Poll: Greatest leader of the 19th century

Greatest leader of the 19th century

  • Alexander I of Russia

    Votes: 3 1.5%
  • George IV of the United Kingdom

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Charles X of France

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Willem I of the Netherlands

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Nicholas I of Russia

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mahmud II of Turkey

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Nasr ed Din of Persia

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Abdulmecid I of Turkey

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Victoria I of the United Kingdom

    Votes: 13 6.3%
  • Alexander II of Russia

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Franz Josef of Austria

    Votes: 2 1.0%
  • Bismarck of Prussia

    Votes: 88 42.9%
  • Andrew Jackson of the United States

    Votes: 5 2.4%
  • Jose de San Martin of Argentina

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Simon Bolivar of Colombia

    Votes: 10 4.9%
  • Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana of Mexico

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Abdulhamid II of Turkey

    Votes: 2 1.0%
  • Abraham Lincoln of the United States

    Votes: 69 33.7%
  • Napoleon III of France

    Votes: 4 2.0%
  • Mehmed Ali of Egypt

    Votes: 5 2.4%

  • Total voters
    205
Who was the greatest leader of the 19th century? To get a fair contest, these are leaders after 1815, so no Napoleon...

Not sure if Bismarck counts but I added him...
 
Of those on this list that actually were leaders, there are perishingly few that were 'great'. By modern standards i.e. vaguely ethical standards, Lincoln is probably the best, given that he was semi-democratically elected and was the most important single individual in preventing the CSA from forming and in ending slavery. Bismarck obviously was highly capable and by his own standard successful, but was not exactly a humanitarian.
 
No Pedro II of Brazil? Desgracefull.

To be honest my list would go as:

Best military leader: Napoleon I
Best political leader: Otto Von Bismarck
Best administrative leader: Victoria
And the best morally good speaking, Pedro II of Brazil.

Who the heck would vote for Charles X? He was a reactionary failure.

Ultracatholics. Still to have Charles X and not Pedro II is like the Pickett charge of the polls.
 
No Pedro II of Brazil? Desgracefull.

To be honest my list would go as:

Best military leader: Napoleon I
Best political leader: Otto Von Bismarck
Best administrative leader: Victoria
And the best morally good speaking, Pedro II of Brazil.

I was thinking about who to add more... Then I saw I could't... but I'll try to count it apart...
 
I wouldn't rate Boney as the best French military commander of the Napoleonic Wars, let alone the best of the century.
Ho? And who would you rate as better?
Keep in mind he would have to be so successful as to have all of Europe unite in order to over throw him.
Anyway, defiantly Bismarck, if you count all of Germany then he doubled Prussian taratory (more then napy I was able to do whith france) humiliate both of prussias historic rivals, and create a diplomatic atmosphere where no-one was able sucsesfuly create a coalition to roll back his achievements for well over 40 years.
 
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If we're including heads of government (like Bismarck) rather than just heads of state, then I say John A. MacDonald. Love him or hate him, not many people can claim to have built, from essentially nothing, the country which they lead.

edit: and I'm fairly certain (or at least I hope) he's the only alcoholic to have done so...
 
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Why in Our Lady of Guadalupe’s name is Santa Anna on the list?

Seconding this question. I'm not sure Santa Anna is even well-regarded in his own country, and as best I can tell he was both an unprincipled, opportunistic dictator and generally a failure (often embarrassingly so). He was certainly an important figure in his country's history, but I don't think he's in contention for the title of "great leader".
 

Marc

Donor
Not one non-political/military leader.
Ironically, in the long run, that crowd are usually the least important figures.

Just for fun, several alternative great leaders:

Sai Baba of Shirdi
Florence Nightingale
Pope Pius IX
William Lloyd Garrison

 
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