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Part of the problem was that the US Civil War was derided as a second-rate war in a colonial country. It demonstrated the power of the defence over the offence

Part of the problem was that the US Civil War was derided as a second-rate war in a colonial country. It demonstrated the power of the defence over the offence, and the sheer magnitude of war that an industrialized nation could create. Most people figured WW I would have ended by Christmas. Oops.

InTheArena 1y ago
It is one of the greatest military, cognitive dissonances of all time that European generals recognized how brilliant Grant was, and failed to understand every single one of the principles by which he eventually overcame the confederacy. It’s mind-boggling. I’ve always thought that it was crazy how much of a straight line there was between the trenches around Richmond and the trenches of World War II.
- arduanika 1y ago
  I believe you mean the trenches of WWI not WWII. But yes. There's a theory that Longstreet saw it all coming, too, but was unable to get the point through to Lee. That is, he saw that trench warfare was going to be the future. But yeah. The European general staffs were modeling all their train timetables on the fast Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
  - Spooky23 1y ago
    Lee was over his head. Grant saw that you have to kill everyone or kill their ability to kill, or both. Lee was looking for the illusive decisive victory to create a political end to the war. In fairness, the Confederates had an incentive to not see this, as an agrarian slave state cannot out produce a nascent industrial state.
jltsiren 1y ago
The Franco-Prussian War demonstrated the opposite a few years later. Prussia was able to use field artillery effectively to support infantry attacks. The overall scale of fighting was similar to the US Civil War, but the war was much shorter and the individual battles larger. If there was a war European WWI leaders had ignored, it was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. By then, technology had advanced enough that the teachings of the Franco-Prussian War were no longer valid, and defense was again stronger than offense.

InTheArena 1y ago

It is one of the greatest military, cognitive dissonances of all time that European generals recognized how brilliant Grant was, and failed to understand every single one of the principles by which he eventually overcame the confederacy. It’s mind-boggling. I’ve always thought that it was crazy how much of a straight line there was between the trenches around Richmond and the trenches of World War II.

arduanika 1y ago
I believe you mean the trenches of WWI not WWII. But yes. There's a theory that Longstreet saw it all coming, too, but was unable to get the point through to Lee. That is, he saw that trench warfare was going to be the future. But yeah. The European general staffs were modeling all their train timetables on the fast Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
- Spooky23 1y ago
  Lee was over his head. Grant saw that you have to kill everyone or kill their ability to kill, or both. Lee was looking for the illusive decisive victory to create a political end to the war. In fairness, the Confederates had an incentive to not see this, as an agrarian slave state cannot out produce a nascent industrial state.

jltsiren 1y ago

The Franco-Prussian War demonstrated the opposite a few years later. Prussia was able to use field artillery effectively to support infantry attacks. The overall scale of fighting was similar to the US Civil War, but the war was much shorter and the individual battles larger. If there was a war European WWI leaders had ignored, it was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. By then, technology had advanced enough that the teachings of the Franco-Prussian War were no longer valid, and defense was again stronger than offense.