Who are the best and worst soldiers of all time?

[Joe McCarthy]

I completely forgot about the Turks. As far as I know, the Turks are the only Muslim people in the world who are good fighters. Must have something to do with their Central Asiatic background.

If you look at the Turks' major victories they were either lucky or had the numbers. Constantinople was a particularly glaring case of this, where they just threw endless waves at the walls.

[Duke Nukem]

The best soldiers were the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)

[Stars Down To Earth]

If you look at the Turks' major victories they were either lucky or had the numbers. Constantinople was a particularly glaring case of this, where they just threw endless waves at the walls.

Aye, you're probably right. But in general, their military track record isn't bad. They're definitely more competent than the Arabs.

[Logan]

Best: Spartans.

Worst: Lost to history.

[Blossom]

My grandie..not gonna tell more since some of you (though not much of you) might think something..anyway, I do appreciate his bravery and how he managed and yes, he did what he did cuz he wanted to survive and he couldnt do anything else, maybe some things were crazy and really awful but at the same time somekind of hate came out by then, since we were working and others were just living like rats while we provided them jobs, they never said thank you.

Not gonna say more just that he wasnt a soldier, but something more.

[Joe McCarthy]

Aye, you're probably right. But in general, their military track record isn't bad. They're definitely more competent than the Arabs.

I don't know if you've studied Gallipoli but it was the last great Ottoman victory. They had the strategic advantage as defenders, the Allies were inept, and even so the Turks took about twice as many casualties. It's a shame too. Constantinople could have been regained.

[Eldritch]

They're definitely more competent than the Arabs.

Then again, while I'm no expert on military history, I can't think of any group that's worse on the battlefield than Arabs. Even sub-Saharan Africans make better soldiers, because they're too dumb to be cowardly, unlike the Ay-raabs.

[Stars Down To Earth]

Best: Spartans.

The Spartans really shone in the Persian War and the Peloponnese War. Then they fell from power, fairly quickly.

Sparta understood only one kind of fighting: land battle, the hoplite shield wall. In any infantry vs. infantry battle, the stronger offensive line will break the opposing team. When the opposition's wall was broken, the soldiers would scatter to fight another day - a totally sensible reaction. In battles like that, the Spartans did well. But vary the conditions of battle in any way, and they were pretty much helpless. So it was actually not very hard to defeat the Spartans: just put them in a situation where they had to think for themselves.

Imagine the Mongols fighting the Spartans. Even if the Spartans outnumbered the Mongols by 4 to 1, I'd have no hesitation betting on the Mongols. They were really hard men, not artificially hardened by sick "agoge" games, but by life on the harsh steppes. And they were smart enough to realize that strategy and wits count on the battlefield. Only noobs are stupid enough to think that being mean and inflexible like the Spartans is the route to long-term success.

Even sub-Saharan Africans make better soldiers, because they're too dumb to be cowardly, unlike the Ay-raabs.

I'd rate the Arabs above the nig-nogs. The Sub-Saharan idea of fighting a war is to massacre, torture and rape the enemy tribe's women and kids. During the Biafra war, the Nigerians did not once hit a military target. Actual battles between the armies are very rare.

[Boudica]

The best is a tough decision, there have been so many different countries with great, strong soldiers.

As for the worst- I'd have to go with the Arabs, even to this day. I know a guy that was in the Army and went to Afghanistan, the Afghani police/army or something was supposed to help them, etc and he told me that they would be in the middle of something fairly important and the afghani's would tell them that they needed to leave to go on a lunch break, or to go home because they were tired.

[Don]

Best: Spaniards, from celtiberians to reconquistadores, conquistadores, tercios, División Azul and next to come.

Anyone who does not affirm this unquestionable evidence just does not know about Human History, specifically nothing about military History.

Worst: among the europeans the italians have fame of being bad soldiers.

Everybody voting for their own

Not me. I have voted for the Best.