Greatest Militaries of All Time

[zraver]

who in thier own era achieved the most stunning victories and greatest triumphs? Who do you think deserves the title best of the best

[zraver]

can a mod correct the spelling in my thread title please

[gunnut]

I think I have to go with Alexander the Great. A small force of 40000 conquered more than what anyone has anticipated possible. Had Alexander not died so early, his empire would have had more impact on world history today.

[crooks]

Imperial Rome for me.

They conquered virtually all the known world, brought arguably the greatest general of all time (Hannibal) to his knees, and maintained a grip for over a 1,000 years.

These staggering achievments will never be bested imo.

[troung]

I think I have to go with Alexander the Great. A small force of 40000 conquered more than what anyone has anticipated possible.

Persia. He conquered Persia.

[Semper Fi]

The Mongols

Europe is lucky Ogedei died early.

[Ironduke]

Persia. He conquered Persia.

The entire Persian Empire, starting from relatively small territorial holdings in Greece and Macedonia. Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Persia, the Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, other parts of Central Asia (historical names?).

[troung]

Yeap. The Persian Empire. Sorta goes to show taking control of all of that land could be and was done.

Afghanistan, other parts of Central Asia (historical names?).

Sogdiana (Central Asia) and Bactria (Afghanistan)

[Firestorm]

I voted for Alexander's army but them and the Mongols are probably tied IMO.

[Swift Sword]

Hi Guys,

I voted for Napoleon.

Combined arms formations, deploying corps, mass conscription, simplification of logistics with regards to the scale, etc.

Napoleon had a big impact, IMO.

Had his Waterloo, as it were, but engineered some significant victories.

William

[Bluesman]

Hi Guys,

I voted for Napoleon.

Combined arms formations, deploying corps, mass conscription, simplification of logistics with regards to the scale, etc.

Napoleon had a big impact, IMO.

Had his Waterloo, as it were, but engineered some significant victories.

William

Agreed. When an entire era has been named after you, you can bet you had serious impact.

[Ironduke]

Hi Guys,

I voted for Napoleon.

Combined arms formations, deploying corps, mass conscription, simplification of logistics with regards to the scale, etc.

Napoleon had a big impact, IMO.

Had his Waterloo, as it were, but engineered some significant victories.

William

And not just in the military arena either, but also in being one of the major influences in giving rise to the concept of the nation-state, perpetuating the metric system, what side of the road most people in the world drive on, finalizing the destruction or diminishing of the final remnants of feudal society and their influence throughout continental Europe, which made the bourgeoisie the dominant class in Western society, which in turn helped give rise to capitalism and the establishment of a large middle-class, etc.

As a military leader and more, Napoleon gets my vote.

As far as French and allied troops effectiveness against old-fashioned British military org., I think this has mainly to do with unwillingness to be flexible and adapt when needed, but his changes remained a sound military concept.

[sukhoi]

I will go for Alexander

[Grim]

I feel Sparta realy proved it self in the battle of Thermopylas fought by King Leonidas and about 300-29000 Spartans and Greeks against Xerxes with his 2 to 5 million Persians. Yes they lost but taught the Mighty Persians the worth of 1 Spartan warrior. I'm not sure what the true troop strengths were but it was real rough odds anyway you look at it. It took treason for Xeres to win.

[IDonT]

How about the State of Qin. Introduced the Shang Yang's Legalist reforms, which swept away the aristocracy and implemented a meritocracy - only those who achieved could reach high places and birth privilege was reserved exclusively for the ruler of the state.

One of the most obvious results of this program of reform was that in the military. Previously the army had been controlled by nobles and constituted of feudal levies. Now generals could come from any part of society, provided they had sufficient skill. In addition, troops were highly trained and disciplined. Most of all, however, Qin's army instantly swelled to enormous size and had the full backing of the state. The result of numerous public works projects aimed at boosting agriculture had made it possible for the Qin to maintain and supply a standing force of over a million troops - a feat that no other state (apart, perhaps, from the other semi-barbarian kingdom of Chu) could match. All this was an incredible change; such revolutionary alterations to the accepted method of warfare did not occur in Europe until the time of the French Revolution, two thousand years later. The French would later call this as Levee in Mass.

Qin conquered the other states an united China for the first time. Qin Shi Huang imposed the State of Qin's centralized, non-hereditary bureaucratic system on his new empire in place of the Zhou's feudalistic one. The Qin Empire relied on the philosophy of legalism (with skillful advisors like Han Fei and Li Si). Centralization, achieved by ruthless methods, was focused on standardizing legal codes and bureaucratic procedures, the forms of writing and coinage, and the pattern of thought and scholarship. Characters from the former state of Qin became the standard for the entire empire. The length of the wheel axle was also unified and expressways standardized to ease transportation throughout the country. To silence criticism of imperial rule, the emperor banished or put to death many dissenting Confucian scholars and confiscated and burned their books.

Although the Qin Dynasty was short-lived, its legalist rule had a deep impact on later dynasties in China. The imperial system initiated during the Qin dynasty set a pattern that was developed over the next two millennia.