View Full Version : Greatest National Figure
Who would you consider the greatest person your nation* produced?
State your nation
State the person
Perhaps an explanation as to why that person was chosen.
:book:
*nation will require political continuity. It is also distinct from simple ethnicity.
Gawain of Orkeny
05-23-2005, 17:43
George Washington
The father of our nation.
Byzantine Prince
05-23-2005, 17:50
Well most nations(in terms of political continuity) are pretty young Pindar. I don't think it's fair that way.
My ethnicity: Greece
Greatest National Figure: Alexander III of Macedon
Duke Malcolm
05-23-2005, 17:50
Scotland/UK of GB and NI
James VI, King of Scots
United the crowns of Scotland and England; established Presbyterianism as Scotland's religion; germinated the Empire and Great Britain; made the King James Bible; Tried to reform the Church of England to be more like the (presbyterian) Church of Scotland.
Edit : Changed from Sir William Wallace to above.
Meneldil
05-23-2005, 18:07
A lot of people come in mind, but I'd say Napoleon.
He was a fairly good stratege, but I consider that he was even better as a politician.
Hurin_Rules
05-23-2005, 18:45
Well, I have two nations (dual citizenship), so here goes.
Scotland/UK: David Hume
Canada: Tough one. They recently had a poll on this across Canada, and the winner was Tommy Douglas (the father of socialism in Canada). But I think I'd probably give it instead to Terry Fox (also one of the finalists in the same poll.
King Cnut the Great.
Conqueror of Norway and England, king of England, Denmark (which included the southern part of Sweden) and king of Norway all at once. Last proper viking king of Denmark.
Sweden.
hmmm... good question, Charles X or XII, both managed to strengthen sweden and fought of all other nations and where military geniuses.
Charles (Karl) X
Templar Knight
05-23-2005, 19:26
Scotland, UK.
James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose.
Raised a rebellion for Charles I and defeated every covenanter army sent against him.
Krusader
05-23-2005, 19:27
Norway
Harald Haarfagre perhaps.
United the Norwegian petty kingdoms into one kingdom.
Adrian II
05-23-2005, 20:23
http://www.grotiuscollege.nl/images/Hugo%20d1.jpg
Hugo Grotius
Thought about the use and abuse of war as a tool of power, and helped lay the foundations for international law as we know it. Grotius developed a theory of natural law that went against the grain of the ruling Calvinist clique in his country as well as their economic interests. While England, Spain, and Portugal where attempting to rule the seas, Grotius did not claim that right for the Dutch but argued that the liberty of the sea was the key to trade and communication amongst all nations which no one country should seek to monopolise. He was convinced that the principles of immediate and vulgar self-interest would eventually make way for principles of law, based on a deeper insight into human nature. 'God has given conscience a judicial power to be the sovereign ruler of human actions, whose admonitions our mind only despises at the risk of stupefying into brutal hardness.'
Canada
Pierre Trudeau
:bow:
King Henry V
05-23-2005, 20:29
Well me of course!
Germany
Otto von Bismarck of course. ~D
He kicked some arses(no offense ~;) ), finally united Germany and secured peace in Europe in his very own way(after the wars, of course).
Thomas Jefferson
At the age of 33 he drafted the Declaration of Independence, later contributed to the Bill of Rights.
much much more, most important is that he hated tyranny and loved human freedom, and did something about it. Somewhat marred by his ownership of slaves, but perhaps it is too harsh to judge him by the morals of our time.
ichi :bow:
Steppe Merc
05-23-2005, 21:00
Damn all of you Eurppean types get interesting people.
Very well...
America: Jerry Garcia.
:bow:
Norway
Fridtjof Nansen
The philanthropist, the humanist, the freedom fighter, the polar scientist, the inventor, the diplomat, the Nobel’s peace price winner and the artist.
Who can forget this man and what he did for his country and the world.
He was involved in the liberation of Norway in 1905 and he became a national hero when he crossed Greenland on foot (skis) and travelled to the North Pole and survived to tell about it.
He helped 450 000 prisoners of war return safely to their homes.
The year after he worked for the refugees in the world and saved countless lives. Over 7 million Russians were saved from starvation.
He helped over 1 million Greek refugees from Turkey settle down in their homeland Greece.
He became the first High commissary for refugees and in 1922 he received Nobel’s peace prize for his love of the human life.
