An Unusual War: How the Australian Army Lost to the Birds. The most unexpected casus belli Emu and the Australian army

Mankind has always loved to fight. There's no getting around it, that's nature. The reasons for this can be the most ridiculous, not to mention the reasons. From the banal desire to become famous to petty despicable grievances over trifles. It seems that people just like to kill, and this compilation of the 10 strangest wars in the history of mankind is a vivid confirmation of this.

1. Australian army against emus

In 1932, the emu population in Australia got out of control. According to experts, over 20,000 voracious birds ran through the desert and, in principle, did not interfere with anyone except the valiant Australian army. The country's military headquarters decided to teach the ostriches a lesson and declared war "for fun" on them, the results of which were not at all funny for the poor birds. For a week, groups of soldiers armed with machine guns ambushed an unsuspecting enemy in the desert. It was a bloody November. In seven days, 2,500 emus were killed, and then the Australian army capitulated. The soldiers refused to participate in the brutal massacre. As it turned out later, there were other reasons. Killing an emu was actually not so easy. Hit by even a few machine-gun bullets, the strong birds continued to run ahead of the heavily loaded Australian soldiers.

2. War in Transnistria

In 1992 in Transnistria on the wreckage Soviet Union war broke out. For about four months, hostilities were fought for something that no longer mattered. But it was really strange to see fighters from both warring sides drinking on neutral territory late at night. The soldiers even made agreements not to shoot at each other the next day if they recognize the one with whom they drank. This happened not one or two nights, but regularly. One soldier wrote in his diary: "War is like a grotesque show. During the day we kill our enemies, and then during the night we drink with them. What a strange thing these wars are ...". The war in Transnistria claimed 1,300 human lives on both sides.

3. Football war

Some wars start with a surprise attack, others with a massacre, and this one started with a football match between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. El Salvador lost the match, tensions between the states increased and on June 14 the army of the losing team went on the offensive against Honduras. For four days, the Salvadoran military took revenge on the inhabitants of Honduras for the defeat of their football team. After the Organization of American States intervened, the lawlessness was stopped. The loss of life in this war amounted to 3,000 people.

By the irony of history, the longest war that our civilization has had has done without a single casualty. It's about about the war between the Netherlands and the Isle of Scilly, located off the southwest coast of Great Britain. No one remembers who was the first and why he declared this war in 1651, but the fact remains that not a single person died during the entire period of "hostilities". In 1986, the war was remembered and a peace treaty was concluded. If only all wars were like this...

5. Pig of discord

In 1859, a British infantryman shot and killed a pig that was roaming American soil. Outraged Americans declared war. For four months, a plan was developed to retaliate against the British troops, tactics and strategies were built for military operations, but in the end the British apologized, saying that it was an accident. This ended the war. Losses in the war: 1 pig.

6. War of pork and beans

Another funny confrontation between the United States and Great Britain on the Maine border. After the War of 1812, British troops occupied much of eastern Maine and despite the lack of troops in the area still considered it British territory. In the winter of 1838, American lumberjacks sawed wood in a disputed area and, as a result, provoked the ire of Great Britain, which moved troops to the area. The states, in response, also pulled up troops and it seemed that war would be inevitable. For eleven months, active hostilities were expected, which never began. Due to a mistake in the supply department, the American troops received a huge amount of beans and pork, which they gorged themselves on, and then staged "gas attacks", frightening the British with loud noises. And although military action was never taken, more than 550 on both sides died from illness and accidents in 11 months of inactivity.

7. War over a stray dog

In 1925 Greece and Bulgaria were sworn enemies. They fought each other during World War I, and those wounds have yet to heal. Tensions were especially acute on the border in an area called Petrich. There, the unsteady peace was broken on October 22, 1925, when a Greek soldier was chasing a dog that was running away to the Bulgarian border and was killed by a Bulgarian sentry. Greece promised revenge and invaded Petrich the very next day. They quickly cleared the frontier post of the region, killing over fifty Bulgarian soldiers, but they could not advance further inland. The League of Nations called for an end to the invasion and for leaving Petrich. Ten days later, Greece withdrew its troops, paying Bulgaria £45,000 in damages.

