Supporters of the doctrine of "Tikhism" are sure that everything in the Universe is determined by chance. We do not know about the Universe, but the fact that in world history chances have played a decisive and fatal role more than once is an indisputable fact.
Discovery of America
From 1492 to 1507 America was called the West Indies. For the reason that it was discovered by Columbus by accident, and the purpose of his expedition was to find a sea route to India.
If for Europe the discovery of America can be considered a great success, then for the indigenous population of this continent, Columbus's discovery can be called a fatal accident. It launched the so-called Indian demographic catastrophe. From 1492 until the end of the 20th century, an estimated 100 million Native American people died as a result of European colonization.
Storm and the Invincible Armada
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130 ships of the Invincible Armada left Lisbon for the invasion of England on May 29, 1588, but the campaign did not work out from the very beginning - the Armada got into a storm and was forced to go to the harbor for repairs. Concerned about food shortages and disease among sailors, the Duke of Medina Sidonia wrote to the king that he doubted the success of the entire venture. But Philip insisted that his admiral stick to the plan.
The campaign of the Invincible Armada to the shores of England abounded in fatal accidents, connected, first of all, with unfavorable weather. And before the decisive battle with the English fleet, and during it, and after. Only about 60 ships returned home; casualties were estimated from 1/3 to 3/4 of the number of crews. Thousands of people drowned, many died of wounds and diseases on the way home.
Weyrother's doom card
Wanting to punish the French for the capture of Malta, the Russian emperor Paul I sent Russian troops to Italy and Switzerland in 1798. The Italian detachment was commanded by Alexander Suvorov, the Swiss - Alexander Rimsky-Korsakov. They were to meet at Zurich to attack the troops of Marshal Massena.
When developing the campaign of Suvorov's army through Switzerland, the lieutenant colonel of the Austrian headquarters Weyreuter made the route using the staff method, without reconnaissance of the area and using very conditional maps, where, as it turned out later, a number of roads existed only on paper.
As a result, Suvorov did not have time, Rimsky-Korsakov was defeated, France continued to wage wars that shook Europe for another 15 years.
Interestingly, this lesson has not been learned. The author of the "brilliant" plan Weyrother once again "distinguished himself" in 1805, preparing the disposition of the battle of Austerlitz, notorious for the allies.
Waterloo
The word "Waterloo" has become a household word. So today they talk about a serious defeat, failure. For Napoleon, the Battle of Waterloo became the main "epic feil" in his life, the defeat in the battle was caused, among other things, by a number of random facts.
Firstly, during the beginning of the battle, Napoleon experienced an aggravation of his illness (the emperor suffered from hemorrhoids), therefore, instead of being on the site of the decisive battle and quickly assessing the situation, Napoleon took medicinal baths.
Secondly, the forces of Marshal Pears could not arrive in time to the place of the battle. The actions of the marshal in this critical situation for Napoleon are assessed by most historians as at least strange. He showed hesitation and extreme negligence. According to one version, he just got lost.
Russian-Japanese. A series of fatal accidents
The Russo-Japanese War was, unfortunately, full of fatal accidents for the Russian troops. Our squadron, already in the first days of the war, suffered absurd and unjustified losses. So, two days after the outbreak of hostilities, the minelayer Yenisei and the cruiser Boyarin were killed on their own mines. Nicholas II in those days wrote in his diary: “January 29. Thursday. Today there was only one sad news: the mine transport "Yenisei" came across a floating mine and was blown up, and a lump died. drip I p. Stepanov, 3 officers and 92 sailors. A terrible case."
"Accidentally", having hit a mine, the cruiser "Petropavlovsk" was also killed. Admiral Makarov, who was on it, died in the first minutes of the disaster. One of the squadron's sailors assessed this fateful event for the Russian fleet: “What is an battleship? At least two and even a couple of cruisers to boot! The head is gone!.. ".
The sinking of the Titanic
The sinking of the Titanic, which occurred on the night of April 14-15, 1912, is the most famous maritime disaster in history. She claimed the lives, according to various estimates, from 1495 to 1635 people. Until December 1987, it remained the largest casualty at sea in peacetime.
Despite the fact that today many different versions of the sinking of the liner are being put forward, none of them is a priority for serious researchers. We have to admit that the best ship of its time was destroyed by a series of accidents.
From miscalculations in the number of boats and the parameters of unsinkability of the vessel to the fact that the lookouts did not have binoculars that night (the key to the safe in which they were kept was accidentally taken with him by David Blair, who was taken off the flight at the last moment). The Titanic, having received more than one ice warning, was heading at full speed to its destruction.
Gavrila Princip's sandwich
As you know, the start of the First World War was caused by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia. The history of this assassination attempt is replete with fatal accidents. Firstly, the two first conspirators who were waiting for the car with Ferdinand were simply taken aback and did not throw a bomb at him. Then the bomb thrown by Nedelko Chabrinovich hit the canvas top of the convertible and bounced off it. Then another conspirator was confused and could not throw a bomb into a car that had been motionless for 10 minutes.
At the Moritz Schiller's Delicatessen coffee shop, where the murder eventually took place, the car also happened to be (the driver had confused the route), and Gavrilo Princip, who went to the coffee shop to have a bite, happened to be there too …