NationStates Jolt Archive

While the question of who the greatest general or leader in all history gets asked fairly often here, I don't think I've seen a question that's limited it to just theorists. So, have at it.

YES, THE POLL DOES NOT COVER EVERY THEORIST YOU MIGHT WANT. LEARN WHAT THE 'OTHER' OPTION IS FOR. LIVE WITH IT.

Clausewitz? The only one who really matters.

Clausewitz? The only one who really matters.

So armored warfare and air power, and their associated theorists, don't matter?
What about the classical theorists like Sun Tzu?

You can certainly offer a better argument than that for Carl, right?

Well, since Sun Tzu was the only one of those I've (to my knowledge at least) read, I voted for him. I expect he woulda been my choice anyway, since his Art of War is seriously badass.

Sun Tzu is the man

So armored warfare and air power, and their associated theorists, don't matter?
What about the classical theorists like Sun Tzu?

You can certainly offer a better argument than that for Carl, right?

Clausewitz analyzed the philosophy of war. Why do soldiers fight?

I'm getting an education on the guy given that my professor loves the him and all about what he wrote given his influence on the American military.

Clausewitz analyzed the philosophy of war. Why do soldiers fight?

I'm getting an education on the guy given that my professor loves the him and all about what he wrote given his influence on the American military.

So did most other military theorists. The fact that your prof likes him doesn't make Clausewitz the greatest. Have you read anything by any of the other greats?

Same applies to Sun Tzu, DR.

(Support your arguments people. Try to do so effectively.)

Clausewitz analyzed the philosophy of war. Why do soldiers fight?

I'm getting an education on the guy given that my professor loves the him and all about what he wrote given his influence on the American military.

And who influenced Clausewitz.... keep going back until you reach the start.

I'm sure Sun Tzu wasn't the first, but it's the oldest (I think) we have on record.

whoever theorised that pointing things hurt so instead of a fist grabbed a pointy stick

And who influenced Clausewitz.... keep going back until you reach the start.

I'm sure Sun Tzu wasn't the first, but it's the oldest (I think) we have on record.
Being the oldest is at least the beginnings of an argument...

whoever theorised that pointing things hurt so instead of a fist grabbed a pointy stick

Yeah, I've always had a weakness for the theories of Thog that have been passed down. Although Gog's theory of blunt objects predates this. (And in all seriousness, you have a good point that I've been known to post in threads like this before.)

Machiavelli? I thought he theorised n running a country, not winning a war. In any case, I find Clausewitz to be highly based on sun-tzu, and Sun Tzu, in my opinion, was more clear, and less dependent on such specific circumstance. As a work of theory, I find Sun-tzu superior.

his Art of War is seriously badass.

but some of the commentaries that get included are just stupid

Yeah, I've always had a weakness for the theories of Thog that have been passed down. Although Gog's theory of blunt objects predates this. (And in all seriousness, you have a good point that I've been known to post in threads like this before.)

and while not technically a military tactic, the theory behind chasing a mammoth off a cliff through deception, suprise, and an intimate knowledge of the landscape certainly has found military applications.

Sun Tzu.

Although Miyamoto Musashi come in a close second.

Ambrose E. Burnside was a theorist as well as a general. His theories mostly sucked (he planned the mud march and the battle of the crater), but he is still the best military theorist.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/hh/31/images/hh31n2.jpg

Ambrose wins just for that facial hair.

*Swoon*

if there's going to be a facial hair competition, then i demand a swimsuit one as well.

http://www.yelah.net/images/493
go makhno, go!

How about Pol Pot? Interesting theory: just kill everyone! :sniper:

Not entirely sure that Miyamoto Musashi was a military theorist. Having read his "Book of Five Rings", much of his writing was on individual philosophy; his military axioms seemed to be reflections or elaborations on Sun Tzu. Having said that, however, I do find his philosophy to be quite interesting, and useful for practitioners of military arts.

I feel it'd be difficult to peg a "best" military theorist. While Sun Tzu has had a great amount of influence on military thought, military philosophers of the classical Western world (Greco-Roman) would not have had much exposure to his work. Vegetius, for example, would have worked with the experience of prior Roman and Greek military campaigns.

I am happy to see B.H. Liddell-Hart on your list though, as he is often overlooked by amateur historians. Blitzkrieg as a German innovation, my eye. The Wehrmacht just had the opportunity and will to do it first. Tukhachevskiy might've turned the Red Army into a shock force similar to the early Wehrmacht, had Stalin not purged him along with the cream of the Soviet officer corps.

Machiavelli unquivocally. He is both pertinent to all ages, but also proffers justification for war.

Does some one in the future count? I'd watch out if I were you and you ever hear of someone by the last name Kaars-Sijpestijn... she's learnt from all those (and more) on the poll

Flavius Vegetius Renatus, in my humble opinion