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

Field marshal is a military officer rank. Today it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general....
 or Grand Admiral
Grand Admiral

Grand Admiral is an historic navy rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use is in Germany — the German language word is Gro?admiral....
.

word "generalissimo" comes from the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 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
Sovereign

Sovereign may refer to:*Sovereignty, a philosophical concept or state*Sovereign *Sovereign Hill, Victoria, Australia*Lady Sovereign, a female MC and performing artist for Def Jam Recordings...
.






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

Field marshal is a military officer rank. Today it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general....
 or Grand Admiral
Grand Admiral

Grand Admiral is an historic navy rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use is in Germany — the German language word is Gro?admiral....
.

Usage

Chiang Kai Shek
The word "generalissimo" comes from the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 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
Sovereign

Sovereign may refer to:*Sovereignty, a philosophical concept or state*Sovereign *Sovereign Hill, Victoria, Australia*Lady Sovereign, a female MC and performing artist for Def Jam Recordings...
. "Generalissimo" is sometimes used in modern English language to refer to a military officer who has obtained political power by a military coup
Coup d'état

A coup d??tat , often simply called a coup, is the sudden unconstitutional overthrow of a government by a part of the state establishment – usually the military – to replace the branch of the stricken government, either with another civil government or with a military government....
, or in some cases one who has suspended pre-existing constitutional mechanisms in order to retain power by means of a military hierarchy.

Famous historical generalissimos


Republic of China


  • Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek

    Chiang Kai-shek , Order of the Bath , served as Generalissimo of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1948. He was sometimes referred to simply as "the Generalissimo"....
     (1887–1975) was known as the Generalissimo.


Cuba

  • Maximo Gomez y Baez (1836–1905)


North Korea

  • Kim Il-sung
    Kim Il-sung

    Kim Il-sung was the president and absolute ruler of North Korea from its founding in early 1948 until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il....
     (1992-94)


Dominican Republic

  • Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina (1891–1961)


  • Juan Pedro Smee de Horchata (1972–???)


France

Sketch of Miranda
*Henry III of France
Henry III of France

Henry III of France , born Alexandre-?douard de Valois-Angoul?me, was King of France from 1574 to 1589, and as Henry of Valois, first elected List of Polish rulers#Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and List of Lithuanian rulers#Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1574....
 (1551–1589)
  • Henry I, Duke of Guise
    Henry I, Duke of Guise

    Henry I, Prince of Joinville, Duke of Guise, Count of Eu , sometimes called Le Balafr?, "the scarred", was the eldest son of Francis, Duke of Guise and Anna d'Este....
     (1550–1588)
  • Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
    Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé

    Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Cond? was a France general and the most famous representative of the Prince of Cond? branch of the House of Bourbon....
     (1621–1686)
  • Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
    Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne

    Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family....
     (1611–1675)
  • Claude Louis Hector de Villars
    Claude Louis Hector de Villars

    Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis and Duc de Villars and Vicomte de Melun was the last great general of Louis XIV of France and one of the most brilliant commanders in Military history of France, one of only six Marshal of France that have been promoted to Marshal General of France....
     (1653–1734)
  • Maurice de Saxe (1696–1750)
  • Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
    Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult

    Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duc de Dalmatia , the Hand of Iron, was a France general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804....
     (1769–1851)
  • Ferdinand Foch
    Ferdinand Foch

    Ferdinand Foch . Order of Merit List of honorary British knights was a France soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French Army" in the early 20th century....
     (1851–1929), Supreme Commander of the Allies of World War I
    Allies of World War I

    File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svgThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The main allies were the Russian Empire, French Third Republic, the British Empire, Kingdom of Italy , the Empire of Japan, and the United States....
  • Maurice Gamelin
    Maurice Gamelin

    Maurice Gustave Gamelin was a France general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values....
     (1872–1958)


