History LetsGetDangerous / RealLife

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne was this for [[UsefulNotes/CanucksWithChinooks Canada]], in terms of international reputation. Before WWI, they were some obscure backwater colony. By the end of the war, the Germans knew in no uncertain terms that they were in for ''hell'' if [[TheDreaded the Canadians]] attacked them. It didn't help that the Canadians' equipment was almost as bad as the Italians' (see below.) The [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns Ross rifles]] constantly jammed in the mud of the trenches, to the point that Canadian soldiers would steal the Lee-Enfield rifles off dead British soldiers whenever they good. Their boots constantly fell apart, and they were issued "shield shovels" that constantly failed as both shields and shovels.

* Battle of Lepanto. Those fat, rich, decadent, wussy, Venetian wimps. Should be lots of fun to pick on, right? In the first two battles, the Venetians lost. In the third and best-known one, in 1571... they got dangerous. Very dangerous. There was intervention, naval combat experience, and bucket-loads of money from multiple sources, mainly Spain. The Venetian Galleasses and their mixed crews were said to have accounted most of the Ottoman galleys sunk. Galleasses were the first ships able to deliver a broadside, while galleys could only fire from the beak of the ship. It should also be noted the Lepanto is cited as a miracle--due to just about everyone in Europe praying the Rosary at the time. It is said that the Pope knew the minute the battle was won, and proceed to shout the good news out the nearest window.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne was this for [[UsefulNotes/CanucksWithChinooks Canada]], in terms of international reputation. Before WWI, they were some obscure backwater colony. By the end of the war, the Germans knew in no uncertain terms that they were in for ''hell'' if [[TheDreaded the Canadians]] attacked them.

* Militaries as a ''whole'' are this, specifically ones bound by [=NATO=] and the Geneva Convention, as they try to limit their force used to what is necessary, avoid unnecessary collateral damage and death, and are prohibited from using weapons that cause "undue suffering". However, if the situation becomes dire enough, they'll step up their game and, in fact, the reasoning for these restrictions is because just how "dangerous" these military forces can get is [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt utterly]] [[KillEmAll horrifying]].

* In UsefulNotes/TheWarOfTheSpanishSuccession, France was on the ropes by 1708. Multiple defeats at the hands of [[FourStarBadass the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy]] had sapped French morale, the costs of war were staggering and the people were suffering under a nasty famine. French King UsefulNotes/LouisXIV opened peace negotiations and offered generous terms, but the Allies not only demanded that his grandson Phillip V yield the Spanish throne, but that France remove him by force if he refused. An outraged Louis resumed fighting, saying that he'd rather battle his enemies than his own family. Louis wrote a letter to his people that was read in every village church in France, urging them to one last stand. The French rallied their forces and inflicted a PyrrhicVictory on the Allies at the Battle of Malplaquet and flat-out won the Battle of Denain, evening the odds. Franco-Spanish victories in Spain also ensured that Phillip V's throne was secure. The British were increasingly unhappy at the amount of blood and treasure the war was costing them, especially when a decisive victory was becoming less likely. They [[KnowWhenToFoldEm agreed to peace talks wherein they made valuable territorial and trading gains, along with a guarantee that the French and Spanish crowns wouldn't be merged.]] The Dutch and Austrians were unhappy, but they [[VictoryByEndurance were too exhausted to continue and also made peace with the French.]]

* In UsefulNotes/TheWarOfSpanishSuccession, France was on the ropes by 1708. Multiple defeats at the hands of [[FourStarBadass the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy]] had sapped French morale, the costs of war were staggering and the people were suffering under a nasty famine. French King UsefulNotes/LouisXIV opened peace negotiations and offered generous terms, but the Allies not only demanded that his grandson Phillip V yield the Spanish throne, but that France remove him by force if he refused. An outraged Louis resumed fighting, saying that he'd rather battle his enemies than his own family. Louis wrote a letter to his people that was read in every village church in France, urging them to one last stand. The French rallied their forces and inflicted a PyrrhicVictory on the Allies at the Battle of Malplaquet and flat-out won the Battle of Denain, evening the odds. Franco-Spanish victories in Spain also ensured that Phillip V's throne was secure. The British were increasingly unhappy at the amount of blood and treasure the war was costing them, and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm agreed to peace talks wherein they made valuable territorial and trading gains, along with a guarantee that the French and Spanish crowns wouldn't be merged.]]

