The Greatest Miltary Commander

[Keanumoreira]

Hitler for sure. Now before anyone goes to far with this, let me explain. I'm not German, and I don't like Hitler, AT ALL! I think he is the worst, slimy, murdering, S.O.B there is, the son of satan if you ask me. :down: :verymad: :yucky: >:( :dry: However, you have to admit that he was a genius when it came to war. He took over all of Europe in a quick amount of time, and tricked his people into doing so. If he didn't underestimate the power of the U.S. and the British as an ally, I personally believe he would have taken over the entire world.

[hoshi23]

Hitler actually opened up the russian front which was a total suicidal thing to do, did he not? I think a bigger error one cannot make in take of the odds. Especially in view of the russian winter. Now that is really the icing on cake of stupidity and what a icing that was.

 

Truly that was no tactical finesse and luckily so one might say otherwise who knows how much longer this whole thing would have continued.

[Keanumoreira]

You make a good point my friend, perhaps I should revise my thinking.

[Surenas]

Strategy: Gaius Iulius Caesar ("How to turn a republic into dictatorship by military means")

Tactics: Vo Nguyen Giap ("How to turn western invincibles into vincibles successfully")

 

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[Fifoo]

Hitler for sure. <snip> you have to admit that he was a genius when it came to war. He took over all of Europe in a quick amount of time, and tricked his people into doing so. If he didn't underestimate the power of the U.S. and the British as an ally, I personally believe he would have taken over the entire world.

In my opinion Hitler is very overrated, he actually believed in the superior race, he refused to see his soldiers retreat even to form a counter attack! That's militarily stupid! He had no idea about history especially the European one. By going to Russia he repeated the same mistake that Napoleon did before him and thus lost the WW2. Going to Russia during the winter (-40 degrees) was a terrible decision and a sign of weak leadership and inexperience.

 

Hitler have had the chance to be well surrounded by competent tacticians. Had hitler not been a retard, his generals, especially Rommel, Van Manstein and Hausser would have - may be - definetly triumphed against the allies in WW2.

 

During the Blitzkrieg, Hitler's army was quantitatively and qualitatively superior to the other European ones and he would be defeated by whom moreover were better equipped and competently led at the beginning of WW2. Don't forget that Hitler was the only one after the WW1 who believed in the great advantage of using massively tanks and planes. By this he changed the rules and concepts of the military art.

 

Hitler declared the war without entcountering a solid opposition and the French rulers contented themselves with doing silly things such as the Ligne Maginot in which they were over-confident, he just needed to circle the fortification's nexus. He invaded France and neighboring countries so easily.

 

The only "positive" facts is that Hitler was the one who has perfectly understood the incredible power of the propaganda and the workings in the handling of the public opinion. He was a crafty opportunist while the German nation travelled one of their worst crisis between the WW1 and WW2.

[Keanumoreira]

You'd have to be a real idiot to invade Russia, even these days. Noone has successfully invaded them other than the Mongols, and those were men on horseback only, with no real Empire.

[Zephyr2011]

I've got a decent understanding of Hitler from the several reports I've written on him (Biographical, Political, and Military) is that he was a starving artist (failed painter :laugh: ) who squandered his inheritance from his late parents when he failed to get into an art academy in Vienna. After essentially snapping he truly embraced his love of Germany even attempting to dodge the registry in Austria for the military (he was eventually tracked down but failed the health/fitness standards miserably and did the same in the German Military) then wrote countless letters to German officials until he was finally accepted to be a soldier for the German Army. He was blinded by a mustard gas attack late in the war and had temporary blindness and stayed in a military hospital where he learned that Germany had lost WWI and he essentially cried himself to sleep for months over it loosing what little bit of his sanity/humanity that remained. Hitler then got into polotics where he found his niche and to shorten the story (because I'm noticing how long this is getting) became Fuhrer of Germany where his homocidal hatred towards the Jews (who he had disillusionally believed caused Germany's defeat) truly came to a head through Propaganda he inspired the same hatred of Jews that he harbored in much of the German people (those who were looking for someone to blame for their incomprehensible defeat) additionally employing Propaganda to selectively educate the populace, inspire loyalty and fear, and suppress uprises. His Propaganda gave Germany its initial might however his horribly ill-concieved tactical maneauvres(sp?)(As others have said already invading Russia, however he also totally ignored Normandy when there were intelligence reports that the Allies would invade France in a matter of days, he was woken up from bed when it happened and proceded to ignore his commanders' counsels and cause far more casualties than were necessary) and overriding his generals cost Germany WWII. So Hitler as a military man? FAIL greatest political entity? possibly, he may have been a murdering S.O.B. but he did wield Propaganda more efficiently than any other polotician in history and inspire (through loyalty and fear) a nation to nearly conquer the world.

