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Top 100 Generals

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  Quote Harbinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Top 100 Generals
    Posted: 10-Mar-2012 at 18:29
Von manstein so low is ludicrous,Best general of 21st century.

1.Bonaparte.Anyone who has read in depth about this guy should know why he's here.

2-6

Caesar,alexander,manstein,subutai and khalid ibn al walid in no particular order.
These guys are tier 2 imo.

Tier 3.
Adolphus,scipio,hannibal,wellington,marlbrough,davout,turrenne,rommel,guderian,patton,frederick the great,moltke.

Then the rest.
I haven't included guerilla or naval commanders as its very difficult to compare them.
Also very little info on chinese generals personally,so haven't included them.
note;sun tzu was a military theorist mostly,genghis khan was mostly nominal overall army commander main battlegroups were led by subutai and other mongol generals.





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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Apr-2012 at 15:51
1-Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK
other generals aren't very important :)
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-May-2012 at 01:24
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  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-May-2012 at 01:55
Where's ya post George?
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-May-2012 at 02:22

I have enjoyed reading and following the discussions of this thread over the past couple of years; indeed I have frequently utilized it as a primer for at least an overview of significant military figures when reading on a new region of history. As such I wanted to provide some observations of my own to the collective.

-I agree with the ranking of Temujin first. In part, although this point deviates from being a strict military component, he succeeded as completely as anyone in history in raising his people from the periphery of history and civilization to the heights of power within his singular lifespan. The Mongolian people would thereafter remain at the apex of world civilization for the next several centuries (including the presence in Russia, Iran, Turkestan and India during the Mughal Empire). Only Muhammad can be said to rival this feat. Certainly neither Alexander nor any Roman Caesar could be claimed to have achieved so much singularly. Cyrus indeed built an empire, but the Persian people likely enjoyed a much higher quality of life in 559 BCE than did the Arab and Mongolian people in the 7th and 13th centuries respectively.

-I further agree with Alexander being ranked 2nd. Again, deviating from purely tactical military history, it may be worth pointing out the difficulty in overstating Alexander’s historical importance. It has been said that Paul’s messages traveled the roads built by Alexander. Looking at his drive into India, Greek communities persisted in Central Asia into the Common Era and fostered a unique cultural synthesis that produced novelties such as Greco-Buddhism.

-I generally place Timur as 3rd. Napoleon and Hannibal would both rank very highly, top ten. However, they both lost their respective wars in the end. Timur campaigned nearly constantly for 35 years (1369-1405) and in so doing contested what may well stand as the most impressive roll call of opponents among the great commanders – the Delhi Syultanate of the Tughlaqs, the Mamluk Sultanate, the Golden Horde Mongols and the Ottomans (fresh off of Nicopolis under Bayezid I). Further Timur likely warred over the largest territory of any commander in the ancient/medieval worlds. His shortcomings as an empire builder are well documented but some credit should be given for his inspired direction in producing the golden age of Samarkand.

-A few additional points. Recognizing this to be a list of generals, thus excluding admirals, I would nevertheless be remised in not citing one-time general turned admiral Yi Sun-sin (whom I would rank top 10 all time among all military commanders). His exploits during the Japanese invasions (1592-1598) stand amongst the most courageous national defenses in human history.

-Tran Hung Dao made repeated defenses of Vietnam from the Mongols in the era of Kublai. Rustling an essentially ragtag militia together to repulse the strongest army in the world compels me to place Tran just outside the top 10.

-Scipio I generally rate as the greatest Roman general (of ancient Rome, through to 476 CE). His besting of Hannibal at Zama (202 BCE) I consider the sole battle in history to be contested between two of the all time top 10.

-Belisarius – I concur with his top 10 placing. Certainly the greatest Byzantine commander, and yet so little mentioned even in western histories (likely due to never being an emperor). Considering the purported intent of this list to achieve a sense of equity, the absence of an imbalanced number of Byzantine commanders may be anticipated. I do note the additional presence of Heraclius and Leo III, however I would cite, just for general discussion, the possible inclusions of Basil II, John II Tzimiskes, Nikephoros I Phokas, John Komnenos, Manuel Komnenos, Alexios Komnenos, John Kourkouas.

-It appears that Cyrus has fallen quite precipitously in the listings, and considering he stands as among the earliest historical figures with sound veracity of existence (as opposed to David of Israel) that may well be understandable. I agree in principal with many of the imitations cited concerning Darius. With the Sassanids I note the presence of Shapur I (higher than I would place him actually) but would cite his father Ardashir and more particularly Khosrau I (contemporary of Belisarius) who brought the Persian Empire to its greatest heights even in the age of Justinian.

