Omar Bradley - "Where the hell did Hitler find the strength to pull off this God damn offensive?"
Pete Quesada - "We took a bit of a beating on the ground but boy did we dish it out in the air!"
Gustavus Adolphus - "War is not a river, or a lake, but an ocean of all that is evil."
>There are a lot of people who say that bombing can never win a war. Well, my answer to that is that it has never been tried yet, and we shall see.
>>590928
By nature of a quote, all are "history" quotes.
>''If the iron dice must roll, may God help us''
>Politics are not for me if not a hard accomplishment of duty!
Dom Pedro II
>Follow me those of you that are Brazilian
Duke of Caxias as he charged with his horse on the paraguayian position at the battle of Itororo.
>>591264
And it made Americans lose 12 wars
>>591264
>my specific, perfect, entirely infallible way of winning wars has never been tried
>Israel was a mistake
Bibi, 2012
Oswald Mosley - "A prophet or an achiever must never mind an occasional absurdity; it is an occupational risk."
>"Kill them all. God will know His own."
Arnaud Amalric
>>591490
kek
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
-Major General John Sedgwick moments before being fatally shot under the left eye by a Confederate sharpshooter
>"If you need anything, take it from the Americans!"
Walter Model, Winter 1944
>>592171
My favourite, by far. I remember reading that some of his aides had tried to get him to speak after he was hit, but he just had a sardonic grin on his face. Either he couldn't speak, or he didn't want to ruin his last words, which were just too damned funny.
Don't quote me on that, I think it came out of the Shelby Foote narrative.
Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Best naval commander of all-time. Coolest historical Brit. All around badass. Biopic fucking when?
I accept responsibility for U-boat warfare from 1933 onward, and of the entire navy from 1943 on, but to make me responsible for what happened to Jews in Germany, or Russian soldiers on the east front — it is so ridiculous all I can do is laugh.
-Karl Donitz
First they came after our shekels, then they came after our memes. And I did not speak out, because I was neither a shekel or a meme.
hitler "oh fuck we got rekt in this world war too, russians are burning down berlin, better killmyself like tha fag iam"
>>592535
>take a general widely known for being a master of defense
>put him in charge of an offensive
What was the high command thinking?
>>592665
When did Hitler ever think in a logical fashion?
Model had the WILL dammit.
"When evening comes, I return home and enter my study; on the threshold I take off my workday clothes, covered with mud and dirt, and put on the garments of court and palace. Fitted out appropriately, I step inside the venerable courts of the ancients, where, solicitously received by them, I nourish myself on that food that alone is mine and for which I was born; where I am unashamed to converse with them and to question them about the motives for their actions, and they, out of their human kindness, answer me."
What are you going to do, stab me?
"Why are you so thin, Mikhail Ivanovich? Do some work. Onanism is not work. Try Marxism!"
(alleged)
>>592658
Source?
>>592665
I'd still like to know why the hell they didn't put him in North Africa to make the allies bleed for every inch of sand. He could have made North Africa and Italy absolute hell.
>To Joseph Stalin: Stop sending people to kill me! We've already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle... If you don't stop sending killers, I'll send a very fast working one to Moscow and I certainly won't have to send another.
>>593710
Based Tito
>>591475
ok but what does your picture of Freddie Mercury have to do with that?
>“I will never hand over our people to a bunch of fucking Fascists”
James Callaghan on the Falklands
Probably apocryphal, but oh well
>"If I invade Laconia you will be destroyed, never to rise again"
>"If"
Spartan reply to Philip II of Macedon
>>593700
Because Kesselring was even better
>>593733
source
>>592658
The holocaust was real I demand compensation
>"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."
>"My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking."
Best commander of WW1.
