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'Generalissimo' or 'Generalissimus' is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to a Field Marshal or Grand Admiral.

Contents

Usage

Famous generalissimos

Republic of China

Dominican Republic

Cuba

France

Pakistan

The Holy Roman Empire / Austrian Empire

Mexico

Poland

Russia and the Soviet Union

Spain

Sweden

United States of America

Venezuela

Venice

Other italians

See also

Usage

The rank was historically given to a military officer leading an entire army or the entire armed forces, only subordinated to the Sovereign. The contemporary use of "generalissimo", has in the English language come to refer to a military officer who has obtained political power by a military coup, or in some cases one who has suspended pre-existing constitutional mechanisms in order to retain power by means of a military hierarchy.
To the extent that "generalissimo" is used in an honorific or neutral sense, it is usually applied not to persons of rank comparable to their contemporaries (such as the five-star generals of the twentieth century U. S.) but to holders of extraordinary ranks such as Admiral of the Navy George Dewey and General of the Armies (awarded to John J. Pershing, and posthumously to George Washington).

Famous generalissimos

Republic of China

★ Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975)

Dominican Republic

★ Rafael Leónidas Trujillo (1891–1961)

★ Juan Pedro Smee de Horchata (1971–Present)

Cuba

★ Maximo Gomez y Baez (1836–1905)

France

★ Henry III of France (1551–1589)

★ Henry I, Duke of Guise (1550–1588)

★ Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (1621–1688)

★ Turenne (1611–1675)

★ Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars (1653–1734)

★ Maurice de Saxe (1696–1750)

★ Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult (1760–1851)

★ Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929), Supreme Commander of the Allies of World War I

★ Maurice Gamelin (1872–1958)

Pakistan

★ Ayub Khan

★ Yahya Khan

★ Zia ul Haq

★ Pervez Musharraf

The Holy Roman Empire / Austrian Empire

★ Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583–1634)

★ Raimondo Montecuccoli (1609–1680)

★ Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736)

★ Leopold Josef Graf Daun (1705–1766)

★ Josef Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein (1696–1772)

★ Archduke Charles of Austria (1771–1847)

★ Karl zu Schwarzenberg (1771–1820)

Mexico

★ Antonio López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (1794–1876)

Poland

★ Jerzy Ossoliński (1643–1648)

Russia and the Soviet Union

There were four holders of the Russian rank or title "generalissimus" prior to the 20th century. Menshikov both commanded military forces and ruled absolutely; two others, Aleksei Shein and Aleksandr Suvorov, were principally field commanders rather than political figures, and hence are listed below. Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1714–1776), was appointed generalissimus by his wife Anna Leopoldovna but neither commanded nor ruled.

★ Aleksei Shein (1662–1700)

★ Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729)

★ Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1714–1776)

★ Aleksandr Suvorov (1729–1800)

★ Joseph Stalin (1879–1953)

Spain

★ Don Juan de Austria (1547–1578)

★ Francisco Franco (1892–1975)
For a time Baldomero Espartero and the Prince of the Peace, Manuel Godoy, were called generalissimo.

Sweden

★ Lennart Torstenson (1603–1651)

★ Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden and Norway (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte), later Charles XIV John of Sweden and Norway (1763–1844)

United States of America

★ George Washington (1732-1799)

★ John J. Pershing (1860-1948)

★ Dwight "Ike" David Eisenhower (1890 - Washington D.C., 1969)

Venezuela

★ Francisco de Miranda (1750–1816)

Venice

★ Pietro Loredan (?&

Other italians

★ Cesare Borgia (1475-1505)

See also

★ Magister militum

★ Military rule

★ Spahbod

★ Shogun

★ Supreme Allied Commander

★ The Generals

★ Reichsmarschall

★ First Marshal of the Empire

★ Dux Bellorum

★ Grand Marshal