There have been many men who have achieved great successes through their military knowledge and actions. But only a select few military geniuses can truly be considered the greatest military commanders who ever lived. This is a selection of the ten greatest. If you think someone else deserves to be here, or want to have a guess at ranking 11 – 15, be sure to tell us in the comments.
Georgy Zhukov would lead the Red Army in liberating the Soviet Union from the Axis Power’s occupation and advancing through much of Eastern Europe to conquer Berlin during World War II. He is one of the most decorated heroes in the history of both Russia and the Soviet Union. After the fall of Germany, Zhukov became the first commander of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany.
Attila the Hun was the leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Central Asia to modern Germany. He was one of the most fearsome enemies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. Attila was well known for his cruelty. He invaded the Balkans twice and marched through Gaul.
William the Conqueror led the Norman invasion of England which was the last time that England was successfully conquered by a foreign power. His army defeated the English army at the battle of Hastings preceding his march to London. English resistance was futile as he took control of England and his reign would begin. He would make many major reforms to the traditional Anglo-Saxon culture of England and bring into existance the Anglo-Norman culture.
Hitler led Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers in occupying most of continental Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. He defeated and conquered France while holding off the U.S., British and Russians during World War II. His armies would gain numerous victories through their mastering of the military tactic; Blitzkrieg. Hitler ultimately lost the war and committed suicide.
Ghengis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire; the largest contiguous empire in history. The Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of central Asia. He achieved this through uniting many of the nomadic tribes and confederations in northeast Asia and strategically raided much of the area in China and throughout Asia. The Mongol Empire would go on to include most of Eurasia and substantial parts of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Ghengis Khan waged successful campaigns against the Western Xia and Jin dynastys as well as the Khwarezmid Empire through excellent military intelligence and tactics.
Hannibal invaded the mighty Roman Empire through the Alps. He defeated the Romans in a series of battles at Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae. Never personally losing on the battlefield to the Romans, he maintained his Carthaginian army in Italy for more than a decade after the Second Punic War. He is considered one of the greatest military strategists ever, his Roman enemies even adopted some of his tactics for their own use.
Napoleon was a General during the French Revolution. He would eventually take absolute control of the French Republic as Emperor of the French. He became King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. He reformed the government and economy of the island of Elba when he was exiled there.
Julius Caeser took absolute control of the Roman Republic and it’s armies. He defeated the optimates led by Pompey in a Civil War, and defeated the Gauls at the battle of Alecia during the Gallics Wars, led by Vercingetorix who had united them against the Romans. He was ultimately murdered by Brutus.
Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world by the age of 30. He crushed the once mighty Persian Empire, defeated the much larger army of Darius III at the battle of Issus, and influenced the spread of Hellenistic culture throughout his empire. Alexander mastered the use of the phalanx formation in his armies.
Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire through his conquering of the Median, Lydian and Neo-Babylonian Empires. His empire spanned across three continents. Unlike many others, his empire endured long after his demise due to the political infrastructure he created. He is considered by many to be equal if not greater than Alexander the Great in his accomplishments.
Notable mention: Douglas MacArthur, Ramses the Great, Robert E. Lee, Sargon the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, Pyrrhus of Epirus, Scipio Africanus, Mao Zedong
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
Contributor: KGB99
Who the hell compiled this list. Adolf Hitler was successful because of his Generals who won despite him. He made some of the worst tactical blunders in military history.
Why Subudai (Ghengis Khan’s Field Marshal) doesn’t rate a mention is beyond me. By any comparison he comes out on top. He overran three times the territory of the next most successful General. In over 40 yrs he won 65 pitched battles during which he was usually greatly out numbered, he conquered 32 nations and never lost a battle. He was considered unbeatable, even in one battle with odds of 11-1 against him he still won.
By comparison some of these guys are chumps. Maybe it’s because the only historical reference is ‘The Secret History of the Mongols’ which obviously must still be a secret in the west.
