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it's not an accident that the best countries in the world to live in, or those who experienced the most socialist or communist governments, are all in cold climes. people have to help each other out or they will freeze to death.
so I doubt it was ever really cold in England.
By the way, do you really think cold climate prevents war? So the Russo-Swedish War of 1590-1595 never happened, nor the Thirty Years' War , nor the Russo-Swedish War of 1656-1658, nor the Little Northern War, nor the Great Northern War, nor the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743, nor the Finnish War, where the Russian army crossed the frozen Baltic sea into Sweden, nor the Winter War...? "People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognize necessity when a crisis is upon them." - Jean Monnet
Nor the King of Denmark who "smote the sledded Polack on the ice" (Hamlet, Act 1 sc1). More use of frozen seas to allow surprise troop movements.
after the Teutonic knights' fiasco with Alexander Nevsky, the people who had to live under winter conditions figured it out; winter was the time to cocoon.
neither Germany nor France are really considered winter wonderlands.
That's precisely why I didn't include these campaigns in the (not exhaustive, but long enough) list of wars between Nordic countries.
By the way, these wars kept happening for six centuries after Alexander Nevski's victory on the Lake Peipus. It looks like it took them a lot of time to figure out cocooning is better than fighting a war... "People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognize necessity when a crisis is upon them." - Jean Monnet
There was no way around the problems in Stalingrad with the technology of the day. No amount of preparedness would have helped.
Diesels have problems on cold days. Steel sticks due to frozen humiditiy, people get cold and sick, etc.
I get a kick out of how everyone extrapolates something different from my statement.
The Battle of the Bulge was also fought during an exceptional winter in Europe, by the bye. The problems with the matériel underlie my point - harsh winters do not lend themselves to fighting.
Although in this case, the snow was the problem, more than the cold, as was the case in Stalingrad, which also occurred during an exceptional winter.
Snow was more the problem than cold, but temperatures during the Battle of the bulge reached -20°C, and that was combined with strong winds. Exceptionally cold for the region, not to mention for the equipment of the US Army. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Second Northern War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Second Northern War (1655-1660, also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655-1660), Russia (1656-1658), Brandenburg-Prussia (1657-1660), the Habsburg monarchy (1657-60) and Denmark-Norway (1657-1658 and 1658-1660). The Dutch Republic often intervened against Sweden.
Looking at the main month (the one the battle was in or the one that has more days if it spanned over more then one month):
Ujście - July Danzig - 5 years siege (not really a battle) Sobota - August Żarnów - September Cracow - October Nowy Dwór - September Wojnicz - September Jasna Góra - December Gołąb - February Warka - April Kłecko - May 1st Warsaw - June 2nd Warsaw - July Dyneburg - July Kokenhusen - August Riga - September Prostki - October Filipów - October Chojnice - January March across the Belts - February Kolding - December Copenhagen - February Sound - November Nyborg - November
Or by month (siege of Danzig excluded): January 1 February 3 March 0 April 1 May 1 June 1 July 3 August 2 September 4 October 3 November 2 December 2 Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se
in North America, for example, there were some battles fought during cold weather, but even the tribal conflicts in pre-Columbian Northern America were put on hold during the winter months.
That proves North Americans are wimps... "People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognize necessity when a crisis is upon them." - Jean Monnet
You keep asserting that, without giving evidence. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
and if there were colder winters in Europe on a regular basis, there would not have been as many battles/wars.
As per the example, winter was no obstacle to fighting, so that does not really follow.
stevesim:
Sure, seasonal fighting exists, but winter is not all bad for fighting. Depending on terrain and technology a frozen winter can give better conditions for raids and war then a swampy summer. And seasonal pauses are unstable, because if some tribe figures out how to attack off-season they often win, and then everybody starts doing it.
Anyway, if you are going with northern Europe as part of the countries you mentioned here:
Then pausing for winter stopped sometime in the 16th century, when northern Europe was a war-torn corner of continent and peasant armies still could carry the day. 17th century with professional armies was much less hindered by seasons and the Nordic countries were no exception.
The Nordic countries are today a peaceful and prosperous corner where Sweden and Denmark has long given up trying to get hegemony over the Baltics, as both countries lost to more powerful neighbours - Russia and Germany - some 150-200 years ago. But that is really no basis to argue that weather made it so. Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se
the Little Northern War,
During which the following happened:
March across the Belts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the middle of December the weather shifted, turning into the coldest winter in memory. The seawater between the islands froze, making a ship-borne assault impossible. Engineer Erik Dahlberg was dispatched by the king to ascertain whether the ice would support the weight of the Swedish cavalry and artillery. Dahlberg reported that a crossing over the ice was feasible.
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