Afleveringen
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The road to India was within the Japanese Imperial Army's grasp, but at Imphal and Kohima, the Japanese advance was not just halted, it was broken. Their columns had fought, bled, and died to reach the gates of British India, but when the final shots were fired, they had nothing left. Their supply lines had collapsed. Their men were starving. Their dream of conquest had been reduced to corpses rotting in the jungle mud. With this failure, the last serious threat to British rule in India vanished. Japan would never again mount an offensive of this scale in the region. The invasion had been more than blunted, it had been crushed, and with it, the fate of the war in Southeast Asia was sealed.
Imphal. March 15 - May 31, 1944.
Japanese Forces: ~ 85,000 troops, and 7,000 Indian Nationalist Army Auxiliaries.
British and Indian Forces: ~ 120,000 troops.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Slim, Sir William. Defeat into Victory.Evans, Sir Geoffrey. Imphal: Crisis in Burma (History of the Second World War by Pitt, Barrie).Turnbull, Patrick. Imphal-Kohima, 1944.Support the show
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Russia’s failure to impose enduring control over Chechnya exposed a fundamental erosion of its military strength and the brittle resolve of its leadership. What should have been a swift and decisive campaign instead unraveled into a prolonged disaster, revealing an army plagued by disorganization, low morale, and tactical ineptitude. The war laid bare the widening gulf between Russia’s ambitions and its ability to project power, shaking the nation’s confidence in its own might and signaling to the world that the Kremlin no longer commanded the unquestioned dominance it once claimed.
Grozny, Chechnya. December 1994 - February 1995.
Russian Forces: ~ 40,000 Soldiers.
Chechen Forces: unknown, but likely 5,000 - 8,000 Guerrilla Fighters.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Gall, Carlotta. Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus.Lieven, Anatol. Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power.Dunlop, John. Russia Confronts Chechnya.Support the show
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When the Mongols tore through Baghdad, they did not merely sack a city for its plunder or to claim power, this time they dismantled a civilization. The once-great capital of the Islamic world, a center of power, knowledge, and commerce for half a millennium, was left a husk of its former self. Its libraries, once holding the accumulated wisdom of centuries, were reduced to ashes. Its people, once scholars, merchants, and rulers, were slaughtered or scattered. For generations, Baghdad remained little more than a ruin, a forgotten relic of an empire that had been wiped from history. It would take centuries before it would rise again, but it would never reclaim the dominance it once held.
Baghdad. January 22 - February 10, 1258.
Mongol Forces: modern historians believe up to 200,000 Mongol Warriors.
Arab Forces: unknown, but reportedly roughly 100,000 Citizen Soldiers.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Legg, Stuart. The Heartland.Melegari, Vezio. The Great Military Sieges.Chambers, James. The Devil's Horsemen.Support the show
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The annihilation of Magdeburg was more than a military defeat... it was a warning, one that sent shockwaves through the Protestant states of northern Germany. Those who had hesitated, those who had wavered in their allegiance, now saw the cost of inaction. The city's fall was not a mere state loss; it was an execution, carried out with fire and steel. In its smoldering ruins, the Protestant cause found new purpose. Princes who had once stood on the sidelines now turned to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, seeing in him the only leader capable of standing against the unchecked fury of the Imperial armies. Their support shifted the balance of power, and with their armies now at his back, Gustavus seized the initiative. What had begun as a war of Catholic suppression was now a Protestant resurgence, one that would break the momentum of the Holy Roman Empire and drive the conflict toward a new and decisive phase.
Magdeburg. March 20 - May 10, 1631.
Protestant Forces: Unknown
Catholic Forces: UnknownAdditional Reading and Episode Research:
Morrison Translation: Schiller, Frederick. History of the Thirty Years War.Gindely, Anton. History of the Thirty Years War, Vol 2.Asch, Ronald. The Thirty Years War.Fletcher, C.R.L. Gustavus Adolphus and the Thirty Years War.Support the show
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Spain’s victory did more than just hold the line, it secured Florida as a critical bastion, shielding its Atlantic trade routes and standing as a barrier against the rising power of the American colonies. For decades to come, it would remain a Spanish stronghold, a thorn in the ambitions of an expanding America, a reminder that the old empire was not yet finished.
St. Augustine, FL. November 10 - December 29, 1702.
Spanish Forces: 230 Soldiers, 180 Indians and Freed African Slaves.
English Forces: 500 Soldiers, 300 Indians.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
National Park Service. Castillo de San Marcos.Arnade, Charles. The Siege of St. Augustine in 1702.Support the show
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Kut was the longest unrelieved siege ever suffered by a British force, and its fall sent shockwaves through the empire. It wasn't just a battlefield defeat, it was a total unraveling. The loss shattered illusions of invincibility, exposed the failures of British command, and forced a reckoning that reshaped military strategy and political leadership in the middle of the Great War.
