Dutch state liable for three Srebrenica deaths

[KenWats]

Unlike sieges after 1700 (perhaps a bit earlier in some places), the sieges of this era (1200-1700) were sordid affairs. Non-combatants and "expended" combatants were often sacrificed so that the besiegee or the besieger could carry on. A standard besiegee tactic was to expel its "useless" citizens from the fortress; the besieger would then drive them back to the fortress walls, where they usually starved to death.

I recently watched a documentary on Caesar's siege of Alesia, he used similar tactics to force the Gauls to keep the noncombatants in Alesia and eat up Vercingetorix's food faster, so this actually goes back farther still. Very interesting discussion.

[jmm99]

Is it this Youtube, Battle of Alesia (42 min) - commentary by Richard Gabriel (author of Subutai; and many other military books and articles), inter alia.

The scene re: famine and sending out the women and children, etc. - starts after 23:30.

Regards

Mike

[KenWats]

Hi Mike,

No, although I might have to give that a watch sometime. It was the History Channel's Battlefield Detectives: Alesia (https://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/B...7?trkid=438403). I found it pretty well done, although I don't have a lot of secondary exposure to actual history of the period- most of my exposure has been through historical novels. But your quote above struck a chord as the documentary mentioned a very similar tactic. IIRC, Caesar ordered his legionaries to drive the noncombatants back to the gates of the citadel and force the garrison to listen to their wives and kids starve. Eventually the Gauls let them back in the citadel- which consumed the food stores that much faster. Very interesting stuff and a far cry from what the American public currently expects.

Ken

[JMA]

kiwi medical doctor, Andrew Thompson, wrote:

'If blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run. Or else get weapons. Your lives are worth so much less than theirs.'

(Source: http://ow.ly/pqUgf )

Hard to challenge his wisdom... From his personal experience