At what point do armies tend to break?
score:9
There was an old, if rough rule of thumb (that I read in the Encyclopedia Britannica years ago) that an army could sustain only 30% casualties without breaking. At this point, the survivors would all feel a real fear of getting killed or wounded "next," instead of "that's what happened to the other guy."
That's all other things being equal of course. An army that saw an enemy break first, then suffered its 30th per cent casualty, would nevertheless receive a morale boost that would nullify this effect. Untrained troops tended to break at much lower casualty rates than trained troops, which was a major mark of "experience" levels. And fighting on home ground counted for a lot. At the battle of Stalingrad for instance, the "30% rule" applied only to the German army. Russian units could sustain 90%+ casualties and have the survivors fight; in one case 6 men out of 1,000 escaped a trap.
Upvote:4
Green units might break, retreat or even desert without any deaths. For example, mass surrender of Germans in the west at the end of WWII, or Iraqi army at the end of the Gulf War.
While other units fight to death, specially if their culture does not allow surrender or retreat. For example Spartans on Thermopylae or Japanese on Tarawa, where survival rate was below 1%.
Hence, the answer is so vast than one should not expect to reach a number, even if that number exists, it just a mean number.
Upvote:7
From what I have read, the level and intensity of training influences this massively. More green troops will break easily whereas veterans will tend to fight longer and harder.
Panic is another factor: the more there is, the greater the chance of an army breaking. Mercenaries when not well paid, had a tendency to break or change side -- see the Thirty Years war for numerous example of that.
Finally, a decisive key event: death of a general/leader, taking a position, or threatening the camp (with followers and your possessions) would do wonder to break the moral and route an enemy.
More post
- 📝 What was a "Teuctli" in Mesoamerican history
- 📝 Why wasn't Monaco unified with France?
- 📝 What was used to pay taxes in Medieval England
- 📝 In the First Barbary War, how long was the USS Philadelphia aground?
- 📝 Who was the medieval author who addressed readers 1000 years in the future?
- 📝 How educated were the clergy during the Medieval period?
- 📝 How did an advancing force walk during WW1?
- 📝 How did Isaac Newton support himself in the period of self-study that he conducted at 23?(after he received his B.A.)
- 📝 When did the Roman empire start to hire Anglo-Saxon mercenary troops to protect Britain?
- 📝 What were the global economic consequences of the 1918 flu pandemic?
- 📝 Are there documented shifts in how history, time, and accuracy were regarded in society?
- 📝 Have primary voters in US overseas territories or their delegates ever had a noteworthy influence in any primary election or convention?
- 📝 Why did Roosevelt and Truman change the usual switch date of presidency? (4th of March to 20th of January)
- 📝 What was the first major technological advancement that occurred after the fall of the Roman Empire?
- 📝 Can someone clarify Livy's argument in Book 21, Chapter 19 of Ab Urbe Condita Libri?
- 📝 What did cataphract units wear under the armour?
- 📝 Did the USSR have any position on global warming?
- 📝 How frequently did monasteries attack other monasteries in Early Medieval Western Europe?
- 📝 Did the Nazis ever cite Martin Luther's "The Jews and their lies" to justify the holocaust?
- 📝 Why did France surrender so quickly during ww2?
- 📝 How many wars have there been in Europe since WW2?
- 📝 What was the attitude of Brazil's government towards the Spanish Civil War?
- 📝 Are there known completely sealed chambers in Egyptian pyramids?
- 📝 What kind of occupation was a "piper"?
- 📝 Cover Art of "Álbum de la Revolución Cubana"
- 📝 Which people resisted Russian expansion most fiercely?
- 📝 Did Catherine Howard use some form of birth control?
- 📝 Animosity between Mandarin-speaking and Cantonese-speaking Chinese?
- 📝 Why was New Guinea not colonized by Austronesians the way Indonesia was?
- 📝 Is there still controversy among historians and archaeologists about the exact date of the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 At what point do armies tend to break?
- 📝 At what point was the Byzantine Empire's decline irreversible?
- 📝 What was the point of horse armour?
- 📝 What were the criteria for class ranking at West Point prior to the Civil War?
- 📝 At what point were the most current and former US Presidents alive?
- 📝 At what point did Soviet armored units have qualitative parity with Wehrmacht armored units?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence behind the claim that the Soviet armies perpetrated mass rapes during their stay in Germany?
- 📝 What received constitutional understandings did Pitt break in 1784?
- 📝 At what point did high school become a standard prerequisite for university students in the USA?
- 📝 At what point after the war did Confederate money begin to attain value again?
- 📝 What was the point of the Babylonian captivity?
- 📝 What is the history of standing armies in India?
- 📝 What caused the turning point in Hundred Years' War?
- 📝 What equipment and formations did the Muslim armies employ against the Crusades?
- 📝 At what point did the United States have a truly federal army?
- 📝 What were the advantages and disadvantages to the creation of Vichy France, from the Nazi point of view?
- 📝 What was Rousseau's point in "The Social Contract"?
- 📝 What happened to Soviet POWs taken by non-German armies on WW2 Eastern front?
- 📝 At what point did mapmaking begin to accurately reflect what we now know about the earth?
- 📝 What made Stalingrad a turning point in the second world war?
- 📝 At what point in time did Judaism become popular? [Pre Christianity]
- 📝 What are the best primary textual sources I could point to regarding the existence of Julius Caesar?
- 📝 What were the American-equipped armies of Nationalist China equipped with?
- 📝 What was the point of hanging in “hanging, drawing, and quartering”?
- 📝 What race were the invading Turkish armies of Anatolia?
- 📝 What were the expectations of a medieval castle or fortress hoping to break or outlast a siege?
- 📝 At what point did noblemen stop being the backbone of the military?
- 📝 What were the casualties and ship damage on each side of the Battle of Plum Point Bend, Tennessee?
- 📝 At what point in England did use of swords to settle impromptu arguments become unusual?
- 📝 at what point did Europe overtake the Arabic World and India in math and science?
