These famous battles ended wars. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for decisive battles throughout human history that ended conflicts and reshaped the world.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 The news of Habermas is immediately reported across the country.
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for decisive battles throughout
00:09 human history that ended conflicts and reshaped the world.
00:12 Zama is the Waterloo of the Second Punic War.
00:16 Hannibal loses it for two reasons.
00:20 Number 10.
00:21 The Battle of Yorktown, the American Revolutionary War.
00:24 After the French and Indian War, Great Britain imposed a hard tax regime on its colonies
00:28 to recoup the cost.
00:30 Rankled by taxation without representation and a lack of say in their own destiny, the
00:35 American colonies rebelled.
00:36 If your principles dictate independence, then war is the only way.
00:42 It has come to that.
00:43 By September 1781, General George Washington and his French allies had the British on the
00:49 ropes.
00:50 At long last, victory and peace may be at hand.
00:55 Washington marched his army south to Virginia, where British General Cornwallis was headquartered
01:00 at Yorktown.
01:02 The French arrived by sea, and the two armies surrounded the British.
01:06 They pummeled British defenses for almost a month, followed by a sneak attack led by
01:10 Alexander Hamilton.
01:12 Cornwallis surrendered, all but ending the war.
01:15 The last anyone had heard, Cornwallis, one of Britain's most able generals, had marched
01:20 his army from Charleston to Virginia uncontested.
01:24 There's been no warning that such a profound defeat was even possible.
01:28 In the centuries that followed, the newly formed United States would become one of the
01:32 world's largest superpowers.
01:34 Number 9.
01:35 The Fall of Constantinople – The Byzantine-Ottoman Wars
01:39 Byzantium, or the Byzantine Empire, blossomed in the ashes of ancient Rome.
01:44 For over a thousand years, the empire expanded and contracted.
01:47 At its height, Byzantium controlled most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean.
01:51 By 1453, the empire was in dire straits.
02:08 The Ottoman Turks under Mehmed II were out to end Christian hegemony in the region.
02:14 Mehmed laid siege to the Theodosian walls of Constantinople until the city fell.
02:18 The siege was a watershed moment in European military history.
02:28 Many historians consider the battle the end of the Middle Ages.
02:31 Additionally, the Ottoman use of gunpowder bombards during the siege ended once and for
02:36 all the viability of city walls as a military defense.
02:48 Number 8.
02:49 The Battle of Tenochtitlan – The Spanish Conquest
02:52 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519 with a force of less than
02:58 1,000 men.
02:59 For two years, he set his sights on the Aztecs, making his way inland to the capital, Tenochtitlan.
03:05 At the time, what is now Mexico was governed by the Aztecs, and Cortes set out for their
03:10 capital, Tenochtitlan.
03:12 Along the way, Cortes allied with native rivals to the Aztecs.
03:16 The combined force reached Tenochtitlan, one of the world's largest cities, in 1521.
03:21 Aztec emperor Montezuma hoped for peace and let Cortes enter the city for peace talks.
03:27 Unfortunately, Cortes wasn't interested, holding Montezuma hostage instead.
03:42 The Aztec leader died and Cortes fled.
03:45 While the Spanish prepared for a final assault, the city was ravaged by smallpox.
03:50 But the Aztecs then confronted another powerful enemy – smallpox.
03:55 Brought aboard Spanish ships, the disease decimated the Aztec population.
03:59 The subsequent 80-day siege broke the Aztecs, ending one of the world's great empires
04:04 and enshrining three centuries of Spanish rule.
04:08 Number 7.
04:09 The Battle of Hastings – The Norman Conquest
04:11 After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Anglo-Saxons conquered England and ruled for hundreds of
04:16 years.
04:17 In 1066, Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor died without an heir.
04:22 Edward had fallen sick on Christmas Day.
04:25 He swiftly deteriorated and died on the 4th of January.
04:30 The throne was claimed by self-proclaimed King Harold II, a claim disputed by William
04:35 the Duke of Normandy in France.
04:38 William the Conqueror landed on English shores with a sizable force, thirsty for battle.
04:43 Harold, leading a force of conscripted infantry, was no match for William's cavalry.
04:49 All William could do was to throw the full weight of the Norman cavalry against it.
04:55 The Battle of Hastings would last all day.
04:58 It was one of the longest battles in medieval history.
05:01 In Hastings, Harold was killed in the fighting, granting William a decisive victory.