8 Paraguayan War

The President of Paraguay, Francisco Solano López, was a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte. He imagined himself to be a professional strategist and an excellent commander, but one thing was missing - war. To solve this small problem, in 1864 he declared war on three countries surrounding Paraguay at once - Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Outcome of the war? Paraguay was almost completely destroyed and devastated. It is estimated that about 90% of the male population of the country died during the war, disease and famine. The senseless slaughter in the name of the glory of the commander lasted from 1864 to 1870. Losses in this war amounted to over 400,000 people, which is a colossal figure for Latin America at that time.

9. Bucket of Discord

This war began in 1325, when the rivalry between the independent city-states of Modena and Bologna came to a head over a simple wooden bucket. Trouble began when a detachment of Modena soldiers raided Bologna and stole a wooden bucket from one of the wells. Wanting to get the stolen thing back, Bologna declared war and for 12 years unsuccessfully tried to return the lost wooden bucket. To this day, this trophy is kept in Modena.

10. Lijar v. France

In 1883, the inhabitants of the small village of Lijar in southern Spain were furious when they learned that their beloved Spanish King Alphonse XII had been insulted by the French during a visit to Paris. In response to this, the mayor of Lijar, Don Miguel Garcia Saez, and with him all 300 inhabitants of the village, on October 14, 1883, declared war on France. The bloodless war ended 93 years later, when the Spanish king Juan Carlos made a trip to Paris, during which the French treated him with great respect. In 1981, the city council of Lijar decided that "due to excellent relations with the French", they cease hostilities and agree to a peace treaty with France.

A fact that sounds equally absurd and unexpected: in 1932, Australia declared war on emus. How did this confrontation end?

This is not an ancient April Fool's joke, there are videos of episodes of the real Great Emu War in Western Australia, during which soldiers with machine guns were involved, who fought flightless birds.

What did these birds do to become participants in fierce resistance?

Hard times began for farmers in Western Australia when the emu population increased by an order of magnitude during the Great Depression. During the breeding season, about 20,000 emus migrated inland, eating away grain crops along the way, thus devastating farmers. The farmers took their grievances to the government. The request from World War I veteran deputies called for the use of machine guns to exterminate pests.

2 artillery officers and 2 soldiers with Lewis machine guns, with 10,000 rounds of ammunition, were equipped for the war.
The fighting began in November 1932 - the last month of the Australian spring. Opening fire on groups of emus and shooting cartridges from a long distance, the military achieved only a few dozen hits. Further, ambush tactics were used, when fire was opened from hundreds of meters. At the very first shots, emus scatter in all directions, making firing from a machine gun pointless.

The next day of fighting, a flock of about a thousand birds were ambushed near a watering hole. And again the birds ran away, taking advantage of the fact that the machine gun jammed.
Major Meredith, commander of the detachment, admiring the speed (up to 50 km / h) and maneuverability of the emu, told the press: “If we (Australians) had a division of such birds capable of carrying weapons, they could be put against any army in the world. They counter machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They're like Zulus..."
The birds, in addition to the interest to survive, also had long-standing grievances against their opponents. Australian soldiers wore a traditional wide-brimmed hat, which was decorated with a plume of emu feathers.

Less than a week later, the military detachment was withdrawn. According to the soldiers, 986 birds were killed, while 9860 cartridges were used.
In general, the Great Emu War can be summed up as follows: machine gunners' dreams of concentrated fire on enemy clusters dissipated. The emu command began to use guerrilla tactics, their large army broke up into countless small units, which made the use of military equipment and machine guns impractical. The discouraged Australian soldiers withdrew from the battlefield a month later.
The above analysis of the hostilities of the war with the emu is in many ways reminiscent of.

Despite further attempts by the Australian government to fight pesky birds, emus were the winners and still live in abundance around the city of Perth.

Which gave the press the opportunity to call this incident the "Emu War".

background

After the First World War, a large number of ex-Australian servicemen - along with a number of British veterans who had resettled on the continent - began to farm in Western Australia, often in remote areas, establishing agricultural farms there and starting to grow wheat. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, these farmers were encouraged by the Australian government to increase their wheat acreage, and a promise was made from the government - never kept - to help them with subsidies. Despite the recommendations and the promise of subsidies, wheat prices continued to fall, and by October 1932 the issue was particularly acute; farmers began to prepare for the harvest, while threatening to withhold wheat supplies.

