Greatest Military Nation

[RTW King]

This is about a mixture of ability to efficiently run the army, and how efficient the army was in battle. This isn't about the maddest barbarians, its about disciplined soldiers and Generals tactics, etc.

[TheSilverKnight]

British Empire, 18th-20th centuries

[master of the puppets]

British Empire, 18th-20th centuries

mabey but they damn near got there heads ripped off by napoleon.
i voted ceasers legions, desciplined, brutal, loyal to the very end. also his battles were well thought out and well applicated upon the guals and later the romans.

after that i'd have to say ghengis khan
after that probably hannible

[TheSilverKnight]

mabey but they damn near got there heads ripped off by napoleon.
i voted ceasers legions, desciplined, brutal, loyal to the very end. also his battles were well thought out and well applicated upon the guals and later the romans.

after that i'd have to say ghengis khan
after that probably hannible

No they didn't. The English didn't fight an extensive land war like the rest of the Europeans did. The only land war the English fought was the Peninsular War (1808-1814), and we did not nearly get our heads ripped off.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles...

[Ianofsmeg16]

mabey but they damn near got there heads ripped off by napoleon.

I'm sorry, so what was the nationality of the General who beat Napoleon?
Vietnamese? Indian? Egyptian?
nope

British....and so were his troops

[Templar Knight]

Prussia!

[Gurkhal]

I have to say the Greeks were the best, beating Persia and then more or less forming the thinking in military matters, and most other sides of the culture for a long time. Even beating the Romans in the person of king Pyhrrus (yes I know about the spelling ).

Even I do admitt that they got beaten in the end, just like everyone else.

[Grey_Fox]

I'm sorry, so what was the nationality of the General who beat Napoleon?
Vietnamese? Indian? Egyptian?
nope

British....and so were his troops

Actually Wellington was Irish, but that's semantics.

Anyways, what happened to the Germans?

[King Henry V]

Actually Wellington was Irish, but that's semantics.

Anyways, what happened to the Germans?

Wellington was not Irish. People of his class did not mix with the native Irish. He also said "just because one is born in a stable does not mean one is a horse". The Dutch-Belgian contingent was almost completely useless, most regiments ran at the first sign of gunfire. Others began shooting at the Duke as he was riding past. It was the British troops who formed "the thin red line" which led to the defeat of D'Erlan's corp and the rout of the hitherto invincible Imperial Guard.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I'm sorry, so what was the nationality of the General who beat Napoleon?
Vietnamese? Indian? Egyptian?
nope

Prussian. If Blucher hadn't turned his army around despite the loss at Ligny and crashed into Napoleon's right, all of Wellesley's efforts would have bought him nothing more than a draw [though he was good and a draw against Boney while having to use all those miserable Allied troops actually wouldn't have been all that bad. Jeez, half of Wellington's cavalry spent the whole day standing behind the allied squares so they wouldn't run].

SF

[Grey_Fox]

Prussian. If Blucher hadn't turned his army around despite the loss at Ligny and crashed into Napoleon's right, all of Wellesley's efforts would have bought him nothing more than a draw

It was an Allied victory. Welllington would not have fought at Mont St. Jean unless the Prussians turned up, and Blucher would have gone back to Berlin if Wellington didn't fight.

Anyways, Napoleon had almost everything going for him. He outnumbered Wellington's artillery by almost 2:1, his cavalry was superior, he had a homogeneous army unlike Wellington's polyglot force, and his troops were all veterans, unlike the British troops of whom only half had seen combat before.

Actually, these were some of the most favourable odds Wellington ever had to face considering many of his earlier battles.

Wellington did not have 72,000 troops in action at Mont St. Jean. He had stationed a force of 17,000 men at a crossroads about a dozen miles away to prevent a possible French outflanking maneuver, as he had a high opinion of Napoleon's capabilities. This left him with 55,000 troops to face Boney.

The British pretty much beat the Old Guard on their own without Prussian interference (disregarding the group that held the Prussians at Plancenoit).

Also, the term 'thin red line' was not coined until the Crimean War.

[Leet Eriksson]

Romans, they were warlike in nature and the way they made their army by borrowing bits of tactics, equipments from their enemies was pretty ingenious.

[PanzerJaeger]

No Germany? Hmmph..

[RabidGibbon]

Well I've made my vote (I went for other, by which I'm thinking of the british empire, It was, I think the greatest empire the world has ever seen).

Theres been an awful lot of these "who was best" threads recently though. The once serene monastery is starting to resemble the backroom.

[caesar44]

Well I've made my vote (I went for other, by which I'm thinking of the british empire, It was, I think the greatest empire the world has ever seen).

Theres been an awful lot of these "who was best" threads recently though. The once serene monastery is starting to resemble the backroom.

Oh dear...

[Colovion]

No Germany? Hmmph..

