The Great Men of History

[Darkest]

In an effort to calculate how many Great Men are available to FH writers (and I guess AH writers in certain circumstances) every few years or so, I would like to invite you to help create a list of all the Great Men in History.

Actually, that would be a very hard project and take too long, so try to think of Great Men that has appeared within the last... 750 years. That sounds like an appropriate amount of time.

What is a Great Man? A Great Man is one whose personality had a direct impact on history, one that, if they had not been there, no one could have taken their place. They aren't individuals that have stumbled upon power, they are a person no one could replace in history.

Now, the individuals that may be submitted are subject to debate, so feel free to challenge previously posted Great Men to argue for their greatness.

Also, since we are trying to find out a formula for the frequency of Great Men that appear in history, in parentheses, attach the year in which they made their first steps to ascend to Greatness. Alexander's creation of an army to battle the Persians, for example.

Once all is said and done, which could be at any future date, we'll compile the results, and find our answer.

Good luck!

 

[Flocculencio]

Wow- pretty tough criteria. By those criteria you could probably discount, say, Hitler as a Great Man.

Karl Marx (1867- publication of Das Kapital vol. 1)

 

[Darkest]

Wow- pretty tough criteria. By those criteria you could probably discount, say, Hitler as a Great Man.

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. But that's what we need to do.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1795 - beginning of successful military career)

Overall, I don't think that someone could have taken Napoleon's place. He was a unique character, devised entirely new military tactics, took control of an empire. He is definitely a Great Man.

 

[Justin Pickard]

Otto Von Bismarck (1862 - becomes Minister-President and Foreign Minister of Prussia)

 

[Darkest]

20th Century

These figures are debatable as Great Men, which ones do you think will make it on the list?

Fidel Castro
Pancho Villa
Juan Peron
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mao Zedong
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Winston Churchill
Joseph Stalin
Albert Einstein
Martin Luther King Jr.
Rasputin

 

[FirstCitizen1]

I'd probably remove Fiedel Castron, Mussolini, Einstien, Martin Luther King, and Rasputin. The others I'd keep. The one's I removed, I figure someone just like them could have emerged within five years of their lives (before or after)

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

Great Men? Those criteria? If we get rid of the "no replacement" policy, we've got hundreds.

With it, I'd say we have maybe a few dozen in all of history. Surprisingly, I'd put a strange emphasis on Americans, as America was a terribly unique nation and if we had not had the individuals we had at the beginning the world would be a much different place. I'd say we have at least 4 or 5 within the Founding Fathers, and then Lincoln.

I'd also stipulate that after the triumph of the Nation state, Great Men become almost non-existent, appearing only in moments of great crisis. I count 7 or 8. Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Lincoln, Napoleon, Lenin, with maybe Churchill.

Alexander the Great
Robespierre
Napoleon
Heraclius
Jesus
Muhammed
St. Paul

I might attempt to argue for Shi Huangdi, but the Qin were almost destined to take over China after a certain point, and thus Shi Huangdi simply happened to be a particularly gifted ruler.......

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

Mao Zedong
Winston Churchill

That's what I leave. Zedong singlehandedly held the Communist movement together.

 

[Wendell]

What about lesser known leaders/progenitors of larger movements?

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

True, I might add Ali to that. But then again, the Arabs were almost required to burst out of Arabia and overwhelm Persia and Byzantium......

 

[Darkest]

Note: Though 'Great Men' have to be irreplaceable, a force directly affecting history through merely their intelligence or personality, that does not mean that they have to be, say incredibly noticeable people.

That's why I put Pancho Villa in my 20th Century list. Though on world affairs he didn't do much, he did change the world in a small way, using only his personality, and no one could have replaced him for what he did.

Also, remember that we are listing Great Men after 1250 AD.

 

[Nicole]

But then again, the Arabs were almost required to burst out of Arabia and overwhelm Persia and Byzantium......

I disagree, on different circumstances Persia or Byzantium could have defeated the Arabs, they weren't guaranteed to be overwhelmed (Though Arabs would still likely run out of space in Arabia and expand outward). But this is off-topic...

 

[Wendell]

Note: Though 'Great Men' have to be irreplaceable, a force directly affecting history through merely their intelligence or personality, that does not mean that they have to be, say incredibly noticeable people.

That's why I put Pancho Villa in my 20th Century list. Though on world affairs he didn't do much, he did change the world in a small way, using only his personality, and no one could have replaced him for what he did.

Also, remember that we are listing Great Men after 1250 AD.

So, could cases be made for Ralph Nader or Barry Goldwater?

 

[Darkest]

Ralph Nader, maybe... Barry Goldwater, not so much. The idea is also that Great Men affect a lot of people. Everyone knows their name, and they led populaces to force their goals, through sheer personality and charisma. If Ralph Nader and Barry Goldwater weren't able to motivate people enough to be recognized as a household name, then I don't think they belong on the list.

 

[Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy]

Here are some candidates that haven't been mentioned yet: Frederick the Great, Victoria, Charles de Gaulle, Wilhelm II, Shakespeare, Empress Dowager, Ataturk, Napoleon III, Cromwell, Freud, Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Gandhi, Pol Pot, George III, Tamerlane, Franz Joseph, Henry VIII, Mandela, Walpole, Marco Polo, Elizabeth I, Chiang Kai-Shek.

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

I disagree, on different circumstances Persia or Byzantium could have defeated the Arabs, they weren't guaranteed to be overwhelmed (Though Arabs would still likely run out of space in Arabia and expand outward). But this is off-topic...

I agree with you that had the last Perso-Byzantine War not been the most destructive of the wars, the Empires could have survived the Arabic attack. But barring a huge change in the path of the Byzantine Empire (perhaps Maurice's survival), the war is going to destroy both Empires and the Arabs are going to overwhelm them.

That was my point. It didn't matter whether or not Ali was in charge, an Arab leader was going to overwhelm the Persians and Byzantines...

 

[Justin Pickard]

Here are some candidates that haven't been mentioned yet: Frederick the Great, Victoria, Charles de Gaulle, Wilhelm II, Shakespeare, Empress Dowager, Ataturk, Napoleon III, Cromwell, Freud, Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Gandhi, Pol Pot, George III, Tamerlane, Franz Joseph, Henry VIII, Mandela, Walpole, Marco Polo, Elizabeth I, Chiang Kai-Shek.

Of these I would agree wholeheartedly with - Shakespeare, Freud, Henry VIII, Marco Polo, and Elizabeth I

 

[hexicus]

the pen is mightier than the sword ...

Keynes, Marx & Adam Smith
Darwin, Mendel, Watson & Crick
Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Fermi & Einstein
Charles Babbage, Robert Goddard & Henry Ford

 

[Smuz]

Someone beat me to Charles De Gaulle... oh well. Bismark. Lenin. Hitler. Luther. Metternich? Clive of India? Gladstone?

 

[Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy]

Keynes, Marx & Adam Smith
Darwin, Mendel, Watson & Crick
Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Fermi & Einstein
Charles Babbage, Robert Goddard & Henry Ford

Marx, Smith, and Einstein. Remember, great men have to be the kind of people who didn't just pop up and filled a niche.