He wrote in an article:”Jeg ser ingen annen redning for menneskeheten enn nestekjærlighetens gjenfødelse”. “I can see no other salvation for mankind than the rebirth of charity”.
Tribesman
05-23-2005, 21:09
Ireland
Arthur Guinness ~:cheers:
Duke Malcolm
05-23-2005, 21:13
Ain't no one better than Arthur Guinness, I'll drink to him... ~:cheers: ~:cheers: ~:cheers:
British, George Canning
Shot and injured his own Chancellor in a duel whilst PM. I think we need to bring political duels back. Nothing more need be said.
Big King Sanctaphrax
05-23-2005, 21:18
British, George Canning
Shot and injured his own Chancellor in a duel whilst PM. I think we need to bring political duels back. Nothing more need be said.
I'm going to nominate Castlereagh just to be contradictory.
Oh man, this is reminding me I have a British history exam in a fortnight...*knaws fingernails*
Devastatin Dave
05-23-2005, 22:32
America, George W Bush because he's "misunderestimated"... ~D
Proletariat
05-23-2005, 22:43
America/Austrailia
Thomas Jefferson/Ned Kelley (erm, only one I can think of right now.)
Kaiser of Arabia
05-23-2005, 22:51
Amerika: Tommy Jefferson.
DemonArchangel
05-24-2005, 00:18
China: Qin Shi Huangdi.
Emerika: FDR, founder of Modern Liberalism.
New Zealand : Sir Edmund Hillary, reaching the top.
"Proving that anyone, from any country, no matter how small, can achieve their dream."
Idomeneas
05-24-2005, 00:32
Ok im greek
Now i could pick from many but i think i ll pick somebody who wasnt good only for my nation but for the world also.
I ll pick Socrates. A brave man (no all wise guys were not just bookworms), A pure democrates ready to stand for his ideas and the man who was brave enough to admit ΕΝ ΟΙΔΑ ΟΤΙ ΟΥΔΕΝ ΟΙΔΑ one thing i know, that i know nothing.
Taffy_is_a_Taff
05-24-2005, 00:46
Wales: Owain Glyndwr
not just because of the war but because of his plans for the country in an eventual peace.
Byzantine Prince
05-24-2005, 01:01
Here's the figurehead that abides to the rules of the thread:
http://img195.echo.cx/img195/8126/enver6df.jpg
Enver Hoxha
A Stalinist and fervent nationalist, Enver Hoxha led Albania for 40 years after World War II (1939-1945). Hoxha brought life to Albania’s economy and modernized the nation, but at the cost of human rights. Increasingly isolationist, he molded Albania into a firmly controlled, self-sufficient outpost of hard-line Communism.
Taffy_is_a_Taff
05-24-2005, 01:12
I heard this second hand from a mature student a couple of years ago.
Anyway, during his first degree, in the 80s, he knew archaeology students who were working in the eastern Med.
Apparently they got to be buddy buddy with some Albanian sailors. Albanians had apparently been told that the rest of the world had been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust and that Albania was the only place left on Earth. Is that really how isolated it got that many Albanians could believe that?
Is that true or was that guy speaking crap?
Croatia
Nikola Tesla
He probably had the biggest worldwide impact.
Papewaio
05-24-2005, 02:37
New Zealand
Rutherford.
Remarkable impact on science.
PanzerJaeger
05-24-2005, 03:23
German/American
Otto Von Bismarck/Robert E Lee
Byzantine Prince
05-24-2005, 03:23
I heard this second hand from a mature student a couple of years ago.
Anyway, during his first degree, in the 80s, he knew archaeology students who were working in the eastern Med.
Apparently they got to be buddy buddy with some Albanian sailors. Albanians had apparently been told that the rest of the world had been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust and that Albania was the only place left on Earth. Is that really how isolated it got that many Albanians could believe that?
Is that true or was that guy speaking crap?
Sure there was a lot of ignorance in the lower classes, but that was done on purpose, as in the greater good. There wasn't even roads in some remote places otherwise they would know better, what with radio having led zeppelin and thaters showing Italian movies.
It's actually a lot like the Spartans weren't allowed to know how other people lived in order to not be influenced to change.
Taffy_is_a_Taff
05-24-2005, 03:32
that's excellent.
It just makes me want my own totalitarian state even more.
Productivity
05-24-2005, 03:43
Austrailia
Ned Kelley (erm, only one I can think of right now.)
A glorified criminal? (I've never understood Australian's fixation with him to be honest).
