100 Mistakes that Changed History: Backfires and Blunders That Collapsed Empires, Crashed Economies, and Altered the Course of Our World

331 Pages·2010·1.98 MB·English

by  Bill Fawcett

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction

Chapter 1 - AMBITION
Chapter 2 - AHEAD OF HIS TIME
Chapter 3 - SHORTSIGHTED
Chapter 4 - MISPLACED TRUST
5 and 6 - AMBITION AND SUPERSTITION
Chapter 7 - COWARDICE
Chapter 8 - LACK OF PLANNING
Chapter 9 - SPLIT COMMAND
Chapter 10 - PRIDE
Chapter 11 - PERSONAL AMBITION
Chapter 12 - PLAYING TO THE ENEMY’S STRENGTHS
Chapter 13 - NO GOING BACK
Chapter 14 - GOTTA KNOW THE TERRITORY
Chapter 15 - THE HIGH COST OF THE EASIEST WAY
Chapter 16 - ... AND DENARII FOOLISH
Chapter 17 - OVERCONFIDENCE
Chapter 18 - TAKING THE EASY WAY
Chapter 19 - FIGHT YOUR OWN WARS
Chapter 20 - NOT-SO-FREE-FIRE ZONE
Chapter 21 - HIRING OUT HOME DEFENSE
Chapter 22 - BLIND OBEDIENCE
Chapter 23 - BAD PRIORITY
Chapter 24 - FOOLISH PROMISE
Chapter 25 - RUSH INTO BATTLE
Chapter 26 - SELF-INTEREST
Chapter 27 - SHORTSIGHTED
Chapter 28 - PRIDE
Chapter 29 - SUPERSTITION
Chapter 30 - STUBBORN PRIDE
Chapter 31 - FEAR OF SUCCESS
Chapter 32 - FALSE SAVINGS
Chapter 33 - SOME MISTAKES HAVE TURNED OUT WELL
Chapter 34 - OFF COURSE
Chapter 35 - BROKE THE RULES ONCE TOO OFTEN
Chapter 36 - SUPERSTITION
Chapter 37 - JUST INCREDIBLY BAD JUDGMENT
Chapter 38 - DEAD-END SCIENCE
Chapter 39 - ALL COURAGE AND NO PLAN
Chapter 40 - POOR PRIORITIES
Chapter 41 - FINANCED HIS OWN WORST NIGHTMARE
Chapter 42 - DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT
Chapter 43 - IMPATIENCE
Chapter 44 - TUNNEL VISION
45 and 46 - NOT LEARNING FROM HISTORY
Chapter 47 - EGO OVER SURVIVAL
Chapter 48 - PUTTING THE WRONG MAN IN THE WRONG PLACE
Chapter 49 - INVITING IN THE ANGLOS
Chapter 50 - DO NOTHING
Chapter 51 - STUBBORN
Chapter 52 - TECH FAILURE AND PANIC
Chapter 53 - GETTING CARRIED AWAY COSTS THE WAR
Chapter 54 - OVERCONFIDENCE
Chapter 55 - RACIAL BIGOTRY
Chapter 56 - AIDING THE ENEMY
Chapter 57 - EVERYONE LOSES
Chapter 58 - ONE WRONG TURN
Chapter 59 - TOO SUCCESSFUL A DEVIOUS PLAN
Chapter 60 - THINKING SHORT TERM
Chapter 61 - RIGHTEOUSNESS OVER REALITY
Chapter 62 - MEANINGLESS GESTURE
Chapter 63 - POLITICAL SCIENCE
Chapter 64 - AIDING THE ENEMY
Chapter 65 - A SLOB SAVES LIVES
Chapter 66 - DOING NOTHING
Chapter 67 - BAD BUSINESS
Chapter 68 - TASTY MISTAKE
Chapter 69 - FAILURE TO ACT
Chapter 70 - DEALING WITH THE DEVIL
Chapter 71 - HALFWAY RIGHT
Chapter 72 - STOPPING SHORT OF VICTORY
Chapter 73 - RENAISSANCE MAN
Chapter 74 - BLINDED BY REVENGE
Chapter 75 - NOT PREPARED
Chapter 76 - IGNORING A WARNING
Chapter 77 - SELF-DEFEATING VICTORY
Chapter 78 - SHORT-RANGE THINKING
Chapter 79 - NOT LEARNING FROM HISTORY
Chapter 80 - OBEYING ORDERS TO A FAULT
Chapter 81 - NO RETREAT
Chapter 82 - TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Chapter 83 - OPINION OVER REALITY
Chapter 84 - THE HIGH PRICE OF RACISM
Chapter 85 - STUCK TO A BAD BARGAIN
Chapter 86 - MISQUOTED
Chapter 87 - EGO OVER WISDOM
Chapter 88 - DIRTY TRICK
Chapter 89 - MYTH OF THE DECISIVE BATTLE
Chapter 90 - MARKETING DISASTER
Chapter 91 - INDECISIVE LEADERSHIP
Chapter 92 - PUT UP WITH THIS MISTAKE
Chapter 93 - UNNEEDED RISK
Chapter 94 - INCOMPLETE RESEARCH
Chapter 95 - OPEN SAYS A ME
Chapter 96 - UNDERESTIMATING EVIL
Chapter 97 - STOPPING SHORT
Chapter 98 - BELIEVING THE WRONG PEOPLE
Chapter 99 - DESIGNED TO FAIL
Chapter 100 - THOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY
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Copyright © 2010 by Bill Fawcett & Associates Inc.
Interior maps provided courtesy of the author. Maps created by James Clouse.

