Who deserves more credit for the victory at Waterloo ?

[Belisaire_]

The british or the prussian ?

For me it's the british because they were fighting against most of the french army since the beginning of the battle but it's also true that the prussian involvement was decisive.

[webMaster412160]

I would say both of them if one didn't help the other during the battle of Waterloo then the would have lost.

[Poach]

I'd tend to side with master on this one, the Prussians may not have taken the brunt of the fighting as the Coalition troops did, but had you removed either army from existence on the day Napoleon would have probably been victorious and it would have been back to a few years of the Royal Navy sinking lots of French ships and the French Army shooting lots of Germans and other assorted Europeans.

[Erebus Pasha]

The Dutch.

[Dr. Croccer]

The Dutch.

Hear, hear.

[71stRegtGrenCoy]

The Dutch without the British would have been like a bicycle with no wheels.

[Juvenal]

Come now gentlemen, it was Napoleon!

He was the architect of the campaign, Blucher/Scharnhorst and Wellington merely reacted to his moves. The Prussians were defeated, as planned, at Ligny, and Wellington did nothing more than hold the line at Quatre Bras.

It was Napoleon's decision to assume the Prussians were spent and to smash Wellington before he could withdraw.

Napoleon chose to raise the stakes by attacking at Waterloo, knowing that the Prussians might intervene (yet being in no hurry to order Grouchy to join him). He had the option of moving against Wellington's communications. This would have drawn Wellington west, away from Prussian support due to their pathetic supply arrangements. But Napoleon wanted a quick victory so he could march against the Austrians.

Napoleon's decided to delay the attack until 1:30pm so that Wellington could be smashed properly.

Napoleon decided to continue attacking even after being engaged by substantial Prussian forces who threatened to surround him.

Finally, Napoleon decided to commit the Guard in an all or nothing gamble.

It was in all truth Napoleon's victory.

[Godless Pickle]

They both deserve the same since without one or the other, the French would have been victorious. The British deffently held the line and did more damage to the French, while the Prussians attacked and turned the tide, if the question was who put more resources and mind into the battle, the answer would be 100% British.

[Manco]

Only a fifth of all the troops on Anglo-Prussian side were British. I wouldn't call that putting in most of the resources.

[6th Vigil]

The Dutch.

I'm glad someone said the Dutch early. Otherwise this thread would have got angrier versions of this post:

Only a fifth of all the troops on Anglo-Prussian side were British. I wouldn't call that putting in most of the resources.

There was a thread made ages ago by a Dutchman who was very angry about the British claiming all the credit for Waterloo. It basically turned into a Brit bashing thread with all the Frenchmen joining in.
I did have fears that this thread would turn out the same but i think it has been avoided.

[Каие]

There was a thread made ages ago by a Dutchman who was very angry about the British claiming all the credit for Waterloo. It basically turned into a Brit bashing thread with all the Frenchmen joining in.

Well that makes a nice change from the usual Brits mercilessly bashing the French with the Dutch watching on the sidelines of irrelevance.

[6th Vigil]

Well that makes a nice change from the usual Brits mercilessly bashing the French with the Dutch watching on the sidelines of irrelevance.

I follow the line of the catholic church: change is bad!!!

NO ONE CRITICISES SHARPE.

The truth about Waterloo is that Sharpe cut down myriads of soldiers with single sweeps of his heavy cavalry sword and they only included the other British, Dutch and German soldiers due to Sharpe's modesty and the corruption of the British army.

[antaeus]

Only a fifth of all the troops on Anglo-Prussian side were British. I wouldn't call that putting in most of the resources.

you command the army, its your victory.

wellington was unquestioned, it was a british force with mixed parts irrespective of where those parts came from.

spreading the burden and reaping the rewards... i call that excellent use of resources.

[Manco]

you command the army, its your victory.

wellington was unquestioned, it was a british force with mixed parts irrespective of where those parts came from.

spreading the burden and reaping the rewards... i call that excellent use of resources.

Ow yes, the Brits were in control of those forces, and their own troops were the backbone, and this indeed means Wellington made good use of available sources.

I'm just disputing the actual contribution of resources was mainly British, which was only a fifth of all troops and a good 1/3 of his own force.


I'm certainly not taking away from Wellington's achievements, just saying that without his German and Dutch troops he could not have done it.

[Manco]

Well, A lot of the credit does go to the British, even if only because of Wellington. It's only the resources part that bothered me.

[Fluttershy]

If the Dutch troops were British troops Napolean would have been defeated before the prussians arrived! Its still pretty amazing that the allys won the battle at all with all those Dutchmen getting in the way of the brits an prussians

[Pious Agnost]

I've got to agree with Juvenal, Napoleon deserves the credit for the victory at Waterloo .

Wellington was brilliant, but he didn't face Napoleon in his prime

[sabaku_no_gaara]

If the Dutch troops were British troops Napolean would have been defeated before the prussians arrived! Its still pretty amazing that the allys won the battle at all with all those Dutchmen getting in the way of the brits an prussians

Reported....

It's underlying message is that dutch are inferior, wich makes it racist, also I'm insulted as a dutchman

[Farnan]

It's underlying message is that dutch are inferior, wich makes it racist, also I'm insulted as a dutchman

I'm pretty sure he is being sarcastic, making fun of how people never give the Dutch any credit for it.

[sabaku_no_gaara]

I'm pretty sure he is being sarcastic, making fun of how people never give the Dutch any credit for it.

Really?

In that case sorry for reporting, I thought you where belitteling us, like so many do