Proletariat
05-24-2005, 04:34
A glorified criminal? (I've never understood Australian's fixation with him to be honest).
Actually, I was kind of making a lame joke about how the only famous historical figure I could possibly think of from there was Ned. I did a quick scan on wikipedia and couldn't find anyone that stood out as terribly interesting in their history write-up on Austrailia.
Maybe the fixation has to do with the whole penal-colony deal.
:laugh:
There have been a few interesting Canadians, including the inventor of basketball, pennicilin, the telephone, and that huge cannon Saddam Hussein bought to fire missiles across continents (it was originally designed to launch satellites).
I didn't agree with the Greatest Canadian poll. The former PM, Jean Chrétien, was way cooler on a personal level, so I'll go with him, just to be spiteful.
He fought in Vietnam.
He had a speech impediment.
He was pied in the face.
He choked a protestor who had charged his car through the car's window ("I saw 'e was a lightweight, so I took 'im out").
He used a piece of inuktitut art to beat an assassin into submission.
Papewaio
05-24-2005, 05:06
Actually, I was kind of making a lame joke about how the only famous historical figure I could possibly think of from there was Ned. I did a quick scan on wikipedia and couldn't find anyone that stood out as terribly interesting in their history write-up on Austrailia.
Maybe the fixation has to do with the whole penal-colony deal.
:laugh:
Try looking up about Monash on a military slant.
Or John Curtin.
Or Weary Dunlop.
Byzantine Prince
05-24-2005, 05:17
I didn't agree with the Greatest Canadian poll. The former PM, Jean Chrétien, was way cooler on a personal level, so I'll go with him, just to be spiteful.
He fought in Vietnam.
He had a speech impediment.
He was pied in the face.
He choked a protestor who had charged his car through the car's window ("I saw 'e was a lightweight, so I took 'im out").
He used a piece of inuktitut art to beat an assassin into submission.
Jean Cretien was awesome :laugh:
I agree that Greatest Canadian thing was stupid. I thought Lester Pearson was way more deservent of the award. The man gained a nobel peace prize and installed our health care system!
Singapore
Lee Kuan Yew
He and his administration curbed unemployment, solved problems like lack of housing, social stability and independent national defence which raised the standard of living, developed Singapore's economic revenue and infrastructure thus elevated the nation from a third world nation to the first.
~:cheers:
Well for me its an Englishman - named of Thomas Crapper - or was it John. It gets all confusing when one is sitting on the Porcelin throne now doesn't.
It seems most followed the basic rules.
I'm from the U.S.
I think my pick would be Abraham Lincoln.
The reason: he stood at the head of the nation during its greatest crisis since gaining independance. He helped to bring together the high ideals appealed to during the nation's founding and the reality that had disenfranchised unjustly so many.
Franconicus
05-24-2005, 07:00
Germany
Otto von Bismarck of course. ~D
He kicked some arses(no offense ~;) ), finally united Germany and secured peace in Europe in his very own way(after the wars, of course).
You are kidding, aren't you.
To me it is Martin Luther, he really changed the world for good.
Other great Germans are
Gutenberg, Daimler, Benz, Kant, Heisenberg, Einstein (?), Freud (?), even Marx
What a great nation! :balloon2:
You are kidding, aren't you.
To me it is Martin Luther, he really changed the world for good.
Other great Germans are
Gutenberg, Daimler, Benz, Kant, Heisenberg, Einstein (?), Freud (?), even Marx
What a great nation! :balloon2:
No, I´m not.
I know that positions about Bismarck differ, his internal politics weren´t that great, but there are few men who got them right here in Germany. He was a genius in foreign politics and his successors messed it all up(WW I). He also invented disability insurance.
The others are valid as well, but we should pick one, I thought. ~;)
The former PM, Jean Chrétien, was way cooler on a personal level, so I'll go with him, just to be spiteful.
He fought in Vietnam.
Excuse me? I really don't think so my brother. :no:
Leet Eriksson
05-24-2005, 12:40
United Arab Emirates:
Greatest Figures: Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nheyan.
Literally Champion of the Earth, a title awarded to him by the UN, for resisting desertification and keeping the environment clean, allevating citizen status, and making the country an economical force in the region.
Historical: Ahmed bin Majid.
Magellans navigator in the Indian ocean. 'nuff said.