-I generally cite Baibars as the greatest Muslim commander (Timur aside). His accomplishments in dealing the Mongols their first significant defeat and in tirelessly driving the Crusaders out of the Levant would both reverberate for centuries to come. I would rank him very highly, perhaps just outside of the top 10.

-Stephen III and Skanderbeg are two commanders I knew little of prior to this forum. Both share a similar history in being threats to the Ottoman Empire even as it was enjoying one of its high points in its initial European drive under Mehmed II. Stephen III in particular appears to have triumphed against very long odds, and both are severely underrated among European and even Medieval historians.

-A few points on Indian history. Babur is well placed, as the ultimate founder of the Mughal Empire. I consider Babur one of the most persistent and innovative leaders (military of otherwise) in history. Considering he began his career as a military commander at 12, and suffered more than his share of setbacks (ultimately losing his ancestral homeland of Ferghana to the Uzbeks), resettling in Afghanistan whereupon he would one day launch his fortuitous invasion of India and the subcontinent forever altering South Asian history. Many highly touted military commanders suffered defeats, some irreversibly so; Babur however stands apart in managing to several times over surmount his early life setbacks, even recalibrating his intentions entirely if circumstances dictated (abandoning Turkestan for India). In the end Babur emerged as amongst the wisest and most nuanced of all military leaders able to deal crushing defeats to the Delhi Sultanate and the awaiting Rajput confederacy, establish a dynasty that would (with but one brief interruption) steer to the subcontinent for 200 years and pen a marvelous autobiography (itself a novelty of the time). The placement of Sher Shah Suri just outside the top 100 seems appropriate. Sher Shah I oft times unrecognized for the degree to which Akbar’s administration looked to the Sur Dynasty’s reforms for guidance. Naturally Shivaji ranked highly on the list, perhaps his death prior to the ultimate success of the rebellion held him back from a higher ranking. I would cite Maharana Pratap as a potentially worthy addition – he was the greatest nemesis to the Mughal Empire at the time of Akbar. Baji Rao would be higher ranked on my personal list. In point of fact the entirety of the Mughal era in India might stand as the greatest concentration of great military talent ever assembled when one considers – Babur, Akbar, Man Singh I, Hemu, Sher Shah Suri, Nader Shah (during his invasion), Malik Ambar, Jai Singh II, Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Sambhaji, Baji Rao I, Ahmed Shah Durrani, Mir Jumbla II, Robert Clive, Afonso Albuquerque, Maharana Pratap, Guru Gobind Singh, Ranjit Singh – all with 250 years or so. A remarkable period of history

-With respects to the earlier Hindu age of India, I noted to quite correct addition of Chandragupta and Samudragupta. However it appeared a number of other Hindu kings and military leaders could have gone overlooked (although admittedly the records of some of them are quite sparse) – Chandragupta II, Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Harsha, Narasimhavarman, Pulakesi II, Dharmapala, Devapala, Mihra Bhoja I, Dhruva Dharavarsha, Govinda III, Veera Ballala II, Veera Ballala III. Additionally, the early Muslim conquerors Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad of Ghor are present, but the Sultan Alauddin Khilji ought be considered as well, he defended northern India from several latter-Mongol armies in the early 1300s.

-My particular areas of strength are medieval history and in the national histories of the Arabs, Iranians, Chinese, Indians and Mongolians. I am not as strong in modern history, and European modern history at that (albeit more so the military history than political). Even so I have enjoyed the spirited debate between the Polish and Swedish contributors to this cite. I was able to familiarize myself with parts of Polish and Swedish history some months ago and the intertwined (along with Russia) state of affairs these countries had in the 17th and 18th centuries. In particular I was taken with Charles XII of Sweden and Stanislaw Koniecpolski as fascinating figures. I see Jan Karol Chodkiewicz listed in the top 200, however, on Stanislaw Zolkiewski, his victory at the Battle Of Klushino would seem to support his case for inclusion. Polish history across the 17th century appears littered with tremendous military accomplishments.

I hope my points and inquiries can be of benefit to the site.

