True, but he didn't fight the Germans in WW2.![]()
No, but he was up against a number of far more capable opponents - the jungle, the monsoon, the reputation of the IJA, and allied priority lists.
True, but he didn't fight the Germans in WW2.![]()
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.
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.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"?
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)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.
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.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)