>>593092
Moving
>>593743
Sparta at the beginning of ellenistic age was a joke. The actual spartiatai were no more than 700 due to a social crisis, the army was mostly composed of mercenaries, and the supremacy over Peloponnesum was long gone
>>594079
Google the phrase m8
Apparently the Foreign Ministry were trying to convince his government that the economic benefits of good Argentine relations outweighed any economic benefit that the Falkands would provide to Britain
>>594000
You know damn well a Kesselring and Model team would have been brutal to contend with instead of Kesselring and Rommel who disagreed on most everything.
>>594213
Can't disagree with that.
>>594167
Yet, Sparta remained as a player in Greece long after the death of Philip and Alexander. till the Roman interventions.
>>591352
>"The allied objective was to take a bridge over the Ytororó River. Several attempts were made to cross the bridge, but each was repelled by intense fire from the Paraguayan positions. In the final attempt, the Brazilian soldiers panicked and began to flee in disorder. Caxias, witnessing the unfolding disaster, unsheathed his sword and charged on horseback toward the bridge, followed by his staff. He passed through the fleeing troops, shouting "Hail to His Majesty", "Hail to Brazil" and finally, "Those who are true Brazilians, follow me!" His display of courage stopped the retreat immediately; the units regrouped, and a vigorous attack led personally by Caxias overwhelmed the Paraguayan positions. Several men who were next to him during the attack were killed, as was his horse."
How does a man do this? I don't even want to know.
>>594226
Well, he's Brazilian.
>>594226
>How does a man do this
Through embellishment
>>594263
>brave people don't exist r-right?
>>593092
"What the hell, Luigi, you can see what fortune can do to men. You had just finished fucking your woman when you want another one. I've been in Modena for several days when I came across an old woman who washes my shirts. She asked me to come into her hovel because she wished to show me some fine shirts. Innocent prick that I am I went in. There was a woman over in the corner. "This is the shirt that I wanted to sell you," the hag said. I was terrified. But I fucked her. I found her thighs flabby and her cunt damp. Her breath stank. But I was horny. When I was finished I took a torch and looked at her. I nearly dropped dead. The woman was ugly. She had a tuft of hair on her head but her head was bald. Her forehead was scarred. One eye looked up, the other down. Her eyes were filled with mucus, and she had no eyebrows. Her nose was twisted into a funny shape. Her mouth looked like Lorenzo de' Medici's but was bent to one side. She was toothless and saliva drooled out of her mouth. Her upper lip had a moustache. I looked at her stupefied. "What's the matter sir?" she asked me. As soon as she opened her mouth, such a stench came out that my eyes and my nose were assaulted and my stomach indignant. They could not bear it, and I vomited all over her." - Machiavelli
>>594226
>You call it hell. I call it home.
>Someday this war's gonna end...
Some men are just bred for war. Kilgore was the personification of that mindset. Those who just have the aura of invincibility. Like they could walk through artillery without a scratch.
It goes beyond bravery.
>>594367
I still don't buy it. Kilgore was a character in a movie.
>>592535
For the same reason Vauban was put in charge of building forts.
>>591473
kek
>We wuz Trojans n'shiet
-Virgil
>>594516
Underrated post
Charles Napier having conquered Sind:
>Napier's diplomacy was as forthright as his tatics. when the Amirs inquired what terms he offered, he replied, "Life and nothing more. And I shall want your decision before twelve o'clock, as I shall by that time have bured my dead, and given my soldiers their breakfast."
>>592587
don't know if it's a myth or a fact but it's said he lost his arm in the morning and got back to the ship's deck on the noon (or something like that)
but he wasn't just badass but also very good at his job (unlike wellington for example) and if it wasn't for him it's possible that the whole outcome of the napoleonic wars might be very different
>on topic: "death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily." or "glory is fleeting but obscurity is forever"
t. napopan
>>593136
Underrated post
>>594332
kek I though this was a copypasta.
>>594332
is this... is this foh real?
When a British captive officer challenged Surcouf with the words "You French fight for money while we fight for honour", Surcouf replied "Each of us fights for what he lacks most".
Surcouf was a fucking banter king
>>595385
This one actually is, yes.