Duke Malcolm
05-24-2005, 15:31
There have been a few interesting Canadians, including the inventor of basketball, pennicilin, the telephone, and that huge cannon Saddam Hussein bought to fire missiles across continents (it was originally designed to launch satellites).
I didn't know that Sir Alexander Fleming emigrated to Canada...
out of interest, who invented basketball? I always thought it was an american, but it is nice to know that they didn't invent any of their national games...
Franconicus
05-24-2005, 15:37
German/American
Otto Von Bismarck/Robert E Lee
Why?
English assassin
05-24-2005, 17:10
Big up for Nansen and Norway, certainly. Not one but two great careers.
From England, I vote Charles Darwin. Anyone who can still annoy that many fundamentalists HAS to get my vote. And he lived in Kent too which is just gravy.
The great Clement Atlee.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUattlee.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Atlee
Changed the life for the better, for so many British people and his reforms still do.
PanzerJaeger
05-24-2005, 18:02
Quote:
Originally Posted by PanzerJager
German/American
Otto Von Bismarck/Robert E Lee
Why?
Bismarck was a genius who created Germany as we now know it out of the states. He put Germany in the strong position it was at the beginning of the 20th century which subsequent leaders lost.
Robert E. Lee was offered a chance to fight on the winning side but chose to fight for his homeland and his way of life- and did a damned good job of it to. I respect that.
English assassin
05-24-2005, 18:37
Bismarck was a genius who created Germany as we now know it out of the states. He put Germany in the strong position it was at the beginning of the 20th century which subsequent leaders lost.
Umm. I'm not sure that was an unqualified blessing for the German people themselves, let alone everyone else. How about Goethe ?
Duke Malcolm
05-24-2005, 18:44
The great Clement Atlee.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUattlee.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Atlee
Changed the life for the better, for so many British people and his reforms still do.
Some of what he did was good, such as the NHS, and I was tempted to name him as mine. But he did surrender vast swathes of the Empire, including the Indian Empire, which is hardly a good thing...
It is ironic, though, that he was made an earl, and the current holder of the title Earl Attlee is a member of the Conservative Party.
Kanamori
05-24-2005, 18:48
"'m from the U.S.
I think my pick would be Abraham Lincoln.
The reason: he stood at the head of the nation during its greatest crisis since gaining independance. He helped to bring together the high ideals appealed to during the nation's founding and the reality that had disenfranchised unjustly so many."
Agreed, he took the US through its most difficult, and possibly explosive, time ever.
Gawain of Orkeny
05-24-2005, 19:30
http://etudiant.univ-mlv.fr/~spenel/5Wells.jpg
Look at that figure. Surley the greatest ~D
Kaiser of Arabia
05-24-2005, 20:34
You are kidding, aren't you.
To me it is Martin Luther, he really changed the world for good.
Other great Germans are
Gutenberg, Daimler, Benz, Kant, Heisenberg, Einstein (?), Freud (?), even Marx
What a great nation! :balloon2:
Don't forget Freidrich der Große, Wilhelm I, Rommel, Guderian, von Braun, etc etc. BTW Freud was Austrian .
Aurelian
05-25-2005, 05:28
I'll throw in a nominee from the arts and sciences:
Thomas Edison
He had a huge impact on our daily lives by inventing the phonograph, motion picture, and electric light technology that made those inventions safe, economical, and accessible. Also created a host of other inventions. Had over 1,368 patents by the time of his death. LINK (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm), LINK (http://www.thomasedison.com/Inventions.htm)
As for political theorists, I have a weakness for both Thomas Paine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine) and Thomas Jefferson. James Madison also deserves credit for his work on the Constitution.
Theodore Roosevelt has always been a personal favorite of mine... and FDR also stands as an American icon.
Gawain of Orkeny
05-25-2005, 05:34
Does anyone know whos picture that was I posted?
Byzantine Prince
05-25-2005, 06:22
Does anyone know whos picture that was I posted?
Yourself? ~;)
ICantSpellDawg
05-25-2005, 06:23
nation:USA
greatest figure:the guy who went back in time and killed the a**hole who invented the onion (the vegetable, not the funnypaper)
calvin coolidge
i have always had a hard time finding a national hero
Franconicus
05-25-2005, 07:08
Bismarck was a genius who created Germany as we now know it out of the states. He put Germany in the strong position it was at the beginning of the 20th century which subsequent leaders lost.
Robert E. Lee was offered a chance to fight on the winning side but chose to fight for his homeland and his way of life- and did a damned good job of it to. I respect that.
