Who is the greatest millitary comander of all time?

Question

in your own opinion please state your case.

Answer 1

I guess one would have to go with Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great conquered most of the world known to the Greeks before he passed away.

His personal tutor as a kid was none other then Aristotle.

He allowed foreigners to join his army (relatively unheard of at the time).

Alexander would not force his beliefs (religious and personal) on people that he conquered, he invited his soldiers to marry foreigners and even practices it himself.

Buddhism is believed to take a lot of ancient Greek religion since the buddhist religion itself came about shortly after Alexander was in the region as well as the many physical evidence such as the original buddha statues resembling some ancient Greek statues.

He re-invented war in many areas and fine tuned other areas.

The list can go on and on but my point is that Alexander the Great not only played a part in a single battle or war his legacy has effected the world even today.

Can that be said of Patton (best U.S. commander ever), Napolean, Julius Caesar, Richard the Lionheart/Saladin (who only shaped the middle east), Zhukov, Sun Tzu (who authored the "Art of War"), Hannibal, or even Genghis Khan? Okay perhaps the story can be made for some of the people above but remember this. Only one of those listed there came before Alexander the Great meaning everyone else had his wisdom to draw off of and emulate.

Answer 2

PJ is correct. Sun Tzu wrote the oldest known book on the subject, called "The Art of War". Having read books by Patton, Schwarzkopf, Rommel, Liddell-Hart, and Von Clausewitz, I am of the opinion that none have added anything to what Suz Tzu wrote thousands of years before.

What he wrote covered actual principles, not mere application to a specific set of technological abilities and limitations. His principles were valid with bows and arrows, valid with the Napoleonic tactics that lasted until the 1860's, valid in Korea and Vietnam, and can even be seen in science fiction war-in-space movies like Star Wars.

Sun Tzu is the correct answer, and will be if this question is asked again a thousand years from now.

Answer 3

Moshe Dayan, architect of the 6 day war in 1967. The guy was the SECDEF for a country of 4 million, and proceeded to simultaneously wipe out the armies and Air Forces of three countries with a combined population of 100 million.

It's not like the Arabs were completely caught napping, either. The reason Israel resorted to attcking first was due to a massive build up of Syrian and Egyptian troops on their Northern and Southern boders. Their opponents had all their pieces in place when the shooting started, and it still didn't matter.... Only Jordan wasn't prepared to fight, they had been hoping to stay out of the whole thing, but were dragged into it by Egypt pretty much unwillingly.

Answer 4

Chesty, I am Air Force and I know that. Though following closely would be Billy Mitchell. He warned the US that airpower would be the future of aviation. When he tried to get planes the government fatcats handed out millions of dollars (when dollars were worth even more) to get planes and what they gave him were 500 planes of an outdated design because the fuel tank was behind the pilot and they were deathtraps. He warned of such events as Pearl Harbor and no one listened. He put his career and reputation at risk in a manner which no other commander before him or since has done.

Answer 5

Whew! I'm torn between Alexander and Hannibal. I think probably Hannibal--he managed to land his Carthaginian army across the mediterranean, cross the Alps with Elephants, march down the length of Italy, defeated no less than three Roman armies. And, he was only defeated because ultimately Carthage did not support him. I would say that is a remarkable accomplishment.

Answer 6

Napoleon, followed closely by Alexander the Great, Ceasar, Fredrick the Great, and Robert E. Lee.

First you have to define what makes a great commander.
1. Has to be able to lead and motivate soldiers
2. Has to actually command forces in combat (rules out Sun Tzu, Rumsfeld, Lincoln, Eisenhower).
3. Must demonstrate strategic, operational, and tactical prowess (Rules out Hannibal. he won a lot of battles but did not alter the strategic outcome)
4. Must defeat enemies of greater or equal strength (rules out Macauther, Schwarzkopf,)
5. Must win majority of engagements (no Washington, only won 3 and one was with French help).

Just speaking militarily, Napoleon invented the Independant Corps system. Before him, Army's marched en masse to a destination. Because they were saw cumbersome, they moved slowly, required established supply depots, protected lines of communication, and took great effort to change the axis of advance to a new direction. Napoleon seperated his army into self sustaining corps; each with it's own artillery, infantry, skirmishers, light cavalry, calvary, etc. They were not tied to a depot supply system and could live off of the land and they did not need established lines of communication. They also moved faster and were able to appear in places the enemy was not prepared for(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ulm).

They were also self contained and able to fight as a single combined arms force against much larger forces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jena-Auerstedt)

Napoleon mobilised an entire nation and led it to the domination of europe. At one time or another, he beat equal or greater sized armies from every major country in europe. He reshaped the european landscape, created countries, and revolutionized modern warfare.

He was successful because he was innovative and daring. He developed new tactics while his enemies were using old ones.

Alexander improved on the Greek Phalanx and continually bested the best the known world could offer. But he had a professional army generally matched up against army's that were raised by levy.

Ceasar's greatest victory came when he was surrounded by an enemy while surrounding someone else. Awesome, but he had no significant victories against equal opponents besides this.

On the other hand, Fredrick the Great basically invented the tactic of utilizing interior lines to one's advantage by defeating the Russians, French, and Austrians time and again.

Robert E. Lee battled numerically superior (although inferiorly led opponents for the better part of 4 years until he met...)

Ulyssess S. Grant was the first modern commander to understand the concept of Total War and leveraging the resources of a Nation to destroy, not the enemies army, but his ability and will to fight.

Still, I would have to go with Napoleon.

Answer 7

Alexander the Great.

Look at his ability to lead massive armies from the front lines as an infantryman. His harry tactics re-invented the concept of mounted infantry, and led to the formation of heavy calvary. he mastered the use of blitzkreig tactics on small scale tactical warfare, and used the power of phalanx with infantry and calvary combinations. He was the greatest commander of all time.

Answer 8

Julius Cesar.
He conquered many countries, knew how to integrate roman society into every day life, mastered the technology of his day related to warfare. Laid siege to many a fortress. Starved out enemies by burning crops, or spreading salt on the vineyards.
They knew to trade with friends, but destroy the infrastructure of potential enemies.
Truly innovative for his time.

Answer 9

General Macarther
He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. MacArthur oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951 and is credited for making far-ranging democratic changes in that country. He led United Nations forces defending South Korea in 1950-51 against North Korea's invasion. MacArthur was relieved of command by President Harry S Truman in April 1951 for insubordination and failure to follow Presidential directives.

MacArthur was a ruthless commander and often forcefully made the enemy surrender. MacArthur fought in three major wars (World War I, World War II, Korean War) and was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of General of the Army. MacArthur remains one of the most controversial figures in American history. While some have greatly admired MacArthur for what they consider his strategic and tactical brilliance, others have criticized his actions in command, his military judgment, and his challenges to President Truman in 1951.

Answer 10

Genghis Khan
Largest land based empire ever from basically nothing.
United different religions in his armies, all loyal to the Khan.
His empire survived after his death through two generations. (quite remarkable at the time.)