1. Napoleon’s Russian Campaign

In 1812 at the zenith of his power, the French general gathered a massive army of 400,000 men from all over Western Europe. Thought to be invincible and envisioning an instant victory, Napoleon led his men through Russia only to be reduced down to ragged fugitives. Logistical oversight and by Napoleon’s claim of a brutal Russian winter, the army literally froze to their death. Had no one warned him? Winter was coming!

2. Greece ‘Pillar’ of Wisdom

In the 1821 war between Greece and Turkey, Turkey came under siege by Greek revolutionary army while using Acropolis as a fortress. Running short on ammunition, the Turks began to break down the fort’s marble pillars which contained lead. Seeing this from afar, the Greeks sent an envoy with lead supplies and asked them to stop destroying the acropolis. Well played, Greece. Keep it classy.

3. Capture of Guam

The Spaniards essentially submitted themselves as prisoners of war to the US during their war with America in 1898. Basically, American warships arrived before the Spaniards had a chance to receive news that the island of Guam will be under attack. Thinking that the initial barrage was a solute, prominent Spanish officials went aboard American ships to welcome the “visitors”. It was then that the Americans informed them of being aboard an enemy ship, and thus, prisoners of war. Oh woops!

4. Bolsheviks-style Break

In 1917 Soviet Union, the Bolsheviks Revolution had to be put on hold for a few days. Why? They found the wine reserves in Winter Palace and got unbelievably drunk. To aptly quote Bruno Mars, “Stop! Wait a minute. Fill my cup put some liquor in it!”

5.Suicide-Bomber Soviet Dogs

In World War II, the Soviets trained explosive-strapped dogs to crawl under tanks and blow themselves up. The only available tanks to practice with were Soviet ones. As the dogs were released in battle, they ended up crawling under Soviet tanks and blowing them up because the enemy vehicles smelt different. Minor details…