Alexander the Great and His Glorious Battles - Research Paper Example

Full Alexander the Great & His Glorious Battles Alexander the Great (356-323BC), king of Macedonia and conqueror of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, and the Persian ruler, was not only one of the famous military commanders, but also one of the great historical personalities. World history remembers Alexander as one of the greatest geniuses of warship. Besides his political insight, he was gifted with a rare human trait of fellow-feeling and kindness.? Greatness of Alexander Napoleon Bonaparte remarked, “The personality of the general is indispensable, he is the head, he is the all of an army. ... It was not the Macedonian Phalanx which penetrated to India, but Alexander." The terms like ‘brilliant’ and Genius” truly represented the character of Alexander. According to Major General J.F.C. Fuller, only a genius “binds the Great Captains into a common brotherhood.” Alexander’s greatness could be seen in his genius through his visibility, physical and moral bravery, strength, aspirations to materialize the dreams he had, purposefulness, triumphs and accomplishments, which created a feeling of appreciation, reverence, safety and respect among his forces. ? Napoleon Bonaparte was a great admirer of Alexander the great. If one wants to learn the art of war, one should read time and again the war initiatives of Alexander. Alexander was supreme on two fronts, head of the army and political head of the state of Macedonia and knew well that military pursuits were just the tools to achieve political aim of long term peace. Alexander was great because he had the insight of using military might and political insight not to indulge in mass killing of enemy forces, a popular perspective of indulging in wars as impressed upon by Clausewitz during the nineteenth century. Alexander pursued a cherished mission of winning the enemy not by looting enemy wealth to bereft the future victorious lands of all the necessary resources or earn the anger and wrath of the enemies unnecessarily. The primary mission of waging wars against foreign lands was to strategically win the confidence of the people through political maneuvering.? The principles followed by Alexander helped in his winning adventures, which included respect for energy, attention, fast turnaround time, sudden action, and cherishing the mission. Alexander had deep understanding of other strategically crucial warfare elements such as playing offensive tactics, using the military power economically, and setting up of safer bases, and risk-free communications. ? The glorious battles fought by Alexander attached the title of “great” to his name because he fought the battles by adhering to warfare principles, as stated above. He fought different warfare by following a line of thought in leading battles, sieges, small aggressions, guerrilla war tactics, and revolts, making him distinct from other great commanders. Military commanders in his army were adapted in fighting a traditional war fought openly, they were not expert in the guerrilla warfare designs or circumventing the enemy base. Special about Alexander’s battles was that he never lost a battle during the 10 years war adventures initiated between 335 and 325 BC. He regularly led the warfare during his battles at least once a year, each year. His army was very well trained and full of vigor combined-arms army, gifted to him by his father, to complete arduous tasks whatever the circumstances. Alexander’s army was the unparalleled army of that time. ? Alexander took good care of his soldiers. He never considered them like paid laborers but always boosted their morale by setting an example of bravery before them through his individual power. He did not expect them to accomplish what he himself could not. He set an example of team-spirit in the army unit, and did not let any opportunity miss for the welfare of his soldiers. His humanistic attitude towards his comrades and appreciation of those in front of the whole unit who have set examples of bravery encouraged his forces to stand by his side in his all endeavors. He looked after the families of fallen soldiers, held celebrations for them and treated even the enemy soldiers with dignity. ? Alexander was a great orator and an accomplished leader. He presented his thoughts and perspectives to his forces in a dramatic way in the battlefields. He was quite aware to win the faith of his soldiers by psychological ways. Some of his legendary acts included his cutting of the Gordian knot, and subduing of Bucephalus, his black stallion. Bucephalus served his master for about 16 years until it got injured in the battle of Hydaspes. ? The military accomplishments of Alexander proved their worth highly because of his innate ability to impress the enemy with his diplomatic and political insight. He followed a policy of compromise and agreement with his foes; he stressed on winning the hearts of the population to set the foundation of his military power, as can be seen in the case of Asiatic Greeks who saw in him a benefactor rather