WORST Generals of the 20th Century

[unmerged(9600)]

Originally posted by Dakar
Well, maybe without that revolt the german army wouldn´t have surrendered in 1918 and the war-exhausted oponents could have reached a negotiated peace in 1919 avoiding WWII. A fascinating what if, isn´t it?

Except the German high command knew that the army was beaten in 1918. A large part of the Kiel revolt was that the word was the High Seas Fleet was being sent out on a kamikaze mission, into the entire Grand Fleet. Even a HSF that had managed to cap the 5th at Jutland without engaging the Grand Fleet would never be so reckless as to actually think they could win, especially since the US Atlantic Fleet had doubled the size of the battleline. The only way that Germany could have held even is by somehow finding another two million fresh troops to hold the line on land. No theoretical naval victory could have saved the Germans from Versailles, unless they were to use an atom bomb on the Grand Fleet at Jutland.

 

[unmerged(547)]

The US Civil War has terrible generals "a plenty"...

Probably the worst of the lot was Union General Butler. More concerned with black marketeering from captured southern cotton, Butler was a total incompetent tactician and leader of men.

 

[unmerged(14689)]

Originally posted by Mads TW
Another lousy russian general (I actually think he was a Field Marshall) was Budjonniy, he was in charge of the defence of Kiev in 1941. He was an old cavalry officer and one of the few old high-ranking officers not purged by Stalin.
In Kiev, he tried to split up the forces defending the city in minor groups, but it only resulted in that they were encircled by the germans, and destroyed one by one. I think he also shot himself after his defeat, but I'm not sure.

Sorry, but you're totally wrong about Budennnyj.

One, he didn't kill himself.

Two, it was Stalin who was to blaim for the Kiev disaster. Budennyj pleaded several times for permission to withdraw and leave Kiev to the Germans (who had numerical superiority in every field and were moving in from the north [Guderian from Army Group Center, Hitler stopped the push towards Moscow to finish off the Kiev defenders]). Stalin refused and stripped him of command, replacing him with Timoshenko, who, after one day on the job, sent Stalin the same plea. He, also, didn't get permission.

Three, still, Budennyj was quite bad in modern warfare. He was a brave soldier though. Just a shame those tanks were ever invented!

 

[unmerged(14689)]

Originally posted by Zeppelin
Stalin's crony General Mehklis was probably the worst of the Soviet lot.

Mekhlis, although he held a military rank, was a political officer, a commisar. He never officially commanded troops in the field. He did, however, try to do as much damage as he possibly could in his position.