History Main / BackFromTheBrink

** David Petraeus lead The Surge that significantly reduced the violence in Iraq. He did this using his reinforcements to implement a strategy of counter-insurgency. Coalition troops lived among Iraqi civilians and protected them rather than sortieing out from massive secured compounds outside Baghdad. After a brief spike, fatalities fell by nearly a third and continued dropping until the total withdrawal was complete. Given that events are still in motion in that nation, [[RuleOfCautiosEditingJudgement it is debatable whether he was really successful in the long run.]]

** David Petraeus lead The Surge that significantly reduced the violence in Iraq. He did this using his reinforcements to implement a strategy of counter-insurgency. Coalition troops lived among Iraqi civilians and protected them rather than sortieing out from massive secured compounds outside Baghdad. After a brief spike, fatalities fell by nearly a third and continued dropping until the total withdrawal was complete.

* VictorDavisHanson's latest book, ''The Saviour Generals'' is about five commanders who brought their side BackFromTheBrink. They are:

** [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar William Sherman]] captured Atlanta in time to save AbrahamLincoln's re-election from the wave of negative opinion brought on by the butchery of General Grant's Overland Campaign.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', The Returners have a stronghold of sorts in the mountains east of Figaro--however, it's about the time that you start the game that the Empire starts occupying cities to build their own power, but also to try and stamp out the Returners. This is a slight aversion of the trope, as your objective as the player is not to win back control of the cities, but, eventually, to solve the issue diplomatically. [[spoiler: Just a shame that Kefka has to stab everone in the back to become the Ultimate World Overlord]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': By the time Link starts fighting back the twilight, it's taken over all of Hyrule but Link's hometown, Ordon Village. In fact, they would have gotten that area too had Link not come back at just the right time to kill off the Twilight Beasts.

* Same as well in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' Zelda is the last of the Maidens to be free, and Link saves her, loses her and then frees the others. This happens quite often in the series.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': By the time Link starts fighting back the twilight, it's taken over all of Hyrule but the area where TheChosenOne lives. In fact, they would have gotten that area too had Link not come back at just the right time to kill off the Twilight Beasts.

* In the aftermath of HouseOfM, the ScarletWitch had all but eradicated the mutant populace, down to somewhere around 200 (it varies DependingOnTheWriter). At the end of ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'', [[spoiler:Hope and the Scarlet Witch destroy the Phoenix Force, restoring the mutant populace once more... though, not the way it was before.]]

* Another TruthinTelevision example: WorldWarOne. By early 1918, the GermanEmpire had practically conquered Eastern Europe, were about to come to a permanent peace settlement that would give them most of their conquests, all the Central Powers were- while shaken- still in the fight, and the Balkans front had been effectively pacified with the fall of Romania and Serbia. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians were shifting forces for two massive simultaneous assaults to try and destroy the Western Allies by striking both in France and Italy- and would drive so far that they began minting medals in preparation for the falls of Paris and Venice, all while the Entente could not even divert needed units from Africa because of Von Lettow's actions and the Senussi rebellion. The only GOOD news for the Western Allies was that the US had now entered the war, but it was stuck with a seriously under-strength, under-equipped, undertrained, and under-experienced force on the wrong side of the Atlantic Ocean. Then came the Balkan offensive, the Turkish surrender, Diaz's reforms and "three great campaigns" to anihilate the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Belleau Wood, Amiens, the Hundred Days, and finally the October mutiny that struck at the heart of the Kasierreich.

** [[AncientGreece Themistocles]] rallied the terrified and fleeing Athenians to fight the invading Persians with their untested and outnumbered fleet in the Battle of Salamis. This battle will be [[ArtisticLicenseHistory (fantastically)]] depicted in Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire.
** [[ByzantineEmpire Belisarius]] pacified Persia, squashed a revolt, and then re-conquered much of the lost Western Roman Empire's Mediterranean territories for Byzantium while undermanned and untrusted by his emperor.
** [[TheAmericanCivilWar William Sherman]] captured Atlanta in time to save AbrahamLincoln's re-election from the wave of negative opinion brought on by the butchery of General Grant's Overland Campaign.
** [[TheKoreanWar Matthew Ridgeway]] stopped the "bug-out" of UN forces in the face of a [[ZergRush massive Chinese army]], did severe damage to the Chinese, and pushed them back north of the 38th Parallel. This saved Seoul and is why there's a North and South Korea, instead of a unified Communist state like Vietnam.

