Top Ten Battles that Most Changed History

On to World War II. Adolf Hitler made the ill-advised decision to invade Russia. He decided to attack the city of Stalingrad for multiple reasons. One, it was named after Stalin himself, so its fall would be an embarrassing and humiliating defeat. Also, Stalingrad stood in the way of petroleum resources in Baku.

The battle ended up being one of the longest and bloodiest of World War II. It lasted from August 23, 1942, to February 2, 1943. The battle was fought street by street and ended with the German generals being surrounded. They eventually surrendered due to a lack of resources. The result was decisive. Hitler would never recover in the East, and the Soviet Union would lead the assault to Berlin.

The Battle of Gettysburg was a pivotal battle in the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. The Confederate forces, led by General Robert E. Lee, had been consistently defeating the Union forces. In the North, civilians were growing restless and wanted an end to the war, and Union soldiers were tired of defeats. President Abraham Lincoln needed a victory. He sent General George Meade to meet the Confederate armies, and they met at Gettysburg.

Fighting ensued for three days, and it was pretty much a stalemate until a few major things happened. There was a miscommunication in command. Lee's best subordinate, Stonewall Jackson, had died not long before the battle, and Lee had to promote incompetent generals. General J.E.B. Stuart abandoned the battle, leaving Lee without a cavalry. To put the nail in the coffin, General Longstreet, one of Lee's best generals, refused to attack a certain point.

The Union made strong stands and ultimately held off the Confederates. It was a devastating loss for the South. Had they won that, they might have won the war. Instead, they kept fighting but were never the same.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Americans were devastated. The fleet in the Pacific had been decimated, and the Americans sought revenge. They located the Japanese approaching Midway and unleashed chaos on them.

Errors in the Japanese chain of command led to a decisive American victory, changing the course of the war in the Pacific. If the Japanese had captured Midway and destroyed the rest of the Pacific fleet, America could have faced a mainland assault and would not have been able to focus on Europe. That would have resulted in the loss of the Allied powers.

The Battle of Thermopylae was a famous stand at the Hot Gates, a coastal pass at Thermopylae, by the Spartans. The Persians were quickly engulfing the whole of Greece, and mighty Sparta was the only nation standing in their way.

The Spartans were vastly outnumbered but were able to hold the gates for three days. Eventually, a Greek betrayed them, and the Spartans were surrounded and killed. Ultimately, this battle inspired thousands of Greeks to fight, and the Spartans were remembered as the group that fought tyranny.

This battle also led to the decisive victories at Salamis and Plataea. It marked a turning point in the second Persian invasion.

So, we talked about the 2nd Persian invasion. Let's talk about the first. The Persians were defeating the Greeks. The Greeks had not won one battle. The successful strategy and armor helped the Greeks only lose 203 lives compared to the 6,000 lives the Persians lost. This absolutely shocked the Persians, who retreated from Greece.

The Battle of Hastings is crucial to the history of England. The country was divided between Duke William of Normandy and King Harold of the Anglo-Saxons. After the death of King Edward, who had no heir, Duke William, King Harold, and Viking Harald Hardrada all claimed the throne. The battle was fought on the famous date of October 14, 1066.

After defeating Harald Hardrada and his Vikings, King Harold learned that Duke William had landed in England. He marched from the northern coast to London. Duke William destroyed a few towns, and King Harold was forced to meet him at Hastings. The battle was close, but it ended with King Harold being killed, traditionally said to have been shot in the eye, and William became king.

King William made significant architectural changes and influenced the English language. Ultimately, this battle changed a lot in England.

Remember when the Muslims almost took over all of Europe? Probably not because schools don't like to talk about the Battle of Tours, but I will include it on this list. Muslims aimed to conquer Europe, and the Frankish powers resisted.

The Muslims succeeded initially and made it to modern-day France, where Charles Martel met them. In October 732, the Frankish armies met the Muslims at Tours. Not many exact details are known about this battle, but it resulted in a complete and utter defeat for the Muslims, stopping their conquest. This battle began Frankish dominance in Europe and was a factor in the start of the Crusades.

You may ask why the Storming of Normandy is so low? I will explain why in a second. Seeing that the Allies were now winning on two fronts, the Supreme Commander of the Allies, Dwight D. Eisenhower, decided to land on the beaches of Normandy, an operation known as the D-Day landings. You should already know that it was successful. It was an amazing victory. The reason I have it lower is that it wasn't a tide-turning event. The Allies were on pace to win the war. All the Normandy Landings did was accelerate the process. Still important, but I feel the items above are more important.

After Napoleon Bonaparte escaped his exile in Elba, he quickly and impressively built up a powerful army and resumed his control as emperor of France. He attempted to negotiate peace, but some scholars believe this was simply to buy Napoleon time. Instead, the whole of Europe declared war on Napoleon himself, not France.

Napoleon set out and met a coalition army led by the Duke of Wellington. The Duke of Wellington had studied Napoleon for years and was able to predict his moves. The coalition won a crushing defeat for Napoleon, who was then exiled to Saint Helena, where he spent the rest of his life. The battle ended the Napoleonic Wars and any chance of Napoleon's return.

The Battle of Yorktown practically ended the Revolution. The Colonists were on track to win anyway, but this battle was still important.

Another Roman slaughter. One of the first examples of a small force destroying a larger one.

The Battle of Cannae was a disaster for the Romans. They were absolutely slaughtered by Hannibal and the Carthaginians.