The modern world we live in was shaped by rulers and empires in the past. Wars were, and are, inevitable but it’s the reasons behind them that have captivated researchers and history buffs.
From the east to the west, kings and generals waged battles in the name of land and power, hoping to gain glory and be remembered as the greatest and most powerful ruler of all time.
Here are some of the more important and consequential battles they waged that changed the course of our world:
1. The Battle Of Okinawa, 1945
Okinawa saw the last battles of the US and Japan play out between April 1 and June 22, 1945. Approximately 300,000 US soldiers entered the island that was defended by 130,000 Japanese soldiers.
Nearly 100,000 Japanese soldiers, 12,520 U.S. troops, and 80,000-100,000 civilians died on the island and its surrounding seas during the violence, making it one of WWII’s deadliest battles.
Germany was largely defeated and Japan was backed into a corner, but President Truman decided to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th to bring the fighting to an end.
2. The Battle Of Tenochtitlán, 1521
Hernan Cortés led the expedition for Spain in 1519 placing Mexico under the King of Castile’s rule in 1521 with the Fall of Tenochtitlán. Cortés marched 200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico inland, making friends with locals who then joined him on his quest.
Aztec Emperor Montezuma welcomed Cortés hoping to make peace with the conquistador, but Cortés took the Emperor as his prisoner in the hopes of subduing the people. Montezuma died soon after.
The Aztecs fought back forcing Cortés and his men out of the city.
The Spanish prepared their final attack, but smallpox took out 25% of the Aztecs.
Cortés and his Mexican allies held the city for 80 days before the severely weakened Aztecs were defeated leading to Spanish rule in Mexico for nearly 300 years.
3. The Siege Of Jerusalem, 1099
Pope Urban II ordered the first crusade in 1095 to claim the Holy Land for Christianity. Raymond of Toulouse and Gregory of Bouillon led 13,500 European Christians into Jerusalem, killing the Jewish and Muslim inhabitants in a barbaric fashion.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, lasting for about 200 years.
The city became known as a center for colonization with Christianity spreading to nearby regions. Trade began to arrive from the east as the new kingdom was located by the Silk Road.
4. The Battle Of Dien Bien Phu, 1954
France refused to accept Vietnam’s declaration of its independence. And even though they agreed that Vietnam would remain autonomous, France tried to reconstitute colonial rule.
France occupied Dien Bien Phu, which was a key supply depot in November of 1953.
Communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh led 40,000 soldiers that surrounded 13,000 French soldiers to end the 57-day siege, even though French General Henri Navarre was confident in a French victory.
France’s loss allowed the US to involve themselves with Vietnam, which then started another war.
5. The Battle Of Hastings, 1066
Edward the Confessor, King of England, died with no heir in 1066. As a result, Harold Godwine proclaimed himself King Harold II.
But William, the Duke of Normandy, disputed his rule, arriving in England with a force of 7,000 troops, including cavalry, with the intent of invasion. Harold’s troops, exhausted from the march, were no match for William’s troops.
Harold was killed in a decisive victory for William.
It was a victory that ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England.
6. The Battle Of Tsushima Strait, 1905
Russia and Japan couldn’t decide how to divide Manchuria and Korea, eventually leading to conflict. The Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur in Manchurian China was attacked by Japan’s navy resulting in a series of victories for Japan. A final naval showdown at the Strait of Tsushima on May 27, 1905 saw Russia defeated, losing 35 of the 45 ships in its fleet.
The war led to social unrest and the 1905 Revolution in Russia.
Meanwhile, Japan began flexing its muscles in the Pacific, eventually leading to the US and Japan’s future conflict.
7. Battle of Shiroyama, 1877
The Meiji regime took in some of the samurai but others started a series of small-scale revolts causing problems from 1874-77. Saigo Takamori was a prominent samurai whose students fought back, seizing a munitions depot in Kagoshima, starting the Satsuma rebellion.
Takamori led his students and warriors all the way to Kyoto.
They were held up by the garrison at Kumamoto Castle where they were scattered by government troops and, by September, only 500 followers remained.
The newly formed Japanese troops were trained in western tactics and equipped with western weapons as compared to the samurai and their swords.
Takamori took his life with the traditional seppuku suicide maneuver, and not a single rebel survived.