Additionally, there was the U.S.S. Constitution's victory over the H.M.S. Guerriere. It's the origin of The Constitution's moniker of "Ol' Ironsides" when the Guerrierre's shots simply bounced off her hull. The US Navy didn't have any heavy-hitter Ships of The Line, but their best ships were the ''Constitution'' and her sister ships, all top-quality heavy frigates.

* Militaries as a ''whole'' are this, specifically ones bound by [=NATO=] and the Geneva Convention, as they try to limit their force used to what is necessary, avoid unnecessary collateral damage and death, and are prohibited from using weapons that cause "undue suffering". However if the situation becomes dire enough they'll step up their game and, in fact, the reasoning for these restrictions is because just how "dangerous" these military forces can get is [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt utterly]] [[KillEmAll horrifying]].

* Battle of Lepanto. Those fat, rich, decadent, wussy, Venetian wimps. Should be lots of fun to pick on, right? In the first two battles the Venetians lost. In the third and best-known one, in 1571... they got dangerous. Very dangerous. There was intervention, naval combat experience and bucket-loads of money from multiple sources, mainly Spain. The Venetian Galleasses and their mixed crews were said to have accounted most of the Ottoman galleys sunk. Galleasses were the first ships able to deliver a broadside, while galleys could only fire from the beak of the ship. It should also be noted the Lepanto is cited as a miracle--due to just about everyone in Europe praying the Rosary at the time. It is said that the Pope knew the minute the battle was won, and proceed to shout the good news out the nearest window.

Additionally, there was the U.S.S. Constitution's victory over the H.M.S. Guerriere. It's the origin of The Constitution's moniker of "Ol' Ironsides", when the Guerrierre's shots simply bounced off her hull. The US Navy didn't have any heavy-hitter Ships of The Line, but their best ships were the ''Constitution'' and her sister ships, all top-quality heavy frigates.

** This incident is rather exaggerated. Scipio Africanus was at Cannae but did not have a position of command and the 'remaining soldiers' were at least a legion strength, if not as much as 14,000 men, depending on the source, who cut their way out. What ''is'' a ''Lets Get Dangerous'' moment is that, supposedly, after the battle of Cannae, when Scipio heard that some people were calling for surrender, took some of his friends and marched into the Senate (which he would not have been allowed to enter because of his youth) and demanded that they not surrender, although most Senators were in agreement. He also is said to have charged the Carthaginian lines at the battle of Ticinus to save his father. Pretty much all of this is from Polybius, who was a client of Africanus' grandson (by adoption) Scipio Aemilianus, and is generally regarded to have exaggerated (although probably not outright lied about) things with regards to that family.
* Adolf Hitler is [[FromNobodyToNightmare a perfect example]]. He was a near homeless vagabond until he got into the army. After discharge and a period in prison, he quickly rose, managing to become Führer with only a few setbacks and with a grand total of six initial allies and an impressive ability to make speeches. He took the title of Fuhrer after he seized power and combined his current position with that of Chancellor. He went from being a dropped-out painting student to being leader of a nation.[[note]]The title of Fuhrer went back to the tribes in Roman times. The title 'dux' was then, in the 19th century, translated to 'Führer', as 'Führer of somesuch people'. Same for Hitler; 'Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler, Führer des Großdeutschen Reiches'. Führer amounted to little more than a ceremonial title since there never was the position of 'Führer'.[[/note]]

** For a nation who aren't exactly the first to come to mind when you think of military powerhouses, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War The Winter War]] is something of an eye opener. With 1/3 of the troops, 1/30 of the aircraft, and somewhere between 1/100 and 1/200 of the tanks, they sure gave the Soviets some wounds to lick.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Hayha Simo Häyhä]], or "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The White Death]]", was an ordinary farmer who was, naturally, called up to help with the Winter War. He now has the record for the largest number of confirmed kills ever. [[LetsGetDangerous He got so dangerous]] the Russians started operations specifically to kill him, starting with patrols where he was known to be, then escalating to snipers, countersnipers, and ''shelling the woods he was hiding in''. Not only that, but they got lucky and put him in a coma for nine days when a lucky countersniper ''shot him in the face with an [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill exploding bullet]]''. The Soviets stopped advancing and ended the war the same day that he woke up. Some like to think they heard the White Death had come out of his coma and was about to drive them out, and they quit while they were ahead.

