Alexander the Great? Oliver Cromwell? Genghis Khan? Winston Churchill? Tokugawa Ieyasu? Or someone else?
Who would get your vote, and why?
2007-09-07 22:59:05 · 22 answers · asked by Buzzard 7 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
What is the definition of warlord as distrinct from war leader?
One definition of warlord is Thomas Peacock's "He took castles and towns; he cut short limbs and lives; He made orphans and widows of children and wives: This course many years he triumphantly ran, And did mischief enough to be called a great man"
Atilla, Jinghis Khan, and Alexander all appear to be Warlords by this definition, so for than matter do Hitler, Stalin, and Mao ze Dong. All came to power through violence, and prosecuted war and terror for years, unlike Churchill, Truman, or Lincoln who were war leaders for a short season. Do we define "great" by the amount of misery caused, or the lasting cultural legacy? To be "great" surely requires a lasting legacy where the good you have achieved outweighs the attendant misery.
The Duke of Wellington came to prominence through war over 20 years, but his legacy was through the Council of Vienna, that so balanced power in Europe that there was no major war for 99 years.
Tokugawa came to power through war, and set up a system, the Shogunate, that endured 250 years. He gets my nomination for Greatest Warlord. Just glad I didn't have to meet him.
2007-09-07 23:42:03 · answer #1 · answered by Innealtair 2 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Genghis Khan. Hands down. He united his peoples, and they marched from Western China to the gates of Vienna.
2007-09-16 04:15:47 · answer #2 · answered by soxrcat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As much as I hate to say it, I think the answer is Josef Stalin. He was just as ruthless as Attila or Genghis Khan. He ruled an empire almost as large as Genghis Khan's. He defeated army's that the early Warlords never faced or dreamed of. The German Panzer Army's. His General's and the Russian population were more afraid of him than the Germans, that's way they fought so well.
2007-09-08 07:38:11 · answer #3 · answered by Louie O 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Cao Cao. One of the leaders of the three kingdoms after the fall of the Hans Dynasty. The man was a military genius. I cant imagine what he would have done if he wasnt up agianst just as brilliant military genius in the other two kingdoms.
Of course, Alexander the Great has his good points too. The man did conquor the known world by age 25. Most people are lucky to be out of school then.
Nepoleon was a brilliant tactician too.
2007-09-08 06:19:46 · answer #4 · answered by Avatar_defender_of_the_light 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
In terms of terror, Hitler rules. 5 million Jews and a whole lot of other civilians...
Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan too rate well. Their empires rank among the largest the world has ever seen.
2007-09-08 07:19:53 · answer #5 · answered by Dark Knight 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Genghis Khan. United the warring Mongol tribes and established the biggest land empire ever seen.
2007-09-08 07:15:08 · answer #6 · answered by Chariotmender 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I would say Oblagi Khan, Genghis brought the Mongol tribes together and started them on the road to one of the biggest empires of all time, but Oblagi was the one who pushed them all the way to mid europe, India, Middle East and almost into Africa.
2007-09-08 06:12:59 · answer #7 · answered by Kevan M 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Suleyman I {The Magnificient} Suleyman in his time was regarded as the most significant ruler in the world, by both Muslims and Europeans. His military empire expanded greatly both to the east and west, and he threatened to overrun the heart of Europe itself. In Constantinople, he embarked on vast cultural and architectural projects. Istanbul in the middle of the sixteenth century was architecturally the most energetic and innovative city in the world. While he was a brilliant military strategist and canny politician, he was also a cultivator of the arts. Suleyman's poetry is among the best poetry in Islam, and he sponsored an army of artists, religious thinkers, and philosophers that outshone the most educated courts of Europe.
2007-09-08 06:20:22 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
A warlord that made the greatest difference for the longest period was Julius Cesear, his work and policies that he put in place resounded through the Roman empire for hundreds of years
2007-09-08 11:30:30 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Ghenghis Khan's empire was bigger than Hitlers, Alexander's and the Roman Empire....combined!!!1
2007-09-08 12:52:14 · answer #10 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