Who were the greatest military leaders?

[ambracia]

Alexander
Themistocles
Napoleon
Ghengis Khan
Hannibal
Scipio Africanus
Pompey
Patton
Nimitz
Rommel
Schwarzkopf
Caesar
Hamilcar Barca
Joan of Arc
William Wallace
Richard the Lionheart
Saladin
Gaius Marius
John Paul Jones
Horatio Nelson
Duke of Wellington
Frederick the Great
Lee
Grant
Sherman
Queen Elizabeth
Washington
Benedict Arnold
Andrew Jackson

[DrD]

I was really, really curious if Joan of Arc would show up on the AR list. :D

Thank you for your additions, ambracia.

Shana

[rgrokelley]

King Arthur?
I know he is mythical, but is theoretically made up of a couple of roman generals. That said if the point of the study is leadership treats. He was a mythical leader who embodied all the traits desired at the point in history.
Just a thought.

Actually you can throw in William Wallace for that too. If it wasn't for Mel Gibson, most folks wouldn't even know who the guy was.

[ambracia]

Actually you can throw in William Wallace for that too. If it wasn't for Mel Gibson, most folks wouldn't even know who the guy was.

True but I'm of scottish descent so I'm biased

[DrD]

King Arthur?
I know he is mythical, but is theoretically made up of a couple of roman generals. That said if the point of the study is leadership traits. He was a mythical leader who embodied all the traits desired at the point in history.
Just a thought.

Hi Ranger Rangertom...

We are up to 700 pages of quick reference material on the leaders thus far and are still working... sooooo... maybe we will constrain this to non-mythical?

However, having said that... the attributes of King Arthur will most probably show up in the program...

Thank you for your thoughts and help!
Shana

[ambracia]

A few more

Cyrus the Great
Phillip of Macedon
Arminius
Fritigern
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Peter the Great
Belisarius
Charlemagne
Jean Parisot de Valette
Muhammed
Francisco Pizarro
Zachary Taylor
Paul von Hindenburg

Great leaders/Bad People
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Yamamoto
Ivan Konev
Georgy Zhukov
Leonid Govorov
Mao Zedong

[Caveman's_Kid]

Retired CSM Charles Thorpe, 82nd Airplane Gang CSM. My first experiance with him was when I was 13 and my dad was one of his 1SG's. Ugly and scary.

[DrD]

made me think of
Sergeant Major Basil Plumley-"What are you a fucking weatherman now?"

Definitely a fav. That guy is a trip (at least in the movie). My favorite quote was "Custer was a p*$$y, and you ain't."

Shana

[DrD]

"What if" is the standby study statement of great military events. Saw a paper on "What if's" for Nazi Germany. Really eye opening. What if Hitler had waited 3 years to begin his attempt to to take over the world?
Its great theory, study, and in my mind confirms some things biblically. GRITS didnt want Germany to be in charge. There was a paper on Korea as well. What if the US had maintained a state of readiness after WWII? Would we now occupy China?

Ranger Rock Island Ranger;

Can you check us? Are these the articles? They seem to be in the same book that Ranger Invictus recommended...

The two articles are in the book: What If? The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. Edited by Robert Cowley. 1999. ISBN: 0-399-14576-1.

Article #1 – “How Hitler could have won the war” by John Keegan

Summary: This essay describes what would have happened if Hitler waited until 1942* (as opposed to 1941) to launch his operation “Barbarossa” (attack on Russia ). What if instead on invading Russia in 1942, he invaded Middle East . Keegan explores two potential scenarios: invasion though Turkey and invasion through North Africa . Keegan speculates that if Hitler occupied Iraq , Iran , and Saudi Arabia in 1941 he would have accesses to oil and this would have solved his difficulties in maintaining his military machine. Then, if in 1942 he invaded Russia from Caucasus he would be virtually unstoppable and could have won the war.

Article #2 – “ China without tears” by Arthur Waldron.
Summary: Right after WWII China was essentially divided into two camps: Nationalists (Central and Southern China) and Communists (in the North East - Manchuria ). Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek, was pressured by the US not to invade Manchuria . Why? Because, according to Waldron, American advisers thought it would be a risk to reach too far and undermine control of China proper, and because invasion of Manchuria would push the Chinese Communists into Moscow ’s arms. However, as a result, Chiang Kai-shek lost the momentum, his army was destroyed, and eventually the whole China fell to Communists. Waldron speculates that if Chiang Kai-shek did not listed to the US and invaded Manchuria , he could have easily succeeded. Result – milder Cold War (without the Red China), no Korean war, no Vietnam war, no Cambodia , no McCarthyism in the US .

Thank you!
Shana