[LeftEyeNine]

By the way, Gawain continues his neverending US propaganda here too.. Trying to prove US as a great military nation is trying to persuade people that a pineapple will conquer the world the other day with its delicious juice.. He is sounding just ridiculous. Ending draw with an South Asian country in a war (do not come up with tense forests that scrambled everyhting or anything else like that. A "big" military had to know that..) already proves that US is an average..

Conquest of the world (called "Red Apple" traditionally) is an Turkish ambition continuing for ages - imaginary or rational, I don't mind. It reflects our militaristic passion..

[Gregoshi]

LeftEyeNine, I think the Monastery patrons are intelligent enough to make there own decisions as to who's arguments are valid and who's arguments are "propaganda". A patron calling a particular nation the Greatest Military Nation does not make it fact - it is only an opinion. Likewise, a patron labeling another's argument as propaganda does not make it fact - it is only an opinion and a not so nice one at that I might add. Spend less time labeling and more time counter-arguing if it is that important to you. Each of us will make our own decisions regarding this and other topics and as you can see above there is a wide variety of opinion on this particular subject.


BTW, you are wrong about the pineapple, it is the grape that will conquer the world.

[Strike For The South]

patton Italy Eisenhower France saved you guys from the nazis and russians at the same time and tipped our caps while doing it AMERICA

Note: didnt meen to offend sort of a joke im not funny shouldnt try

[TheSilverKnight]

patton Italy Eisenhower France saved you guys from the nazis and russians at the same time and tipped our caps while doing it AMERICA FU*K YA

iuno if I'm the right person to say this, but please don't be arrogant about your country. They're not always right and not always the best in the world in everything. That's all I'll say about that.

[Papewaio]

Strike edit your post, this is the Monastery which is the politest of the forums.

This site has 10 to 80 year olds, swearing in such a manner is not allowed.

BTW you may want to consider the origins of the people who worked on the Manhattan project...

[Papewaio]

Scots (William Wallace)

The original form of Wallace meant "Welsh Speaking"

I think you should have used Celts instead of Scots...

[Duke Malcolm]

Scots (William Wallace)



I think you should have used Celts instead of Scots...

I think that using Celts would not have been entirely accurate. A good number of towns in the Lowlands from which much of Wallace's army at several battles was mustered were descended from the Angles of Northumbria who used to live there before it was annexed by Scotland in the 11th Century or thereabouts.

I would have to agree with theSilverKnight and say that 18th - 20th Century Britain was the greatest military nation, especialy that Northern outpost of Britain commonly referred to as Scotland.

[Strike For The South]

iuno if I'm the right person to say this, but please don't be arrogant about your country. They're not always right and not always the best in the world in everything. That's all I'll say about that.

What this is news to me

[ah_dut]

I'd say China produced armies which did well for many years, though internal struggles and other civil war like stuff meant that they never achieved their full potential.

However the mongols had one of the largest empires ever in an age when there was very little in the way of true mechanised transport, achieving speeds a modern army could well be proud of on horseback. They also had supreme tactics for their era, rarely losing a battle or indeed a war. Yes I think they did lose in Vietnam but look at what they achieved...

Germany under hitler must of course get a mention

And of course the British Empire, though I hasten to mention many of the soldiers were scots not english

[Papewaio]

Thanks strike

[Gemenii XIII]

However the mongols had one of the largest empires ever in an age when there was very little in the way of true mechanised transport, achieving speeds a modern army could well be proud of on horseback. They also had supreme tactics for their era, rarely losing a battle or indeed a war. Yes I think they did lose in Vietnam but look at what they achieved...

I wouldnt consider the mongolian conquests an empire. They simply conquerd and very losely "governed" terretories for about 80 years. This is not an Empire. An empire has to stand the test of time for more than just 80 years and also has to impose its legacy to the world. Both of witch, the Mongolian state, did not acomplish in order to reach the status of an empire (even the they controlled the largest territory to date).

[yesdachi]

iuno if I'm the right person to say this, but please don't be arrogant about your country. They're not always right and not always the best in the world in everything. That's all I'll say about that.

WHAT… Americans not always right? Not always the best in the world?
Well that’s not what the brochure said when I signed up .

I chose Mongols. They built things but weren’t builders. Wrote things but weren’t writers. Invented, but weren’t inventors, etc. they were conquers and the… Greatest Military Nation Ever.

With runners up being the English pre WWI and the Romans about ¾ of the way thru their reign.

With honorable mentions going out to Japan just prior to unification. (Honorable mention… Japan, get it, ha, Americans always crack themselves up too .)

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The Romans were the greatest empire, and a group of good soldiers. When well led, few could defeat them.

The Mongols were superb, and had probably the best single general of all time in Sabutai (spellings vary).

As a warring nation, however, I would have to opt for Germany, particularly in WW2. Setting aside the inate evil of the Hitler regime, how well hte Wermacht and associates fought that many quality opponents for so long at such a disparity of numbers is more or less stunning. Following the American Civil War, Germany was the only nation to accurately assess the changes of modern war, becoming the best for nearly a century.

SF