Karl von Steinmetz Mikhail KutuzovGebhard Von Blucher Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Alexander Samsonov Douglas HaigArchibald Wavell Erich von Falkenhayn Phillipe LeClercGerd von Rundstedt Ferdinand Foch Francois Bazaine Arthur Wellesley Patrice MacMahon Michel NeyIvan Konev
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Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher (1742-1819) was born in Rostock and began his military career in the Swedish cavalry in 1758. He was captured by the Prussians in 1760 and then joined the Prussian Army. Blucher resigned from the army in 1773 after a dispute with King Frederick II, rejoining the army after Frederick died in 1786.
He rose through the ranks and became a General in 1794. Blucher is most famous for fighting against Napoleon in the battles of Leipzig in 1813 and Waterloo in 1815.
2. Gerd von Rundstedt
Answer: Second World War
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953) was born in Saxony into a military family. He served as a staff officer in World War I and became a General in the postwar German Army in 1926. He retired in 1938, but returned to active service in May, 1939. Rundstedt held various commands and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1940.
As with other German commanders, Rundstedt was assigned and removed from several commands by Hitler during the war, finally being dismissed in March, 1945. Rundstedt was charged with war crimes after the end of the war, but was never tried due to his age and ill health.
3. Erich von Falkenhayn
Answer: First World War
Born in Prussia in 1860, Falkenhayn joined the German Army in 1880. He served as an infantry and staff officer, seeing action in China during the Boxer Rebellion. He became a favorite of Kaiser Wilhelm II, becoming military tutor to the Crown Prince. Falkenhayn became War Minister in 1913 and then Chief of Staff shortly after the outbreak of World War I. Falkenhayn is most famous for planning the Battle of Verdun, where he tried to wear down the French through attrition. Falkenhayn retired at the end of World War I and died in 1922.
4. Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Answer: Franco-Prussian War
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke (1800-1891) was born in Mecklenburg and began his military career in the Danish Army at age 12. He joined the Prussian Army in 1822. After attending the Prussian Military Academy, Moltke rose quickly through the ranks, holding various staff positions as well as field commands, helping to modernize the Ottoman army and serving as aide to the Crown Prince during the Crimean War.
He was promoted to General in 1855 and made Chief of the General Staff in 1857. The Prussian victories over Denmark, Austria, and France in the 1860s and 1870s were due in large part to Moltke's reforms and modernization of the Prussian Army.
He was promoted to Field Marshal in 1871 and retired in 1888.
5. Douglas Haig
Answer: First World War
Douglas Haig was born in Edinburgh in 1861 to a well to do family. He entered the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1884 and went into the cavalry. He served in India and entered the Staff College in 1896, serving in both the 1898 Mahdist War and the Second Boer War (1899-1902) after graduation. Haig served again in India before returning to Britain as a cavalry commander at Aldershot, being promoted to General in 1904. Upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Haig was given command of the I Corps of the BEF. Haig replaced John French as Commander of the BEF in December, 1915, and held the post until the end of the war. Haig's detractors gave him the nickname "Butcher" after the war due to the high casualties suffered by the British army, but his defenders maintain that Haig was an innovator who tried to avoid high casualties. Haig retired in 1920 and died in 1928.
6. Mikhail Kutuzov
Answer: Napoleonic Wars
Mikhail Kutuzov (1745-1813) was born into a Russian noble and military family and was destined to be a soldier. He entered military school as a cadet in 1757. Kutuzov served in Russia's wars against the Ottoman Empire and Napoleonic France. He was promoted to Field Marshal and put in command of Russian forces when the French invaded in 1812. Kutuzov skillfully kept his army intact while wearing down Napoleon's forces and eventually expelling them from the country. Kutuzov fell ill and died early in 1813.
7. Archibald Wavell
Answer: Second World War
Archibald Percival Wavell was born in Essex in 1883, the son of General Archibald Graham Wavell. He entered the British Army in 1901 and saw action in the Second Boer War. Wavell spent time posted to India before returning to England and becoming a staff officer.
He served in France during World War I and also was liaison to the Russian Army in the Caucasus. After the war, he held various staff and infantry officer positions and was promoted to General in 1933. Wavell commanded British forces in the North African theater in the early part of World War II and had success against the Italians before being transferred to India in late 1941.
He successfully defended India against the Japanese and was appointed Viceroy in 1943, a post he held until 1947. Wavell died in 1950.
8. Patrice MacMahon
Answer: Franco-Prussian War
Born in France to an expatriate Irish military family in 1808, MacMahon began his career as a cadet in 1825 and was commissioned into the French Army in 1827. He served mostly in Algeria and was promoted to General in 1851. MacMahon next saw action in the Crimean War and distinguished himself at the Siege of Sevastopol.
