Best Axis Army Commander of WW2

Best Axis Army Commander of WW2

  • Walther Model

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hasso von Manteuffel

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Frederick Paulus

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Paul Hausser

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hermann Hoth

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Albert Kesselring

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • General Tomoyuki Yamashita

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lieutenant-General Masaharu Honma

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • General Mitsuru Ushijima

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    12

Doppleganger

Active member
For the purposes of this vote only Army Commanders were considered.

I've added most of the better known commanders and a couple of lesser known ones. For example, most of you will not know that Paul Hausser was commander of the II SS Panzer Korps at Kursk, later 7th Army on the Western Front in 1944.

When voting it would be helpful if you can give some reasons as to why you made the choice you did.

BTW, IMO there are several commanders on the list who were very close and most of these commanders were as good as the best Allied equivalents.
 
Heinz Guderian, I choose him because he pretty much invented the strategy with which all large scale conflicts have been fought with since his idea came around.
 
Quite frankly the Italians contributed little to the Axis cause compared against the German effort. And also, I couldn't find an Italian Army commander good enough to be considered. If I had stuck one in it would have been a token gesture.

I myself voted for Manstein. It was a very tough call between him and Guderian but I went with Manstein because he had a longer operational army career and because of 2 masterstrokes of genius. 'Fall Gelb', the masterplan that defeated France and the brilliant recapture of Kharkov in early 1943 when the entire German southern defensive line was in danger of collapsing. But if you voted for Guderian then I won't argue with that as it's a very good choice.

IMO the worst commander on the list is Paulus, followed by Model or Rundstedt. That wasn't to say that those commanders weren't any good because they were (especially Model and Rundstedt). It just highlights the strength in depth the Germans had in WW2.
 
Charge_7 said:
Okay so no Italians, where are the Japanese?

Quite frankly, I know little about the Japanese land campaign in WW2. If you feel there are deserving Japanese Army Commanders by all means nominate them.
 
Doppleganger said:
I myself voted for Manstein. It was a very tough call between him and Guderian but I went with Manstein because he had a longer operational army career and because of 2 masterstrokes of genius. 'Fall Gelb', the masterplan that defeated France and the brilliant recapture of Kharkov in early 1943 when the entire German southern defensive line was in danger of collapsing. But if you voted for Guderian then I won't argue with that as it's a very good choice.

I also voted for Manstein. Defending the Eastern Front was no easy task. Manstein also went against Hitler's orders more than a few times.

"The absence of a 'war plan' permitting the timely preparation of an invasion [of the USSR revealed] a failure of the Wehrmacht leadership-in other words on the part of Hitler himself."

"Hitler also overlooked that holding on to a territorial objective presupposes the defeat of the enemy's armed forces. In the Soviet Union, the capture of economically valuable areas was problematical and their long-term retention an impossibility."
 
My favorite is Kuribayashi, but Iwo Jima represents the majority his work, and a substantial percentage of all casualties inflicted upon the USMC in WWII.

I'm not ready to nominate these two, but Hitler wanted Generals who would rather die than surrender:
...

Alas! The Stars of the Generals have fallen with the setting of the waning moon over Mabuni. . . .

The pale moon shimmers bluish white over the waters of the southern sea, but on Hill 89 which juts abruptly from the reefs, the rocks and boulders are dyed crimson by the blood of the penetration unit which, with burning patriotism, rush the American positions for the last stand. The surrounding area displays a picture of concentrated fireworks; bursts of naval gun fire, flashes of mortar and artillery fire, to which is added the occasional chatter of machine guns. . . .

Gathered around their section chiefs, members of each section bow in veneration toward the eastern sky and the cheer of "long live the Emperor" echoes among the boulders. . . . The faces of all are flushed with deep emotion and tears fall upon ragged uniforms, soiled with the dirt and grime of battle. . . .

Four o'clock, the final hour of Hara-kiri; the Commanding General, dressed in full field uniform, and the Chief of Staff in a white kimono appeared. . . . The Chief of Staff says as he leaves the cave first, "Well, Commanding General Ushijima, as the way may be dark, I, Cho, will lead the way." The Commanding General replies, "Please do so, and I'll take along my fan since it is getting warm." Saying this he picked up his Okinawa-made Kuba fan and walked out quietly fanning himself. . . .