Kut-Al-Amara. December 8, 1915 - April 29, 1916.
British Forces: between 25,000 and 45,000 Troops.
Turkish Forces: between 25,000 and 80,000 Troops.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Wilson, Sir Arnold. Loyalties: Mesopotamia, 1914-1917.Barker, A.J. The Neglected War.Quetta Staff College. A Critical Study of the Campaign in Mesopotamia up to April 1917.Support the show
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Paris' surrender marked the end of the Franco-Prussian War, a conflict that not only crushed the Second French Empire but also gave birth to a new European superpower. In the wake of victory, the German Empire was proclaimed, uniting the fragmented German states under Prussian rule. The balance of power in Europe had shifted, permanently.
But the war did not simply end with treaties and territorial concessions. It left behind a deep, unresolved hostility between France and Germany, a resentment that would harden over the decades. The humiliation of 1871 was not forgotten; it was seared into the French national psyche. The loss of Alsace and Lorraine became an open wound, a national obsession, and a rallying cry for future war.
This animosity would fester through the years, shaping diplomacy, military planning, and alliances. By 1914, when war erupted once again, it was not just a contest of empires... it was the unfinished business of a rivalry forged in the ashes of this war. The road to World War I did not begin with the assassination in Sarajevo. It began here.
Paris. September 18, 1870 - January 26, 1871.
French Forces: 355,000 Infantry, 5,000 Cavalry, ~ 2,000 Artillery Pieces.
Prussian/German Forces: 206,000 Infantry, 34,000 Cavalry, ~ 1,100 Artillery Pieces.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Graf von Moltke, Helmuth. The Franco-German War of 1870-1871.Weber, Eugene. A Modern History of Europe.Howard, Michael. The Franco-Prussian War.Support the show
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The fall of Fort Fisher sealed Wilmington’s fate, shutting down the last open port of the Confederacy and severing its final link to the outside world. No more weapons. No more supplies. No more war materiel smuggled through the blockade. With that final door slammed shut, the Confederacy was left to starve, fight, and die alone.
Fort Fisher. December 23, 1864 - January 15, 1865.
Union Naval Force: 57 vessels.
Union Land Forces: 8,000 Infantry.
Confederate Forces: 2,000 Infantry.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Gragg, Rod. Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher.Pollard, E.A. The Southern History of the War.Foote, Shelby. The Civil War.Support the show
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The loss of the port city shattered Russia’s campaign in the Crimean War. With Sevastopol gone, the Tsar’s ambitions in the region collapsed. His fleet was crippled, his armies bled white, and his empire humiliated on the world stage. No reinforcements could change the outcome now—Russia had been broken, not just militarily, but politically. The war dragged on for months, but the defeat at Sevastopol had already sealed its fate.
Sevastopol. October, 1854 - September, 1855.
French Forces: 120,000 Men.
British Forces: 15,000 Men.
Turkish Forces: 7,000 Men.
Sardinian Forces: 9,000 Men.
Russian Forces: 38,000 Garrison Troops.
Russian Relief Forces: 60,000 Men.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Edgerton, Robert. Death or Glory: The Legacy of the Crimean War.Warner, Philip. The Crimean War: A Reappraisal.Barker, A.J. The War Against Russia.Support the show
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Rome’s victory did more than defeat a rival; it annihilated the one power that had stood as its greatest obstacle. With its most formidable enemy wiped from the map, the balance of power in central Italy shifted permanently. No force remained to contain Rome’s ambition. The republic had proven its ability to wage long, brutal war and emerge stronger. From this moment forward, its rise was not a possibility... it was an inevitability.
Veii. ~404 BC - 396 BC
Roman Force: Unknown
Veiian Fores: UnknownAdditional Reading and Episode Research:
Selincourt Translation: Livy. The Early History of Rome.Melegari, Vezio. The Great Military Sieges.Support the show
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Though the Ottomans fell at the end, their five-month stand shattered Russia’s momentum so completely that the road to Constantinople was never taken. The Tsar’s armies, bloodied and exhausted, were forced to settle for negotiation instead of conquest. The treaty that followed carved up what remained of European Turkey, stripping the empire of its Balkan dominions and accelerating its long, agonizing collapse. The siege had delayed defeat, but in doing so, it had also ensured that the Ottoman Empire would never recover.
Plevna. July 19 - December 10, 1877.
Russian Forces: 110,000 Men, 500 Cannon.
