Battles That Changed History : An Encyclopedia of World Conflict

This encyclopedic collection of more than 200 of the most decisive and important battles throughout world history gets a fresh interpretation by a noted military historian.The mythic and doomed stand of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae; the siege of Carthage in 149-146 BCE, which ended with Rome destroying the city and enslaving the entire remaining Carthaginian population; the Battle of Hastings in 1066, arguably the most important battle ever on English soil; the Battle of Trenton that saved the American Revolutionary cause and established the military reputation of General Washington; the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9-10, 1945, that destroyed one quarter of the city.All of these conflicts—and hundreds more—played a crucial role in defining the direction of history and the evolution of human society. This text provides high school-level readers with detailed descriptions of the battlefield actions that have played the greatest parts in shaping military history and human existence. Special attention is paid to the greater historical context and significance of each battle, especially in relation to other events. Battles that Changed History......Page 2 An Encyclopedia of World Conflict......Page 4 Contents......Page 8 List of Battles......Page 10 Preface......Page 16 Battles that Changed History......Page 20 Battle of Megiddo......Page 22 Battle of Kadesh......Page 23 Siege of Troy......Page 24 Battle of Thymbra......Page 26 Siege of Babylon......Page 28 Battle of Marathon......Page 30 Battle of Thermopylae......Page 34 Battle of Salamis......Page 37 Battles of Plataea and Mycale......Page 40 Siege of Plataea......Page 42 Siege of Syracuse......Page 44 Siege of Veii......Page 48 Battle of Leuctra......Page 49 Battle of Chaeronea......Page 51 Battle of the Granicus......Page 54 Battle of Issus......Page 56 Sieges of Tyre and Gaza......Page 59 Battle of Gaugamela......Page 62 Battle of Ipsus......Page 65 Battle of Cannae......Page 68 Siege of Syracuse......Page 71 Battle of the Metaurus River......Page 74 Battle of Zama......Page 77 Battle of Gaixia......Page 79 Battle of Pydna......Page 82 Siege of Carthage......Page 84 Siege of Alesia......Page 86 Battle of Pharsalus......Page 88 Battle of Actium......Page 91 Battle of the Teutoburg Forest......Page 94 Battle of Beth-Horon......Page 96 Battle of the Milvian Bridge......Page 99 Battle of Adrianople......Page 102 Battle of Châlons......Page 104 Battle of Tricameron......Page 107 Battle of Badr......Page 108 Battle of Yarmouk River......Page 111 Siege of Constantinople......Page 113 Battle of Tours......Page 116 Siege of Pavia......Page 119 Battle of Lechfeld......Page 121 Battle of Hastings......Page 123 Battle of Manzikert......Page 127 Siege of Jerusalem......Page 129 Battle of Hattin......Page 132 Siege of Acre......Page 134 Second Battle of Taraori......Page 136 Battle of Bouvines......Page 138 Battle of the Sajó River......Page 141 Battle of Hakata Bay......Page 143 Battle of Bannockburn......Page 145 Battle of Sluys......Page 147 Battle of Crécy......Page 149 Battle of Poitiers......Page 153 Battle of Kosovo......Page 156 Battle of Ankara......Page 158 Battle of Agincourt......Page 161 Siege of Orléans......Page 164 Siege of Constantinople......Page 167 Battle of Bosworth Field......Page 170 Siege of Granada......Page 172 Battle of Flodden Field......Page 174 Siege of Tenochtitlán......Page 176 Siege of Rhodes......Page 179 Battle of Pavia......Page 181 Battle of Panipat......Page 183 Battle of Mohács......Page 185 Siege of Vienna......Page 187 Battle of Cajamarca......Page 189 Siege of Malta......Page 192 Battle of Lepanto......Page 194 Siege of Antwerp......Page 198 Spanish Armada......Page 199 Battle of Sekigahara......Page 203 Siege of Breda......Page 205 Siege of La Rochelle......Page 207 Battle of