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PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fawcett, Bill. 100 mistakes that changed history : backfires and blunders that collapsed empires, crashed economies, and altered the course of our world / Bill Fawcett.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-44367-5
1. History—Miscellanea. 2. History—Errors, inventions, etc. I. Title. II. Title: One hundred mistakes that changed history. D10.F—dc22 2010028546

http://us.penguingroup.com
Thanks to researchers Mari Hillburn and Karen deWinter. And special thanks to
Tom Colgan for actually letting me have the fun of writing this book.

But the real dedication has to be to the millions of men, women, children,
soldiers, sailors, airmen, and even animals that paid such a high price for the
mistakes of others from the beginnings of recorded history. And maybe an
apology to those who will come after for the mistakes being made now that they
someday will have to pay for.
INTRODUCTION
History-Making Mistakes
Or perhaps more accurately “Mistakes Making History.” Look around. Do you
think the world got this way on purpose? The best-laid plans of mice and men
often do go awry, and this book is about the awry part of that phrase. Much of
history happened not because of careful planning by great leaders but because of
mistakes made by them and others. In this book we take a look at one hundred
decisions, actions, and just plain accidents that changed the course of history. To
qualify as a mistake, the error has to be something that the person making it
knew better or should have known better than to make. Being outwitted is not a
mistake; doing something so stupid that any reasonable person would know it
would cost you the battle, your kingdom, or your life is a mistake.
Life was not always the same as it is today. We view the past through the lens
of today, as modern people looking at it from today’s perspective. In ancient
Rome, communications between cities could take days, not seconds, and the
worldview of a Saxon noble or a Crusader is a far cry from yours or even
anything you have seen in the movies. Honor and faith to them were as
important as wealth or status is today. Context is important. By necessity, the
entries in this book are short. That limits, perhaps mercifully, detailed
explanations of the time and attitudes in which the mistake took place. The story
of each mistake begins by setting it in context. Because these mistakes were
world-changing events, many have books or whole libraries’ worth of books
written about them. Do seek out books to read further if something really
interests you. History becomes more fascinating the deeper you delve into it.
In this age when every sniffle and stutter is recorded and rebroadcast hundreds
of times, it is easy to see that no one is perfect, and we are constantly reminded
that to err is human. People make mistakes—some of them whoppers—and the
great leaders of history managed to be mistaken just as often as are the much-
scrutinized politicians of today. Some of those mistakes changed the course of
history for the entire world or at least for a continent.
There may be a philosophical message hidden among this survey of the
stumbles and missteps on the march of history. Feel free to seek it out. But for
the most part, whether in a war or in the bedroom, the great mistakes of the past