** Finnish Air Force. Its final kill-to-loss tally, losses of bombers included, was 5:1. There are more Finnish fighter aces per capita than in any other air force. The two highest scoring non-German fighter aces, whose tally can be verified, are Finns.
** Even disregarding the Armed forces, the Finnish civilians close to Russia who were the first to experience the attempt at occupation would pretend to be turncoats and sign up as guides for Soviet Battalions. They would then lead the hundreds of russian troops deep into the wilderness, make sure they were completely lost and...blow their own brains out. Leaving the Russian troops to freeze or starve to death.

** 30-year-war. Entire separate type of light cavalry was named after them. They were also used as raiders, so much that there is still a prayer in one German church which asks God to save people from plague and Croats. Some accounts even maintained that the Swedish king was killed by Croats, although that was disproved -- the king was killed by Imperial Gotz curassiers.

* Georgia and its whole history. It managed to survive and was (and even in modern days, partially is) a regional power. It was hard to conquer (and actually never was fully conquered until 1801 annexation by Russia) and maintained defacto independence, being a permanent pain in the ass for the various empires. Even Mongols couldnt conquer it fully, maintaining partial tributary control on the eastern and southern parts of the kingdom. Not to mention that they were always outnumbered by enemies, yet somehow ended up being victorious in battles and their opponents getting mercilessly slaughtered.
** amongst aforementioned battles, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Didgori Battle of Didgori]] stands out as one of the most brilliant ones. Prior to that Georgia, that was formerly raided and being under attack by hordes of seljuk turks, under David IV manage to begin successful counterattacks and even invading their own lands. At the same time, he was allied with western Crusaders. To finally end this menace, seljuks assembled massive coalition (numbers vary between 300000 and fantastical 600000)under Najm ad-Din Ilghazi and marched towards Georgia, that only managed to assemble army several times fewer than the invaders (estimated to be 55000 at best). Opponents met each other at Didgori valley (Also, prior to battle David [[BurningTheShips locked the escape routs, eliminating any chance for his army to retreat]]). The invasion ended up being a [[EpicFail massive failure]] and results of the battle would make even Failbaddon from 40K to look like a pinnacle of competence compared to seljuks: absolute majority of the invaders were slaughtered.
* The United States after Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Japanese had estimated that it could successfully win a war against the U.S. since both of their military's production output was roughly equal. The problem was, the U.S. wasn't in a war yet, and so its production of war material was only so-so, while the Japanese had been fighting a war for nearly ten years, ''and were going flat out''. Suddenly, an entire nation wakes up and bears its wrath upon Japan. Eventually, the U.S. was building ships ''faster than the Japanese could sink them'' [[note]]The US Navy set the record for most numerous class of warship in pretty much every extant category. 175 Fletcher-class destroyers, 27 Cleveland-class light cruisers, 14 Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, 24 Essex-class carriers, 50 Casabalnca-class and 45 Bogue-class escort carriers and more! [[/note]]. Everything new and great was first sent to Europe, and the USMC was effectively dead last on the supply chain for everything. Hell, the Marines didn't get to use the Garand until after the National Guard and Marines used the bolt action Springfield 1903 for the entire war!

* The Battle of Britain. Outmanned and outgunned, Britain faced the might of the Nazi war machine alone, having seen the BEF get curbstomped in France. With the help of radar, the RAF utterly tore apart the Luftwaffe, with resistance pilots such as the terrifying 303rd squadron from Poland.

* The United States again... well... the Northern Half of it during the Civil War. Although General Robert E. Lee is regarded as the best Commander in the War effort (So much so, Lincoln tried to give him command of the Union Army, but he refused) and had an impressive string of early victories in the opening years of the civil war, compared to the pitiful show by the ever changing commanders of the Union Army, he still lost to the sheer might of the Union's superior numbers and better economy. Many historians believe that the Union was essentially fighting with one hand tied behind it's metaphorical back and had they engaged in total war economy, the south would have been crushed. Sam Houston even warned his fellow Texans while vetoing the bill to secede that despite the Northern's dispassionate demeanor compared to the southern's enthusiasm, once they got moving, it would lead to utter ruin. They did not listen.

