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Bezig met laden... Warrior of God: Jan Zizka and the Hussite Revolutiondoor Victor Verney
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Paperback edition of the first modern biography of one of the greatest military strategists of all time. Jan Zizka (1370-1424) was a formidable figure whose life and military career was set amidst the whirlwind of monumental revolutions - military, religious, political and social - that engulfed medieval Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The leader of Bohemia's Hussite Revolution - the first of the religious wars during the Protestant Reformation - he was a forward-thinking military genius whose record is virtually unmatched. He fielded a peasant militia, initially untrained and unequipped, and faced down the Holy Roman Empire's huge professional army of armored knights known as 'The Men of Iron'. Among his numerous innovations was the armored wagon fitted with small cannons and muskets, presaging the modern tank. All this, despite the fact that for much of his later career he went completely blind. Yet remarkably, beyond central Europe, very little is known about him. In this original and engrossing study, historian Victor Verney combines an authoritative analysis with colorful anecdotes to reveal the incredible exploits of this forgotten military genius and the fascinating cast of characters who surrounded him. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)943.7102092History and Geography Europe Germany and central Europe Czech Republic and Slovakia Czech RepublicLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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From a narrative point of view, the book provides a good account of Jan Zizka's life and generalship. As a participant of the battle of Grunwald 1410, Zizka witnessed the declining value of the knight as a weapon system. His combination of war wagons, early mobile artillery and peasant soldiers resulted in a killer package ideally suited for the rolling and populated country of Bohemia. Farther east, he would have run into major supply problems, further south, the Alpine territory would have crushed his mobility. While Zizka proved to be a supreme tactician (never losing a battle), he squandered his chances in fruitless sieges of minor stronghold instead of conquering a territory.
The Hussites suffered from the dominant and unquestioned position of Prague which never allowed for a stable compromise between cities and peasants (as happened in Switzerland where the smaller city states entered into an alliance with the peasants). When the revolutionary fervor of Prague subsided, disunion crushed the Hussites - long after the death of Zizka who, like Robert E. Lee, could not transform battlefield successes into political victory. ( )