I agree with your describtion. However, Bismarck's state had some drawbacks: it was militaristic, not very democratic, it accepted war as a legal mean of politics, it was quite isolated (he humbled France). I know he could handle that. But the politicians after him could not. And so the final result was desastrous. Nevertheless he was a great man. But Germany is a great country with a great history. So I do not agree that he is the greatest national figure.
Franconicus
05-25-2005, 07:13
Don't forget Freidrich der Große, Wilhelm I, Rommel, Guderian, von Braun, etc etc. BTW Freud was Austrian .
I did not. Friedrich was on war all the time when he died the population was reduced and poor. If you like these kind of things take Karl the Great (or Charlemagne). He was much greater than Friedrich! Wilhelm I, not such a big thing. He had a good Kanzler. Rommel and Guderian? Good military leaders. That is all. Freud? If you count him as German - yes, absolutely!
Somebody Else
05-25-2005, 08:05
UK
Greatest figure? Me - just wait a few years.
Otherwise, I'd say William Pitt the younger is a pretty strong contendor - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt_the_Younger
Gawain of Orkeny
05-25-2005, 13:24
Would you believe thats Orson Wells?
Adrian II
05-25-2005, 13:27
Would you believe thats Orson Wells?Sure, why not? I recognised him immediately. And he was superb. Why you asking?
I agree with your describtion. However, Bismarck's state had some drawbacks: it was militaristic, not very democratic, it accepted war as a legal mean of politics, it was quite isolated (he humbled France). I know he could handle that. But the politicians after him could not. And so the final result was desastrous. Nevertheless he was a great man. But Germany is a great country with a great history. So I do not agree that he is the greatest national figure.
Yes, his state was militaristic, but the militarism was widespread and needed, it was not as much as in the following years and he didn´t want to conquer anything after he established Germany, he didn´t even crush Austria after he won the war, neither did he include it in Germany, like even some Austrians wanted.
It was not very democratic, that´s correct, but today we have democracy here and it´s going down all the time because they always make a compromise(No I´m not generally against democracy, but sometimes it just doesn´t seem to work as advertised).
It accepted war as a legal means of politics, that´s also correct, but he did it just until Germany was a nation, after that he used diplomacy trying to prevent further wars and wars have often been considered legal means of politics, that´s nothing special.
But if you say Germany was isolated, then you don´t understand his politics, because one of his main aims was to isolate France by allying with as many other european nations as possible. He made contracts with Austria, Russia and Italy and he led negotiations for some other treaties in the mediterranean. Bismarck always wanted an alliance with Great Britain, but they refused as long as he was chancellor(they came and asked for one later, but Wilhelm II and his followers refused).
The only thing that was disastrous about his politics was that Wilhelm II changed everything, made it more militaristic and aggressive, wanted colonies, said some stupid unsensitive things, renewed no treaties except those with Austria, and generally worked towards a big war, that he finally got.(well, the other nations wanted it as well)
Bismarck was critisizing Wilhelm II a lot, but he didn´t have any power anymore, I seriously think you can blame him for what happened in WW I and you can´t judge him by modern standards.
:bow:
Franconicus
05-25-2005, 13:56
Husar,
I do not think that we have not the same position. He was a great man. All I was trying to say is that in the nation he created were the roots for the terrible things that happend later. You might not blame him for that. Right. But he did not change the world for good. And I think there were Germans that deserve the tile Greatest National Figure much more than he.
KukriKhan
05-25-2005, 14:22
All my favorite US 'greatest national figures' have been picked, so I'll reach way back to my grandmother's Shawnee grandmother, and pick Tecumseh.
His almost-implemented dream of a united native confederation to halt the encroaching europeans (and their successors, the americans), I believe, demonstrates the kind of self-determination all nations aspire to. He should never have allied with Britain in the 1812 war.
PanzerJaeger
05-25-2005, 14:44
I agree with your describtion. However, Bismarck's state had some drawbacks: it was militaristic, not very democratic, it accepted war as a legal mean of politics, it was quite isolated (he humbled France). I know he could handle that. But the politicians after him could not. And so the final result was desastrous. Nevertheless he was a great man. But Germany is a great country with a great history. So I do not agree that he is the greatest national figure.
I think you and I may have different opinions about nations that are militaristic, not very democratic, and accept war as a legal means of politics. ~;)
When combined with a leader such as Bismarck, those things arent so bad - at least they werent for Germany until other leaders failed to learn from him.