* The United States again... well... the Northern Half of it during the Civil War. Although General Robert E. Lee is regarded as the best Commander in the War effort (So much so, Lincoln tried to give him command of the Union Army, but he refused) and had an impressive string of early victories in the opening years of the civil war, compared to the pitiful show by the ever changing commanders of the Union Army, he still lost to the sheer might of the Union's superior numbers and better economy. Many historians believe that the Union was essentially fighting with one hand tied behind it's metaphorical back and had they engaged in total war economy, the south would have been crushed. Sam Houston even warned his fellow Texans while vetoing the bill to succeed that despite the Northern's dispassionate demeanor compared to the southern's enthusiasm, once they got moving, it would lead to utter ruin. They did not listen.

* Stalin's rise was impressive. A minimally educated ''legal secretary'' who took over his entire government. Even further, one should understand that supreme rulers of the Soviet Union were called "General Secretaries of the Communist Party"[[note]]Well, the actual title is "[[OverlyLongName General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]", which is [[CaptainObvious quite a mouthful]].[[/note]] from Stalin onwards because and ONLY because that was the post Stalin occupied directly before his rise to power.

* The Battle of Cannae during the Second Punic War for Rome, even though this particular example is better known as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Carthage. When the Carthaginian army had the Romans surrounded and were cutting them to pieces, the remaining soldiers, under the leadership of Scipio Africanus, decided they weren't going to get slaughtered by Hannibal, and hacked their way right through enemy lines and to freedom. They regained their prestige when Scipio used them in his army that crushed Hannibal at Zama.

** Persian Kings understood the battles of the Greek mainland as some minor loss on a backward border of their empire... until the said Greeks [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat led by a certain young King]] marched straight '''into''' their empire and smashed it in just a few more battles. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome While outnumbered 10 to 1]].

* Georgia (no, not the US state) and its whole history. It managed to survive and was (and even in modern days, partially is) a regional power. It was hard to conquer (and actually never was fully conquered until 1801 annexation by Russia) and maintained defacto independence, being a permanent pain in the ass for the various empires. Even Mongols couldnt conquer it fully, maintaining partial tributary control on the eastern and southern parts of the kingdom. Not to mention that they were always outnumbered by enemies, yet somehow ended up being victorious in battles and their opponents getting mercilessly slaughtered.

* The Battle of Cannae during the Second Punic War for Rome, even though this particular example is better known as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Carthage. When the Carthaginian army had the Romans surrounded and were cutting them to pieces, the remaining soldiers, under the leadership of Scipio Africanus, decided they weren't going to get slaughtered by Hannibal, and hacked their way right through enemy lines and to freedom. They ended up being TheScrappy of the Roman military, but were RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap when Scipio used them in his army that crushed Hannibal at Zama.

** Basically the same thing happened with Russia, it heavily counted toward winning the European war. Namely, after losing the Winter War noted above, Hitler decided that the Soviet Union was too pathetic to keep as allies, and [[TooDumbToLive decided to turn on them.]] What Hitler didn't realize was that the ''reason'' the Russians lost that war was poor planning, supplies, and a truly badass sniper (who, [[UsefulNotes/FinnsWithFearsomeForests along with his country]], has his own entry on this page). So what happened after the Soviets recovered from the initial string of many German victories? They bled out the bulk of the German army's best troops in the meatgrinder that was Stalingrad, crippling the German war machine long before the USA got involved. Then they eventually went on the counteroffensive and crushed every last German force and stronghold between Moscow and Berlin, even managing to beat the Western Allies to the German capital. There is a very good reason why MakeTheBearAngryAgain is a trope, and why there is an "again" in its name.

** TooDumbToLive: Persian Kings understood the battles of the Greek mainland as some minor loss on a backward border of their empire... until the said Greeks [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat led by a certain young King]] marched straight '''into''' their empire and smashed it in just a few more battles. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome While outnumbered 10 to 1]].