Most Important Battles Challenge (5)

Thannks 1Historygenius for your dedication. The Battle of ChalonsDate: June 20th, 451Armies Engaged: The Western Roman Empire (and various barbarian elements) versus The Huns (various forces) Main Leaders: Flavius Aetius (The Western Roman Empire) versus Attila the Hun (The Huns) The Battle Playing for time, Attila did not give the order to advance until late in the day with the goal of allowing his men to retreat after nightfall if defeated. Pressing forward they moved up the right side of the ridge with the Huns in the center and the Gepids and Ostrogoths on the right and left respectively. Aetius' men climbed the left slope of the ridge with his Romans on the left, the Alans in the center, and Theodoric's Visigoths on the right. With the armies in place, the Huns advanced to take the top of the ridge. Moving quickly, Aetius' men reached the crest first. Taking the top of the ridge, they repulsed Attila's assault and sent his men reeling back in disorder. Seeing an opportunity, Theodoric's Visigoths surged forward attacking the retreating Hunnic forces. As he struggled to reorganize his men, Attila's own household unit was attacked forcing him to fall back to his fortified camp. Pursuing, Aetius' men compelled the rest of the Hunnic forces to follow their leader, though Theodoric was killed in the fighting. With Theodoric dead, his son, Thorismund, assumed command of the Visigoths. With nightfall the fighting ended. The next morning, Attila prepared for the expected Roman attack. In the Roman camp, Thorismund advocated assaulting the Huns, but was dissuaded by Aetius. Realizing that Attila had been defeated and his advance stopped, Aetius began to assess the political situation. He realized that if the Huns were completely destroyed, that the Visigoths would likely end their alliance with Rome and would become a threat. To prevent this, he suggested that Thorismund immediately return to the Visigoth capital at Tolosa to claim his father's throne before one of his brothers seized it. Thorismund agreed and departed with his men. Aetius used similar tactics to dismiss his other Frankish allies before withdrawaling with his Roman troops. Initially believing the Roman withdrawal to be a ruse, Attila waited several days before breaking camp and retreating back across the Rhine.[1]Implications This battle pretty much saved western civilization. Attila's attacks on the Western empire were soon renewed, but never with such peril to the civilized world as had menaced it before his defeat at Chalons; and on his death, two years after that battle, the vast empire which his genius had founded was soon dissevered by the successful revolts of the subject nations. The name of the Huns ceased for some centuries to inspire terror in Western Europe, and their ascendancy passed away with the life of the great king by whom it had been so fearfully augmented.[4][5]"Edward Creasy in his book Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World states: '…the battle not only rescued for a time from destruction the old age of Rome, but preserved for centuries of power and glory the Germanic element in the civilization of modern Europe.' The clash at Chalons was a monumental conflict. It pitted two of the towering figures of Late Antiquity, the fierce Attila the Hun, and the noble Roman Flavius Aetius against each other. If Flavius had not been successful in holding back the Hun invasion, the whole course of Western history might have been changed."[2][3]It should never be forgotten that in the summer of 451 and again in 452, the whole fate of western civilization hung in the balance. Had the Hunnish army not been halted in these two successive campaigns, had its leader toppled Valentinian from his throne and set up his own capital at Ravenna or Rome, there is little doubt that both Gaul and Italy would have been reduced to spiritual and cultural deserts.[4][7]If Attila had won, the discomfiture of the mighty attempt of Attila to found a new anti-Christian dynasty upon the wreck of the temporal power of Rome, at the end of the term of twelve hundred years, to which its duration had been limited by the forebodings of the heathen.[4][6][9]"In the end, the Christian Visigoths of King Theodoric and the forces of Flavius Aetius fought together at Chalons preserving for centuries the power and glory of the Germanic element. Through the church and through the civilization that remained and developed, the conditions for the creation of modern Europe were set. Perhaps Rome's last great service to the West was to serve as a buffer between the Asiatic Huns and the Germanic Barbarians whose destiny was to lay the medieval foundations of the modern, western nations." [2] "If he [Attila the Hun] had won the day the heathen Huns instead of the Christian Germans would have become the most powerful people of Europe. That is why this conflict at Chalons is counted as one of the great battles of the world."[8] Sources[1]: http://militaryhistory.about.com...[2]: http://www.wzaponline.com...[3]: Creasy, Edward. Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World. Pennsylvania: The Military Service Publishing Company, 1955.[4]: http://en.wikipedia.org...[5]: Herbert Attila book i., line 13.[6]: Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, p.537[7]: Norwich, Byzantium: the Early Centuries. 1997, p. 158.[8]: http://www.mainlesson.com...[9]: http://www.literaturemania.com...;http://www.youtube.com...http://www.youtube.com...