Questions tagged [siege]
The [military] technique of blockading a city or other target that has a strong defensive position. Usually by surrounding it and trying to stop escapes and resources getting in.
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Did the Trojan Horse story transpire? [duplicate]
In support that it happened:
+ neighboring countries confirm parts of the Iliad*
+ described in detail down to soldiers' names
Instead in support that it's fairy tale:
- (I believe) people weren'...
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How did Vauban develop his parallel siege technique first used during the 1673 siege of Maastricht?
During the second to last siege before Maastricht Vauban directed the 1672 siege of Orsoy, where he used what had been the long standing zigzag of the trenches to approach the city (lower right of the ...
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Battle of Ulm: why did general Mack surrender to Napoleon instead of retreating to Ulm and wait for the Russian Army?
Was there something that made being besieged at these times inconceivable? I can imagine that a lack of provisions and/or logistics of keeping ~70 000 men in a city wouldn't make the situation ideal ...
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Why did the Siege of Ceuta (1694-1720) take so long?
Why and how exactly did the Siege of Ceuta (1694-1720) take so long? I was reading on sieges, and I am aware they are basically used to force a city into surrender by draining them of resources and ...
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Is this trebuchet based on a real historical model?
I was watching a clip from Game of Thrones where trebuchets were being launched from ships. From my research, the closest thing I could find is a floating arm trebuchet, but rather than dropping ...
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Were ships effective for sieging cities?
When I play Civilization I find that ships can be quite strong for sieging cities, but a lot of cities aren't in range of the water. But in real life I know most major cities are near water sources. I'...
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Did besiegers ever come up through the latrine?
About seven minuets into this video he explains about the latrine in the castle and how it would be blocked up during a siege to keep people out. Is the historian correct in saying this? I was ...
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How were siege ladders used to attack medieval castle walls?
It's a common trope in both movies and computer games that ladders are used to climb walls when assaulting a castle.
But in each case it seems like it would be incredibly easy to defend - it appears ...
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What is the purpose of this Roman siege tactic as shown in this Illustration?
When browsing Wikipedia, I came across this illustration that displays some of well known siege weapons of Roman empire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine#/media/File:Roman_siege_machines.gif
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Could besieged medieval cities develop a micro-economy during wars to endure the siege for long time? [closed]
During the medieval age, one of the main reasons that pushed besieged cities to capitulate was the exhaustion of provisions (foods,water,drugs...) that maintain the every-day life of the city ...
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What was the military background of the Irish company at the Siege of Jadotville?
During the Siege of Jadotville, the Irish "A" company under Quinlan's command and UN mandate seems to have fought pretty well.
It is especially mentioned in the linked article a good capacity in ...
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Are there examples of cities planned for urban combat that actually experienced it?
I was under the impression some cities are built to make urban combat more of a mess than it already is. Specifically they are built to have bad sight lines, confusing routes for the enemy and planned ...
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Why did a Venetian colonel defect to the Ottomans during the siege of Candia?
Following up on my interest in the Knights of Malta, I got to reading about their part in the Cretan War which went on from 1645 to 1669. This led me to the siege of Candia. This started in 1648 and ...
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What was Masada's Roman ramp steep angle?
One thing that puzzled me about the story of Masada, is the ramp for the ram.
The angle looked bizarre to me. I suppose it wore out over the years by the harsh winds, and maybe floods, but from ...
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How did 300,000 people survive the 3 1/2 year siege of Sarajevo?
How did the inhabitants of Sarajevo survive a 3 1/2-year siege from 1992 to 1996? Specifically, how did they deal with water, food, and heating?
Background: In 2018, Sweden sent out a leaflet "If ...
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