The article discusses the 10 biggest military mistakes in history. These include:
1. Franz Ferdinand's driver making a wrong turn, which led to the assassination of the Archduke and the start of World War I.
2. The fall of Constantinople due to a forgotten open gate, which allowed the Ottoman Empire to conquer the city.
3. The German submarine U-1206's toilet backfiring, causing the sub to surface and be captured by the British.
4. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion, where a group of Cuban exiles were sent to overthrow Fidel Castro but were unprepared and defeated.
5. General Lew Wallace's mistake during the Battle of Shiloh, where he led his men in the wrong direction, causing them to miss the battle.
6. The invasion of the island of Kiska, where the US military invaded an island that was already abandoned by the Japanese, resulting in over 100 casualties.
7. The Battle of Solway Moss, where a Scottish army of 18,000 men was defeated by a British army of 3,000 men due to poor leadership.
8. The British fort of Marshall II being captured by the Ojibwa tribe after a game of lacrosse, where the soldiers left the gates open.
9. The USS William D. Porter's series of accidents and mistakes, including a depth charge exploding near the Iowa and a real torpedo being launched at the same ship.
10. Operation Barbarossa, where Adolf Hitler launched a massive invasion of Russia without proper research, leading to the failure of the invasion due to harsh weather conditions.
The article concludes by asking readers to share their own examples of military blunders that deserve to be on the list.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The driver of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's car made a wrong turn, leading to the assassination of the Archduke on June 28, 1914.
2. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is considered one of the triggers of World War I.
3. The Byzantine Empire's capital city, Constantinople, was the largest and richest city in Europe from 1261 to 1453.
4. The Ottoman Empire, under Sultan Mehmed II, sieged Constantinople from April 6 to May 29, 1453.
5. The Byzantine Empire's failure to close one of the main gates allowed the Ottoman Empire to flood the city and take control.
6. The German submarine U-1206 was equipped with a complicated toilet system that required supervision to operate.
7. The captain of the U-1206, Carl Adolph Flint, refused supervision and flushed the toilet, causing a disaster that led to the submarine's capture.
8. The Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 was a failed military operation by the United States to overthrow Fidel Castro's government in Cuba.
9. The invasion was led by Brigade 2506, a paramilitary group of Cuban exiles and others opposed to Castro.
10. The invasion failed due to the units being unprepared for the mission and their plan falling apart almost immediately.
11. The Battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War was fought from April 6 to 7, 1862.
12. General Lew Wallace was ordered to bring his men to the battleground as support for the right flank, but he led them in the wrong direction.
13. The Japanese invaded the island of Kiska on June 6, 1942, but abandoned it two weeks prior to the US military's attempt to retake it.
14. The US military suffered over 100 casualties during the invasion, despite there being no Japanese troops on the island.
15. The Battle of Solway Moss took place on November 24, 1542, between the Scottish and British armies.
16. The Scottish army, led by Robert Maxwell, was defeated due to Maxwell's illness and failure to give orders.
17. The Ojibwa tribe attacked the British at Fort Marshall II in 1763, killing almost all the soldiers and holding the fort for a year.
18. The USS William D. Porter was involved in several accidents and mistakes, including forgetting to raise the anchor and shooting down a Japanese kamikaze plane.
19. Operation Barbarossa was launched by Germany in 1941, with the goal of invading Russia.
20. The operation was the largest military invasion force in history, with over 4 million soldiers.
21. The German army's failure to research the Russian terrain and climate led to their defeat, as their equipment froze and became unusable.
22. Napoleon Bonaparte made a similar mistake in 1812, invading Russia without preparing for the harsh winter conditions.