 

                                                                                                                                       GK

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  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-May-2012 at 02:28
They very well might....keep posting. Welcome here.
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-May-2012 at 18:37
My previous post neglected a few further areas I had wanted to touch upon.
Regarding Chinese history (and East Asian history more generally); although records concerning many Chinese military leaders through the Ming times are not widely available I generally cite Yue Fei as the greatest Chinese general, ahead of Han Xin, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang (the emperor Gaozu) of the early Han period. Cao Cao is likely the preeminent military leader of the much heralded Three Kingdoms period, though many others, like Guan Yu, made their marks. My previous post served to emphasize my position on Temujin as the greatest of all military commanders. I am less convinced of his many successors, and even of his very well respected generals Subutai and Jebe.
 
The board already seems to be generally supportibe of Wanyan Aguda (emperor Taizu of the Jin Dynasty) a few generations prior to the time of Yue Fei. I'm not as convinced in his case as I am for Li Shimin (emperor Taizong of T'ang) and to a much lesser extent Zhu Yuanzhang (emperor Hongwu of the Ming). Although Zhu Yuanzhang could arguably be China's greatest leader. Having referenced Li Shimin, I would be remissed if I didn't cimilarly reference the Tibetan king Songtsan Gampo, a contemporary and rival of the T'ang emperor.
 
It is however the Qing Dynasty to which, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest military leaders in Chinese history arrive (and not even Han Chinese at that, but Manchurian). Of course the well-known Nurhaci is present in the top 100. A fierce leader who campaigned for well over 30 years in, in some ways, emulating Temujin in his unification of the Manchu/Manchurian people and the invasion of Ming China. A number of brilliant successors followed Nurhaci, several not present within this list, to include his son Hong Taiji, his younger son Dorgon (arguably the most impressive) and of course Hong Taiji's brilliant grandson Kangxi whom ultimately brought the Qing Empire to its greatest glory. A note should be made as well for the Ming general Yuan Chonghuan whom defeated both Nurhaci and Hong Taiji in battle, but was ultimately betrayed by warring Ming interests.
 
Chinese history, its worth pointing out, is littered with some of the most brutal wars in human history. The An Lushan rebellion is generally cited as the second deadliest conflict in recorded human history. The epic Battle of Lake Poyang (won by Zhu Yuanzhang) is arguably the largest naval battle in history. The entirety of the Mongol campaigns, culimating with the similarly epic Battle of Yamen were amongst the deadliest wars in human history. They were nearly equaled by the chaos the met with the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty and even more with the 30-year invasion of the Manchus in the 17th century. The Japanese invasions of Korea peripherally drew both Chinese and Manchu involvement. In more recent times, the Second Sino-Japanese War (even apart from World War II) and the somewhat interelated Chinese Civil War, the epic battle between Chaing Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, function as a continual reminder of the cataclysm of East Asian warfare.
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-May-2012 at 19:35
Hello George. It's great to have you hereThumbs Up

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  Quote Delenda est Roma Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Aug-2012 at 11:49
Nick are you the legendary Nick from Historum?
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  Quote Travis Congleton Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Sep-2012 at 07:02
It is nice to see this thread still alive.  It inspires me to continue this project. Wink


[and what do you know,...   I completed my 200th post]  lol


Edited by Travis Congleton - 06-Sep-2012 at 07:03
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  Quote TheHalfBlind Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Nov-2012 at 02:44
i don't think that Temudjin was a good genenal,but he was a good leader,he unite all mongols tribe under his command,but in the battle,his general named subedei (subutai) is better
alexander? dunno about that one,not good enough to take the first place i think,Zhuge Liang was better
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  Quote TheRedBaronx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Nov-2012 at 22:30
Hitler had flaws as a pure General but for the sake of his " balls" to try to take over the whole world he has to get props once u look past the cooking of the jews you see a great man but a great monster as well
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  Quote TheRedBaronx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Nov-2012 at 23:20
Id rank Alexander # 1. He never lost a battle. End of discussion
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  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Nov-2012 at 23:24
Originally posted by TheRedBaronx

Hitler had flaws as a pure General but for the sake of his " balls" to try to take over the whole world he has to get props once u look past the cooking of the jews you see a great man but a great monster as well
 
 
Great man my ass.
 
 
Run that horseshit elsewhere...tho you get the monster part right.
 
 
 
AH was a murdering, psychotic, anti-Semitic, and anti-democratic individual liberties piece of shit. He murdered dissidents, Catholics, homosexuals, the mentally and physically handicapped and the elderly. Gypsies and any other who didn't buy the crap of Nationalist Socialism. He's directly responsible for the deaths of millions soldiers and civilians alike...of every nation involved in his maniacal attempt to create a German superior race hegemony across Europe. 
 
