On this day of November 11, who do you think were the most important generals and politicians of the First World War?

Question

nightdrot · Accepted Answer

Sorry this is so late and somewhat cursory, but put me down for:

Georges Clemenceau - "The Tiger of France." He restored French morale at a critical moment and did not lose sight of the fact that, at an irreducible level, wars are about politics and are fought for diplomatic and political purposes. Absent that, they become - as WWI did at some point - merely about slaughter.

Clemenceau was to World War I what Churchill was to World War II. Strategically cunning, tactically adept and politically inspirational. In many ways, he was the decisive figure of the war who made Allied victory possible. Indeed, it is interesting that he suffered the same fate as Churchill, who got the boot at the end of World War II. (Though Churchill was able to return to office and Clemenceau never was.) It is still a shock to me that he was summarily tossed by French voters after the war.

David Lloyd George - "The Welsh Wizard." In many ways, his contribution to the British war effort was similar to that of Clemenceau's in France. He was able to get out of the intellectual hall of mirrors into which many British politicians had fallen in which war became not a means to an end, but an end in itself.

Winston Churchill- Though his contribution in World War I was more narrowly military, he was aggressive, adaptable and innovative. Ultimately, of course, Gallipoli proved his downfall. However, while the "tactic" , may be blamed, the strategy was sound insofar as he sought to exploit Britain's natural advantages - specifically naval power - and economize, at least for a time, on the employment of land power of which the UK had less.

Helmuth von Moltke - . Though not necessarily in a good way, it was nevertheless von Moltke's execution of the Schlieffen Plan that set the pace and tone of the war.

Erich Ludendorff - With the outbreak of war, Ludendorff was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to the Second Army, where he helped secure a victory over the Belgian forts at Liège, earning himself the Pour le Mérite medal for gallantry. He was then seconded to the Eighth Army on the Eastern Front, where he was instrumental in Paul von Hindenburg’s success against the Russians. In 1916, Ludendorff assumed the title First Generalquartiermeister, and is regarded as being the most powerful man in Germany at that time. However, his planned offensives in the west overstretched the German Army, leading to huge Allied advances.

King Albert I of Belgium - He held Belgium together when it was mostly under German military occupation and also proved to be a fairly astute military leader.

Finally, although the battle of Jutland was largely indecisive, it's very indecisiveness preserved British command of the seas and so I include Admiral David Beatty. Beatty, whose most famous line was, "There's something wrong with our bloody ships today." Still, to my mind, the most famous line from World War I. (Yes, there were probably others that were more eloquent, but ya gotta love it.)

SIDENOTE: As far as the battle itself, I would argue, paradoxically, that Jutland, in a conflict that was primarily a land war, was the decisive engagement of the war. By insuring that the Central Powers were not able to break the Allied naval and economic blockade, the British were able to insure that the Central Powers would slowly be starved into submission.

Anyhow, that is my quick, "off the cuff" answer. I could have included Woodrow Wilson, but he managed to change noble goals into incipient disaster by reading history too much through ideology and too little through realpolitik. That does not mean he was not important, but that importance was manifest more post-war than during the conflict itself.

Interestingly, General Pershing was also important. However, his main impact came because he refused to deploy American combat units within the other Allied armies but rather insisted that the US expeditionary force fight as a force in being. This thereby maximized American influence at the tactical level.

USLegionary · Accepted Answer

For germany Kaiser Wilhelms, Hidenberg, Ludendorf. France Foch and Petatin. For Britain kitchener and Douglas Haig. Churchill was important for promoting the Tank as a military weapon. For victory in Western Europe the greatest generals were a Canadian and Australian general. They worked out tactics for the Allies to break through German trenches with few casualties which led to 100 days of victory, the tactics they used were of combined warfare with tanks, artillery, airpower concentrated for a break through and following it up. We Americans didn't really do much fighting in WW1, we cut our teeth under Pershing but our numbers were small because it was basically over by the time the majority of the US army arrived and even then most us soldiers who fought were conscripts who had to be trained.

QuietVerbena · Accepted Answer

Clemenceau. “War is too important to be left to generals.”

abc3643 · Answer

"Black Jack" John J. Pershing who held the rank of General of the Armies, the only living person to be awarded that rank in the US military. In the US military, there is no higher rank.

Once Pershing and the US military got involved in "The Great War", it ended. Who knows how many more people would have died from years of trench row stalemate in Europe had not the US joined.

That said, Pershing's tactics were for full-frontal assault and that led to lots of casualties. Had air forces been more mature in WW I, he might have used different tactics.

Pyrofox · Answer

The most important generals probably were the ones who were strategic with where the restroom within the trenches was. As the number one killer in WWI wasn't the bullets flying it was whether or not u got an infection from your squadmates turds on the ground. 😱💩🤯

RyanEC · Answer

Paul Hindenburg. Erich Ludendorff. Ferdinand Foch.

Anonymous · Answer

Americans don’t care about WWI and they care even less about veterans. If you’re looking for a name read about Helmuth Von Moltke. The man was a genius. Completely revolutionized modern warfare.

TroyDT2 · Answer

Off the top of my head, Black Jack Pershing and Woodrow Wilson.

pizzalovershouse · Answer

Wouldn't know I'm not a fan of any war an people dieing

Anonymous · Answer

I really don't know, but I do know that war insane. In one day of fighting, 60,000 British soldiers lost their lives.

DJB72 · Answer

The ones who ended it

jimmy2 · Answer

No everyone about gone any left there in the 90s

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