The Holy Roman Empire / Austrian Empire

  • Albrecht von Wallenstein
    Albrecht von Wallenstein

    ,a Bohemian soldier and politician, gave his services during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor....
     (1583–1634)


Mexico

  • Ignacio José de Allende
    Ignacio Allende

    Ignacio Jos? de Allende y Unzaga was a captain of the Spanish Army in Mexico who came to sympathize with the Mexican independence movement. He attended the secret meetings organized by Josefa Ortiz de Dom?nguez, where the possibility of an independent New Spain was discussed....
     (1769–1811)
  • Antonio López de Santa Anna
    Antonio López de Santa Anna

    Antonio de Padua Mar?a Severino L?pez de Santa Anna y P?rez de Lebr?n , often known as Santa Anna or L?pez de Santa Anna, was a Mexico political leader who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government, first fighting against the Mexican War of Independence from Spain, and then supporting it, rising to the...
     y Pérez de Lebrón (1794–1876)
  • José María Morelos y Pavón, Insurgent Leader.


Poland

  • Jerzy Ossolinski
    Jerzy Ossolinski

    Prince Jerzy Ossolinski was a Poland Szlachta, Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, voivode of Sandomierz from 1636, Reichsf?rst since 1634, Crown Deputy Chancellor from 1639, Great Crown Chancellor from 1643, starost of Bydgoszcz , Lubomel , Puck, Poland and Bolim , magnate, politician and diplomat....
      (1643–1648)
  • Józef Antoni Poniatowski
    Józef Antoni Poniatowski

    Prince J?zef Antoni Poniatowski was a Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth leader, general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of France....
     (1763 - 1813)


Portugal

  • Michael, Infante of Portugal (1820 - 1824)


From 1834 to 1910, the Kings of Portugal were considered "Generalissimo", in their constitutional role of Supreme Commanders of the Portuguese Army
Portuguese Army

The Portuguese Army is the ground branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in co-operation with other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the defence of Portugal....
.

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; Aleksei Shein
Aleksei Shein

Aleksei Semyonovich Shein , Russian commander and statesman, the first Russian Generalissimus, boyar, great-grandson of Mikhail Shein.As a boy, Shein attended the Execution of Stepan Razin....
 and Aleksandr Suvorov, were principally field commanders rather than political figures. Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1714–1776), was appointed generalissimus by his wife Anna Leopoldovna
Anna Leopoldovna

Anna Leopoldovna , also known as Anna Karlovna , regent of Russia for a few months during the minority of her baby son Ivan VI of Russia....
 but neither commanded nor ruled.

  • Aleksei Shein
    Aleksei Shein

    Aleksei Semyonovich Shein , Russian commander and statesman, the first Russian Generalissimus, boyar, great-grandson of Mikhail Shein.As a boy, Shein attended the Execution of Stepan Razin....
     (1662–1700)
  • Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov
    Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov

    Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Ingria ....
     (1673–1729)
  • Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1714–1776)
  • Aleksandr Suvorov (1729–1800)
  • Joseph Stalin
    Joseph Stalin

    Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953....
     (1879–1953)


Spain

  • Don Juan de Austria (1547–1578)
  • Francisco Franco
    Francisco Franco

    Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Te?dulo Franco y Bahamonde, Salgado y Pardo de Andrade , commonly known as Francisco Franco or Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was the dictator and Head of State of Spain from October 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975....
     (1939–1975)
For a time Baldomero Espartero and the Prince of the Peace, Manuel Godoy, were called generalissimo.