05:11 Harold dying with an arrow in his eye is the most famous scene on the Bayeux Tapestry.
05:17 The Normans culturally and linguistically influenced England for centuries, helping
05:21 to forge a country and eventual empire that would touch every corner of the globe.
05:27 Number 6.
05:28 Battle of Amiens – World War I
05:30 The Battle of Amiens was the last major offensive in World War I.
05:34 Kicking off the Allied 100 days offensive, Amiens allowed the Allies to halt German momentum
05:40 and reverse it.
05:41 Amiens was a significant blow against the Germans and I think the Allied commander Foch
05:46 realized that perhaps this was the moment where the attritional warfare had finally
05:52 ground the enemy down.
05:53 They pushed forward 7 miles on the first day, one of the longest advances during the whole
05:58 war.
05:59 The French forces won decisive victories, taking a tremendous number of German prisoners.
06:15 The battle caused a complete 180 in the morale of the respective sides, crippling German
06:21 spirit.
06:22 In November 1918, the armistice ended hostilities.
06:34 Amiens effectively finished the most brutal war the world had ever seen to that point.
06:39 It began the era of armored warfare, being one of the first battles utilizing early model
06:44 tanks.
06:45 Number 5.
06:46 The Battle of Zama – The Second Punic War
06:49 The Punic Wars were two brutal clashes between two great powers of the ancient Mediterranean,
06:55 Rome and Carthage.
06:57 Rome faced a deadly enemy in Carthaginian General Hannibal, who absolutely decimated
07:01 the Romans at Cannae.
07:09 Hannibal had marched his army, including his war elephants, across the Alps.
07:13 Unfortunately, this proved to be a long-term miscalculation.
07:17 Hannibal had completely misjudged the mindset of the Romans.
07:21 This was his critical mistake.
07:24 The Romans bled his army year after year, pushing him further and further back.
07:28 By 203 BCE, Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio, also known as Scipio Africanus, invaded
07:35 Carthage itself in North Africa.
07:38 At Zama, Scipio used his cavalry to deadly effect, having chosen the field of battle
07:43 in advance.
07:44 Scipio defeated Hannibal, crushing Carthage.
07:46 When the two sides met in battle at Zama, not even Hannibal's genius could save him
07:52 from defeat.
07:53 The year was 202 BC.
07:56 The Second Punic War had lasted 16 years.
08:00 It cemented long-term Roman hegemony in the Mediterranean and gave birth to centuries
08:05 of the great Roman Empire.
08:07 Number 4.
08:08 The Siege of Baghdad – Mongol Invasions At its height, the Mongol Empire was the largest
08:13 contiguous land empire in human history.
08:16 By the middle of the 13th century, it had spread east to Korea and west into Persia.
08:21 Mungke, the Mongol emperor and grandson of Temujin, was looking to the Middle East and
08:25 the Abbasid Caliphate.
08:27 The Abbasids had created one of the most advanced civilizations in the world.
08:31 The capital, Baghdad, was the emperor's jewel, the global center for science, philosophy,
08:35 mathematics, and trade.
08:37 In 1258, the Mongols laid siege.
08:40 The city defenders quickly surrendered, but that didn't stop the Mongols from slaughtering
08:44 tens of thousands of Baghdadis.
08:47 They killed the Caliph, effectively destroying the Abbasid Caliphate altogether and marking
08:52 the blood-soaked end of the Islamic Golden Age.
08:56 Number 3.
08:57 Battle of Appomattox Courthouse – American Civil War A Union victory during the American
09:02 Civil War was not a foregone conclusion.
09:04 Many battle-tested military leaders left the army to lead the Confederate forces of their
09:09 home states.
09:10 Both sides had already been raising troops, and it was confidently expected by everyone
09:15 that any fighting would be over in a matter of weeks.
09:18 General Robert E. Lee was one of them, and he led the Confederates to victory after victory
09:22 until Gettysburg turned the tide.
09:24 Union General Ulysses Grant had been racking up victories in the West.
09:28 The foray into Pennsylvania that culminated with the Battle of Gettysburg is the last
09:34 time that any Confederate army is going to be able to strike into Northern Territory.
09:40 By 1865, the generals were facing one another on the field of battle at Appomattox Courthouse,
09:45 Virginia.
09:46 After getting squeezed by Grant, Lee was finally forced to retreat and surrender.
09:51 Grant was generous with his terms, imprisoning none of the surrendering rebels.
