Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein

Easily the most brilliant general of the 20th century and possibly of modern times. From divisional level thru army group level, best in the 2nd world war. Had Hitler listened to him, the world would have looked far differently today.

simply the mist brilliant military mind of the 20th century. Studied to this day at all military academies.

Clearly the best commander of the 20th century

The best in World War 2. One of history's Great Captains. Too bad he was fighting on the wrong side of the fence. All his campaigns were successful. If his advice were followed by Hitler, Germany would have won, Russsia would have lost. And the world would be a different place today. But that's another story. Manstein ranks with Hannibal, Napoleon, Subotai, etc. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

Greatest commander of the 20th century, period.

Undeniably one of Hitler's most gifted Generals. Manstein was responsible for stabilizing the eastern front following the Stalingrad debacle. Also the officer who came up with operation sickle stroke in France in 1940. Brilliant tactician

Von Manstein will probably go down in military history as one of the greatest strategists of all time. Second to no one during WWII, he was a truly gifted man, and his plan for the Western Offensive with the concurrence of Field Marshal von Rundsted was complete genius. Genius!

While Guderian thought a lot of Manstein, it must be admitted that he only fought second and third rate enemies. Hardly a man of daring: Paulus' command could have been saved if he had any guts. Plus, unlike Guderian, he was figuratively castrated by Hitler. Overrated.

Von Manstein WAS the best commander of WWII period. He is the only senior commander that I can recount whom never made a blunder. Furthermore his abilities, while great as a corps and army commander, were especially good at theater command as evidenced by his work as chief of staf to von Rundstedt (also a great commander in his own) and also as evidenced by his work commanding and Army Group in the East. Bar none, he was the best of the best.

This is a comment I placed on a different board on a different website about Manstein. Manstein was the best strategist of WW2 and maybe even of all time. His Manstein Plan was genius and captured France in weeks. His performance as the commander of the 11th Army in the Crimea and especially Sevastopol was excellent. More over, his attempt relieve at Stalingrad (codenamed Operation Winter Storm) would have succeeded if Pauluas would have had the balls to disobey Hitler and break out of the Kessel. Manstein made it within miles of Sixth Army. They came so close that encircled soldiers of the Sixth Army could hear the sounds of battle in the distance. After Winter Storm, Manstein's defense of Rostov stopped the Soviets from being able to surround the Caucasus and completely surround Army Group Don. He was able to save an entire front from complete encirclement. Of course, as the Soviets advanced and the Southern Front of Germany's Eastern Front looked like it was going to be pushed... Read more

Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was easily the greatest commander of the 20th century. This is purely from a military standpoint. His ability for strategy on a grand scale (Army Group and larger) is nothing less than amazing. His ability to judge what the enemy is about to do is also nothing short of amazing. Defensively he was great, but men like von Leeb and Rundstedt were equal to him in this respect, however offensively he was a master of blitzkrieg and possible more so than even it's inventor Guderian who unfortunately (for the Germans) never commander any formation larger than a Panzer Group. Had von Manstein and his pears been used better after the war (he eventually was by the West German government, but only after being harassed for 3 years by baseless war crimes accusations) the cold war may have been curtailed.

Brilliant, operationally and tactically. One of the best commanders in history, let alone WW2. Quick to grasp and expand the then newborn potential of armoured combat, he was a fearsome opponent.