Grand generals of History
Throughout history, tens of generals have
reached fame. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, George Washington... however,
today I´m going to show you the success of some generals that most of the
people don´t know about...
Flavius Aetius, “the last
of the Romans”
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| Flavius Aetius depicted in marble |
Probably you don´t know him, however Aetius is
one of the most important general not only of the Roman Empire, but of history.
He defended the Western Roman Empire against different barbaric tribes such as
the Huns, the Burgundians or the Visigoths.
But he will be always remembered because of his
victory against Attila, the king of the Huns, in the battle of the Catalaunian
Plains.
Also, he fought in Spain and Italy (especially
in this last one, where he defeated the Huns once and for all).
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| The troops of Aetius described in a medieval book |
He was known because of the order he followed
during battles. The vanguard was formed by relatively weak troops (usually
recruited among the barbaric tribes) and the rearguard was formed by the true
Roman army, which used to finish off the enemy after the offensive of the
vanguard.
Flavius Aetius died in 454 when the Western
Roman Emperor, Valentinian III, assassinated him thinking that Aetius wanted to
reclaim the Roman throne.
Belisarius
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| Belisarius depicted in a mosaic |
Belisarius was a Byzantine general whose success
is almost forgotten by our society. But despite his situation in our books, he is
recognised by the historians as one of the greatest generals ever.
He defeated the Vandals in North Africa, the
Ostrogoths in Italy and the Sassanid Empire in today´s Iraq. And thanks to his
actions the Byzantine Empire was able to invade southern Spain and Armenia.
The victories of Belisarius were always heroic because
normally he had fewer resources than his enemies, especially in his campaign of
Italy, where the almost complete absence of imperial support forced him to
adopt defensive strategies against the Ostrogoths.
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A Byzantine picture depicting the troops of Belisarius
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The tactics of Belisarius were very modern for
his time. He started to use advanced cavalry, which gradually would became the
nucleus of the Byzantine army, and was almost obsessed with the idea of an
agile army.
Belisarius died in 565 after defending Constantinople
against the Bulgars in 559 and having restored the glory of the Roman Empire.
Unfortunately, the territories which Belisarius conquered wouldn´t last so much
time.
Gustav II Adolf of Sweden,
“the lion of the north”
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| Gustav II Adolf |
Gustav II Adolf is considered as one of the
greatest kings of Swedish history. He led Sweden to the supremacy in northern
Europe by defeating Poland and the Holy Roman Empire (a confederation of
kingdoms in modern day Germany).
At first, he defeated Poland because he wanted
Sweden to dominate the entire Baltic Sea. Poland didn´t offer so much
resistance because of the superiority of the Swedish troops, which won even
after the arrival of German troops.
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| Gustav II Adolf and his army landing in Germany |
After that, Gustav II Adolf had a walk through
Germany. Despite the efforts of the Holy Roman Empire and its powerful allies
(such as Austria or Spain), the Swedish army won most of the battles and
occupied large areas of modern day Germany.
The armies of Gustav II Adolf were successful
because of the moral of the troops. In the army of Gustav there wasn´t any
privileges for anyone. The cavalry, the infantry and the artillery were in the
same conditions, not like in other countries (like Spain) where the cavalry
used to be the elite.
Gustav II Adolf died in 1632 during the battle
of Lützen. He charged against the enemy but was surrounded by them; he died
fighting in the first line. During that same battle, when the Swedish troops
knew that their king was dead, they charged furiously against the imperial
troops, winning the last battle of Gustav II Adolf.
Erwin Rommel, “the desert
Fox”
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| Erwin Rommel in his personal tank |
And we end with the general who is considered as
the best field marshal of the Second World War. Rommel is known because of his
African campaign, leading the Afrika Korps, but Erwin Rommel did much more than
this.
He fought in the First World War, where he used
to execute risky but successful movements against the enemy trenches. Rommel
fought in France, Romania and Italy during that conflict.
Before the Second World War, Rommel was
appointed as the commander of the Hitler´s personal guard. The Nazi leader,
following the desires of Rommel, created a Panzer division for Erwin and sent
it to France in 1940, where Rommel´s division achieved a number of very
important victories against the Allies by using the famous Blitzkrieg strategy.
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| The Afrika Korps advancing in Libya |
In 1941, Rommel was sent to Libya to organise
the weak Italian troops. Knowing that these troops wouldn´t defeat the British,
Germany went into action and Rommel received an army to defeat the British
dominions. He almost conquered North Africa, but the lack of supplies from
Europe forced Rommel to retreat and finally capitulate..
His last battle was in Normandy, where he
couldn´t stop the Allie offensive because Hitler refused to move the French
divisions.
Rommel was famous not only because of the
agility of his army, but also because he refused to kill innocent people. Rommel
didn´t believe in the anti-Semitic convictions of the Nazi party, something
palpable in his own army, where there was not only German soldiers but also
soldiers from North Africa, India or Italy. The moral of his troops was also
high because Rommel used to be in the first line observing the battlefield by
himself, and talking to his soldiers to know the situation of the troops.
Erwin Rommel died in 1944 when he was forced to commit suicide after being implicated in the plot
against Hitler known as Valkiria.
