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Ubik01
Guest
There is plenty o'discussion about it among all real warmongers: What was the best military system in history. For those who are not familiar with such terms, a "military system" is a form of organization for the army of a given nation, empire etc - any organized and stable state, that is kinda prototyped and used in excess - sometimes even copied by others. A military system is not barely the tradition of a warlike nation - two examples:
The Roman Legion is a military system. The Mongol hordes are not. The Greek hoplite phalanx is a military system. The ravaging Gauls are not.
So, here is the story. In the ancient era, two military systems are those considered "the greatest" by historicans: The latter Greek system ("Macedonian phalanx") and the Roman (Legions).
Of those two I'd pick the Legions - because they were actually more consistant and they didn't require great leadership to be effective - good leadership would do the job.
The phalanx, on the other hand, had two major drawbacks: The first is that it needed great leadership - a leader intelligent enough and experienced in combined arms, because the phalanx's flanks were very vulnerable. Alexander was all that (he used his cavalry and light infantry in the flanks of his phalanx (the latter was the mainstay of his army) and he achieved all those victories. And secondly, the phalanx consisted not of professional soldiers (as did the Roman Legion after Julius Ceasar) but of civilian conscripts - and that has some visible problems too.
That's for the ancient times. Organized military systems were abandoned after the fall of Rome, but still some systems have risen that are quite memorable - I'd point out the Byzantine system and the medieval knights of the feudal states of Europe.
In the "age of reason" (18th century) one of the greatest military systems of all times arose: The Prussian army created by Friedrich the great. Probably the best military system in history - tiny Prussia managed to become a great power in Europe, building an effective army out of nothing.
The French military system in Napoleons era was also memorable - but there was the military genious of Napoleon himself involved.
The greatest military system of the 20th century is undoubtely the German army of the WW2. Effective organization, discipline and great leadership the prime charactiristics - they lost the war fighting practically alone against the whole world.
What do you think of the above? Memorable military systems I haven't mentioned?
The Roman Legion is a military system. The Mongol hordes are not. The Greek hoplite phalanx is a military system. The ravaging Gauls are not.
So, here is the story. In the ancient era, two military systems are those considered "the greatest" by historicans: The latter Greek system ("Macedonian phalanx") and the Roman (Legions).
Of those two I'd pick the Legions - because they were actually more consistant and they didn't require great leadership to be effective - good leadership would do the job.
The phalanx, on the other hand, had two major drawbacks: The first is that it needed great leadership - a leader intelligent enough and experienced in combined arms, because the phalanx's flanks were very vulnerable. Alexander was all that (he used his cavalry and light infantry in the flanks of his phalanx (the latter was the mainstay of his army) and he achieved all those victories. And secondly, the phalanx consisted not of professional soldiers (as did the Roman Legion after Julius Ceasar) but of civilian conscripts - and that has some visible problems too.
That's for the ancient times. Organized military systems were abandoned after the fall of Rome, but still some systems have risen that are quite memorable - I'd point out the Byzantine system and the medieval knights of the feudal states of Europe.
In the "age of reason" (18th century) one of the greatest military systems of all times arose: The Prussian army created by Friedrich the great. Probably the best military system in history - tiny Prussia managed to become a great power in Europe, building an effective army out of nothing.
The French military system in Napoleons era was also memorable - but there was the military genious of Napoleon himself involved.
The greatest military system of the 20th century is undoubtely the German army of the WW2. Effective organization, discipline and great leadership the prime charactiristics - they lost the war fighting practically alone against the whole world.
What do you think of the above? Memorable military systems I haven't mentioned?