>>594114
Fochin' based.
>>593727
I'm gonna assume you're joking and kek
>Let the world tremble as it senses all you are about to accomplish
Luís de Camões
>>594241
The Iron Duke wasn't there to protect it anymore.
>>594226
This man was the greatest military mind this country ever produced. Because of him and Dom Pedro II, Brazil was able to stay united.
>“There is a man alone, without family, without children, without God....He builds legions but he doesn’t build a nation. A nation is created by families, a religion, tradition: it is made up out of the hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, the joy and the exuberance of children. [Of Germany under Hitler he says]....an all-swallowing State, disdainful of human dignities and the ancient structure of our race, sets itself up in place of everything else. And the man who, alone, incorporates in himself this whole State, has neither a God to honour nor a dynasty to conserve, nor a past to consult....
For a few months I was inclined to believe in National Socialism. I thought of it as a necessary fever. And I was gratified to see that there were, associated with it for a time, some of the wisest and most outstanding Germans. But these, one by one, he has got rid of or even killed....He has left nothing but a bunch of shirted gangsters....
This man could bring home victories to our people each year without bringing them...glory....But of our Germany, which was a nation of poets and musicians and artists and soldiers, he has made a nation of hysterics and hermits, engulfed in a mob and led by a thousand liars or fanatics....”
~Wilhelm II
Full article for those interested.
http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/what_did_Kaiser_Wilhem_think_about_Hitler#.VqR20eCvCpa
>>598420
Whoops, copying and pasting fucked up the quote but you get the idea.
>Wir müssen wissen — wir werden wissen
>but not really
>>593710
pbbbt, if the god damn blowhard didn't send a few agents of his own he was a fucking idiot.
>>593136
"do it, you won't, no balls"
>>593743
The funniest part of this quote is that they never actually denied that they would be destroyed. I mean, it strikes me as more of a "are we really worth the effort?" moment than anything.
>>598420
>publiqhed in 1938
Ok, he had balls.
>>598658
He was going senile in his later years. He sent Hitler a bunch of passive aggressive letters during the war, and kept going back-and-forth on whether he loved or hated the guy (before he went senile, he always hated him).
>>598420
This is quite possibly the saddest thing that I've read in years.
>>598420
>/pol/ BTFO by based willy
Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO
"Governments may think and say as they like, but force cannot be eliminated, and it is the only real and unanswerable power. We are told that the pen is mightier than the sword, but I know which of these weapons I would choose.
>>594114
>This is not a peace. This is an armistice of 20 years.
>when Stalin says dance, a wise man dances
Nikita Khrushchev
>>594367
>>594391
Well then, maybe you want to hear about Antoine Lasalle, a cavalry officer serving under Napoleon.
During the italian campaign, he was leading a group of 18 horsemen against the austrians. He was surrounded and had to kill 4 of them, before crossing the Bacchiglione by swimming to get to safety.
During the same campaign, he'll even cross the enemy lines, at night, just to go fuck some italian woman.
During the campaign of Egypt, he'll save the life of Marshal Davout by cutting off the hands of a mameluk.
He was a complete psychopath, loving warfare more than anything else. He used to say : "Any hussard who isn't dead by the age of 30 is a coward".
He was a hot-head who loved to duel other officers to death, which will get him in a lot of trouble.
When he declared himself to his future wife, he told her : "I love you like the smoke of tobacco and the chaos of battle".
He died at Wagram, charging with his troops.
>>599252
Fucking based.
>>594915
How was Wellington bad at his job? I mean, you can argue he doesn't deserve the degree of praise he gets today, but to state he was bad at his job...makes no sense. He helped bring India under English control, fighting a rather unorthodox long distance campaign. His work in the Peninsula, though arguably not imperative to the downfall of Napoleon, was fascinating for his ability to properly handle the locals (both civilian and military), keep his army in the field despite a fair degree of disinterest by leadership in England, and his ability to fight frequently superior French forces to standstills or even victories. The Lines of Torres Vedras were a logistical triumph, the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro saw one of the most impressive fighting withdrawals in history, and Waterloo (obligatory), even if you believe Wellington was saved by the Prussians (which I suppose he was, but that was the idea in the first place), was an impressive set-piece defensive engagement that saw Wellington in the heat of battle all day.
