep away invasions from Germany and Italy. Unfortunately for the French, they forgot to block out the France-Belgium border, a mistake which the Germans took advantage. France was conquered within 6 weeks due to this.

Operation Market Garden (1939-1944)
Attempting to end the war before Christmas on 1944, the British planned to encircle the Germans in the Ruhr Area. The plan failed when the Allies only had one road to advance through and were vulnerable from both sides. Hat tip to this interesting site for parts of this article.