The hardships facing farmers have been exacerbated by the migration of some 20,000 emus to the region. Emus migrate regularly after the breeding season, heading for the coast from the interior of Australia. In view of the presence of cleared land there and the additional water supply created to supply livestock by farmers in Western Australia, the emu regarded cultivated land as good places for habitation and began raiding farmlands - in particular, farmland in the outlying lands near Campion and Valgulan. Emus were eaten and spoiled crops, also leaving large holes in the fences they broke down, through which rabbits could enter, exacerbating crop losses.

The farmers conveyed their concerns about the danger of bird raids devastating their fields, and a deputation of ex-soldiers was sent to meet with the Minister for Defence, Sir George Pierce. Settler soldiers who served during the First World War were well aware of the effectiveness of machine guns and requested the use of these weapons in the fight against emus. The Minister readily agreed, albeit with a number of conditions. Thus, the weapons that would be used by the military, and all their transport, had to be financed by the government of Western Australia, as well as farmers had to provide their own food, accommodation, and ammunition. Pierce also supported the use of army units on the grounds that shooting birds would be good shooting practice, although he also argued that some in the government may have seen this as a way to draw attention to the farmers of Western Australia in order to help them, and for To achieve this goal, a cameraman from Fox Movietone was even invited to film the event.

War

"Fighting" was to begin in October 1932. The "war" was fought under the command of Major Meredith of the 7th Heavy Battery of the Royal Australian Artillery Force: Meredith commanded two soldiers armed with two Lewis machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. The operation, however, was delayed due to a period of rainfall, which caused the emus to disperse over a wider area. The rain stopped on November 2, 1932, at which point troops were posted with orders to help farmers and, according to one newspaper reporter, collect 100 emu skins, as their feathers could be used to make hats for Australian light horse soldiers. .

First attack

On November 2, the soldiers arrived at Campion, where about 50 emus were seen. Since the birds were out of range of machine guns, the local settlers tried to ambush a flock of emus, but the birds split into small groups and ran in such a way that it was difficult to aim at them. However, while the first round of machine gun fire was ineffective due to the long range of the targets, the second burst of shots did kill "some" birds. Later that same day, a small flock of emus was discovered and possibly dozens of birds were killed.

Next important event it was November 4th. Meredith set up an ambush near the local seawall and over 1,000 emus were sighted in the direction of his position. This time, the gunners waited for the birds to come close before opening fire. The machine gun, however, broke after killing only twelve birds, and the rest fled before they could be killed. No other birds were seen that day.

In the days that followed, Meredith decided to move further south, where the birds "seemed to be quite tame", but had only limited success despite his efforts. At one stage, Meredith even went so far as to mount one of the machine guns on the truck, a move that proved ineffective as the truck was unable to keep up with the birds and the ride was so rough that the shooter could not fire a single shot. . By November 8, six days after the first "battle", 2,500 rounds had been used up. The number of birds killed is unknown: one report reports only 50 birds, but other reports give numbers in the range of 200 to 500 - the last figure given by the settlers. Meredith's official report stated, among other things, that his men had suffered no casualties.

On November 8, MPs in the Australian House of Representatives debated the operation. After negative coverage in local media mass media, who also said that "only a few" emus had been killed, Pierce withdrew troops and machine guns from 8 November.

After withdrawing the soldiers, Major Meredith compared the emus to the Zulus and commented on the emu's amazing agility even when badly wounded.

Second attack

After the military left, emu attacks on wheat fields continued. Farmers have again asked for help, citing heat and drought that has led to thousands of emus encroaching on their farms. James Mitchell, Prime Minister of Western Australia, organized strong support for the renewal of military aid. In addition, the report of the commander of the operation indicated that about 300 emus were killed at the beginning of the operation.

Acting on requests from farmers and a report from the commander of the operation, on November 12, the Minister of Defense assigned an armed detachment to resume efforts to eradicate the emus. He defended this decision in the Senate, explaining why the soldiers were needed to deal with the serious agricultural threat posed by large numbers of emus. Although the military agreed to provide weapons to the government of Western Australia in the hope that they would find the right people to use them, Meredith was sent back to the "battlefield" due to the apparent lack of experienced machine gunners in the state.

