Profile of Rommel

Jump back to quoted post3 Apr 2014, 16:06 PMFrencho

Historians start speaking of nations in the mid 15th century for a select few, France and England only became nations due to the fact that 100 years wars bolstered their nationalism and allowed them to identify themselves as English and French. Medieval Europe was Feudal for the most part people considered themselves normans, burgundians, bohemians, Scottish, welsh etc... Anyways France had most of it's great victories after the Medieval era which ended in 1453, it was from 1453 to 1815 that France became a superpower, succeeded by the United Kingdom (1815 -1939) and then Soviet Union/USA (1945-1990/today).

Wars are not won by K/D, one can lose all the battles and win the war, war is a continuation politics, the military is subordinated to political aims. Guess why USA hasn't won a single war since WW2, the military is tasked bad political aims that cannot be translated into military objective by inept Statesmen.

I can't speak for best military in the world as I lack understanding of most Asian and Eastern history, China, Siam and the Ottomans (Turks) must be in the top 5, they could be very well superior to westerners in warfare.

But when it comes to the greatest military nation in Western history, it's France. The French have fought more military campaigns than any other European nation and won twice as many battles as they have lost. Then come the British as second, and thirdly I would put the Russians (Muscovy). The Germans are far, far off, they weren't an unified Nation-State until 1870, furthermore their war score is pitiful: 4 wars fought; 1 won against the French in 1870, 1 against the Spanish in 1936 and lost 2 World Wars at great price leaving the country either under a horrible war burden or split in 4 then 2 amongst the allies during 50 years.

According to british historian Niall Ferguson, "of the 125 major European wars fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty – more than both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). And they’ve achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought since 387 BC, they have won 109, lost forty-nine and drawn ten."

The British tend to be rather selective about the battles they remember. Triumphs at Waterloo and Trafalgar and in two World Wars easily make up for losing at Hastings, yet most british wars are fought in coalitions or diplomatically bought or persuaded other nations to war for them, as Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire(Austria) declared after losing at Austerlitz "The english are dealers of human flesh they pay others to fight in their place". Which is very smart, but I reveals the inherent weakness of the UK, their lack of manpower, sensibility to casualties, lack of endurance.

But at school the history class never mentions the battle of Tours in 732, when Charles the Hammer, king of the Franks, defeated the Moors and saved the whole of Christendom from the grip of Islam. While every Anglo-saxon schoolboy was once able to recite the roll-call of glorious wins at Crécy (1346), Poiters (1356) and Agincourt (1415), no one’s ever heard of the French victories at Patay (1429) and (especially) at Castillon in 1453, where French cannons tore the English apart, winning the Hundred Years War and confirming France as the most powerful military nation in Europe.

The Duke of Enghien annihilated the Spanish at Rocroi late on in the Thirty Years War in 1603, ending a century of Spanish dominance. What about the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 in which General Comte de Rochambeau defeated the British and paved the way for American independence? Under Napoleon, France crushed the might of Austria and Russia simultaneously at Austerlitz in 1805, and, at Verdun in 1916, the French pushed the Germans back decisively in one of the bloodiest battles of all time.

The British always prided themselves on superiority at sea, but this was only because they realised they could never win a land war on the Continent. The French army has, for most of history, been the largest, best equipped and most strategically innovative in Europe. At its best, during Louis XIV it warred successfully alone against the whole of Europe, and later on led by Napoleon in 1812, it achieved a feat that even the Nazis couldn’t repeat: it entered Moscow.

And to conclude another quote by Niall Ferguson :

"These remarkable achievements help explain another French military victory. Whether it is ranks (general, captain,corporal, lieutenant); equipment (lance, mine, bayonet,epaulette, trench); organisation (volunteer, regiment, soldier, barracks) or strategy (army, camouflage, combat, esprit de corps, reconnaissance), the language of warfare is written in one language: French."

Hope this long post was informative for most.

Jump back to quoted post1 Apr 2014, 15:03 PMPepsi

source please.