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UK

Britain's greatest military foes

The following infographic revisits an online poll conducted all the way back in 2012 but considering one hasn't been conducted since and how interesting the results were, it is still worth revisiting. The UK's polled 8,000 respondents to find out who the public considers Britain's greatest military foe. The main criterion of the survey was that each enemy commander must have led an army against British forces in battle, therefore ruling out political enemies such as Adolf Hitler.

George Washington was named Britain's greatest military adversary, garnering 45 percent of the vote. He led American rebels to victory in the War of Independence, inflicting what some experts consider the greatest defeat in British military history. Irish leader Michael Collins commanded the Irish Republican Army in a devastating and ultimately successful guerrilla warfare campaign against the British during the Irish War of Independence. He came second, collecting 21 percent of the vote. Napolean is considered Britain's third-greatest foe while Rommel, The Desert Fox, came fourth and Atatürk fifth.

Description

This chart shows the share considering the following the greatest military commanders to face Britain.

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Military spending in the U.S. 2000-2025
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