The Greek historian Thucydides suggested that when a state falls as a result of a decisive battle, we should inquire not into the battle itself but into the underlying weakness of a state vulnerable to such a hazard of war. France in 1940 comes to mind, or Alexander’s victory over the Persians at Gaugamela, or the triumph of Wellington and Blucher at Waterloo. But such battles are rare. Rome recovered from successive defeats at the hands of Hannibal, and Hitler’s Reich, imperial Japan, Napoleon’s empire, and France during the reign of Louis XIV were able to fight on after repeated military disasters.
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