generalissimo n : the officer who holds the supreme command; "in the U.S. the president is the commander in chief" [syn: commander in chief]

English

Etymology

Noun

generalissimo

1. A supreme commander of the armed forces of a country, especially one who is also a political leader

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

Usage

The word "generalissimo" comes from the (latin) Italian generale, general, plus the suffix -issimo, meaning "utmost, to the highest grade". 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. For example Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were not generalissimos, but other generalissimos were subordinated to them.

Famous historical generalissimos

Republic of China

• Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975)

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)
• Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de 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)

Germany

• Von Moltke (1800-1891)

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

• Ignacio Jose de Allende (1769–1811) http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/a/allende_y_unzaga.htm
• (even is named) Antonio López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (1794–1876)
• high priest Jose Maria Morelos y Pavón http://historia.mforos.com/710942/6008134-generalisimo-jose-maria-morelos-y-pavon/ http://minopal.com/2008/01/10/el-generalisimo-jose-maria-morelos-pavon

Japan

• Emperor Meiji (1868－1912)
• Emperor Taishō (1912－1926)
• (even) Emperor Shōwa (1926－1945)

Poland

• Jerzy Ossoliński (1643–1648)
• Józef Antoni Poniatowski (1763 - 1813)

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)

Kingdom of 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)
• Charles X Gustav (1648-1660, for the forces in Germany)
• Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden and Norway (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte), later Charles XIV John of Sweden and Norway (1763–1844)

Venezuela

• Francisco de Miranda (1750–1816)

United Kingdom

• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (Commanded all Allied armies in Spain during the Peninsular War in the Napoleonic Wars.)

United States of America

• George Washington, General of the Armies of the United States (1732–1799)

On October 11, 1976, by Act of Congress, Washington was posthumously appointed to the grade of "General of the Armies of the United States". The appointment was backdated to July 4, 1776 and was a designation that, by law, made George Washington the most-senior United States military officer.

• John J. Pershing, General of the Armies (1860–1948)
• George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy (1837–1917)

Venice

• Pietro Loredan (?–1439)

Other Italians

• Cesare Borgia (1475-1505)
• Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1900 - 1947)

See also

• Magister militum
• Military rule
• Spahbod
• Shogun
• Supreme Allied Commander
• The Generals
• Reichsmarschall
• First Marshal of the Empire
• Dux Bellorum
• Grand Marshal
• General of the Armies

References