Accepting the "battle" on November 13, 1932, the military achieved some success during the first two days, killing approximately 40 emus. The third day, 15 November, proved much less successful, but by 2 December, the guns were destroying about 100 emus a week. Meredith was recalled on December 10, and in his report he claimed 986 kills with 9860 bursts of shots, that is, more than 10 bullets were required to kill each emu (one burst is more than one shot). In addition, Meredith claimed that 2,500 injured birds died as a result of the wounds they received.

Consequences

Mass destruction of emus did not solve the problems with them. The farmers of the region again asked for military aid in 1934, 1943 and 1948, but their requests were rejected by the government. Instead, the system of “incentives” for self-destruction of emus, which appeared as early as 1923 and was developed in the forties, was activated, and it turned out to be effective: 57,034 “incentives” were received within six months in 1934.

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• , The Argus(November 12, 1932).

An excerpt characterizing the War with the Emu

“For a dear friend, seven miles is not a suburb,” Prince Vasily spoke, as always, quickly, self-confidently and familiarly. - Here is my second, please love and favor.
Prince Nikolai Andreevich looked at Anatole. - Well done, well done! - he said, - well, go kiss - and he turned his cheek to him.
Anatole kissed the old man and looked at him curiously and completely calmly, waiting to see if the eccentric promised by his father would soon happen from him.
Prince Nikolai Andreevich sat down in his usual place in the corner of the sofa, pulled up an armchair for Prince Vasily, pointed to it and began to ask about political affairs and news. He listened as if with attention to the story of Prince Vasily, but incessantly glanced at Princess Marya.
- So they write from Potsdam? he repeated last words Prince Vasily, and suddenly, getting up, went up to his daughter.
- You cleaned up for the guests like that, huh? - he said. - Good, very good. You have your hair done in a new way in front of the guests, and I tell you in front of the guests that you don’t dare to change clothes without my asking.
“It’s me, mon pire, [father] is to blame,” blushing, interceded the little princess.
“You have complete freedom,” said Prince Nikolai Andreevich, bowing in front of his daughter-in-law, “but she has nothing to disfigure herself - and she is so bad.
And he again sat down in his place, no longer paying attention to his daughter, brought to tears.
“On the contrary, this hairstyle suits the princess very well,” said Prince Vasily.
- Well, father, young prince, what is his name? - said Prince Nikolai Andreevich, turning to Anatoly, - come here, we'll talk, we'll get to know each other.
“That's when the fun begins,” thought Anatole, and sat down with the old prince with a smile.
- Well, here's what: you, my dear, they say, were brought up abroad. Not the way the deacon taught us to read and write with your father. Tell me, my dear, are you now serving in the Horse Guards? asked the old man, looking closely and intently at Anatole.
“No, I joined the army,” answered Anatole, barely able to keep from laughing.
- A! good deal. Well, do you want, my dear, to serve the king and the fatherland? Military time. Such a young man must serve, must serve. Well, in the front?
- No, prince. Our regiment set out. And I'm counting. What am I, dad? Anatole turned to his father with a laugh.
- Nice service, nice. What do I count! Ha ha ha! Prince Nikolai Andreevich laughed.
And Anatole laughed even louder. Suddenly Prince Nikolai Andreevich frowned.
“Well, go ahead,” he said to Anatole.
Anatole again approached the ladies with a smile.
- After all, you brought them up abroad, Prince Vasily? A? - the old prince turned to Prince Vasily.
- I did what I could; and I will tell you that the upbringing there is much better than ours.
– Yes, now everything is different, everything is new. Well done little one! Well done! Well, come to me.
He took Prince Vasily by the arm and led him into the office.
Prince Vasily, left alone with the prince, immediately announced to him his desire and hopes.
“What do you think,” the old prince said angrily, “that I am holding her, that I cannot part with her? Imagine! he said angrily. - To me at least tomorrow! I'll just tell you that I want to know my son-in-law better. You know my rules: everything is open! Tomorrow I'll ask you in front of you: if she wants, then let him live. Let him live, I'll see. The prince snorted.
“Let him go, I don’t care,” he shouted in that piercing voice with which he shouted at parting with his son.
“I’ll tell you straight out,” said Prince Vasily in the tone of a cunning man who was convinced of the need to cunning in front of the insight of his interlocutor. You can see right through people. Anatole is not a genius, but an honest, kind fellow, a wonderful son and dear.
- Well, well, well, we'll see.
