Who Was the Greatest Conqueror of All Time?

–Matthew Macchiaroli, via email, selected China’s Mao Zhedong

The greatest conqueror of all time is not Alexander or Napoleon, but Mao Zhedong, the revolutionary fighter in China. Mao Zhedong’s greatness begins as a young peasant who in a country of millions strived for a better life. While Alexander the Great was the son of a great king and had many luxuries, Mao Zhedong had to fight for the benefit of basics like the ability to read and write, and his drive would be shown again and again on the battlefield. As Mao got older he immersed himself in literature, especially the works of Communist Karl Marx. Mao, like every great general, learned that if he could get the support of his people he could defeat any enemy that opposed him. Mao’s extraordinary tactics and ability to militarize the people all made him the greatest conqueror of all time.

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Mao’s basic tactics that won him many wars was guerrilla tactics. Mao was not the first conqueror to use guerrilla tactics but he perfected them and his model would be used time after time by other commanders. In his book, On Guerrilla War, Mao talks extensively about his revolutionary tactics that could defeat empires much more powerful than China. At the time, China was a nation that was made up of about 400 million people and was divided by the Communists, Nationalists and the Japanese Empire. Mao fought these much more powerful foes by calling on and militarizing the common Chinese peasant. There were plenty of them to serve China. His weak peasant armies would be "like fish in the sea," for they would live side by side and be protected by the very people they were fighting to free. The peasant forces would fight the highly equipped enemy armies by not engaging them conventionally but by attacking the enemies’ rear and other lightly defended areas. This way the peasants could neutralize the powerful enemies’ strengths of technology by using stealth and speed. Slowly, while his men gained more experience and weapons, they could defeat the enemy in more conventional ways, but still attack in lightly protected areas. These tactics let Mao defeat armies composed of much more highly equipped and trained soldiers.

While many other conquerors are counted great because of the land they annexed, Mao conquered something much greater than dirt – he conquered the soul and mind of the Chinese citizen. By freeing the people from landowner debts and using propaganda, Mao turned many of the 400 million Chinese to his side. If this is not greater than merely conquering land then what is? Mao gave his people an image, an image of a united China that was prosperous. Mao did not keep all of his promises, but by gathering the people to his side, he did defeat the very violent Japanese Imperialists and the corrupt Chinese Nationalists.

Mao Zhedong is the forgotten general who holds the title of Greatest Conqueror.

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