Most Epic Screwups in History?

[Plotinus]

I know the so-called Dark Ages have gotten a bad rap for much of history, but this revisionist rehabilitation of the age isn't much better.

But we were talking about the Middle Ages, not the Dark Ages. When exactly are you thinking of?

 

[Stolen Rutters]

But we were talking about the Middle Ages, not the Dark Ages. When exactly are you thinking of?

I'm hoping I got it right... The middle ages was the whole 800-1000 year period between the Roman times and the "Rennaisance"? (Before checking up in the wiki, I thought the Rennaisance was actually the last era of the Middle Ages before Early Modern exploration age, but hey, I'm flexible!)

Whereas, the Dark Ages is a debunked concept. (though from the wiki it appears it's still in use and limited to regions and times where we have very few records, like Britain and Dacia just after the decline of Roman control). Various parts of Europe actually managed to survive and prosper for most of the following thousand years. For instance, Hagia Sofia, built during the depths of the "Dark Ages" blows the previous Roman architecture out of the water...

Back to topic, a most epic screwup: General Custer's last stand.

 

[Mirc]

Yessss, Byzantium was amazingly civilized and developed during the time of the Dark Ages. Hagia Sophia is just one of the examples. Actually, now that you mentioned Dacia, pretty much all the records we have up to the year 800-900 or so were from Byzantine sources. So not only that they were civilized, but they had many record-keepers over the ages, advanced theories of music and literature, and an amazing lot of spiritual influence over that part of the world.

 

[Sharwood]

Is it just me, or is this thread almost exactly the same as the blunder thread?

 

[Dachs]

Is it just me, or is this thread almost exactly the same as the blunder thread?

A bit more vague, but yeah it's mostly the same thing.

 

[Sharwood]

A bit more vague, but yeah it's mostly the same thing.

Then it's only a matter of time before an argument over exactly which screw-up is worse breaks out. Not to mention the inevitable classification of things as screw-ups that aren't.

 

[Dachs]

Then it's only a matter of time before an argument over exactly which screw-up is worse breaks out. Not to mention the inevitable classification of things as screw-ups that aren't.

Already happened.

 

[Sharwood]

Already happened.

I was referring to multiple-page arguments about WWI.

 

[EnlightenmentHK]

Whereas, the Dark Ages is a debunked concept. (though from the wiki it appears it's still in use and limited to regions and times where we have very few records, like Britain and Dacia just after the decline of Roman control). Various parts of Europe actually managed to survive and prosper for most of the following thousand years. For instance, Hagia Sofia, built during the depths of the "Dark Ages" blows the previous Roman architecture out of the water...

The Dark Ages is not a debunked concept, its a re-examined and subsequently shortened one. Society in most relevant respects did collapse. It took forever for them to recover previous levels of literacy, urbanization, commerce, wealth, trade, agricultural output, travel, engineering, technological and cultural output.

 

[Smellincoffee]

The Dark Ages is not a debunked concept, its a re-examined and subsequently shortened one. Society in most relevant respects did collapse. It took forever for them to recover previous levels of literacy, urbanization, commerce, wealth, trade, agricultural output, travel, engineering, technological and cultural output.

The use in my most recent university courses seems to be limited from 500ish to the Carolingian Renaissance.

 

[Sciguy001]

The biggest scewup: battle of Saratoga for the British. If they had not lost, America would be under there control for proabably a lot longer wich would effect the history of the world dirasticaly.

 

[Perfection]

Systematically destroying our own means of survival.

 

[Agent327]

Second that.

 

[Brighteye]

King Harold racing to defeat William and losing rather than gathering more levies in order to crush him utterly.

 

[Camikaze]

The Zimmermann Telegram has gotta be up there amongst the worst.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

The Zimmermann Telegram has gotta be up there amongst the worst.

Not really - it was the inevitable result of Germany's decision to pursue unrestricted submarine warfare.

 

[Brighteye]

And millard might not be the right word, but a thousand million in English is just that. It's the crazy Americans again who decided that a billion ought to be a thousandth of its real value.

 

[Sharwood]

Technically milliard is the right word, from a mathematical and scientific viewpoint. Plenty of books used it prior to the popularisation of billion. It may be a loan word from German, but how many other loan words does English have?

 

[Reno]

World War I: no truly innocent parties save the millions of men who destroyed themselves for the welfare of nationalists, aristocrats, and war-funders. I don't know if anything good came of it except for its serving as an example of what nationalism and unquestioning allegiance can do.

While the war in itself was definitely not good, it did have the positive effect of allowing small countries like mine to become independent.

 

[Sharwood]

While the war in itself was definitely not good, it did have the positive effect of allowing small countries like mine to become independent.

That's only positive if you're not Russian.