Battles That Changed History
Single days and long sieges whose outcome redrew the map.
- battles
- war
- history
Some of the stories included
The Black PrinceThe eldest son of King Edward III, Edward of Woodstock was a famed commander at Crécy and Poitiers who died before he could inherit the throne.
The Six-Day WarIn June 1967, Israel's preemptive strike defeated three Arab armies in six days, more than quadrupling the territory under its control.
Khalid ibn al-Walid: The Sword of GodThe story of Khalid ibn al-Walid, the 7th-century Arab general who defeated the Byzantines at the decisive Battle of Yarmouk in 636.
Joan of ArcA peasant girl who heard voices, Joan of Arc was given an army and broke the siege of Orléans in 1429 before being tried and executed.
The War of 1812The strange war between the US and Britain that saw the White House burned and a national anthem written as a result of the fighting.
The Hundred Years' WarThe 116-year struggle between England and France, a war of shifting tactics from longbows at Crécy to cannons at Castillon.
The Football WarA 1969 World Cup qualifier between Honduras and El Salvador ended in a 100-hour war that killed 2,000 to 3,000 people.- The Bayeux TapestryThe Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-metre embroidery from the 1070s that tells the Norman story of the Conquest, from Harold's oath to his death at Hastings, and how it survived nearly a thousand years.
Pyrrhus and the Pyrrhic VictoryPyrrhus beat Rome at Asculum in 279 BC and said one more such win would ruin him, giving us the phrase Pyrrhic victory.
The First Sino-Japanese WarIn 1894, the First Sino-Japanese War began over Korea, a conflict that would invert Asia's traditional order of power.
The Fall of SaigonWhite Christmas on the radio and 105 degrees and rising: the secret signal that began the last helicopter evacuation of Saigon.
D-DayOn June 6, 1944, roughly 132,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, beginning the largest amphibious assault in history.
Hannibal Crosses the AlpsIn 218 BC, Hannibal Barca led an army with 37 elephants across the Alps to invade Italy, sparking a 17-year war that brought Rome to the brink of collapse.
The Fall of ConstantinopleIn 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II used giant cannons and an overland fleet to conquer Constantinople, ending the 1,100-year-old Byzantine Empire.
The Battle of VerdunGermany's 1916 attack on Verdun caused more than 700,000 casualties in ten months, and nine French villages were never rebuilt.
The Winter WarIn 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, expecting a quick victory, but met fierce resistance that gave the world the 'Molotov cocktail'.
The Imjin WarIn 1592 Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea on the way to Ming China, starting a seven-year war decided by Admiral Yi Sun-sin's navy and Ming intervention.
The Battle of Little BighornHow the US seizure of the Black Hills led to the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, where Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeated Custer's 7th Cavalry, and the land cession that followed.
The Mongols in VietnamThe Mongols invaded Vietnam three times between 1257 and 1288, and were defeated each time by clever tactics and fierce resistance.
Chivalry and KnighthoodWhat medieval chivalry meant in practice: how knights were trained and dubbed, what horses and armour cost, the ideals set out by Ramon Llull and Geoffroi de Charny, and how knights treated commoners.
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