As it always happens for single women who have lived for a long time without male society, when Anatole appeared, all three women in the house of Prince Nikolai Andreevich equally felt that their life had not been life before that time. The power to think, to feel, to observe instantly multiplied tenfold in all of them, and as if until now it had been taking place in darkness, their life was suddenly illuminated by a new light full of meaning.
Princess Mary did not think at all and did not remember her face and hairstyle. The handsome, open face of the man who might be her husband consumed all her attention. He seemed to her kind, brave, resolute, courageous and generous. She was convinced of it. A thousand dreams of the future family life popped up in her mind all the time. She drove away and tried to hide them.
“But am I too cold with him? thought Princess Mary. - I try to restrain myself, because deep down I feel too close to him; but he does not know all that I think of him, and can imagine that he is unpleasant to me.
And Princess Mary tried and did not know how to be amiable with the new guest. "La pauvre fille! Elle est diablement laide," [Poor girl, she is devilishly ugly,] Anatole thought of her.
M lle Bourienne, also cocked by Anatole's arrival to a high degree of excitement, thought in a different way. Of course, a beautiful young girl without a certain position in the world, without relatives and friends, and even a homeland, did not think to devote her life to the services of Prince Nikolai Andreevich, reading books to him and friendship with Princess Mary. M lle Bourienne has long been waiting for that Russian prince who will immediately be able to appreciate her superiority over Russian, bad, badly dressed, awkward princesses, fall in love with her and take her away; and this Russian prince finally arrived. M lle Bourienne had a story she heard from her aunt, finished by herself, which she liked to repeat in her imagination. It was a story about how a seduced girl imagined her poor mother, sa pauvre mere, and reproached her for having given herself to a man without marriage. M lle Bourienne often moved to tears, in her imagination telling him, the seducer, this story. Now this he, the real Russian prince, has appeared. He will take her away, then ma pauvre mere will appear, and he will marry her. This is how m lle Bourienne's whole future history took shape in her head, at the very time she was talking to him about Paris. It was not calculations that guided m lle Bourienne (she did not even think for a minute about what she should do), but all this had long been ready in her and now it was only grouped around the appeared Anatole, whom she wished and tried to please as much as possible.
The little princess, like an old regimental horse, having heard the sound of a trumpet, unconsciously and forgetting her position, prepared for the usual gallop of coquetry, without any ulterior motive or struggle, but with naive, frivolous fun.
Despite the fact that Anatole in women's society usually put himself in the position of a man who was tired of women running after him, he felt conceited pleasure, seeing his influence on these three women. In addition, he began to feel for the pretty and defiant Bourienne that passionate, bestial feeling, which came over him with extreme speed and prompted him to the most rude and daring deeds.
After tea, the company moved into the sofa room, and the princess was asked to play the clavichord. Anatole leaned his elbows in front of her beside m lle Bourienne, and his eyes, laughing and rejoicing, looked at Princess Marya. Princess Mary, with painful and joyful excitement, felt his gaze on her. Her favorite sonata transported her to the most sincerely poetic world, and the look she felt on herself gave this world even greater poetry. But Anatole's gaze, although directed at her, did not refer to her, but to the movements of m lle Bourienne's foot, which at that time he was touching with his foot under the piano. M lle Bourienne also looked at the princess, and in her beautiful eyes there was also an expression of frightened joy and hope, new to Princess Mary.
“How she loves me! thought Princess Mary. How happy I am now, and how happy I can be with such a friend and such a husband! Really a husband? she thought, not daring to look at his face, feeling the same gaze fixed on herself. War is a serious matter, run by mysterious leaders who give orders to tough-minded soldiers who are ready to sacrifice everything for the glory of their own country. Sometimes things don't go quite as planned. In the midst of the thunderous roar of artillery, the shrill whistle of enemy bullets, and the screams of frightened comrades, logic can simply stop working. This is one of the chaotic situations in which each of us can find ourselves. It sometimes provokes even the most seemingly rational individuals to lose control over themselves and do the unthinkable. When the true nature of a person is revealed, strange, funny things begin to happen, and in such situations, the "seriousness" of the war is completely forgotten.

