Last month we brought you the news that the National Army Museum in London was polling for Britain’s greatest foe, which featured Michael Collins. Well, the results are finally in.
Over the weekend, Michael Collins, the once great Irish leader, was voted in as Britain’s second greatest foe. Second! The American leader George Washington piped Collins to the post for first place. However, that’s got us thinking: was some guy that looks like a chicken McNugget really a better general than Ireland’s greatest military leader of recent times?
Well, according to a public vote held in the National Army Museum, he most definitely was. To be in with a shout of being crowned Britain’s greatest foe the ‘challengers’ must have led an army against the British Empire between the 1700’s and the present day.
The museum shortlisted 20 enemies, who were put into an online vote in order to decide Britain’s top five enemies of all time. However, after the poll received some strong media attention from both Turkey and Ireland (ahem) both Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Michael Collins shot up the leader boards, which many deemed unfair.
Complaints were made that people from Turkey and Ireland were just voting for their ‘commander’ just for the sake of them being crowned Britain’s greatest foe (which you weren’t suppose to do, apparently).
That’s why a public vote was held to choose the greatest enemy from the online polls top five, just to keep things fair and whatnot.
In order of the ‘greatest’ to the ‘better luck next time’ foe, the results were as follows:
1. George Washington
2. Michael Collins
3. Napoleon Bonaparte
4. Erwin Rommel
5. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