Sweden

  • Lennart Torstenson
    Lennart Torstenson

    Lennart Torstenson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad , was a Sweden List of Swedish Field Marshals and military engineer....
     (1603–1651)
  • Charles X Gustav
    Charles X Gustav of Sweden

    Charles X Gustav was Monarch of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg, Count Palatine of Zweibr?cken-Kleeburg and Catharina of Sweden....
     (1622-1660, for the forces in Germany
    Germany

    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
    )
  • Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden
    Sweden

    Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
     and Norway
    Norway

    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
     (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte), later Charles XIV John of Sweden
    Charles XIV John of Sweden

    Charles XIV & III John , born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, later renamed Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death....
     and Norway
    Norway

    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
     (1763–1844)


Venezuela

  • Francisco de Miranda
    Francisco de Miranda

    Sebasti?n Francisco de Miranda y Rodr?guez , commonly known as Francisco de Miranda, was a Venezuelan revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spanish Empire failed, he is regarded as a forerunner of Sim?n Bol?var, who during the Hispanic American wars of independence successfully liberated a vast portion of So...
     (1750–1816)


United States of America

  • George Washington
    George Washington

    George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
    , General of the Armies of the United States (1732–1799)
  • John Pershing, General of the Armies, commander of the American Expeditionary Force
    American Expeditionary Force

    The American Expeditionary warfare or AEF was the United States Armed Forces force sent to Europe in World War I.The AEF fought alongside allied forces against German Empire forces....
     in World War I
    World War I

    World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
    .


On Oct. 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, past and present.

Venice

  • Pietro Loredan
    Pietro Loredan

    Pietro Loredan was a Venetian nobleman and admiral.Loredan was responsible for making Venice a dominant power in northeastern Italy in the 15th century....
     (?–1439)


Other Italians

  • Cesare Borgia
    Cesare Borgia

    Cesare Borgia, born , Duke of Valentinois, and Romagna, Prince of Andria and Venafro, Count of Dyois, Lord of Piombino, Camerino and Urbino, Gonfalone of the Church and Captain General of the Church, was a Spanish-Italian Condottieri, lord and cardinal....
     (1475-1507)
  • Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
    Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

    Victor Emmanuel III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy Kingdom of Italy . In addition, he was the claimed Emperor of Ethiopia Ethiopia and King of Albania Albania ....
     (1869 - 1947)


See also


  • Magister militum
    Magister militum

    Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
  • Military rule
    Military rule

    Military rule may mean:* Militarism or militarist ideology - the ideology of government as best served when under military control* Military occupation, when a country or area is occupied after invasion....
  • Spahbod
    Spahbod

    Spahbod or Spahbed Used alone, it refers to the senior military officer but when it is used with Persian empire, Eran Spahbod ????? ????? or Iran Spahbod, is equivalent to field marshal or generalissimo of the Empire....
  • Shogun
    Shogun

    is a military rank and historical title for Hereditary Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces of Japan. The Japanese word for "general", it is made up of two kanji characters: sho, meaning "commander", "general", or "admiral", and gun meaning military troops or warriors....
  • Supreme Allied Commander
    Supreme Allied Commander

    Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Western Allies during World War II, and is currently used only within NATO....
  • The Generals
    The Generals

    The Generals is a common nickname that is often applied to the rulers of a military dictatorship as in a military junta.While some military dictatorships are led by a prominent, charismatic leader others are less hierarchical, and have leadership concentrated in vaguely defined "councils", often with frequently changing leaders or "chairme...
  • Reichsmarschall
    Reichsmarschall

    Reichsmarschall was the highest rank in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II after the position of Supreme Commander held by Adolf Hitler....
  • First Marshal of the Empire
    First Marshal of the Empire

    First Marshal of the Empire was a Military rank established by the Italian Parliament on March 30, 1938. The highest rank in the Italian Military, it was only granted to Benito Mussolini and King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III....
  • Dux Bellorum
  • Grand Marshal
    Grand Marshal

    Grand Marshal is a ceremonial, military rank, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "Marshal" with the first usage of the term "Grand Marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders....
  • General of the Armies
    General of the Armies

    General of the Armies is the highest possible rank in the United States Army. For the next rank down, see General of the Army .No one currently holds this rank, and it has never been used by an active duty Army officer at the same time as General of the Army, so it is not entirely clear how the two ranks would legally compare to each othe...