Apart from the absurd antics that take place on the battlefield, the casus belli itself is often just as ridiculous. Just think we almost ran nuclear weapon only because someone confused a flock of geese on the radar with flying missiles. Wars are often started for reasons that are absolutely delusional.

This article is devoted to ridiculous stories about military mediocrity, as a result of which many people died. They make one think about the meaninglessness of war as an integral part of the self-destructive nature of humanity.

1. "Vase"

The year was 1626. Sweden waged a bitter war with Poland and Lithuania. The Swedish king decided to build the largest and most well-armed ship imaginable and called it the "Vase". He managed to swim an "amazing" distance of 1300 meters before he rolled over on his side and went to the bottom of the ocean. The Vasa sank for several reasons, one of which was the king's desire to equip her with a huge number of heavy cannons.

2 The Emu War (1932)

In 1932, there was an invasion of emus in Western Australia: they ate crops, harassed farmers and, in general, were "one big misunderstanding." Australian troops were sent to fight them. armed forces.

The Emu used guerrilla warfare tactics, so the soldiers could not figure out their positions. By the sixth day of hard fighting, the Australian forces had managed to kill only 50 birds, using 2,500 rounds of ammunition. After a month of hostilities, the emus forced the enemy to retreat to replenish their stocks of weapons and food.

An Australian commander, driven mad by the emu's ruthless tactics, claimed that the birds were bulletproof and even compared them to tanks. After the soldiers replenished their supplies, they returned to the battlefield. This time, the emu forces suffered heavy losses, but there were too many of them, so the Australian army ultimately decided to surrender and go to reconciliation.

3. War between France and Brazil over lobsters (1961-1963)

France was ready to do anything to get tasty, high-quality lobsters, even to go to war with Brazil. You see, France was allowed to fish off the coast of Brazil. The key word here is fish. Then the French tried to prove to everyone that lobsters are also fish. Brazilian oceanographers insisted that "lobsters cling to the ocean floor and are therefore part of continental shelf". The situation became critical when French fishing boats that were stealing lobster from Brazilian fishermen refused to leave the coastal zone. Then Brazil decided to use the navy. France, in turn, put its Navy on alert. During the confrontation, Brazil managed to capture one French ship and force the rest to retreat.

4. Cod Wars

Some wars are fought for resources, others for pride, others for cod. Iceland and England have been fighting for the right to fish since the 1400s. However, the first official "Cod War" began in 1958.

It was a real battle between David and Goliath. Britain involved its entire Royal Navy, and Iceland - only six patrol boats and one aircraft. No one was seriously hurt during the first war, but the British Navy spent half a million dollars on fuel for ships. As a result, Iceland won.

After the second Cod War began, in which the Icelandic fleet decided to use its secret weapon - the “cutter”. Its use brought the Cod War to a new level. The Icelanders cut the English fishing nets with reckless vigor. The British responded by ramming Icelandic patrol boats. This led to the first casualties in the Cod War.

The Second Cod War also ended in victory for Iceland. The countries signed an agreement that prohibited the British from fishing in Icelandic waters. This peace lasted only a few years, after which a new war broke out. The third and last Cod War was the worst. The Icelandic patrol boats began firing live ammunition at their opponents, which no doubt resulted in wounded casualties. Ultimately, Britain, which suffered millions in losses, decided that the game was not worth the candle and left the Icelanders alone.

5. Operation "Cottage"

In 1943, there were rumors that the Japanese had occupied a small island near Alaska. Canadian and American soldiers were tasked with destroying them. The only problem was that the Japanese were already far away when the Allies arrived. Due to heavy fog, American and Canadian troops mistook each other for the enemy and opened fire. Then the American warship was blown up by a Japanese mine. Soldiers who were exploring the island ran into booby traps left by the Japanese. As a result of the operation, the losses of the allies amounted to more than 300 people.