Sure, you could make arguments taking away from each of his victories and focus on his setbacks exclusively, but even then the idea that he was not good at his job is ludicrous.
>>599180
Fucking right. As horrible as war is, lets face it, might makes right.
>>591264
>bomb the shit out of german infrastructure
>Speer manages to prolong the war for 3 years anyway
bravo
>>599252
>>601129
>might makes right
Wrong.
Might makes right irrelevant
>>601380
Believe what you want, the winners are still writing the histories.
>>599252
>Any hussard who isn't dead by the age of 30 is a coward
Sounds like he was a coward then.
>>601131
>muh speer meme
It's embarrassing that people on a /his/tory board are this ignorant.
„Der Freiheit Weg geht durch des Todes Schmerz.“—Theodor Körner
>the path to freedom goes through the pain of death
>>598573
>The funniest part of this quote is that they never actually denied that they would be destroyed
they implied that he would never even get to laconia because he would be stopped by the spartan army
During the Crimean War and the siege of Sebastopol, French General Mac Mahon managed to storm the tower of Malakoff.
As he was at the top a british officer arrived to tell him to retreat because the place was going to explode. He answered :
>J'y suis, j'y reste! (I'm here, and here to stay)
Pic related
He later became president of France
Just read the Crucible, Giles Corey was a man among men.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_Corey_(Salem_witch_trials)
As a result of his refusal to plead, on September 17,SheriffGeorge Corwinled Corey to a pit in the open field beside the jail and in accordance with the above process, before the Court and witnesses, stripped Giles of his clothing, laid him on the ground in the pit, and placed boards on his chest. Six men then lifted heavy stones, placing them one by one, on his stomach and chest. Giles Corey did not cry out, let alone make a plea.
After two days, Giles was asked three times to plead innocent or guilty to witchcraft. Each time he replied, "More weight."
>Nuts
-Brigadier General McAuliffe's reply to a German offer of surrender during the Battle of the Bulge
>>601054
in my opinion he was very limited and conservative when it comes to actual battles even though he was good at pre-planning those battles but he was too slow and unadaptative.
so yeah, i see him mostly as a defensive general which is easier than take the lead - so if the roles were inversed and napoleon was in front of the english army i'm pretty sure he was he would get way better results...
also, the peninsular campaigns were against the reserves of the grande armée against marshalls that would probably do a better job at a butcher than an actual battlefield.
and by the way, the lines of torres vedras were both paid, planned and constructed by the portuguese crown in exile/portuguese people; wellington just gave the idea.
to resume: i don't think wellington was a bad general at all, but he wasn't much more than a regular one though and his records and how decisive his winnings were are much more relevant than his career and battle prowess
>"Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her ... Soldiers, fire!
Michel Ney's final words. He didn't wear a blindfold and gave the order himself.
![Woodville_Richard_Caton_-_Poniatowski's_Last_Charge_at_Leipzig_1912[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zmIT29B.jpg "Woodville_Richard_Caton_-_Poniatowski's_Last_Charge_at_Leipzig_1912[1].jpg")
>>599252
if you want a little tale of valour read about józef poniatowski, he's the personification of poland: brave, valient, noble, heroic and loyal but ultimately unlucky.