AGREED!! Because the bias and defamation created by European scholars and Scientists against the Mongols created a false representation.
the problem with having a list written by people in the western world, is they tend to leave out great middle eastern commanders. Especially muslim ones. Think that the first muslim army was 313 that smashed and army of 1000 in the battle of Badr under the leadership of Muhammed(peace be upon him). There were many great muslim commanders, the most famous was Khalid bin al Walid. He is hailed as one of the greatest generals of all time, UNDEFEATED, in all battles.
here is an extract of a long wikipedia article:
Khalid fought over a hundred battles in his campaigns against the numerically superior forces of the Roman Empire, Persian Empire, and their allies, and remained undefeated throughout his career, a fact that his admirers point out when regarding him as one of the finest generals in history. His greatest strategic achievement was his swift conquest of the Persian Empire and conquest of Roman Syria all within just three years from 633 to 636. He also remained military Governor of Iraq from 632–633 AD and Governor of Qinnasrin city in Northern Syria.
Much of Khalid's strategical and tactical genius lies in his use of extreme methods.in order to account for the numerical inferiority of his own forces. He used his highly mobile army effectively against less mobile Persian and Byzantine armies, specially his elite light cavalry (see Mobile guard).
One of Khalid's greatest tactical achievement was at the Battle of Walaja, where he was the only other military commander in history, along with Hannibal at Cannae, who successfully used the double envelopment maneuver against a numerically superior army. His most decisive victories were at the Battle of Walaja and Battle of Yarmouk.
i personally feel, that if more research was done, he would be number one on this list.
I agree a 100%. Let me point out that he even fought once with only 3000 men vs 20000 to 40000 Byzantine men. And he won with only 7 deaths. That's number one in my book.
I second the guy said that this list is very euro-centric. The only non-westerners you could find were from 2 to 3000 years ago? Are you out of your mind? What about the Ottoman Mehmet II, who took Constantinople by building a wooden highway OVERNIGHT to spring a dawn-time surprise? And the highway was FOR HIS SHIPS. Or, what about Selim the Grim, who took Egypt, Arabia, and much of Central Asia? And, I have to second the guy above, that Khalid belongs in the top 5 of this list.
sorry im not to good on middle age history especiealy the middle east so thats why
Its really noble of you to accept it. I admire that.
Seeing the rogues gallery above it is simply to his credit that Khalid bin Walid has been omitted. Defeating the muslims at Uhud, united Arabia in the Ridda wars, then crushed both the Byzantine and Persian Empires within 2 years. The lands he conquered have retained their Muslim identities and today he remains an inspiration for the freedom fighters of the world.
I believe that he shouldn’t be number one because if you have to even do research about him that should seal his fate. If he isn’t even well known today how can you say that he was that great? He couldn’t have had that large of an impact if almost nobody even knows who that is. And citing Wikipedia as a source to prove he is a good leader is really professional. I’m sure he was probably a good leader but a military leader like all humans should be judged on their lasting influence. He has little to none even compared to other “non-white” leaders. I would put Sun Tzu far ahead of Khalid bin al Walid. Plus who did he defeat in battle, what great military commander did he defeat. I agree that he probably deserves a spot on this list but I think that the great Prussian General, Military/Political Theorist, and author of Vom Kriege (On War) Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz should be number one because he literally wrote the most influential book on warfare in Western Civilization and he beat another legendary commander in Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
the problem with having a list written by people in the western world, is they tend to leave out great middle eastern commanders.
kakazed – so, educate us…write us an interesting list or two.
In Arab world, they are not allowed to question their beliefs for the most part. So they are used to
try backward searching for reasons to support it. Not only as you well said his argument is
self
destructive already. But also trying backward to fake a research… ,he ignores the fact that the
already number one (Cyrus) was an eastern at first place. If you shrink east or enlarge another part!
As desired then while some entertainment companies might appreciate your work, there might not be
the same else where.
Do you know why Iranians hate Arabs? Simply because the Arabs, not the Romans, Greeks or others, are the ones who ended Persian tyranny in Iraq and Iran forever and started new era of Arab Empires that included all Persain lands. The result of that still resonate today because most Persians are Muslims, an Arabic religion. And the Persians who are not Muslims really, I mean really hate to accept reality
Khaid Bin Waleed
Suleman the Magneficent
Tariq Bin Zayaad Conqueror of Spain
Babrosa, The Admiral
Tamerlane (Taimoor)
Babbar founder of the mughal empire in India
Guns indeed on this one.
