The Stupid Mistakes That Brought Down Entire Empires

Everything Explainer graciously compiled a list of every empire throughout history that was taken down by stupid yet egregious errors.

History is written by the victors, but it’s often shaped by the absolute DUMBEST decisions imaginable!

This list went as far back as the Fall of Khwarezmia, during which Genghis Khan sought bloody retribution for insults committed by the high government. Also included were the downfall of the Song Dynasty, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Montezuma, as well as the failure of the rigid Hittite and Mycenaean palace economies of the Bronze Age.

The highly advanced Hittite and Mycenaean empires had constructed heavily centralized palace economies that were completely dependent on fragile international maritime trade networks to import copper from Cyprus and tin from Afghanistan. When mysterious maritime raiders known to history as the Sea Peoples systematically disrupted these vulnerable trade routes, the Empire’s rigid administrative structures completely failed to adapt.

He also addresses how the highly inclement Russian weather completely undermined Germany’s “Operation Barbarossa”. This World War II operation was launched in June 1941 and continued into the brutal winter, leaving soldiers ill-equipped and stranded.

The German high command critically failed to equip its troops with winter clothing, winter-grade lubricants for weaponry, or antifreeze for vehicles, banking entirely on achieving a rapid victory before autumn. When the brutal Russian inter hit, the incompatible Russian railway gauges prevented adequate resupply. Train engines froze, and the entire offensive stalled outside Moscow. This monumental logistical arrogance permanently shifted the momentum of World War II, bleeding the German military dry in a war of attrition that resulted in the total conquest, partitioning and destruction of the Third Reich. 

Perhaps history does repeat itself after all.