Breitenfeld......Page 210 Battle of Lützen......Page 214 Battle of Nördlingen......Page 217 Battle of Rocroi......Page 219 Battle of Shanhaiguan......Page 221 Battle of Marston Moor......Page 223 Battle of Naseby......Page 226 Battle of Portland......Page 229 Battle of the Dunes......Page 231 Siege and Battle of Vienna......Page 234 Battle of Blenheim......Page 236 Battle of Ramillies......Page 240 Battle of Poltava......Page 241 Battle of Belgrade......Page 244 Battle of Culloden......Page 246 Battle of Rossbach......Page 249 Battle of Leuthen......Page 252 Battle of Plassey......Page 254 Battle of the Plains of Abraham......Page 256 Battle of Lake Champlain......Page 260 Battle of Trenton......Page 262 Battles of Saratoga......Page 264 Battle of the Chesapeake......Page 269 Siege of Yorktown......Page 270 Battle of the Saints......Page 274 Battle of Hanoi......Page 276 Battle of Valmy......Page 279 British Capture of Toulon......Page 281 Battle of Fallen Timbers......Page 283 Battle of Rivoli......Page 287 Battle of Cape St. Vincent......Page 289 Battle of the Nile......Page 291 Battle of Hohenlinden......Page 293 First Battle of Copenhagen......Page 296 Battle of Trafalgar......Page 298 Battle of Austerlitz......Page 303 Battles of Jena and Auerstädt......Page 306 Sieges of Zaragoza......Page 308 Battle of Tippecanoe......Page 312 Battle of Borodino......Page 315 Battle of Lake Erie......Page 319 Battle of Leipzig......Page 321 Battles of Lake Champlain and Plattsburgh......Page 324 Battle of Waterloo......Page 327 Battle of Ayacucho......Page 331 Battle of Navarino Bay......Page 332 Battle of Mexico City......Page 335 Battle of Nanjing......Page 339 Battle of Sinop......Page 342 Battle of Inkerman......Page 343 Siege of Sevastopol......Page 346 Battle of Kinburn......Page 349 Battle of Solferino......Page 350 Battle of Hampton Roads......Page 353 Battle of Antietam......Page 355 Battle of Chancellorsville......Page 360 Battle of Gettysburg......Page 362 Siege of Vicksburg......Page 366 Battle of Mobile Bay......Page 368 Battle of Königgrätz......Page 370 Battle of Lissa......Page 373 Battle of Gravelotte–St. Privat......Page 375 Battle of Sedan......Page 378 Siege of Paris......Page 380 Siege of Pleven......Page 383 Battle of Tel el Kebir......Page 386 Battle of the Yellow Sea......Page 389 Battle of Manila Bay......Page 391 Battle of Omdurman......Page 394 Siege of Beijing......Page 397 Siege of Port Arthur......Page 399 Battle of Mukden......Page 403 Battle of Tsushima......Page 406 Siege of Liège......Page 410 Battle of Tannenberg......Page 413 First Battle of the Marne......Page 417 Dardanelles Campaign......Page 421 Gallipoli Campaign......Page 425 Second Battle of Ypres......Page 428 Siege of Kut......Page 431 Battle of Verdun......Page 433 Battle of the Somme......Page 438 Battle of Jutland......Page 443 Brusilov Offensive......Page 446 Battle of Caporetto......Page 449 Battle of Cambrai......Page 452 Ludendorff Offensive......Page 456 Second Battle of the Marne......Page 462 Battle for Warsaw......Page 464 Siege of the Alcázar......Page 467 Guernica Bombing......Page 470 Battle of Shanghai......Page 472 Battle of the Ebro......Page 475 Dunkirk Evacuation......Page 477 Battle of Britain......Page 480 Battle of Taranto......Page 484 Battle of Crete......Page 485 Siege of Leningrad......Page 488 Battle of Moscow......Page 491 Pearl Harbor Attack......Page 494 Battle of Bataan......Page 497 Battle of Singapore......Page 500 Battle of the Coral Sea......Page 503 Battle of Midway......Page 506 Battle of Guadalcanal......Page 509 Battle of Savo Island......Page 513 Battle of Stalingrad......Page 515 Battle for El Alamein......Page 520 Battle of Kursk......Page 522 Regensburg-Schweinfurt Raids......Page 526 Battle of the Atlantic......Page 528 Battle for Tarawa......Page 533 Battle of Anzio......Page 535 Normandy Invasion......Page 538 Battle of the Philippine Sea......Page 