Cyrus the clear winner there…. CYRUS FTW!!!!
I know this may sound crazy but I hope no one takes it the wrong way. I have always had a strange respect and fascination towards Hitler. I am amazed how he could get an entire country to buy into the garbage he was spewing. What was it about him that made him such an influential leader??
Fertile ground.
I think notable mentions should go to Sulla and Marius who were great military commanders in their day and who really paved the way for Caesar to do what he did.
Marius transformed the Roman army by allowing head count, or the lowest classes, into the army, when Rome was in desperate need of troops after a spate of hopeless generals.
Thutmose the 3rd should probably get a notable mention as well.
How about a list of the 10 worst military commanders? There are quite a few Romans who would make that list!
bigski is right. Hitler had the kind of charisma that could sell ice to an Eskimo or sand to a resident of the Sahara. If you were to list the greatest SPEAKERS of all time, then Hitler belongs on the list because of his frightening way of taking over a crowd of educated people. (Remember that Germany had the highest literacy rate in the world when Hitler came to power.)
Hitler also came to power legally so it would have been hard for them to just depose him. especially because very quickly he used an “emergency clause” in their constitution to create a dictatorship.
Eisenhower… he beat Hitler during his campaign, and contained Stalin during his presidency, thus, taking care of two of the people on the list. Other than that, Ghengis should probably be number 4 and Napoleon number 5, thus moving Hannibal to #6, only because… he took out pretty much all of Asia. Kublai Khan could be mentioned, here as a foot note to Ghengis, on #11-20, or a number in and of his own right on this list…. though he really only picked up where Ghengis left off, he did redirect an entire river into a city to tear down its walls… which, for the day, is pretty awesome.
that river redirect…where do i find info on that?
Eisenhower did not beat hitler, Zhukov and the Russians had much more of a part in his down fall. Containing Stalin he had a large part in
I Salute Alexander thye Great as #1 military commander.
hye=the
frankly, I believe the greater commanders would be the COs on the battlefield who have to make those split second decisions that could either kill all there men, or save them
Robert E Lee?
Yes robert e lee he led a ragtag group of rebels on a four year campaign against a numerically superior and fully industrialized enemy and did damn well always fighting honorably
hey kgb99 you are asking for slaughtering with your disgusting list!!.ghengiz khan is incomparable to any of this pathetic inferiors.he build the largest empire on earth from scratch,extending from china sea to hungar.this is three times bigger than alexander.his sons and grandsons build the china and russia of today.
to add a few more important points.Ghengiz khan through his great mongol empire is directly and indirectly the biggest foctor for European rennainsance/revivalism and thus the birth of the modern age we are in today
good list. I also think it would be interesting to see a top ten worst military commanders list. Because i know their out there and thier blunders are often fun to hear about.
I think you should add Sargon of Akkad in this list, who in around 2200 BC (if my memory serves me correctly) militarilly united all the city states of Mesopotamia into one empire under his rule. I believe its a first in history of humanity… a great empire with a centralised military power. Hence, as a first, this deserves a mention.
Great list by the way.
My baby boy is named Cyrus… We call him Cyrus the Great
wow, I admire u, realy!
Henry V? He was a purty cool guy. In success I’ve always thought Joan of Arc was top notch, she kind of saved her country from submission to the English. Saladin managed to break up Christian control of Jerusalem and that would give way to the Ottoman empire, one of the longest modern non-dynastic empires. (469 years)
BUT! I do digress –
It’s a good list.
Off-topic completely, but I have to tell someone somewhere.
Someone in the apartment 2 above our committed suicide by jumping last night. When we looked out (and down – we’re on the 12th floor) we saw police and ambulance and someone lying on the ground. They inspected him then covered him with a sheet. I’ve never seen him round (or maybe I have), but my wife knew him by sight.
I just needed to tell someone that. Sorry.
Instead of Hitler you should have given the honor to his Generals. Hitler didn’t invent Blitzkrieg, but his stubbornness did force the German army into a bad position and got them beaten by the Russians.