He fought in the Italian War of Independence and became Governor General of Algeria in 1864. He commanded the main French army at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, but was defeated and surrendered at Sedan. MacMahon then commanded forces of the French Third Republic against rebel forces in Paris.
He was elected President in 1873, serving until 1879. He was the director of the French Red Cross in his final years, dying in 1893.
9. Michel Ney
Answer: Napoleonic Wars
Michel Ney (1769-1815) joined the French cavalry in 1787 and was promoted to General in 1800. Ney was one of the original 18 Marshals of France proclaimed by Napoleon in 1804. Ney distinguished himself in battle after battle with his bravery, though his tactical decisions were sometimes questionable.
When Napoleon was exiled in 1814, Ney was serving in the Bourbon army, but rejoined Napoleon when he returned to France in 1815. Ney was beaten at Waterloo along with Napoleon, after which he was executed for treason by the restored Bourbon monarchy.
10. Ivan Konev
Answer: Second World War
Ivan Konev (1897-1973) was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army in 1916 during World War I. He joined the Red Army and served during the Russian Civil War. Konev graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1926 and rose to command the 2nd Red Banner Army by 1937.
He led the 19th Army in the early days of the German invasion in 1941, and was promoted to command the Kalinin Front (army group) in October, 1941. Konev was instrumental in the Soviet advance into Germany and the capture of Berlin. Konev was Commander of Soviet Ground Forces and Deputy Defense Minister after the war.
11. Phillipe LeClerc
Answer: Second World War
French General Phillipe LeClerc de Hauteclocque (1902-1947) graduated from the St. Cyr military academy in 1924. He served in the French Occupation Army in the Ruhr and in North Africa before becoming an instructor at St. Cyr in 1931. LeClerc was serving as a staff officer in the French 4th Infantry Division when the Germans invaded in May, 1940.
He was captured by the Germans but escaped and joined the Free French forces. He served in Africa and was promoted to General in 1941. LeClerc commanded the French 2nd Armored Division which liberated Paris in August, 1944. LeClerc was killed in a plane crash in Algeria in 1947 and was created a Marshal of France posthumously in 1952.
12. Arthur Wellesley
Answer: Napoleonic Wars
Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852) was born in Dublin, Ireland and joined the British Army in 1787. He fought in Flanders before being sent to India, where he was promoted to General in 1803. He returned to Europe and fought in the Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon, and was created Duke of Wellington in 1809 in reward for his service. Wellesley was promoted to Field Marshal in 1813.
After his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Wellesley twice served as Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the British Army.
13. Francois Bazaine
Answer: Franco-Prussian War
Francois Achille Bazaine (1811-1888) enlisted as a private in the French Army in 1831. He steadily rose through the ranks, serving in Africa and Crimea, where he was promoted to General, the youngest in the French Army, in 1855. Bazaine also fought in the Italian War of Independence and the Mexican Expedition and was made a Marshal of France in 1864. On the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Bazaine was commander of the French Army of the Rhine.
Many historians consider Bazaine's mistakes to be a main cause of France's defeat, and he was convicted of treason after the war. Bazaine escaped from prison in 1874 and lived in Spain until his death in 1888.
14. Ferdinand Foch
Answer: First World War
Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) enlisted in the French Army on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 but saw no action. He then went to the Ecole Polytechnique, graduating in 1873 as a lieutenant in the artillery. Foch later took more courses and attended the War College, being promoted to General in 1907. Foch commanded a Corps at the beginning of World War I, and he served in Italy for a short time before being promoted to Chief of the General Staff. Foch was made Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies in May, 1918, and he oversaw the eventual Allied victory. Foch retired in 1923.
15. Alexander Samsonov
Answer: First World War
Born in southern Ukraine in 1859, Samsonov joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1877 as a cavalry officer. He fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Samsonov rose to command all Russian cavalry.
He was in command of the Russian Second Army which advanced into German East Prussia at the beginning of World War I, where he suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg. During the retreat after the battle, Samsonov went into the woods and committed suicide.
16. Karl von Steinmetz
Answer: Franco-Prussian War
Prussian Field Marshal Karl von Steinmetz (1796-1877) joined the Prussian Army at age 16 and fought at Leipzig and in the Waterloo Campaign. He attended the General War Academy, graduating in 1824, and was made a General in 1854. Steinmetz was a Corps commander during the Austria-Prussian War of 1866, and he led the Prussian First Army at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
He was relieved of command after the Battle of Gravelotte in August for his futile frontal attacks against strong French positions. Steinmetz retired after the war in April, 1871, and was rewarded for his long service by a promotion to Field Marshal. Steinmetz died in 1877.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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