6. Hull Incident

Sometimes a too belligerent attitude can lead to serious trouble. There is an interesting psychological phenomenon called "Infectious Shot". When one person decides to open fire, everyone else follows suit, even if none of them knows who they are shooting at. This is exactly what happened to the Russian Second Pacific Squadron.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Second Pacific Squadron was in the North Sea, where it suddenly collided with several British fishing vessels, which it mistook for Japanese destroyers. Fire was opened on them - and a real madhouse began.

Rumors began to circulate among the Russian fleet that Japanese torpedoes had knocked out one ship and captured another. When the fog cleared, they realized that they were firing at each other.

7. Baltic Fleet

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Baltic Fleet was in a catastrophic situation. After the British learned of the incident in the North Sea, they sent their fleet to pursue the Baltic, which was forced to make a stop in Spain.

military personnel Baltic Fleet apologized to the British and bribed them to save their lives. After sailing for Madagascar, they were ordered to stay there until Russia sent reinforcements, which, according to the fleet commander, they did not need. Two months have passed since then. Most of the fleet was stricken with malaria. Four ships were put out of action after being idle in port for so long. Also, the crews of the ships tried several times to arrange rebellions, which were suppressed.

In an attempt to restore the morale of the troops, the commander of the fleet decided to conduct exercises. It was a bad idea. First, during these exercises, an innocent tug was damaged. Secondly, one of the ships began to sink for no reason. Thirdly, during the exercises, another ship was accidentally shot down and put out of action.

8. Battle of San Jacinto

The Battle of San Jacinto took place during the Texas Revolution in 1836. In it, the losing side was literally "caught while sleeping." The Mexican army built defenses day and night, preparing for an attack by the enemy.

The soldiers were very tired, so the commander allowed them to take a short nap during the day. The Texas rebels seized the moment and surrounded the Mexican army, capturing their only cannon in the process.

They fired one shot and charged into battle, taking the Mexicans by surprise. In a relatively short period of time, the rebels killed over 600 Mexicans. The Battle of San Jacito has been hailed as one of the greatest military defeats in history. The loss of the Texans amounted to only eleven people.

9 Operation Eagle Claw

During the Iranian hostage crisis, the Americans were looking for a way to free their country's citizens who were being held against their will in the American embassy. President Carter approved an ambitious plan by the US Army Special Forces to rescue American citizens, but everything was only smooth on paper. This rescue operation was one of the biggest failures in military history.

According to the plan, special forces units were to land in an uninhabited desert. After that, they would be taken by six helicopters to the American embassy, ​​where they would free the hostages and fly away with them. Everything went wrong from the very beginning. As it turned out, the desert was inhabited, since there was a road next to the landing site. A bus with Iranians who were taken hostage drove along it. An oil truck followed, and one of the Special Forces soldiers fired a rocket at it, blowing it up and alerting everyone to its presence.

Then a sandstorm began, so only four of the six helicopters arrived. This was not enough to take out all the hostages. The special forces had no choice but to abort the operation.

The commander called the plane, which rammed one of the helicopters during takeoff, provoking a powerful explosion. As a result, eight soldiers were killed.

10. First World War

The First World War was a great disaster, because due to the lack of a correct understanding of modern warfare, a huge number of people died. The armies of that time had an archaic mindset. They thought that the one who fought better would certainly win. This led to a thoughtless accusation of enemies who were able to invent a machine gun and "mowed down" enemy ranks on the battlefield.

The commanders of the First World War also had high hopes for the cavalry, but this method was clearly outdated. Perhaps the greatest failure of the First World War was the fact that leaders were chosen not for their personal qualities, but for their origin - preference was given to people from wealthy families. This led to a mass of incompetent decisions that were of key importance.

The material was prepared by Rosemarina - according to the article from therichest.com

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Original taken from dave_aka_doc in the Great Emu War

It was 1932. The USSR introduced a unified passport system, the Spanish Republic adopted a law on the autonomous staus of Catalonia, Japan launched an operation to seize Shanghai, Finland suppressed a rebellion within itself, in the USA the Dow Jones index dropped to an absolute minimum of 41.81 points ...