1-0 To Persia! haha, in your faces Alex.
astraya: Wow, that brought the mood down.
.15 Astraya
Sorry you had to experience that. Talking about it even to strangers will help you feel better.
I like this list. War is hell. But obviously some people have personal wars they are fighting. The Golden Gate Bridge commission has decided to spend the money for “suicide prevention” fencing on the bridge. That may give some people the chance to pause and re-think their options.
10 Methods of Death
#7. Fall from a height
If possible aim to land feet first
A high fall is certainly among the speediest ways to die: terminal velocity (no pun intended) is about 200 kilometres per hour, achieved from a height of about 145 metres or more. A study of deadly falls in Hamburg, Germany, found that 75 per cent of victims died in the first few seconds or minutes after landing.
The exact cause of death varies, depending on the landing surface and the person’s posture. People are especially unlikely to arrive at the hospital alive if they land on their head – more common for shorter (under 10 metres) and higher (over 25 metres) falls. A 1981 *****ysis of 100 suicidal jumps from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco – height: 75 metres, velocity on impact with the water: 120 kilometres per hour – found numerous causes of instantaneous death including massive lung bruising, collapsed lungs, exploded hearts or damage to major blood vessels and lungs through broken ribs.
Survivors of great falls often report the sensation of time slowing down. The natural reaction is to struggle to maintain a feet-first landing, resulting in fractures to the leg bones, lower spinal column and life-threatening broken pelvises. The impact travelling up through the body can also burst the aorta and heart chambers. Yet this is probably still the safest way to land, despite the force being concentrated in a small area: the feet and legs form a “crumple zone” which provides some protection to the major internal organs.
Some experienced climbers or skydivers who have survived a fall report feeling focused, alert and driven to ensure they landed in the best way possible: relaxed, legs bent and, where possible, ready to roll. Certainly every little helps, but the top tip for fallers must be to aim for a soft landing. A paper from 1942 reports a woman falling 28 metres from her apartment building into freshly tilled soil. She walked away with just a fractured rib and broken wrist.
preachy-ass
I think that Pyrrhus of Epirus should have made the list instead of just honorable mention. After all, Hannibal said that Pyrrhus was a greater general than him.
The general I would have wanted to see was Belisarius. After all, he managed to capture Rome and Carthage with very limited resources.
Oh, that, and he was the last man to be granted a Roman triumph.
You should also include Flavius Belisarius..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belisarius
He should be in the #8 spot, replacing William from the list..
One thing i find amazing about genghis khan (who should have been #1) is that it’s assumed that aboout 0.5% of the world are his descendants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_from_Genghis_Khan
I agree that Hitler shouldn’t be on the list because he let his generals do all the work, with Rommel being the most talented. But of all the officers on the American side, Patton was the one general that the Germans were so afraid of that, during the invasion of Normandy, they kept several divisions in reserve until he entered the battle field.
What about George Washington?
I also take exception with the inclusion of Hitler as a great military commander. Unlike some of the other leaders on this list (Alexander the Great, Napoleon), he never personally lead his army in battle. He was nominally their commander in chief, but I feel if you wanted to include a German WWII commander you should have used Rommel, Manstein, or Guderian.
I think it should be mentioned that Alexander never lost a battle?
Unless its another legend, like Cleopatra’s beauty.
What about Gustavus Adolphus? Had he not died so young, he could have ended the Thirty Years War earlier. He’s often called the Father of Modern Warfare, & Napoleon studied Adolphus’ tactics. He’s still studied today. Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavus_Adolfus
Burgerbuddy & others are absolutely right about Belisarius. The guy could’ve reconquered the Western Roman Empire had he gotten support from Emperor Justinian & the government of the Eastern Roman Empire.
William the Conqueror, though a good general, took advantage of a fractured situation in England. He was smart enough to pick a time when Anglo-Saxon England was falling apart. He should lie between 11 & 20 on a list like this.
Hannibal fought against the roman republic, not the roman empire.
I’d preffer Salahadin Ayyubi in the top 10 and no Hittler (or his generals, that I would list as 11), Salahadin was the guy who united muslim world against the crusaders and regained their holy ground.
