wich allied general had the biggest ego?

ego's


  • Total voters
    160
Did Marshall have an ego?

The very fact that you asked that question suggests Marshall had a healthy ego as opposed to a "big" ego. Commanders with a healthy ego keep their eye on the ball--defeating the enemy--and only get in competitive squabbles when really necessary. What is "really necessary," of course, is open to interpretation.
 
Douglas McArthur is the most egoistic general. From Philippines to Japan to Korea, he used his ego to intimidate the enemies or even President Truman to satisfy his ambitions that's why he was fired.

He had a dumb idea of nuking Beijing which provoke Mao to help North Korea and prevent the UN forces to take the North. He can do to nuke Japan because the Japanese has lose its will to fight in the last days of WWII but he can't do to China because there's so many Chinese not only in China but also overseas and nuking Beijing is a big blow to Chinese morale and will create a backlash to the Americans.

Deleted "ever" for you. I know this is the Post-1900 thread, but if you threw in Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Alexander...:eek:
 
Yes, but the accomplishments of MacArthur pale in comparison to those of Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Alexander. Hence, the ego exceeds accomplishments.
Deleted "ever" for you. I know this is the Post-1900 thread, but if you threw in Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Alexander...:eek:
 
Yes, but the accomplishments of MacArthur pale in comparison to those of Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Alexander. Hence, the ego exceeds accomplishments.
Then Again ...

If that's The Criterion, Then Perhaps Patton Rates The Highest ...

Excellent Start, Mediocre Middle, Followed by an Ignominious End; That's our Boy!

:eek:
 

Nietzsche

Banned
Deleted "ever" for you. I know this is the Post-1900 thread, but if you threw in Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Alexander...:eek:
To reiterate what Phil was mentioning, Caesar, Napoleon & Alexander all conquered what was, in the case of the former and latter, most of the damned known world.
 
The very fact that you asked that question suggests Marshall had a healthy ego as opposed to a "big" ego. Commanders with a healthy ego keep their eye on the ball--defeating the enemy--and only get in competitive squabbles when really necessary. What is "really necessary," of course, is open to interpretation.

Actually, no, I asked it because I am not that familiar with Marshall. The biggest personalities in the American military at the time that I'm aware of were MacArthur and Patton, but I'm wondering who else was there.

Were there any big egos in the Soviet, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, etc. militaries? Remember, national leaders don't exactly count!
 
I agree that Charles "The Nose" De Gaulle has to be one of the choices though MacArthur wins, in my opinion. Comfortably.

Oh, the French. As a German(!) comedian said several years back in his show that consisted of very satirically lambsting the EU member states, Germany included:
"[The French] basically lose every war, even against us [the Germans], but see themselves as the winner each time." ;)
 
Mmm...Technically , as the USSR was part of the Allies, i'll say Zhukov, who belived and make belive to people he was the one who win all the Eastern Front, and others are bullshit.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
I agree that Charles "The Nose" De Gaulle has to be one of the choices though MacArthur wins, in my opinion. Comfortably.

Oh, the French. As a German(!) comedian said several years back in his show that consisted of very satirically lambsting the EU member states, Germany included:
"[The French] basically lose every war, even against us [the Germans], but see themselves as the winner each time." ;)

Remind me who had an occupation zone in Germany when all was said and done? Also the French have a rather nasty ability to bounce back at the peace table even when their armies underperform unless it's catastrophically bad (like in 1870 and the 7yw).
 
Am I alone in thinking that MacArthur would be really gratified to see he's getting the majority of the votes but also really annoyed that some people think that Monty and Patton can out do him in the ego stakes?
 

archaeogeek

Banned
Am I alone in thinking that MacArthur would be really gratified to see he's getting the majority of the votes but also really annoyed that some people think that Monty and Patton can out do him in the ego stakes?

He'd probably then go and outdo them both in his sleep anyway.
 
There are other big ego allied general's missing from this poll notably De Gaul and Leclerc

Out of those actually listed, Mac is by far the worst; makes Guderian look like a mute
 
In DeGaulle's case I wonder if it was big ego or the exigencies of the situation. He had only a few thousand soldiers; most of the French military, on the excuse of following orders, had gone over to the Dark Side and regarded the Free French as mutineers. The only significant territory that the FF controlled in the Western theater circa 1942 was Syria, but that came to them through British, Anzac and Indian forces more than through their own efforts. They controlled strategic islands in the Pacific (esp. New Caledonia) but had no fighting forces in that theater. So DeGaulle was in the role of a bit player who had to pretend to be a star or else his team would never get anywhere. Even after the invasion of Vichy North Africa (in which the FF were not allowed to participate), control of those colonies and of the ex-Vichy fighting forces passed for awhile to commanders who still hated the FF. I wonder what DeGaulle could have done other than what he did, which was to uphold the pride and glory of France, i.e., bluff it (hence, the "big ego"). Churchill understood his game and sympathized; Roosevelt was annoyed and the FF leaders weren't quite adept enough to figure out how to placate him.
 

Ming777

Monthly Donor
Of course. He was, however, able to fit it into a steamer trunk. MacArthur required several warehouses to handle his.

No, no, no. Werehouses are too small. The sheer mass equal to Macarthur's ego was almost 110% the weight of a Yamato-class battleship.


997
 
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loughery111

Banned
Are you high? He'd need something roughly the size & mass of the sun to keep his ego...

I'm not sure if he really needs something to contain it... it is entirely possible that his ego may be sufficiently large to collapse its own mass into a black hole. I think we should be more concerned at the gravitational effects of his presence in a given theater of war. It might make air warfare difficult. I don't know if prop planes could achieve escape velocity from his orbit.
 
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