At this time, in distant Australia, the Minister of Defense declares war on ostriches >: 3

And it all started like this...
After the First World War, many veterans of both the Australian and British armies (and some others) sent all world hegemony and politics to the nyuh and left for distant and calm Australia to farm. Nature, silence, grace, a minimum of civilization and a complete renunciation of everything.
The Australian government is rubbing its paws contentedly, hoping to take the first place in the world in the production and export of wheat in one fell swoop. For the sake of this, "military farmers" are promised support and all kinds of subsidies - you say, my dears, just start expanding the sown area, and it won't rust behind us.

Veterans are honestly expanding the area under crops, doing their best in land reclamation and trying to turn the desert into a blooming garden. But subsidies are never expected (and when did politicians keep their promises?). Moreover, the former desert turns out to be the territory of migration of Emu - quite such brave large ostriches, which once again, migrating, stumble instead of salt marsh on young tasty shoots ...

Needless to say that the farmers were at the boiling point? Their native Australian state set them up almost twice. And since the lion's share of the new farmers were former soldiers, they immediately rushed to the Ministry of Defense without hesitation - to complain and demand money.

The Australian Minister of Defence, Sir George Hawkeye Pierce was a man of original thought. And therefore he did not give money, but instead he took it and declared war on ostriches. They say we will not let our farming be offended! Let's protect green pastures from vile feathered invaders! Well, everything in this spirit. But with the condition: financing of the materiel of the military campaign, including all consumables, at the expense of Western Australia. From the Ministry of Defense - only people and equipment. Well, the farmers provide their own food.

Pierce had several ideas at once. Firstly, to promote your department and pathetically help Western farmers. Secondly, to train machine gunners on the ball. Thirdly, to collect a hundred carcasses of ostriches so that their feathers can be used to decorate the hats of the Australian light cavalry. The minister was a very enterprising person:3

For the conduct of hostilities, a major of heavy artillery named Meredith was seconded. He had several soldiers, two trucks, two Lewis machine guns (these are the ones that Comrade Sukhov has in the film), 10,000 rounds of ammunition and one Fox Movietone studio cameraman sent specifically to film the epic chronicle.

The rainy season began and when the clouds cleared - November 2, 1932 - the Australian military went on the attack.
The first battle turned out so-so: two trucks with machine guns bouncing on potholes and bumps of impassability all day chasing ostriches across the desert, shooting in all directions in long bursts. These ostriches, do not be fools, scattered in all directions, remaining out of range of shooting. In addition, there was no talk of aimed shooting at all.
According to the report of the military, it turned out to be very difficult to aim at the fleeing birds, but despite this, "a certain number of birds" (c) were destroyed on the first day of hostilities

The major begins to scour the desert in search of "more tame ostriches" that would not scatter from machine guns and trucks. As a result, after six days of such hostilities, Meredith reports that two three hundred vile aggressors were killed, and the soldiers are determined and did not suffer any losses.

Day after day, the local newspapers roll with laughter and sand the Ministry of Defense, and on November 8, Pierce recalls the abnormal artillery Major. Ostriches continue to eat farm wheat further.

But already on November 12, Meredith was sent back, and Pierce fiercely defends in Parliament the need to continue the war of the state with ostriches. And an artillery major should be at the head, because there is still no better machine gunner in the state than him. The wick inserted to the major works, and now the fighting brings a hundred carcasses of ostriches a week. As a result, by the beginning of December, Meredith reports almost a thousand birds killed personally and another 2,500 thousand that fled wounded into the desert and died there themselves. Warriors drill holes in their tunics, the Parliament applauds, it is already painful for newspapermen to laugh.

As a result, all this war of the state with ostriches acquires the name "Great" in the newspapers.
However, there is practically no result for farmers, because the total number of emus is estimated at 30,000 individuals, and even if you believe the artillery major, he only slightly patted the ostriches.

Farmers in Western Australia repeatedly ask the state for help, but in the end everything is decided by the greed: a system of monetary incentives for citizens for killing an emu is activated with the provision of irrefutable evidence. And it's easier - everyone starts paying for the head of an ostrich. And in the end, in 1934 alone, 57,034 such "incentives" were paid out.

Here is such a war with ostriches turned out on the marsupial continent.
From all this it quite definitely follows that no one in the whole world knows how to have fun like the Australians can do it =)