 
 
He was neither a General nor a strategist or tactician in the defined sense. So he doesn't get 'props' at all.
 
 
As for your use of the phraseology of ''cooking of the jews'' that's a borderline Coc violation for inflammatory and hate speech not to mention trolling. So be warned. Do it again and I'll personally bounce your assets off this forum.
 
 
Because while I may be on vacation I'm still checking in.
 
 
 
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Nov-2012 at 08:40
Originally posted by Centrix Vigilis

Originally posted by TheRedBaronx

Hitler had flaws as a pure General but for the sake of his " balls" to try to take over the whole world he has to get props once u look past the cooking of the jews you see a great man but a great monster as well
 
 
Great man my ass.
 
 
Run that horseshit elsewhere...tho you get the monster part right.
 
 
 
AH was a murdering, psychotic, anti-Semitic, and anti-democratic individual liberties piece of shit. He murdered dissidents, Catholics, homosexuals, the mentally and physically handicapped and the elderly. Gypsies and any other who didn't buy the crap of Nationalist Socialism. He's directly responsible for the deaths of millions soldiers and civilians alike...of every nation involved in his maniacal attempt to create a German superior race hegemony across Europe. 
 
 
 
He was neither a General nor a strategist or tactician in the defined sense. So he doesn't get 'props' at all.
 
 
As for your use of the phraseology of ''cooking of the jews'' that's a borderline Coc violation for inflammatory and hate speech not to mention trolling. So be warned. Do it again and I'll personally bounce your assets off this forum.
 
 
Because while I may be on vacation I'm still checking in.
 
 
 
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Vic: Capitain Mtn, NM.
 
 

We must put a stop to this nonsense now. Redbaron, before you post anything else in praise of the Nazis, read every single post of this topic:
http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30619
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  Quote Rocky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Nov-2012 at 08:59
Originally posted by Harbinger

Von manstein so low is ludicrous,Best general of 21st century.

1.Bonaparte.Anyone who has read in depth about this guy should know why he's here.

2-6

Caesar,alexander,manstein,subutai and khalid ibn al walid in no particular order.
These guys are tier 2 imo.

Tier 3.
Adolphus,scipio,hannibal,wellington,marlbrough,davout,turrenne,rommel,guderian,patton,frederick the great,moltke.

Then the rest.
I haven't included guerilla or naval commanders as its very difficult to compare them.
Also very little info on chinese generals personally,so haven't included them.
note;sun tzu was a military theorist mostly,genghis khan was mostly nominal overall army commander main battlegroups were led by subutai and other mongol generals.




I agree, Erich Von Manstein should be much higher.

I also did not see the name Jean Lannes on the list. Is anyone else like me, in that they think very highly of him and Louis Davout. I think Napoleon owed much to those two men.


Edited by Rocky - 25-Nov-2012 at 10:59
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  Quote Keith J Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Dec-2012 at 17:50
Why is Sherman not on the list ?   He organized an invasion of the south that ended the American Civil War.    He destroyed supply routes cutting off much needed materials.   He burned Atlanta and Columbia and promised Mr. Lincoln victory if he were allowed to wage total war.   get in and get out  which is unlike McClellan and others before him.   He was decisive and knew war is ugly and wanted a speedy end.   

I am a southerner from Atlanta but General Lee should not be on the list at all after ordering General Picket to charge at Gettysburg.    
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  Quote Keith J Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Dec-2012 at 17:59
Anyone that believes Hitler was even a half Ass General is stupid.     He ignored his top Generals such as Rommel.      He sent his men to certain death in battles such as the siege of Stalingrad.    He wouldn't even give them winter uniforms.   He was a sadistic hate monger .      
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  Quote emperor_stylianos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Dec-2012 at 06:51
Gustavus Adolphus should be added to this list, he was considered by Napoleon as one of the greatest generals of all time. Also, I think that Phillip II of Macedon and Alexander should be ranked 1st and 2nd respectively. Phillip was actually a greater general than Alexander, and I have proof.

And where is Timur, leader of the Timurids?
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  Quote emperor_stylianos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Feb-2013 at 04:43
I think I am the only person who thinks that Hannibal wasn't much of a great commander. He just took advantage of the fact that the Roman commanders were pampered grown men grown fat on food and wine who only told their army to go and kill the other guy.
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