What could a commander in WWI/II realistically do to be GOAT?

20th Century warfare is not conducive to doing something that would make you the GOAT. People like Subotai, Alexander and Caesar had so much autonomy from the state (or were the state) that they could act on their own accord. In addition, they were still active at the tactical level on many occasions. So they had control over the Strategic, Operational and Tactical aspects. There are few opportunities to argue away their importance.

Now look at the 20th century. Rommel and Zhukov were arguably hamstrung by Hitler and Stalin. Eisenhower had no impact on the tactical level while Patton had no impact on Strategic and even on the operational level was hamstrung by Bradley and Ike. Warfare became to big and too involved to rest in the hands of one person. And then you could always argue their success was the result of something else - industrial production, numbers, etc.

That said, the Eastern Front in both WWI and WWII provided opportunities for the size, complexity and importance. And someone in the IJA would have been well situated to earn the honor while running the Kwantung Army. They would have had the autonomy.

Ludendorf perhaps had the best opportunity. It arguably would have required a GOAT to get decisive victories against the Russians and then the French.

Had a German commander won on the Eastern front in 1943 he could be nominated. I mean, its almost ASB for it to happen, so if it did, you would call him GOAT. But Godwin undermines that possibility
 
Perhaps Rommel, if he'd had the supplies and reinforcements required to attack Egypt as soon as he wanted. After that he could conceivably grab Palestine and march on to Iraq.

Rommel is absurdly overhyped and Axis logistics in North Africa were an utter train wreck. They were far past the limits of their supply lines at El Alamein; only way they go further than that is through actual magic or divine intervention.
 
Since the enemies' strength and sophistication a commander in WWI or WWII had to deal with were unprecedented, and the unprecedented detailed documentation facilitates meticulous scrutiny, what should a commander have done in WWI or WWII to deserve a nomination for the "greatest general of all time"?
By the 1900s generals and armies are firmly chained to the bureaucracies of their countries for both political and logistical reasons. Additionally the shear scale of the battles of the World Wars means that there can pretty much never again be a Napoleon who both plans the entire campaign and has input on the tactical level.

Maybe one could really wank a field marshal in a collapsing state to get results, as the break down of the state apparatus would allow more traditional leadership opportunities to arise. Like say Enver Pasha hits his head and becomes a good comander, and his OTL final offensive with the Islamic Army of the Caucasus instead smashes the Whites and Bolsheviks conquering the North Caucasus and Central Asia. Or maybe Svetozar Boroević gets the go ahead to launch a counter revolution and succeeds restoring the Habsburg Empire. Or wank Ataturk or Piłsudski a lot more.
 
To have mastered combined arms to conquer trench warfare on the western front. To have successfully fought off a whispering campaign to have him replaced. To be a reservist... from the artillery branch...in the colonies....be Jewish... and of German Ancestry, to overcome all this and then probably replace Haig had the war continued. To be so respected that 300,000 people lined the streets for his funeral. I’d nominate Sir John Monash.
Monash also got away with designing a fascist underground army so popular that some of its nominal opponent loyally joined it, without general exposure opprobrium or cult of personality. He also broke a militant strike in the country's capital without being viewed as politically engaged. So that's political genius too. (Cathcart, Defending the national tuck shop; Melbourne police strike)
 
Rommel is the obvious candidate because he was already insanely hyped. If he was not beaten twice, and had outflanked and captured the British forces before they retreated to El Alamein, then he would be seen as the best general of WW2 at least.
Obviously, he would need to deliver more successes after that unless people should find out that he was hyped too much.
 
Monash also got away with designing a fascist underground army so popular that some of its nominal opponent loyally joined it, without general exposure opprobrium or cult of personality. He also broke a militant strike in the country's capital without being viewed as politically engaged. So that's political genius too. (Cathcart, Defending the national tuck shop; Melbourne police strike)
Yep, and the proven capability to put 10,000 armed men on the streets of the capital, 24 hours after he picks up the phone. He then uses that power to set up a State owned Electricity company with technology he looted from Germany.
 
A military dictator taking over Germany instead of Hitler who is the actual top guy in the military and oversees it make most of its OTL buildup and decisions, ultimately launching the same wars Hitler did. No Nazism. Piss off Italy enough that they join the allies in 1939. Still conquer France, the Low Countries, Denmark, Norway, and Poland on schedule. Then defeat Italy in late 1940. Somehow over see Yugoslavia collapse and Greece join Britain resulting in an invasion and conquest in early 1941. Due the impossible next and defeat the Soviet Union in 1943, getting a Brest-Litovsk. Defeat an Anglo-American invasion of Italy in 1943, then defeat an Anglo-American invasion of France in 44. Have the US lose interest and drop out in 45 after another failed invasion, forcing Britain to give up.

Post War do extravagant things. Marry a young monarch and declare yourself King of Europe. Vow to protect Christians and mostly live up to it and get the Vatican to appoint your empire the new Rome. Force every country you conquered and allied with into an economic union and military alliance. Allow local governments general control over their domestic issues but control their foreign policy. Establish German as the official language. Oversee an economic boom with good economic policies, similar to the OTL from the late 40s to early seventies, wherein virtually your entire trade bloc becomes highly developed and much more popular. Grant various concessions and make it less German dominated. Integrate the military formally.

Get countries like Sweden, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland to eventually join. Convince the US and Britain that you aren’t that bad by the 70s by becoming their biggest trade partner.

Die an old man who won everything in the early 70s, allow your son to take over. Get lucky enough that this ATL son who was born in 1950 is one of histories greatest statesmen. He continues to transition into a single country while retaining his status as the leader of the country. Maintain supremacy clause for King over all nations in the union, open borders between all members by 1990 (by which point they are all first world), free trade between all members still, shared currency still, integrated military still, and a few basic ground rules for the member states domestic policies (simple things mostly like no political assassinations or genocide), otherwise basic local autonomy. He buries many of his fathers crimes while exaggerating his successes.


Maybe not truly the GOAT, but if he is the brain behind the military build up, military strategy, and political strategies that conquers virtually all of Europe and does what not even Rome could do by uniting it, and has his legacy endure to the present, we probably have most Westerners regarding him as the GOAT.

Afterall, who determines who writes the most widely read history text books?

Probably the CPC.

But who else?

The winners of wars. And if this guy is the biggest winner in Western history in gross terms, his legacy will be written as the best for the next few generations.




Crazy unrealistic scenario, but that would be what it takes for a WWII era general, who lack autonomy, political independence, and have to fight enemies that often have too big of an equipment gap to beat or lose to, to be GOAT.
 
But your guy probably got killed in WW1 by this guy:
Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart - he was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." So Bad Ass that he left out winning the VC from his memoirs. In male company he was "a delightful character and must hold the world record for bad language."

"Governments may think and say as they like, but force cannot be eliminated, and it is the only real and unanswerable power. We are told that the pen is mightier than the sword, but I know which of these weapons I would choose."
 
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