Weather makes world history

There have been countries that have been saved by the weather, but there have also been cities destroyed because of this factor. Nagasaki (Japan) is an example: If the sky is not blue on August 8, 1945, the city did not suffer an atomic bomb.

Weather is one of the determinants of history

In 489 BC began a war between the Greeks and Persians . If the Greeks failed, their civilization would be wiped out and replaced by the Eastern civilization of the dominant Persian empire. Luckily, the admiral of the Greek navy Themistocles was a person who knew the statue. He used his knowledge of the sea breeze to reverse the battle of the sea battle in Salamis. Thus, Greek civilization is preserved and becomes one of the sources of Western civilization in the future.

In 1247, the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan sent a mighty fleet to invade Japan . But a terrible storm combined with the monsoon caused the fleet to be destroyed and lost at sea. Seven years later, the Nguyen Mong army carried out a second invasion. After nearly half a month of fighting, when the Japanese forces exhausted their strength, there was a great storm and monsoon that created violent tornadoes , helping them to defeat the enemy. In Japanese history, this phenomenon is called " wind god ".

Former Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan.(Photo: japanorama)

Winter Russia

Winter Russia has always been a terrible obsession for all invaders. In 1709, Charles 12, the king of Sweden, absorbed this when he sent troops to attack Russia in the winter. The powerful Nordic army quickly collapsed both physically and mentally because of hunger. Russia has not beaten but won.

More than 100 years later, Napoleon continued to follow Charles's trail. When the French expeditionary army captured Moscow, it was also the winter. Unable to bear the bone chill, the emperor had to retreat. When the French troops withdrew from Moscow, the outdoor temperature dropped to -40 degrees C.

Every day, about 50,000 horses died from cold. All of the looters became dressed up against cold or fuel, but they didn't penetrate. Soldiers died a lot due to lack of food. Others died of frostbite. Of the 600,000 French troops fighting in Russia, only 150,000 survived. Napoleon's demise begins here.

The blue sky harmed Nagasaki

August 6, 1945 is a beautiful day in Hiroshima . At 7:09 am, a US military reconnaissance plane flew over the city sky and sent to the base of the notice: "The cloud covered less than 3/10. Directions: Bombs".

More than an hour later, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. A bustling city was destroyed in an instant. The fate of Nagasaki was even more unfortunate. Under the plan, the main goal of the second atomic bomb is Kokura City. But because the Kokura sky on 8/8 is cloudy, the vision is limited so the B29 aircraft carrying bombs has redirected to the backup target, which is Nagasaki , where the sky is very clear.

Nagasaki is destroyed due to bad luck about the weather in 1945. (Photo: japaneselifestyle)

The biggest landings in history succeeded because of the weather forecast

In early June 1944, more than 150,000 allied army troops landed on the Normandy beach, beginning a total counter-attack against the Nazis .

Before the campaign, meteorologists were tasked with providing weather forecasts to prepare for the opening day.

Historians say, this is the most important weather forecast plan in history. If meteorologists are wrong, the Allies may have to pay for the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. The commanders knew that there were only a few days of favorable weather to land on France in the summer of 1944.

Accurate meteorological forecast helped General Eisenhower choose the timing of the attack that the Nazi army did not expect.(Photo: Flickr)

Initially, the Allies intended to open the landing on June 5, 1944. However, the weather in the English Channel area is very erratic, making it difficult to forecast. The Royal Navy Meteorological Office and the US Strategic-Tactical Air Force are responsible for studying the situation to produce accurate forecasts.

British meteorologists have been observing since May 29, 1944 in Newfoundland, Canada along the Atlantic Ocean. Based on the data obtained, they forecast on June 5 unfavorable weather. Meanwhile, American meteorologists have other calculation results.

Meteorologist James Stagg , head of the Royal Navy Meteorological Office, convinced General Eisenhower to postpone the campaign. The American general in front of the selection was very difficult. The first hours of June 4 weather were quite normal, but Stagg said the weather would change.

General Eisenhower decided to postpone the campaign for another 24 hours. Meanwhile, the German side also made bad weather forecasts and they believed that the Allies could not make the landing in June 1944. But German meteorologists were wrong because they used poorer forecasting technologies than the Allies.

On the evening of June 4, the weather was very bad in Portsmouth, England. At that time, meteorologist Stagg talked with General Eisenhower that the weather would soon improve in the next few days. During the meeting of the high-ranking Allied General Council to reopen the opening day of the campaign, most of the opinions suggested that, with the current climate conditions, the reasonable time to conduct landings was 2 the following week.

At that time, General Eisenhower realized that, if it continued to delay, the Allies would lose the element of surprise. On the basis of Stagg's meteorological forecast, the commander decided to choose the June 6 opening of the largest landings in history. The first hours of the landing, the weather is not really favorable. Thick clouds make it difficult to skydive.

Some landing boats were overturned by waves. But by noon, the weather conditions got better. Stagg's forecast was correct. The Nazi army was completely surprised by the Allied invasion and suffered heavy losses.

The success of the Day D landings shows the strategic value of weather forecasting for offensive activities by sea. Thanks to the precise calculations of meteorologists, General Eisenhower chose the timing of the campaign that the Nazi army could not have expected.

Historians say, if the landings take place on June 5 as originally planned, the Allies may suffer heavy losses.World War II may be different.

The Western Front with the Eastern Front led by the Soviet Union created a grip that tightened the German army from both sides. Almost a year after the historic Allied landings in Normandy, the Nazis defeated, ending the bloodiest war in human history.