544 Operation......Page 547 Battle of Leyte Gulf......Page 549 Battle of the Bulge......Page 555 Dresden Bombing......Page 558 Battle for Iwo Jima......Page 560 Tokyo Raid......Page 563 Battle for Okinawa......Page 565 Battle for Berlin......Page 568 Hiroshima Bombing......Page 572 Battle of Huaihai......Page 575 Pusan Perimeter Defense and Breakout......Page 578 Inchon Landing......Page 582 Changjin Reservoir Campaign......Page 584 Battle of Dien Bien Phu......Page 589 Battle of the Ia Drang Valley......Page 591 First and Second Battles of Khe Sanh......Page 595 Israeli Air Strikes, Six-Day War......Page 599 Battle of Hue......Page 602 Battle of Golan Heights......Page 607 Persian Gulf War and the Liberation of Kuwait......Page 611 Iraq War......Page 616 Bibliography......Page 624 Index......Page 650 Battle of Megiddo (May 1479 BCE) Battle of Kadesh (1298 BCE) Siege of Troy (1194-1184 BCE) Battle of Thymbra (546 BCE) Siege of Babylon (539-538 BCE) Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) Battle of Thermopylae (ca. August 19, 480 BCE) Battle of Salamis (ca. Septmeber 20, 480 BCE) Battles of Plataea and Mycale (September 479 BCE) Siege of Plataea (428-427 BCE) Siege of Syracuse (415-413 BCE) Siege of Veii (404-396 BCE) Battle of Leuctra (July 371 BCE) Battle of Chaeronea (August 4, 338 BCE) Battle of the Granicus (May 334 BCE) Battle of Issus (November 333 BCE) Sieges of Tyre and Gaza (332 BCE) Battle of Gaugamela (October 1, 331 BCE) Battle of Ipsus (Spring 301 BCE) Battle of Cannae (August 2, 216 BCE) Siege of Syracuse (213-212 BCE) Battle of the Metaurus River (207 BCE) Battle of Zama (202 BCE) Battle of Gaixia (December 202 BCE) Battle of Pydna (June 22, 168 BCE) Siege of Carthage (149-146 BCE) Siege of Alesia (July-October 52 BCE) Battle of Pharsalus (August 9, 48 BCE) Battle of Actium (September 2, 31 BCE) Battle of the Teutoburg forest (9 CE) Battle of Beth-Horon (October 66) Battle of the Milvian Bridge (October 28, 312) Battle of Adrianople (August 9, 378) Battle of Chalons (Summer [July?] 451) Battle of Tricameron (533) Battle of Badr (March 15, 624) Battle of Yarmouk River (August 636) Siege of Constantinople (August 15, 717-August 15, 718) Battle of Tours (October 25, 732) Siege of Pavia (773-774) Battle of Lechfeld (August 10, 955) This encyclopedic collection of more than 200 of the most decisive and important battles throughout world history gets a fresh interpretation by a noted military historian. The mythic and doomed stand of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae; the siege of Carthage in 149-146 BCE, which ended with Rome destroying the city and enslaving the entire remaining Carthaginian population; the Battle of Hastings in 1066, arguably the most important battle ever on English soil; the Battle of Trenton that saved the American Revolutionary cause and established the military reputation of General Washington; the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 9-10, 1945, that destroyed one quarter of the city. All of these conflictsand hundreds moreplayed a crucial role in defining the direction of history and the evolution of human society. This text provides high school-level readers with detailed descriptions of the battlefield actions that have played the greatest parts in shaping military history and human existence. Special attention is paid to the greater historical context and significance of each battle, especially in relation to other events. While some may feel that "war is not the answer," conflicts of epic proportions do shape world history and influence much wider events. Indeed, these critical events of the past offer valuable lessons for our present and future, particularly as several wars with global significance continue around the world Presents over two hundred battles that changed the course of history, including the date, place, participants, and the historical significance of each conflict.