[[AC:Fanfic]]
* In ''Fanfic/TheSwarmOfWar'' James/Overmind (formerly the leader of the biggest Zerg Brood on Aiur) arrives in the [=W40K=] universe with only eight Overlords and some escorts from his force. Three of the Overlords are lost to local [[GiantFlyer Giant Flyer]]s, so he makes do with just over twenty land units and a lot of dead meat from the crashed Overlords. Oh, and a large Khaydarin Crystal from a Protoss Pylon.

* In ''Fanfic/TheSwarmOfWar'' James/Overmind (formerly the leader of the biggest Zerg Brood on Aiur) arrives in the [=W40K=] universe with only eight Overlords and some escorts from his force. Three of the Overlords are lost to local [[GiantFlier]]s, so he makes do with just over twenty land units and a lot of dead meat from the crashed Overlords. Oh, and a large Khaydarin Crystal from a Protoss Pylon.

* Happens multiple times during the 30-years war. First Bohemia revolts and throws Imperial forces out of Bohemia. [[IncrediblyLamePun The Empire Strikes Back]], including beating an attempted Danish invasion, and looks on the verge of total victory. Cue Swedish intervention, that in a few years completely shatters the imperial stranglehold on northern Germany and has Swedish troops as far south as Munich. Then Gustav II Adolf dies, the Protestant alliance falls apart and the Emperor manages to drive the Swedes back to the Baltic again. [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle And we're only in the 1630s!]] France enters the war and it is finally brought to a negotiated settlement, with France and Sweden the nominal victors.

* VictorDavisHanson s latest book, ''The Saviour Generals'' is about commanders who brought their side BackFromTheBrink.

* Standard in ''SuperRobotWars'' is to have the player open a chapter with just a few units against an enemy's forward force. Defeat the weak scouting party, and the real army shows up. This is about the time that the player's mother ship makes it's appearance, along with the force you've already collected.

** Played with by ''AceCombat6'', where the first mission is a surprise attack by the enemy which ends with allied forces being driven from the area and abandoning their capital to enemy occupation, so it's not until the ''second'' mission that you're defending your last remaining airbase from enemy attack. The title of the second mission is, in fact, "On the Brink".

** This war swung both ways, too. When the Chinese intervened, it was explicitly because the UN had reached from the DMZ all the way to the Yalu River. The very same Yalu River that serves as the Korean northern border, in fact - last stop, final destination, end of the line. The Chinese proceeded to demonstrate every guerilla and mass warfare tactic they learned in their Civil War to retake all of North Korea and reach shelling range of Seoul before their offensive was finally stopped, with the final result being...[[ShaggyDogStory the border ending up right back where it started]] (plus or minus a few kilometres).

* TruthInTelevision: In World War 2, Russia had almost no weapons or ammunition, its three major industrial cities were under attack, much of the remainder of Europe was under the control of the Axis powers, with Britain was being bombed constantly. Only after Russia started winning the battle of Stalingrad did the tide finally turn in the Allies' favor. Having the world's largest industrial economy join the fight in 1942 didn't hurt either.

* In the Sega CD game ''Dark Wizard'' the player, as the latest successor to King Armer VIII, starts with the tiniest, most-defeated remnant of the Holy Army (three unnamed units) that's been squirreled away in the far-off wastelands of Quentin. While a professional army made up of the [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards much-stronger]] equipment-wearing, magic-using units is impossibly expensive for your tiny starting tax base, you can still fight using a never-ending stream of [[SummonMagic summoned]] {{Mon}}, just like all of your opponents.

** ''VideoGame/QuakeIV''. In the beginning, you are separated from the main Earth forces. When you join them mid-game, however, it gets only more difficult.

* Pretty much any ''{{Quake}}'' game except the third (with even more of an ExcusePlot than the others) is like this.
** ''{{Quake}}'' begins with everyone in the base but [[SpaceMarine the protagonist]] dead.