Franconicus
05-25-2005, 15:45
I think you and I may have different opinions about nations that are militaristic, not very democratic, and accept war as a legal means of politics. ~;)
When combined with a leader such as Bismarck, those things arent so bad - at least they werent for Germany until other leaders failed to learn from him.
O.K.. I understand that you think he is great. And I cab agree to that even though I might not be so enthusiastic. But do you really think there is no greater person in the whole German history. I prefer Martin Luther. You may have another priority than I have. What about Arminius, you know the guy that defeated the Romans. Or Karl the Great. Conquert whole Europe and created Germany and France. And stopped the muslim! or Ferdinand Porsche. Did not only built great cars but also great tanks ~:) . Or Prinz Eugen. ....
Do you really think Bismarck is the greatest?
Arminus was a Roman (a second generation Roman citizen). Now he might have had some tribal connections. Use him and you allow the Spanish to say Hadrian was Spanish.
Anyway, I think you suffer from a terrible complex when it comes to recent history.
You said that you didn't blame Bismarck for what happened later on, yet you did so by claiming that his actions led to really bad stuff later on. That way we can blame the early Ottomans for the genocide agianst the Armanians.
That is in my mind not rational nor it is fair.
Personally though I would not pick Bismarck as the best German, but hey I'm not German.
Excuse me? I really don't think so my brother. :no:
Didn't he? Where did I hear that...
It´s all fine, Franconius. I just didn´t think of anyone else, because Bismarck is some kind of hobby for me(not that serious, but I get good grades if I can write about him in history exams ~D ~;) )
If Husar is already given away, my 2nd nickname is "KarlKarolinger"(not Bismarck) in honor of Karl der Grosse. ~D
I like Martin Luther as well.
Current german politicians are all very bad in my opinion and so I like to look back into the days of Bismarck, when everything was still better. ~;) ~D
There are even a lot of great german physicists(now correct, Papewaio? ~D )besides Einstein, like Jönsson(the name doesn´t sound german though).
If we just hadn´t been that stupid in 1932 and the following years... :embarassed:
English assassin
05-25-2005, 17:06
All my favorite US 'greatest national figures' have been picked, so I'll reach way back to my grandmother's Shawnee grandmother, and pick Tecumseh.
His almost-implemented dream of a united native confederation to halt the encroaching europeans (and their successors, the americans), I believe, demonstrates the kind of self-determination all nations aspire to. He should never have allied with Britain in the 1812 war.
There does seem to be something rather ironic about a native leader fighting for self determination allying with the worlds foremost imperial power, doesn't there...?
lanky316
05-25-2005, 18:57
England - Oliver Cromwell
No real reason except he's rammed down my throat all the time, what with his family running most of the town for centuries anyway. Had a drink in his old pub for lunch today funnily enough ~:cheers:
PanzerJaeger
05-25-2005, 19:41
O.K.. I understand that you think he is great. And I cab agree to that even though I might not be so enthusiastic. But do you really think there is no greater person in the whole German history. I prefer Martin Luther. You may have another priority than I have. What about Arminius, you know the guy that defeated the Romans. Or Karl the Great. Conquert whole Europe and created Germany and France. And stopped the muslim! or Ferdinand Porsche. Did not only built great cars but also great tanks . Or Prinz Eugen. ....
Do you really think Bismarck is the greatest?
All great men, but without Bismarck, it is very suspect as to whether Germany would have united at all. Since this is a "greatest national figure" thread I think he should get a lot of points for creating the nation.
Martin Luther was a good guy but he was more of a Christian than a German if you catch my drift. If this were a "greatest Christian figure" thread id be more inclined to go with him.
As for the industrialists and scientists - weve had so many great ones its hard to put one over the others! ~D
For the USA it has to be George Washington.
Henry “Light Horse Harry" Lee said it best:
First in War,
First in Peace, and
First in the Hearts of His Countrymen
He might have quit the war when all was dark but he would not.
He might have become king but would have none of it.
He established his nation’s future on the battlefield and became the template for the federal executive. When the Founders defined the office, they knew who the first president would be. Had to be. Only a handful of other men in the history of the Republic have approached his greatness. None have surpassed it.
Evil_Maniac From Mars
05-25-2005, 22:22
Otto the Great of Germany. Established German greatness in Europe. His legacy lasts to this day.
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