09:55 Grant was extremely gracious in his treatment of Lee and in his treatment of the Confederate
10:01 soldiers.
10:02 Appomattox ended the war, ensuring that the United States would remain united into the
10:06 20th century.
10:08 Number 2.
10:09 The Battle of Marathon, the First Persian War.
10:12 Have you ever wondered why marathon races are 26 miles?
10:15 The organizers of the first modern Olympics looked to ancient Greece and the Battle of
10:20 Marathon.
10:21 The Persian army is about to slam into Athens like a Category 5 hurricane.
10:25 The Athenians know surrender isn't an option, but they're divided on how to prepare.
10:29 Should they hunker down behind the city walls or march out to meet the Persians in battle?
10:33 The Persian Empire attacked the Greeks, marching 20,000 troops towards Athens.
10:38 The field of Marathon sat 26 miles from the Greek city-state.
10:42 The Athenians placed their strongest troops on the flanks, facing weaker Persians and
10:46 working their way inwards.
10:48 With the Persian cavalry rendered ineffective by the terrain, the Athenians are able to
10:52 chop down the weakened Persian flanks.
10:55 The plan worked, and the Greeks defeated the Persians, winning the First Persian War.
10:59 A courier named Pheidippides allegedly ran the 26 miles back to Athens to bring word
11:05 of the victory, dying immediately afterwards from the exertion.
11:09 The Athenian runs the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens, runs into the town square, yells
11:17 up his hands, "Nike!" which means victory, and drops dead, probably of a heart attack
11:21 or a stroke.
11:23 The victory cemented Athens as a major power of the ancient world and allowed democracy
11:28 to flourish and inspire generations for centuries.
11:32 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:36 Battle of Tours.
11:37 Umayyad conquests.
11:39 Frankish forces halted the Islamic conquering of Europe and solidified Frankish power.
11:43 The conquest of Granada.
11:45 The reconquest of Spain.
11:47 Aragon and Castile united to end almost 800 years of Moorish rule in Spain.
11:52 Battle of Shiroyama.
11:54 Satsuma Rebellion.
11:55 This battle marked the end of the samurai and the rise of Imperial Japan.
11:59 The Battle of Muiyi.
12:01 The Zhojiang War.
12:02 The Zhou Dynasty conquered Shang Dynasty and established the Mandate of Heaven.
12:07 The Siege of Jerusalem.
12:08 The First Crusade.
12:10 This battle established the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem and ushered in centuries of sectarian
12:15 conflict.
12:16 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
12:20 about our latest videos.
12:21 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
12:25 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into settings and switch on your notifications.
12:31 Number 1.
12:33 The Battle of Waterloo.
12:34 The Napoleonic Wars.
12:36 Napoleon Bonaparte proved to be one of the greatest military commanders in history.
12:40 He nearly conquered all of Europe before his defeat and exile to the island of Elba in
12:45 1814.
12:46 And on April 28, 1814, he boarded a British warship which was to take him to Elba and
12:54 exile.
12:58 He was not to be gone for long, however.
13:01 Less than a year later, he escaped and raised a formidable army.
13:05 A combined force of British, Dutch, Prussian, and other German troops faced him down at
13:10 Waterloo.
13:11 As it had rained the night before the battle, Napoleon waited until after midday to commence
13:15 fighting.
13:16 He decided to wait several tense hours for the ground to dry out.
13:21 But with the Prussians closing in, was this a wise decision?
13:25 It gave the Prussians time to reach Wellington and win the day.
13:29 Though Napoleon escaped to France, he was ultimately captured and exiled once more.
13:33 Waterloo and the British victory cemented their role as Europe's great superpower,
13:38 ending France's dominance in Europe.
13:40 Napoleon's empire passed into legend and a new Europe was born, paid for in the blood
13:46 of nearly 50,000 French, Allied, and Prussian soldiers on the muddy, steep slopes of the
13:51 Waterloo Ridge.
13:54 Human history is rife with conflict.
13:55 If we've left off any battles that ended a war and changed the world, let us know in
13:59 the comments.
14:00 Napoleon hadn't really been defeated in a great cataclysmic battle.
14:04 There was a sense that somehow he'd been cheated, that somehow he was still the master
14:09 of the battlefield.
14:10 Waterloo ends that myth.
14:13 Did you enjoy this video?
14:14 Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
14:18 to be notified about our latest videos.
14:20 [music]
14:30 (upbeat music)