>followed napoleon to hell and beyond (aka russia)
>it happens what we all know
>"fuck that french frog" t. the polish elite (p.s.:also not the tzar)
>"nah, he's cool" t. the duke
>then proceeds to lead a charge by himself against pursuers of the retreating french army
>gets shot
>keeps fighting
>gets shot again and loses his horse
>somehow still alive
>the retreat was barely a success
>time to go
>the "friendly" french army explodes the bridge too soon
>drowns
well fuck
>>602410
some people claim it was an act and he fled to the usa
and for some reason, even though the acts of this madman (who some others say had his senses affected after a serious concussion to the head) ultimately delivered a serious blow to the french army in waterloo, i would want that to be true... since that's how happy endings are supposed to be
>>602468
>polank streng
>polank brev
>polank valient
Your pidgin English is incomprehensible, bohunk.
>>602300
The reason he did that is that if he died without giving a plea, his family would inherit his property.
>>602574
an absolute champion
>Theo, Heinrich here. Have just shot down two bombers. No more ammunition. I'm going to ram. Auf Wiedersehen, see you in Valhalla!
Heinrich Ehrler before ramming a bomber with his Me-262.
>>602468
>brave, valient, noble, heroic and loyal but ultimately unlucky.
Naive is a better descriptor.
>>601380
>Might makes right irrelevant
Wrong.
Might makes right irrelevant, for the rights can't be enforced without the backing of might.
Point being, arguing with people like you, who have to interject with an inane personal twist is tiresome.
"When I close my eyes, shot straight to my heart."
He threw himself forward as the soldiers were shooting.
"I will leap into my grave laughing because the feeling that I have five million human beings on my conscience is for me a source of extraordinary satisfaction."
>>592688
Hitler made no mistakes whatsoever up to June 1940.
>>603728
What an edgy kraut
>>594224
No they didn't. They tried and failed.
Sparta was Persias fuckboy, butthurt over Theban supremacy. They never accomplished anything after the Peloponesian wars.
As Pericles said;
The Spartans are fierce. But they never march alone, they always bring their allies. When we march, we have nobody but our own and we win.
Based Pericles.
>>5>>591285
Only if you write them down.
>According toMichael Critobulus(writing later in Mehmed's service) he remarked, "The city is fallen and I am still alive."[28]Then he tore off his imperial ornaments so as to let nothing distinguish him from any other soldier and led his remaining soldiers into alast chargewhere he was killed.[29]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_XI_Palaiologos
>>604086
I don't understand why copy and pasting on my phone messes with the spacing of paragraphs.
>>603728
Absolute madman
At the time of the conquest of the castles of the Heretics, we sent envoys to you seeking for reinforcements. You replied that you were our subordinate, yet you did not send troops. The sign of subordination and concord is that you send troops when we campaign against the enemy, but you did not do so and sent only excuses. Even though your family is august and venerable and your house has experienced rule and fortune, yet Could the moon have shone so brightly That it eclipsed the blazing sun.
Surely you have heard from both high and low what has befallen the world and its inhabitants from the time of Chinggis Khan up to now, and what humiliation was visited upon great houses such as the Khvarazmshahs, the Saljuqs, the kings of Daylam, the Atabaks, and others through the power of the Everlasting Eternal God. The gates of Baghdad were never closed to any one of those groups, and they all had seats of power there. With all our strength and might, how can they be closed to us?
Previously we have advised you, and we do so again now: refrain from rancor and obstinacy, do not attempt what you cannot do nor ignore what is manifest, for you will be sorry. In any case, let bygones be bygones. Now, destroy your ramparts and fill in your moats; entrust the rule to your son, and come to us in person. Should you not wish to come yourself, send the Minister, Sulayman Shah, and the Marshal—all three—so that they might deliver our message to you verbatim.
(1/2)
>>604162
Indeed, when our order is obeyed, it will not be necessary to exact retribution and your shall retain your land, army, and subjects. If you do not heed our advice and intend to oppose and resist us, ready your army and choose the battlefield, for we are prepared and girded for battle. When I lead my army against Baghdad in fury, whether you hide in the heavens or on earth
I will bring you down from the spinning spheres;
I will toss you in the air like a lion.
I will leave no one alive in your realm;
I will burn your city and your lands.
