Best World War I Commander

[Cymraeg]

Unwilling as I am to vote for Haig, it has to be my vote for him during the Hundred Days. His army broke the Germans like a rotten stick.

 

[Ming777]

Same, didn't the King say they won using his work?

Him and Currie, hence why both of them were knighted.

 

[Emperor Charles V]

Everyone who voted for Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Erich Ludendorff or Paul von Hindenburg, keep in mind the Germans lost the war...

 

[BlairWitch749]

Unwilling as I am to vote for Haig, it has to be my vote for him during the Hundred Days. His army broke the Germans like a rotten stick.

And lost 400k men doing so. Hardly a pittance. He lost as many men in the 100 days as he did with his other attacks while still no reaching Germany proper

 

[Vingilótë]

Everyone who voted for Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Erich Ludendorff or Paul von Hindenburg, keep in mind the Germans lost the war...

Well, with Lettow-Vorbeck, he basically spent the whole war outside the German logistics chain, but he did shoot up a bunch of allied soldiers, so it's arguable that he any way you cut it had an overall positive effect on Germany's overall fate (also a negligible effect, but still).

 

[Emperor Charles V]

Well, with Lettow-Vorbeck, it's safe to say that he was of sufficiently low rank and influence that his actions had no effect on Germany losing the war.

True. Good point. I being a northerner and descendant of staunch union supporters think that Lee and Jackson were among the best commanders of the civil war even though their side lost and I strongly disagree with what they were fighting for.

 

[Vingilótë]

Ahaha, I actually completely rewrote my post while you were writing.

 

[elkarlo]

Haig? Seriously?

Well if you are counting Central Power commanders? Then, yes

 

[elkarlo]

And lost 400k men doing so. Hardly a pittance. He lost as many men in the 100 days as he did with his other attacks while still no reaching Germany proper

yeah, Haig, even with the Germans folding, took unacceptable loses.

 

[Nytram01]

Everyone who voted for Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Erich Ludendorff or Paul von Hindenburg, keep in mind the Germans lost the war...

As far as Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck goes, he didn't lose the war - Germany did. He was compelled to surrender his undefeated army because of German failures in Europe, not because of any failure in his African theater.

 

[La Rouge Beret]

General Monash.

 

[Mikestone8]

Everyone who voted for Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Erich Ludendorff or Paul von Hindenburg, keep in mind the Germans lost the war...

Lettow-Vorbeck wasn't defeated. He was ordered to surrender under the terms of the armistice.

 

[Mikestone8]

And lost 400k men doing so. Hardly a pittance. He lost as many men in the 100 days as he did with his other attacks while still no reaching Germany proper

Actually he did reach Germany proper. His troops occupied Cologne in the winter of 1918/19.

 

[Richter von Manthofen]

I'll go with Brusilov. A successful offensive against the German/Austro-Hungarian armies that had spent most of the previous year beating the Russians quite severely. The offensive included a successful surprise, pioneered new tactics, and mauled the Austro-Hungarian army, which lost a considerable portion of its fighting capability.

Seconded - The offensive fizzled only when the Russians reverted to old tactics

 

[BlairWitch749]

Seconded - The offensive fizzled only when the Russians reverted to old tactics

It fizzled because the Russian army was spe t and taken 100s of thousands of irreplaceable losses

 

[Alan]

I would go for Nikola Zhekov, Commander of the Bulgarian Army. He led a series of highly successful defensive operations in Salonika.

 

[Derek Pullem]

Putnik (Serbia)?

He may have lost but he held on for a year against overwheming odds and managed to extract a good fraction of the army to Corfu from where they were able to regroup and play a vital part in liberating the country three years later

 

[Mikestone8]

I'm finding some of the poll results a bit hard to undestand.

I'm ok with LV being in the lead, but feel that both Petain (for probably saving the French Army in 1917) and Kemal (for Gallipoli) deserve to be at least level with HL, Haig and Pershing, if not ahead of them.

 

[Derek Pullem]

Lettow Vorbeck wasn't an army commander - his main force barely got above a weak brigade.

Don't understand why he is even on the list.

 

[hasdrubal barca]

I'm finding some of the poll results a bit hard to undestand.

I'm ok with LV being in the lead, but fell that both Petain (for probably saving the French Army in 1917) and Kemal (for Gallipoli) deserve to be at least level with HL, Haig and Pershing, if not ahead of them.

Yeah I agree, i even vote for Kemal so he actually is really at only two.