than a conquer. Alexander considered them free and friendly towards his rule than enemies. He respected their Hellenistic traditions by rebuilding their temples. ? In the Persian crusades, Alexander impressed upon the need to befriend with their leaders who were faithful to the Persian king. Because the Persian King Darius had run away from the battlefield twice, he prompted them to see their individual interests by taking the benefit of his strategic popularity. He went a step further to pursue this policy in the matter of court manners by wearing Persian clothes to win the confidence of the people of Persia after the death of Darius. Had Alexander not opted out a friendly attitude with the people of Persia, his political and military pursuits might have been very daunting to achieve. ? Glorious Battles Alexander started his winning crusade in the spring of 334 BC to defeat Persia. His army formed of all generals from Macedonia won the battle and captured the coastline of Asia Minor but amid war Alexander did not forget to pay his reverence on the grave of Achilles, his everlasting model. ? In the battle of Issus, the Macedonian army defeated the Persian army led by King Darius III in 333 BC. Darius accepted defeat at the hands of Alexander who declared himself the king of Asia. From Asia, Alexander marched towards Egypt where people welcomed him as their benefactor who freed them from the rule of Persia. Alexander was given the title of Pharaoh, and a city named Alexandria was populated, which exists still. Alexander made his advances towards Babylon, the capital of Persia. ? In Babylon, Alexander lived in the palace of Darius and married with the daughter of Darius, named Statira. Alexander’s winning spree took him to the borders of today’s Pakistan and Afghanistan where he once again married the daughter of a local leader, Roxana. Alexander strengthened the relationship between two peoples of West and East through such strategies, which was his dream. ? There were some peculiar generalship traits of Alexander that created his distinct identity. He underwent a complicated thought process before finalizing a march. It was his inner feeling always that prompted Alexander to go ahead in his warfare initiatives. He always devised his war strategy by attacking the enemy first in stead of waiting for the enemy to attack. Thus, Alexander manipulated the lead in his favor militarily through his offensive tactics. ? In all his battles, Alexander proved his heroic traits by capturing the initiative to lead by example. At one time during the war at Granicus and Issus, the Persian army wanted to hide behind the river. Alexander planned the attack in such a way that the enemy forces had to take defensive positions to adjust to the new line of attack. Alexander had the inkling about the rigidity in approach, lack of self initiative, enthusiasm, and skills needed to develop a strategy as per changed circumstances in the Persian army. The Persian war plan could not succeed because of fast turnaround attack time taken by Alexander on Granicus not giving an opportunity to the Persian military to realize its plan of war. The Greek soldiers in Persian army had to withdraw back but to be circumvented by the Macedonian forces on a low hillock to be mercilessly butchered, as their surrender was not accepted being traitors. Alexander taught them a lesson to not fight from the Persian side. It was a strategy of Alexander because he knew it very well that the Greek soldiers were truly brave. ? Special about Alexander’s battles was his combined arms use in attack with added features of the hypapists, no phalanx could accomplish. At Issus, Alexander’s military got trapped and his communication was cut down by Darius, creating a disadvantageous situation but Alexander did not loose the spirit. He made a target on the defensive strategy of Darius whose army outnumbered the army of Alexander. Alexander’s army circled the Persian army to 360 degree. As the battle started, the Persian army got the opportunity to loot the Macedonian baggage train but Macedonian reserve forces were there to save the military baggage from plundering by the Persians. Thus, Alexander was able to save the baggage through his insight on emerging challenges. ? In the decisive battle of Gaugamela fought by Alexander against Persia, Alexander was fully control of the situation except some small resistance faced in the eastern satrapies. Among a dozen small battles and sieges including the guerrilla tactic, Alexander proved his caliber as the leading successful captain of all the great captains. Battles glorified Alexander being the medium of fulfilling his dreams. He got endless war opportunities to learn and be an expert in the art of war. Works Cited 1. “Alexander the Great.” Digital Attic. Dec. 2000. Web. 15 October 2011. < http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~madsb/home/war/alex/index.php#11> 2. Conroy. Gerald L. “Alexander the Great and His Army.” 15 Feb. 1998. Web. 15 October 2011. 3. “Famous Greek People: Alexander the Great.” Greeka.com. Web. 15 October 2011. Read More