If you wish to spare yourself and your venerable family, listen to my advice with the ear of intelligence. If you do not, you will see what God has willed.
-Hulagu Khan to the Caliph of Baghdad, 1258
(2/2)
>>602818
>>Theo, Heinrich here. Have just shot down two bombers. No more ammunition. I'm going to ram. Auf Wiedersehen, see you in Valhalla!
fuck me thats cool
>>602818
WITNESS ME
>>603754
Athens lost m8
>You know, if I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough, I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the unemployed. Sick ass burn
>Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. I love this one
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
so true in today worlds
>>607204
I admire your formatting.
>>598420
Seems to really vary a lot, though. Recently I read an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that Wilhelm saw Hitler as a sort of conclusion to his own reign, though until 1934 he hoped the Nazis might restore the Monarchy.
Found it, for those who can read German:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/-todestag-von-deutschlands-letztem-kaiser-wilhelm-ii-sah-in-hitler-seinen-vollstrecker-1.1104908
>Röhl: Er sah sich wohl eher als Vordenker und die Nazis in der Rolle der Vollzieher. Der Ex-Kaiser verbuchte Hitlers Erfolge, außenpolitisch vor dem Krieg und militärisch nach 1939, auf seinem Konto. Er glaubte, sie seien die Früchte seiner Vorarbeit. Die Armee sei siegreich dank der Offiziere, die unter ihm, Wilhelm, groß geworden waren. Wilhelm sah in Hitler seinen Vollstrecker.
Translation:
>He (Kaiser Wilhelm II) saw himself as a mental predecessor and the Nazis as his executors (in the sense of executing a plan). The Ex-Kaiser thought of Hitlers successes as his own, militarily and politically, they were the fruits of his labour. The Army was victorious only thanks to the officers he himself appointed and who came to power under his rule. Wilhelm saw Hitler as his executor.
A paragraph further down he notes that most of what Wilhelm said in exile might be seen as the words of a senile, if not insane man, though.
>>608836
>Upon the fall of Paris, Wilhelm stated "Congratulations, you have won using my troops."
He was certainly delusional during WWII, but the post you replied to likely refers to a more coherent Wilhelm
>>608890
The article bears a timestamp from December 1938, so not much earlier (or arguably coherent, he was already in exile and died a little over two years later).
>Retreat? Hell, we just got here!
Lloyd W. Williams
"December 22nd 1944
To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.
The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A .forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed
the river Ourthe near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands. There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over
a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note. If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours' term. All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity.
The German Commander."
>>609232
"December 22, 1944
To the German Commander,
N U T S !
The American Commander"
>>604086
It is said that mehmed recognized the emperor by his socks ( they had the imperial emblem on it) and paid his respects to its dead body after the battle.
>>590928
"Americans saw never lose a war." - General Perishing. He was right.
"I didn't have sexual relations with that woman." - Bill Clinton, under the law at the time he was right.
"The error of a country lies in the power of the people, and failing to unify to fight all manners of corruption, wrong doings, and greed within its office." - George Washington he was right.
>>604494
In what way? Athenian culture dominated Greece long after it lost the Peloponesian war.
>>594793
>"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs."
Ahahaha oh wow.
>>602818
WHAT A DAY
>>593710
who Yugoslav without country here
>>602389
I'll take a regular one, I only take offense to him being called a "bad" general, which he clearly was not. I disagree with you overall, but I also don't feel like debating the subject.
>>602818
I FLY ETERNAL, SHINY AND CHROME
>>598420
you know you fucked up when fucking Wilhelm calls you a piece of shit
>>602410
>In order to save Ney's life, his lawyer Dupin declared that Ney was now Prussian and could not be judged by a French court as Ney's hometown of Sarrelouis had been annexed by Prussia according to the Treaty of Paris of 1815. Ney ruined his lawyer's effort by interrupting him and stating: "I am French and I will remain French".
>>609996
No greater source of awesome quotes than imperialism.
