Military Disaster Quotes
This historical quotation is important for two reasons, First, it shows us that the concept of a Canal was discussed fully a decade before Theodore Roosevelt actually had it built. Second, there were those who feared that a canal would actually be a detriment to the United States as our Navy was then quite weak. TR however built up the navy and made a great world-wide show of it and also built the Panama Canal.
In one of Churchill’s greatest wartime blunders, he thought up a plan to attack Turkey in WWI despite the fact that almost all the professional naval and army officers thought it too dangerous and risky. Fisher, the Chief Naval Officer, tried to talk Churchill out of it but could not. Fisher turned out to have been right. The result was the tragic fiasco of Gallipoli. When the attack failed with such heavy losses, Fisher resigned and Churchill was forced out of office soon afterward.
