At many times during the twentieth century, shortcomings in command or political direction have resulted in
major military campaigns and operations failing utterly. There have also been instances in which the campaigns and operations themselves have been so badly conceived that they have contributed to defeat. In his engaging narrative, David Wragg looks at genuine failures rather than simply the inability of a commander to appreciate fully the intervention of new weaponry.
Serious shortcomings in the Tsarist Russian navy enabled the Japanese to gain early mastery of the seas at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, while more than three decades later Hitler’s failure to heed the warnings of history saw his armies decimated in the bitter Russian winter of 1941. In each of the twenty-eight operations or campaigns described in this book, there are compelling reasons for believing that the political or military commanders should have been able to foresee the consequences of a certain strategy or tactic.
Arranged chronologically, the author looks at the tragedy of lost opportunities and military incompetence that characterized the landings at Gallipoli in 1915, and the murderous war on the Western Front,
1914-18. He highlights military blunders made by both Allied and Axis powers during the Second World War due to complacency or lack of commitment, including the fall of Singapore in 1942 and the failure of the blitz on Britain during 1940/41. He also demonstrates how in the postwar era, ‘benevolent’ foreign intervention in Korea, Cuba, Vietnam and, most recently, in Serbia actually prolonged the suffering of those it was supposed to help.
Illustrated with a selection of archive photographs, Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory gives a fascinating overview of some of the most notorious - and some not- so-famous - military blunders of the twentieth century, providing us with some valuable lessons in hindsight as we enter a new millennium.