News agencies today reported the death of Vo Nguyen Giap, the commander of Vietnamese forces during the First Indochina War (1946-1954) and during the American involvement in the Vietnam War (1963-1974). He was 103.
Although he was an adversary of the US, I think he has to be ranked as one of the greatest generals of the twentieth century. He had no formal military training, but was such an adroit tactician and strategist that he was able to defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu and later evicted the United States from Vietnam. He was responsible for developing a style of guerrilla warfar that has been imitated around the world as a model of how to defeat an enemy possessing superior resources and firepower.
There is much we can learn from his tactics, philosophy, and style of insurgency.
Where do you think he should be ranked in history?
Although he was an adversary of the US, I think he has to be ranked as one of the greatest generals of the twentieth century. He had no formal military training, but was such an adroit tactician and strategist that he was able to defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu and later evicted the United States from Vietnam. He was responsible for developing a style of guerrilla warfar that has been imitated around the world as a model of how to defeat an enemy possessing superior resources and firepower.
There is much we can learn from his tactics, philosophy, and style of insurgency.
Where do you think he should be ranked in history?