" 6 Most Powerful Armies of All Time" Topic

""Power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

In an anarchical system like international relations, military power is the ultimate form of currency. A state may have all the culture, art, philosophy, and glitter and glory in the world, but it's all for naught if the country doesn't have a powerful military to defend itself. Mao Zedong put it bluntly when he stated: "power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Of all the types of military power, armies are arguably the most important for the simple fact that people live on land, and are likely to continue doing so in the future. As the famous political scientist John J. Mearsheimer has noted: "Armies, along with their supporting air and naval forces, are the paramount form of military power in the modern world."

In fact, according to Mearsheimer, the Pacific War against Japan was the "only great-power war in modern history in which land power alone was not principally responsible for determining the outcome, and in which one of the coercive instruments— airpower or sea power—played more than an auxiliary power." Nevertheless, Mearsheimer maintains, "land power [still] played a critical role in defeating Japan."…"
Full article here
link

I would also add the British army/navy to this list. During the height of the British Empire they were able to directly control more territory than any other government in history.

Amicalement
Armand

Alexander's Macedonian and Greek army was virtually unstoppable in it's day.

How this site is working today… it's impossible to crossport to any other forum.

Amicalement
Armand

While it's technically in the Medieval period
the Mongol armies were devastating.Power wrangles
at the top their biggest enemy.

Much as it pains me to say the Romans were pretty powerful too for a long time.

The Duchy of a Grand Fenwick would have to be up there.

Fenwick was, or course, undefeated.

How could I forget Fenwick.

Acquilonia under Conan's leadership has to be in the top ten.

Interestingly in WW2 the side that dominated the air always won the campaign. Land forces are important, but if the opponent has air supremacy it is very difficult to find him and defeat him.n The agermans, for example had local kand superiority in the Ardennes, but once the clouds lifted the allied air forces destroyed them.
Its an interesting argument that in 1944 the Allied bombing raids on the Reich took away so many German fighters that it enabled the Soviets to gain air superiority over those areas of the E Front where they were attacking and thus facilitated their destruction of the Germans. In Stalingrad, had Goering had air superiority he might have been able to supply sixth army for long enough to enable it to be rescued. In Burma air supremacy enabled Slim to outflank and trap the Japanese.

I would agree that the British Army/Navy should be added

While the Soviet Army did a huge part of the winning in WWII I have to say that I am not sure I would put them in the top 6 armies – nor the Ottomans. Conquering a lot of territory over a long time is not necessarily something that puts you in the top 6 – for example, in the 19th century the army that conquered the most territory was the Russian one (25 km/day) – but I doubt that people would rate it among the top 6

I would limit the British entry to the Royal Navy. Whilst the British Army could be quite good at times, at others it was also not so good. However, whichever mode it was in at a given moment, it was nothing without the Senior Service to take it where it needed to go, keep it supplied, and – once in a while – get it out of trouble by evacuating it.

Another military institution worthy of note (though not really a "top 6" candidate) was the pre-independence Indian Army of WW2. At almost 3 million men, it was the largest all-volunteer military force in human history.

the Pacific War against Japan was the "only great-power war in modern history in which land power alone was not principally responsible for determining the outcome, and in which one of the coercive instruments— airpower or sea power—played more than an auxiliary power."

He's evidently never heard of the Russo-Japanese War.

Quite a few errors in this article… Lots of oft repeated, but inaccurate facts.

"This highlights one of the major factors in the U.S. Army's success; namely, while not as large numerically as countries like the Soviet Union, the U.S. Army is a highly-trained fighting force operating superior technology. It is also backed up by the greatest naval and air power the world has ever known."

Save the "air power" the same could be said of the 19th century British colonial army.

Freedonia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mike Adams

'the Pacific War against Japan was the "only great-power war in modern history in which land power alone was not principally responsible for determining the outcome, and in which one of the coercive instruments— airpower or sea power—played more than an auxiliary power." '

Well, the Pacific War was part of WW2… so fair to include U Boat campaigns in both World Wars – in both, U Boats lost, but as far as I know land power played a very limited role in both… likewise, Battle of Britain was air power and played a major role… depends on your definition of a 'war' – surely keeping the sealanes open to Britain and Russia played a bit more than a subsidiary role, kept UK in the War and Russia supplied!

I always enjoy reading these "6 best", "10 most decisive" "8 you never heard of" type articles. Even if they are full of errant nonsense (and many are) they always set of discussions.

I used to have to take extended road trips with my boss many years ago and we would start out with something like "name the 10 most decisive battles." We would argue about the assumptions on the way out (like, is a siege a battle?) and once the rules were set we would argue about the battles on the return trip. The hours just flew by.

I like that we manage to get a bit of "ASIATIC HORDES" in there.
People have a hard time accepting that the Nazi's could have lost for any other reason.

Uncle Billy Sherman's Army.

Did Sherman ever face a comparably powerful opposing army? I seem to remember him mostly burning down peach orchards and relatively undefended Southern cities. The armies of the CSA were tied up in VA, PA, maybe KY?

Assyrian Army.
Alexander the Great's army.
Early Imperial Roman Army.
Mongol Armies.
Napoleonic French Army.
Soviet Red Army.
Mpdern US Armed Forces.

Yes, I know that is Seven but that's the smallest I could get the list down to.

Cheers and good gaming.
Rod Robertson.

Only if you count the Confederate Army of Tennessee between Chattanooga and Atlanta. Or don't they count?

Early Achaemenid
Late Achaemenid
Alexandrian Imperial (had Persians in it)
Seleucid (had Persians in it)
Parthian (they had Persians)
Sassanids

:-)

The ones with most tactical nukes?

Early Achaemenid
Late Achaemenid
Alexandrian Imperial (had Persians in it)
Seleucid (had Persians in it)
Parthian (they had Persians)
Sassanids

My Iranian friend thinks that's very funny!

Like your list!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Thank Trajanus!

I wonder what timespan one should think over, if we take the ability to hold a position of superiority over several hundred years then the following military systems remained effective for a very long time:

- Archaic Egypt
- Roman (especially if you nclude Byzantium)
- Persian
- Ottoman
- British Empire
- Russia (from Peter the Great to Stalin at least)

Alexander, the Mongols, Nazi Germany came end went in a generation. France, Prussia, Spain, Assyria and various Chinese dynasties had c 100 year reigns. The US as "best" power is less than a century old, 2 generations, it may not be there in another generation.