What is the bravest act in history?

Temujin wrote :

Well Temujin. you can call it what u like , but in here u talk about strategy and not bravery.Take for example Stalingrad .... according to your opinion , the Russians would have given the city to the Nazis cause they were outnumbered....Lenningrad too , would have surrendered to the Germans , since they were outnumbered...In WW2 the war from the German part was conducted by Hitler and NOT by his generals. I am pretty sure that IF the war was conducted more profecionally than politicaly , it would have been much more difficult for the allies to win it.
And Temujin... read about the Hungarian uprising in 1956 , against the communists. There were young people who took a bunch of grenades wrapped them around their body and jumped under Soviet tanks .... u consider them stupid too , because the Soviets were too strong to be opposed ?? Keep in mind that in Hungary , ChechoSlovakia , Polad ...everywhere there was an uprising against the Soviets , there was NEVER a partizan fighting as u suggest that they ought to do.
In the case of sacrifice , like in Thermopylae , or Konstantinopolis , there is more than a simple desperate fight. They both have a political meaning , and above all , they are calculated to the point.Leonidas knows about the oracle ....he also knows that he must buy time for the rest of the Greeks . He also knows that his death will increase the feeling of revenge that the Greeks will feel towards Persians...
Same thing goes for Konstantine Paleologos. He knows that he can not defend the City with his little army....IF he gives the City , and retreats to Mystras , it would be a matter of time for the Turks to attack him there...He has no lands , and no people to join his army , in case he wants to keep fighting the Turks. He also will be another one of the many unworthy emperors , and noboby will trust him as a leader...On the other hand , he knows the Turkish ways ... he knows the milliet tactics of theirs , so he advertises that the priests are saying : better the muslims than the Catholics....This is why he does not call for a general fight ...this is why he fights with almost 5000 Greeks and the 700 knights of Justiniani , leaving the people to gather to the churches...He knows that there will be loot and slaughter , but the Turks will not put all of them to the sword. And his personal death will be a reason for the Greeks to keep fighting...This is why Greeks were never the loyal subjects of Turks ... in 368 years of enslavement 93 small or big uprises will occur , almost one in every 4 years. As a matter of fact , there was never a period of more that 40 years of not fighting between Greeks and the Turks.

So , a last stand sometimes is required IF its sure outcome , will give a meaning for those who will come next.This kind of sacrifice , is never a final point . It is always a step upon which others will stand to keep the fight.
 
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Komnenos wrote :

Of course...There will NEVER be "the bravest act"...It is always the bravest act at the PRESENT MOMENT of TIME...

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charles brough  wrote :

Well said Charles. In this point i would like to point out that i , for myself ,examine brave acts that happen in warfare. What you describe above , is not bravery in war , it is terrorism and i think it belongs to another topic.You are right to say that war has lost its glory , cause of technology , but u must take into consideration that even today , the foot soldier is atill required to march to the land which has been bombed and to keep it. That is until in the future ( far or near ) , these foot soldiers will be manufactured in a lab.

As for terrorism , its NOT working exactly ...it is NOT dealt the right way...

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Jalisco Lancer  wrote :

Completely agreed Mr.Lancer..Though i have to remind you that Santa Anna , didn't think that Alamo will have so great a psychological effect to the Americans , to make them use the battle cry :" Remember the Alamo "....

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Jorsalfar wrote :

Not exactly Jors.. There are always exceptions and what u say its rather tactics than actual war.
Of course the Konstantinopolis defence is NOT the bravest act in history. Thermopylae , was the bravest act , at the time it was done.... So it was the Konstantinopolis defence , so was Lenningrad , so was Stalingrad....each at his own time.
When u face an enemy larger than yours is stupid but brave to stand against it ?? So Englad who withstood Hitler's bombing , was brave , but stupid ?? So the Greeks against the Italians , were brave but stupid ?? The same , against the Germans ?? The Serbians against the Germans ?? The Israelis in 1967 ?? and in 1973 ?? ... I dont think so ....War is NOT numbers and equipment always , its a lot of other qualitiies too.

