World War I/Awesome


 * The German military strategy for the start of WWI, named the Schlieffen Plan after its creator Field-Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, involved a sweeping attack that bypassed the formidable French defenses in Alsace-Lorraine to attack via neutral Belgium and knock Britain and France out of war by taking Paris (effectively beating France), Dunkirk and Calais (cutting the British off from the mainland) - leaving Germany to fight (and probably beat) Russia alone. They needed this to take a maximum of six weeks - and the crucial element of that was that the outnumbered (reportedly more than 10:1), out-skilled, poorly-commanded and under-equipped Belgian army would simply surrender and let the Germans through. When the Germans came to Belgium, they found King Albert I in personal command of the full Belgian Army, ready to hold them off for a crucial three months - something that, though all too often forgotten, was probably the single most important reason the Germans didn't win the war. The icing on the cake? When the Germans actually sent King Albert the ultimatum demanding that his men step aside and let the German army pass, he responded simply by saying; "I rule a nation, not a road!".
 * Perhaps it wasn't Canada's finest hour in WWI, but the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 was the first time all of the Canadian Corps fought together - and they took and held a ridge that other Entente forces could not. The battle has become mythologized in Canada as the event where the nation began to be taken seriously in world affairs. (On the other hand, the Germans' inability to retake the ridge was a contributing factor in their decision to adopt scorched earth tactics elsewhere in France.)
 * Another came in 1918 for the Italians. Italy was the Butt Monkey of the Allies, only good enough to keep the Austro-Hungarian Army away from France, where the war was being decided. In 1918 the tide was turning against the Central Powers, with Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire forced to sue for peace when the Allies broke through the Macedonian Front and the pro-British Arab Revolt became too strong respectively, but Austria-Hungary and Germany could still offer a stiff fight and extort concessions during the peace talks... When the Italians literally destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Army as an organization in the battle of Vittorio Veneto, starting the chain reaction that dissolved the Austro-Hungarian Empire and opened the way for the Italian Army to march not just on Berlin (a condition the Italians required for not simply continuing the advance and wipe out Austria itself), as the German Army was tied up in France against the rest of the Allies. According to German general Ludendorff, the massive Oh Crap caused by the Austro-Hungarian collapse caused Germany to sue for peace instead than continue the war during the winter to get a less harsh peace.