The other thread about the best armies of 1800-1914 gave me pause to consider the worst imperial armies of the 1800-1914 era. The worst army IMO was the Chinese army of the Manchu dynasty, which was put out of it's misery in 1912. China was the punching bag of the world in the 19th century. The Opium Wars, a disastrous civil war in the 1860s that the French and Brits participated in, defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, the chaos of the Boxer Rebellion with more foreign intervention, what a terrible track record.
First runnerup is the Ottoman Empire, aka The Sick Man of Europe. The Turks suffered one defeat after another, resulting in significant loss of territory in Europe and Asia. With the exception of the Crimean War (which the Brits and French bailed them out ) and the Second Balkan War, the Turks were defeated by the Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Romanians, and Bulgarians, and Italians.
The second runnerup is Czarist Russia. With the exception of the brillant Napoleonic War campaign of 1812-13,the Russo-Turkish War of 1878 (hey, they were fighting the Turks
), and successful colonial campaigns against Turkomen and Uzbek tribesmen, the Russians had a rough time in the 19th century. Russia was soundly defeated by France in 1806, defeated by Britain, France, and Turkey in the Crimean War, and by the Japanese in 1904-05. One of the main problems with the Russians was the tendency of the Czars to imagine themselves as generals (Alexander I and Nickolas II come to mind).
The third runnerup is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Did the Hapsburgs ever win a war on their own??? They rode on the coattails of the Brits, Prussians, and Russians during the Napoleonic Wars, which is the way they finally won. They were decisively beaten by Prussia in 1866, and by France and Kingdom of Savoy during the Italian re-unification.
First runnerup is the Ottoman Empire, aka The Sick Man of Europe. The Turks suffered one defeat after another, resulting in significant loss of territory in Europe and Asia. With the exception of the Crimean War (which the Brits and French bailed them out ) and the Second Balkan War, the Turks were defeated by the Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Romanians, and Bulgarians, and Italians.
The second runnerup is Czarist Russia. With the exception of the brillant Napoleonic War campaign of 1812-13,the Russo-Turkish War of 1878 (hey, they were fighting the Turks
), and successful colonial campaigns against Turkomen and Uzbek tribesmen, the Russians had a rough time in the 19th century. Russia was soundly defeated by France in 1806, defeated by Britain, France, and Turkey in the Crimean War, and by the Japanese in 1904-05. One of the main problems with the Russians was the tendency of the Czars to imagine themselves as generals (Alexander I and Nickolas II come to mind).The third runnerup is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Did the Hapsburgs ever win a war on their own??? They rode on the coattails of the Brits, Prussians, and Russians during the Napoleonic Wars, which is the way they finally won. They were decisively beaten by Prussia in 1866, and by France and Kingdom of Savoy during the Italian re-unification.