As for Hitler, he wasn’t a succesful military commander, he was a succesful politician.
Including Hitler would be the same as including FDR! Also William The Conqueor as a battlefield commander was ok but the outcome of his victories were unintentional.Defeating the Anglo-Saxons at the time was not like defeating most of Europe as other commanders accomplished.Aside from that quibble i did learn something about Cyrus the Great i didnt know.Now i have to read up on him to.Zhukov is also questionable the almost unlimited manpower he had and massive American supplies it would be hard not to lose.But I digress. Interesting list and should generate lots of comments.
Best list for a while, I’m actually gonna read up on some of these.
Very interesting
Josh 116- His Salesmanship ! Listen to his speeches he was very convincing.
astraya: if you need to talk, my myspace is myspace.com/lizzyxo. it private but you can still message me.
Bigski- you may be right about his salesmanship. I just find it in incredible that he could convince an ENTIRE COUNTRY that eradicating a race of people was a good idea. It wasn’t like it was just a group of germans, but the whole nation. Just imagine had he not been such an evil *****, what if he had used his political savvy to promote something good. He could have been a great man.
Great list…I have to read up on some of these guys.
I’ve also heard of the Genghis Khan descendant thing. Its pretty incredible. There was a great show on the science channel that claims they have found the scientific version of Adam, a man from who all humans can trace their origins. I forget the name of the show but its fascinating.
Hmmm, I think another notable general would be Erwin Rommel. He’s the man the lead the North Africa campaign for the Nazis..I mean honestly..the man was such a brilliant general he made Hitler nervous enough to take him out of battle and into a non-important area, which, as it turned out, cost him North Africa.
Randallphobia – I wasn’t aware of the fact that germany had the highest literacy rate in the world at the time. Wow, that makes it even more incredible. I guess knowledge truly is power, whether evil or otherwise. I would love to see a list of the greatest speakers. Who would you guys think would be number one??
So where the heck is Khalid bin al walid ??? i dont think i have to meintion it but you can check him out on wikipedia on somewhere if you do want to …
” Khālid ibn al-Walīd (592-642) (Arabic: خالد بن الوليد) also known by Sunnis as Sayf-’ullah al-Maslul (the Drawn Sword of God, God’s Withdrawn Sword, or simply Sword of God), was one of the two famous Muslim generals of the Rashidun army during the Muslim conquests of the 7th Century.[1] (See also: ‘Amr ibn al-’As.) He is noted for his military prowess, commanding the forces of Muhammad and those of his immediate successors of the Rashidun Caliphate; Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab.[1] He has the distinction of being undefeated in over a hundred battles, against the numerically superior forces of the Byzantine Roman Empire, Sassanid Persian Empire, and their allies, he is regarded as one of the finest military commanders in history. His greatest strategic achievements were his swift conquest of the Persian Empire and conquest of Roman Syria within three years from 633 to 636, while his greatest tactical achievements were his successful double envelopment maneuver at Walaja and his decisive victories at Firaz, Ullais and Yarmouk. ”
I guess that is enough to merit a mention in the list……. & surprisingly, he isnt even mentioned in the notable exce[tions… weird…
Directly from wikipedia, so i aint lying… u may check.
temujin should be number one…
Interesting list.
But er, if Cyrus is the most successful commander in history, then why isn’t there a whole bunch of blockbuster movies and TV mini-series about him like most others in there do?
Sad as it may sound, that’s how most people come to hear about great figures in history. So, lacking these, many people simply don’t know or have heard very little about Cyrus the Great, which wouldn’t be fair if this list is anything to go by.
DEAR HOLLYWOOD: Show Mr. Cyrus more respect, darn you!!
i am persian.there is not a whole bunch of blockbuster movies and TV mini-series about him because of my goverment.my regim is ayatollah regim.they are muslem and enemy of persian culture.they want to destroy cyrus the great tumb and persepolis(Achaemenian capital).but all 75 million people who live in iran loves their culture and history.we call cyrus the great as father of iran.he is father of us.father of human right in the world.
josh116: Hitler just told folks what they wanted to hear. There was a huge feeling of anti-semitism already prevalent. He just took advantage of it, and gave the german populace a target for their leftover rage (WWI). He wasn’t a magician but a great manipulator. It can and has happened again, far too easily.