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This was just a summary , of the most interesting opinions , IMO , that i read here.

Isk..

Iskenderani

I did not mean that facing an army that is bigger than yours is brave and stupid at the same time.I meant that in some cases it can be stupid for example if you underestimate the enemy.

Yes, Ottomans made their preperation realy fine. Istanbul had chance against the Ottomans. It is not a stupidy act to refuse Proposal. Ottomans didnt take that city so cheap and easy

The defending of Istanbul (ex Constantinopole) was brave, but it was the last chance, and not kind of a bravest act.

The bravest act for my country was the Battle of Gallipoli. The bravest act for my nation was the whole Turkish War of Independence.

I am not sure about the bravest act of the history of humanity, but I think the resistance of Native Northern Americans against European colonists, the resistance of Zulu against British, the war of William Wallace against British were some bravest ones I can remember now. And the battle of Thermophylae was also one of them.

Altough I dont like Enver Pasha, his acts were some of the bravest in history. He entered Russia three times illegally, he fought and died with the Uzbeg rebel forces against Russians. He died for Turan, but I still dont appreciate him.

In 1241 after the battle of Muhi the Hungarian king B�la IV. fled to the west chased by mongol cavalry.

The king 's life was in danger many times, but once they were pulled up by the mongol warriors. Then one man from the royal retinue stopped to delay then. The king managed to escape, but his man alone faced with the whole enemy band. I think the fact that he managed to survive is the most incredible in this whole story. Later this man, Ernye �kos became a baron of the kingdom (voivod of Transylvania, ban of Ozora, royal marshal) and his family became a powerful baronical family by the thankful king. I think it is an amazing story.

King B�la flees from the battle of Muhi from the Chronica de gestis Hungarorum (or Chronicon Pictum):

heh, this is sort of similar to a story in Alb tradition.

On the Subject of Ali Pasha, here is an  interesting play  about his special kind of cruelty.

When the Turks finally conquered Shkoder then started heading through Rozaffa castle. I dont remember the details of the character but she ran with her child to escape the Turks, when  this was no longer an option, she jumped and took her child with her.

I think it was Rozaffa Castle, man I havnt heard this story in a long time....

Anyway, the stand at Ulqin is quite memorable for me. It marks one of the first time Albanian catholics and muslims united against a common cause since 200 years earlier when they planed together a revolt against the Ottomans. As the Ottoman Empire was dying, the Serbs began chipping away at the northern lands. The Ottomans then prepared to give off northern Albania to the Montenegrins. Whne the Albs heard of what was going to happen they revolted and killed the pasha who came from Constantinople to give the land off and any Turk with him. Finally the Serbs had enough and they started attacking. One of these cities was Ulqin, in todays Montenegro (still has an 85% Alb populus). The Serbs began surrounding the city full of modern artillery and other Russian gives. they had an army over 10X larger then the Alb one. Attack after attack they could not break through the defenses, and their attacks were pinned back by the Albs(who were mostly citizen conscripts with dated or weak rifles). The Serbs continued for 30 days and still no success. Finally they went to the western powers for help. They sent in ships which blockaded and attacked the city. Finally the Serbs gained an upper hand and overran the city and began disarming the populus, a last offensive was made by the remaining Alba soldiers before they died and the city fell.

A similar even would occur in their siege of Shkoder. In total the Serbs lost about 15,000 soldiers. But caused the deaths of thousands as they moved from Shkoder down to Durres.

The bravest act in Serbian history was certainly facing the Turks who outnumbered us greatly. That was in Kosovo 1389, on June 28th. There were aproximatly 10 times more Turks then Serbs (and some Hungarians, a few crusaders and others).

AS HOMER SAID: IT'S BETTER TO DIE A HEROIC DEATH THEN TO LIVE AS A COWARD.