 

Now after that longwinded monologue that doesn't even scratch the surface here are my picks:

 

ANCIENT TIMES

Leonydus(sp?)/whoever was truly in charge of the Greeks at Thermopylae: Leading 300 spartans and a couple thousand Greeks to hold off hundreds of thousands of Persians and hold a narrow pass for three days against seemingly endless numbers is pretty impressive and they probably could have held it for longer if spies hadn't tipped off the Persians to a trail that lead around to the Grecian rear. Even so the Thermopylaen tactics are still analyzed today in the military and the spartans are largely to thank for saving democracy (after all if they had been defeated just a day sooner the Persians would have taken Athens and slaughtered everyone before the city could be evacuated)

 

MEDIEVAL TIMES

Sun Tzu: He wrote the Art of War, thats pretty self explanatory...

Ghengis Khan: He conquered a whole bunch of land (note I'm not bothering to reiterate what others have already said so well and eloquently)

 

MODERN/RECENT TIMES

Napolean: no need to reiterate I believe

[Keanumoreira]

Indeed, the mongols formed the biggest land empire in all of human histroy, truley remarkable.

[LHammonds]

His Propaganda gave Germany its initial might however his horribly ill-concieved tactical maneauvres(sp?)(As others have said already invading Russia, however he also totally ignored Normandy when there were intelligence reports that the Allies would invade France in a matter of days, he was woken up from bed when it happened and proceded to ignore his commanders' counsels and cause far more casualties than were necessary) and overriding his generals cost Germany WWII.

Wasn't that decision to not re-enforce Normandy largely influenced by an American and British ploy to make them think we were invading from the North? Hitler might have thought that Normandy was a ploy to divert troops away from Germany. *shrug* But I do have to agree that it was quite stupid to open yet another front and attack the Russians. Kind of a problem when people see themselves as invincible I guess.

 

LHammonds

[Aurielius]

I wanted to wait a bit before putting any of my own candidates forward. My first candidate is in the Tactical Category: Admiral Lord Cochrane, Royal Navy (GB)

 

Cochrane established a reputation as one of the English navy's most audacious and feared commanders. As a Lieutenant in command of his first ship, the sloop Speedy mounting fourteen 4-pounder guns and with a crew of only ninety-two, he captured fifty ships, 122 guns and 534 prisoners in just a year. The most famous engagement, illustrating the brilliance and daring that typified his career, was the capture of the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo on 6 May 1801. Cochrane ordered the hoisting of the American flag to confuse the Spanish. El Gamo's broadsides missed and Speedy got close enough for her guns to open fire killing the Spanish Captain. Cochrane then stormed the Spanish ship with a boarding party who included the entire crew, except Speedy's surgeon. He ordered one man to climb the mast and haul down the colours, whereupon the Spanish crew of 319 surrendered.

 

Promoted to Post-Captain and given command of the frigates Pallas and later Imperieuse, Cochrane terrorized shipping along the French and Spanish coasts to such a extent that Napoleon referred to him as the Sea Wolf. In 1808 he attacked Valencia in Spain and captured several ships, some of which turned out to be American. At the legendary Battle of Basque Roads in 1809 Cochrane used fireships and explosion vessels to cause terror among the French squadron, most of which was run aground. Unfortunately the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Lord Gambier, hesitated to deploy the main fleet and the opportunity to annihilate the French was lost, which infuriated Cochrane. Lord Cochrane was a brilliant sea commander but not wise to the politics of the English Naval Board, which is the primary reason he never acquired the acclaim that was his due. Cochran's ability to innovate was never excelled in the Age of Sail by any other naval commander.

 

Lord Cochrane was the most innovative sea commander of the age of sail even Lord Nelson acknowledged him as his superior in naval tactics. The expert theorist in the field of Naval Warfare Alfred Thayer Mahan used Lord Cochrane as an example to his students of naval brilliance. To this day, the tactics and conceptual thinking of Cochrane is taught at Annapolis.