8. The Battle of New Orleans, 1815
The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24, 1814, officially ending Britain and America’s War of 1812. But the news did not reach British troops making their way to New Orleans whose aim was to cut off Louisiana.
On January 8, 1815, 4,500 U.S. troops fought against 7,500 British soldiers.
2,000 British men were wounded, killed, or missing while the US only lost 8.
General Andrew Jackson was responsible for the victory, which helped him win the presidency in 1828.
9. The Battle of Zama, 202 BCE
The Carthaginian general Hannibal took his war elephants and his entire army across the Alps before invading Italy in 218 BCE. The Romans fought back in the Battle of Ilipa and Roman General Publius Scipio looked to Carthage, taking the city in North Africa in 203 BCE.
Hannibal was once again called to defend Carthage. Scipio’s cavalry was superior, and even though both sides had 40,000 soldiers, the Romans had the advantage.
Hannibal and his armies were no match for Scipio’s soldiers. The Romans defeated their strongest rival in the Mediterranean, ending the Second Punic War.
10. The Battle of Philippi, 42 BCE
Antony and Octavian found Brutus and Cassius with their men between an impassable marsh and tall cliffs near Philippi in Greece.
Fighting broke out with both sides struggling to gain control. Cassius, thinking that his army had lost the battle, committed suicide. Brutus took over, but the battle ended indecisively. Brutus launched an assault on Antony’s causeway but the confined space did not allow for much fighting due to the close quarters.
Brutus’s army ran in retreat, but Antony’s troops surrounded them, and Brutus then took his own life, signaling the end of the old Republican constitution of Rome.
11. The Conquest of Granada, 1492
1492 was the year that the unified monarchies of Aragon and Castile defeated the final Muslim kingdom in Spain.
780 years of Moorish control was ended by their victory.
King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I united the Spanish forces, utilizing the Spanish Inquisition as a means to force the union of such a diverse population.
12. The Battle of Gaugamela, 331 BCE
On the Plain of Gaugamela, near Arbela (present-day Irbīl in northern Iraq), Darius laid out his far superior army across the field, outnumbering Alexander in great numbers.
Alexander and his troops charged left, with the Persians leaving an opening in the middle exposed. Alexander and his personal cavalry took advantage, attacking the confused Persians and causing them to panic. Darius took flight as his armies were cut down.
Darius was murdered by one of his satraps and Alexander took Babylon, ending the Persian empire of Cyrus II.
13. The Fall Of Constantinople, 1453
The Byzantine Empire’s capital, Constantinople, saw its end at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
Mehmed II rose to the Ottoman throne in 1451 and it was then he decided to make his move on the enemy.
The battle ended and so did the era now known as the “Middle Ages.”
Map borders were redrawn which closed off trade routes between Europe and India. Even Christopher Columbus had to set sail and find a sea route to the east.
14. The Battle Of Marathon, 490 BCE
The Persian Empire was truly a force to behold in the ancient world. Why Persia attacked Greece remains unclear, but 20,000 Persian troops marched toward Athens in 490 BCE.
The Athenians and the Plataeans formed an alliance before meeting the Persians on the Plains of Marathon.
The Athenians put their strongest soldiers on the flanks, facing the weaker Persians on the outside of their attack. Athens won the battle and the war with this ingenious strategy.
It was an advantageous victory for Athens who was developing nascent democratic politics the Persians would have opposed. Chroniclers say Greek courier Pheidippides ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce victory, and that he died after delivering the news.
15. The Battle Of Waterloo, 1815
Napoleon Bonaparte sought to conquer all of Europe when he became Emperor of France. His plan came to a halt during the invasion of Russia when Allied European nations pushed back. Napoleon found himself exiled on the island of Elba in 1814.
But in 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and led 100,000 French soldiers hoping to strike back before Prussian and British armies in Belgium could join together. The French found victory at the Battle of Ligny in Belgium on June 16, 1815. But Napoleon wasn’t counting on the escaping Prussian forces joining British soldiers camped in the village of Waterloo.
The night before the battle saw rain pour down, so Napoleon waited until the afternoon to attack. This gave the Prussians time they needed to join the Duke of Wellington and his army.
Napoleon was defeated. He retreated to France where he was captured and exiled to St. Helena.
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