The moon, which had been shining until now, sinks below the waves of the western sea. Dawn has not yet arrived and, at 0410, the generals appeared at the mouth of the cave. The American forces were only three meters away [sic.]. Four meters away from the mouth of the cave a sheet of white cloth is placed on a quilt; this is the ritual place for the two Generals to commit Hara-kiri. The Commanding General and the Chief of Staff sit down on the quilt, bow in reverence towards the eastern sky, and Adjutant J. respectfully presents the sword. Finally, the time for the honored rites of Hara-kiri arrives. At this time several grenades were hurled near this solemn scene by the enemy troops who observed movements taking place beneath them. A simultaneous shout and a flash of a sword, then another repeated shout and a flash, and both Generals had nobly accomplished their last duty to their Emperor. . . .

All is quiet after the cessation of gunfire and smoke; and the full moon is once again gleaming over the waves of the southern sea. Hill 89 of Mabuni will live in memory forever.
 
Yes Guderian, but the list is a quality one.

Guderians work in tank warfare tips it for me.

Like to have seen some Japanese generals though Dops, but I guess we can't have everything.
 
Some suggestions for the Japanese:

General Tomoyuki Yamashita - conquered Singapore by striking from beaches that required the crossing of a vast jungle thought to be non-negotiable by a large force. When Singapore fell his army was actually down to their last ammunition and supplies.

Lieutenant-General Masaharu Honma - conquered the Phillipines by grinding down American and Filipino forces until surrender was inevitable.

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi - as Zucchini mentioned, the defender of Iwo Jima.

General Mitsuru Ushijima - Japanese commander at Okinawa which was the largest air, land, sea battle in history. It was a battle twice the size of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima combined.
 
I voted Hienz Gudarien, because of the reasons alredy stated by others. But Rommel also a master strategist and tactician. He could turn defeat into victory. His desert campaigns out foxed the allied forces, however, the failure of the Luftwaffe turned the desert war in favour of Montgomery.
 
I've said it several times before, there are only two Axis commanders that truly qualify IMHO. Erich von Manstein and Heinz Guderian. Nobody else comes close, though there were many that were truly great.

My vote goes to Guderian. Inventer and best implementor of Blitzkrieg and mobile warfare. For all intents and purposes, he built and trained Germany's Panzergruppen at a time when nobody believe the tank was a truly effective battlefield weapon. He was always a extremely brilliant success on the battlefield. He led from the front and was equally capable as any of his men, a rarity in modern warfare. Wherever Germany had achieved the deepest penetration of the enemy lines, you almost inevitably found him right there.

Rommel owes all of his best ideas to Guderian. It is quite interesting that Rommel was right there with all the Wehrmacht in regard to Guderian's theories: Completely against them. Only after those theories were thoroughly proven did Rommel and many other German commanders modify their own thinking and adopt Blitzkrieg as their own. Manstein is the protege that surpassed Guderian at the Strategic level of command.

In all fairness, shouldn't there be some Japanese commanders listed? They were extremely successful in their own sphere of influence.
 
Well I'm unable to add new names to the poll as you know. I suggest that if people want to vote for a Japanese commander they do so in their post giving reasons why. I can then tally those votes up as well as the ones in the official poll.
 
godofthunder9010 said:
Well, you did forget Mannerheim.

I left him out for 2 reasons:

1) He had already been voted on in the Greatest Allied Commanders Poll and

2) Although the Finnish did take part in Operation Barbarossa they did so primarily to regain territory they had lost in the Winter War with the USSR. So because of this, you could not really consider Finland as a full Axis partner.
 
Doppleganger said:
I left him out for 2 reasons:

1) He had already been voted on in the Greatest Allied Commanders Poll and

2) Although the Finnish did take part in Operation Barbarossa they did so primarily to regain territory they had lost in the Winter War with the USSR. So because of this, you could not really consider Finland as a full Axis partner.
I threw him out when I redid that poll because there were so many people stating the obvious: "He's not an allied commander."
 
Well if you're not going to include the Japanese you can't really title this "the best Axis commander" can you? The mods can change topics for you. I would suggest asking them to either re-title the topic "best German commander" or have them add the Japanese to your poll.
 
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