The Fall Of Elam

[TruSoul]

Hitler has to be there at the top somewhere, shame about all the sin's. But it took hell of a lot of skill to bring the world to war. Even mr Bin Laden has'nt achieved that and hes got a crew of a few 100 million !

[awoken_soul]

yeh Hitler was pretty darn good. Then Otto Bismarck, Julius Caesar, Fidel Castro, mao zedong, Vo giap, Robert E. lee, Ghenghis Khan, oliver cromwel, Napoleon the first and many more..

Hitler has to be there at the top somewhere, shame about all the sin's. But it took hell of a lot of skill to bring the world to war. Even mr Bin Laden has'nt achieved that and hes got a crew of a few 100 million !

[HSD*^]

Hitler has to be there at the top somewhere, shame about all the sin's. But it took hell of a lot of skill to bring the world to war. Even mr Bin Laden has'nt achieved that and hes got a crew of a few 100 million !

hmm, hitler isnt really what i would call a military mind. he served well and with honours in WW1 but never reached the rank of corporal, even with people dying all around him. but regardless of WW1, he was one of those leaders who wanted yes-men around him rather than face real criticism and refine his plans. at the beginning of WW2 it didnt matter as the german army commanders had a lot of personal control. as the war dragged on hitler's power over the army became more absolute, and as we all know a micro-managing general rarely wins a battle let alone a war. also, hitler spent the german ability to make war. the early german empire had thrown a lot of resources into protecting themselves and keeping up with the neighbours. most of this was lost in WW1 but the thirst of the people to fight was still there. hitler took that, used it, but misdirected it and ended up making germany a relevant yet minor power in the world with a population afraid of war (the parralel to us and maharaja ranjit singh are close). even now they dont have nuclear weapons as no one trusts them and they are afraid of going down that route of defence. mind you, one good thing we can learn from him are his oratorial skills and belief in the defence and preservation of a nation's people, culture and history.

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when i think of military minds, the two i think from the last 2 hundred years are:

Nelson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelso...Viscount_Nelson

this guy led his troops and knew how to make the most of their skills and what his ships and crew were capable of. this allowed him to try out unconventional tactics, that the enemy were not capable of improvising against. he was also considered violent, but war is war. if you dont have the balls to do whats necessary, dont start crying when you taste the harvest of your defeat.

Rommel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Rommel

rommel knew how to plan in order to respond to what the enemy did. some of those who served under him said he had a surprising ability to figure out what the enemy would do throughout an operation and what they were after. this allowed him to set traps and pull of maneuvers that completely sidelined the enemies' plans and frustrate them. rommel was also considered chivalrous, but whether that is necessary or unhelpful to a military mind is upto personal opinion.

the two above are fairly recent. there is one other i would like to mention.

Blas de Lezo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blas_de_Lezo

this nutter was a legend in his time. he fought in the 'war of jenkins ear', which has been whitewashed from history by the english. look up sources on this war, it'll make an interesting read. one of britain's biggest defeats, which also led to the execution of the english commandeer for failure! bet they didnt teach you that in history class did they? unfortunately, blas de lezo died of illness soon after the battle and could not put his exploits into writing. but his actions show that fanatical militarism (the type used by the Akhalis) combined with inspired tactics can lead to victory over far larger forces.

those are a few i would consider 'military minds', mainly for their actions in war.

[saint-soldier]

bravooo!, its turned in to a good debate!.

Can a squeeze in a question : Who were / are the greatest military minds in the world ?

indira gandhi, aka the hitler of the sub continent.

wait i just realised she wasnt a great military mind, she just ran the propaganda machine like no one ever did in india.

[HSD*^]

bravooo!, its turned in to a good debate!.

Can a squeeze in a question : Who were / are the greatest military minds in the world ?

indira gandhi, aka the hitler of the sub continent.

wait i just realised she wasnt a great military mind, she just ran the propaganda machine like no one ever did in india.

it doesnt matter how much power someone has, they still cant stop bullets!