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.

[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.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles...

[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...

[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

[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

[IliaDN]

Russians, conquering the former terretory of Russian Empire required some good military ...

[Samurai Waki]

I think the British Empire from the 18th-19th Century turned the British the Great Military Nation on earth, but they were far more subtle in their conquests. I should've given the Romans #1 choice because strictly speaking they out endured any empire in History by a long shot.

[IliaDN]

I should've given the Romans #1 choice because strictly speaking they out endured any empire in History by a long shot.

You sure what about Osmans and Russians.Or do you count Byzantian times as well?

[Samurai Waki]

I hate the reference Byzantine... as they identified themselves as Romans, but in the strictest sense, yes, I believe the 'Byzantine Empire' was just a continuation of the Roman Empire.

[King Henry V]

One could refer to the Eastern Roman Empire as Byzantine from the reign of Heraclius as he was the one who Hellenised it. My vote would go to the Romans for discipline and quality of training, but the real reason why they conquered most of Europe was because of their technological superiority. Second comes Prussia/Germany for their victories in the Seven Years War, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Franco-Prussian War, WWI and WWII. Thrid comes the British Army from 1704-1914 in the period from the Battle of Blenheim to the Outbreak of the First World War.

[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?

[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 .)

[Petrus]

I voted for Germany in the 17 th century, for the thirty years war : they managed to kill between one half and two third of the central european populations - mainly themselves - which is much higher anyone else has done.

[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.

[Brenus]

Waterloo: French : 72 000 men + 33 000 detached Marshall Grouchy. (never engaged)
English (& Allies): 77 000 men and 102 000 men
"The Duke of Wellington's army was a mixture of Germans (the largest contingent), Netherlanders (often referred to as 'Dutch-Belgians') and British (many of whom hailed from Ireland). The sprinkling of veterans, particularly the British and King's German Legion units, were the corset-stays holding together this volatile mixture of men, some of whom had fought for Napoleon only the previous year"
Size of the armies: 23,000 British troops with 44,000 allied.

So, Wellington wasn’t English (he he) and the heroic troops which defeated Napoleon (total 179 000 allies against 72 000 French) were NOT English.

[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.