Jean Luc Picard deserves an obvious mention.
Mike d: You are my hero =)
Mom424 – I completely agree with you. It can and will happen again. That’s the scary part. Same thing GwB did after 9/11 to get us into Iraq…
Mike D – Picard couldn’t hold a candle to the evil emperor from Star Wars…lol
this list needs horatio nelson, arthur wellesley, erwin rommel, bernard montgomery, alfred the great, erich ludendorff and maybe Karl Dönitz
nice list
Ghenghis Khan should be first on the list; he accomplished more with less than anyone else in history. Once his empire was established he was never defeated and was in the process of conquering Europe- all Europeans would be at least partially asian now and there would have been no France, Germany, etc (this is hypothetical of course, based on the idea that the land could have been retained, which is very unlikely)- without anyone being able to defeat his forces, except he was more interested in family affairs and called the army back to settle a dispute with a son. In fact, Khan’s interest had little to do with military conquest aside from amassing as much power and wealth as he could to leave to his family, so war came second after family affairs- that is probably the only reason Europe isn’t called ‘Little Mongolia’ today. (That’s meant to be lighthearted)
Furthermore, he conquered more of the known world in proportion to his time than any leader in history, he developed what was in the future to be called the ‘Roman retreat’ tactic and perfected warfare from atop of a horse, along with establishing massive supply lines and infrastructure before they had running water. He enabled entire armies to travel vast wastelands and survive, to fight with bows from horses, to seige and take down castle structures with no prior sapping experience.
He invented new forms of diplomacy and cultural seeding that hadn’t been used by his people’s before, and when that didn’t work:
-He wiped entire civilizations off of human history- we know they existed and he had them destroyed, but we have no idea who they were, because he literally had the entire culture eradicated from history- millions of people- simply because one of their kings insulted his messengers. We don’t even know the name of their culture or what their people called themselves (there are guesses).
I’m not advocating that as ‘cool’ or ‘admirable’ but on the scale of military conquerors, you can pretty much go into any military academy or university history department and no one is going to argue that anyone in history has even come close to Ghenghis Khan’s accomplishments.
The story of Khan’s life is fascinating- born to a tribal chieftain with ared crystal in his hand, his family murdered before him and escaping to the wilderness, saved by a friend and then coming back to destroy his family’s killers. Khan inveneted war tactics that had never been used before, and believed that it was his destiny to conquer everything he saw, to unite heavan and earth under him. And he did it.
Also, he died completely drunk and wasted in the sack on the wedding night of his, I don’t know, billionth wife.
He would have made Hitler wet himself just by simply growling at him.
Also, he died completely drunk and wasted in the sack on the wedding night of his, I don’t know, billionth wife.
wasn’t that Attila the Hun
Drunk in bed with one of many many wives…now that’s how I wanna die!!!
I cant believe im saying this, it was good to see hitler on this list, despite being sadisticly evil he was very good at what he was doing so giving credit where credit is due he was very good at taking over other countries.
it was hitlers fault german failed in russia he couldn’t decided where to attack and ended up moving his men around 3 different advances if he had choosen one the russia would be dead before stalingrad
Really good list, I just had a little problem with the word “successful”. Maybe dominant or influential would have been a better word for some of these guys. Kind of like I would call Jim Jones a dominate or influential Pastor because his people followed him and did anything he asked even drink poison Kool-Aid.
But I wouldn’t call him Successful. JMHO
true dude!….."successful" is not suitable for use with barbaric people!!!
I just want to point out to those that feel that Hitler should not be on the list, that Hitler required absolute control over the military(which is why they ended up losing). But FDR and Churchill where not as directly involved with troop movements as Hitler was. He would not let his generals make movements without his consent. Anyway so he does kinda deserve to be up here though I can see your point about how great an orator we was.
I think Khan should be higher up on the list, after all, he’s the one that conquered the most territory.
i read that on d-day hitler was asleep and no one would wake him up so it took hours to mover panzar devisions from calais to normandy