Turkish Forces: 40,000 Men, 77 Cannon.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Stavrianos, L.S. The Balkans Since 1453.Shaw, Stanford. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey.Menning, Bruce. Bayonets Before Bullets: The Russian Imperial Army, 1861-1914.Support the show
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Belgian resistance was not supposed to exist. The German war machine had counted on speed... on smashing through the Low Countries unopposed. Instead, Belgian troops stood and fought, throwing the invasion off balance. What should have been a relentless advance became a grinding struggle, costing the Germans precious days. Those lost days gave France and Britain just enough time to rally, to fortify, to prepare. When the Germans finally reached the Marne, they no longer had the advantage. The road to Paris had been open. Now, it was a battlefield.
Liege. August 7 - 16, 1914.
German Forces: 60,000 Troops.
Belgian Resistance: 25,000 Infantry.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August.Buchan, John. A History of the Great War.MacDonald, Lyn. 1914.Support the show
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The fall of Montségur was not simply a siege, it was an annihilation of a faith. The last sanctuary of the Cathars, deemed heretics by the Catholic Church, was reduced to silence in fire and blood. Their doctrine did not fade by choice, nor by debate, but by the merciless hand of steel and flame, leaving only echoes of their defiance in the ashes.
Montségur. November, 1243 - March, 1244.
Cathar Forces: 11 Knights, 150 Soldiers.
Inquisition Forces: 10,000 Soldiers.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Oldenburg, Zoe. Massacre at Montségur.Sumption, Jonathan. The Albigensian Crusade.Support the show
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By driving the British from Boston, the rebellion achieved its first decisive victory, expelling the bulk of British forces from the American colonies. This triumph was more than just a strategic success... it was a surge of confidence for the revolution. The war was no longer a scattered resistance but a tangible fight for self-determination. Emboldened by this victory, the Continental Congress moved forward with its most radical step yet. In the months that followed, the momentum gained on the battlefield translated into political action, culminating in the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Boston. April 20, 1775 - March 17, 1776.
American Forces: ~ 17,000 Men.
British Forces: ~ 12,000 Soldiers.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Lancaster, Bruce. The American Revolution.Peckham, Howard. The War for Independence: A Military History.Gruber, Ira. The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution.Support the show
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British troops refused to break, grinding down the German-Italian offensive in Egypt. Their defiance did more than just slow the Axis advance—it kept them from launching a full-scale assault on Malta, the island fortress that stood between Hitler and total control of the Mediterranean.
Tobruk. April 10 - December 7, 1941.
Axis Forces: Unknown, Possibly ~ 35,000 Troops.
Allied Forces: ~ 22,000 Troops.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Jewell, Derek. Alamein and the Desert War.Macksey, K.C. Afrika Korps.Firkins, Peter. The Australians in Nine Wars.Support the show
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The relief of Sarajevo forced a turning point. Under relentless NATO bombardment and international pressure, Serbian forces withdrew, and for the first time, the government of Serbia recognized Bosnia-Herzegovina’s independence. It was a reluctant acknowledgment, extracted not through diplomacy but through force.
This marked the first decisive action by the United Nations in post-Cold War Europe. After years of inaction and failed peacekeeping efforts, the international response to this war set the stage for future interventions. The airstrikes and military operations that ended the siege would serve as a blueprint for NATO’s role in Kosovo just a few years later, as well as future conflicts where Western powers would justify intervention under the banner of humanitarianism.
The war in Bosnia was not just another regional conflict. It was the first true test of international order in the wake of communism’s collapse—a test that exposed both the failures and the evolving role of global military alliances in a world no longer defined by the Cold War.
Sarajevo. May 1991 - December 1995.
Bosnian Forces: 150,000 Troops.
Serbian Forces: 80,000 Troops.Additional Reading and Episode Research:
Gow, James. Triumph of the Lack of Will.Judah, Tim. The Serbs: Myth, History, and the Destruction of Yugoslavia.Cohen, Roger. Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo.Support the show
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The English victory crushed Ireland’s last real chance at freedom, locking the island under English rule, its warriors dead, its leaders in flight, and its people left to endure centuries of occupation. But the Irish who escaped carried their hatred of the British across the Atlantic, and when revolution came to America, they stood at the front lines, ready to strike back.
Haves-McCoy, G.A. Irish Battles.Silke, John. Kinsale.Foster, R.F. Modern Ireland.
Kinsale. October 2, 1601 - January 3, 1602.
English Forces: 6,800 Infantry, 600 Cavalry.
Spanish Forces: ~ 3,300 - 3,400 Infantry.
Irish Forces: ~ 6,000 Men.
Additional Reading and Episode Research:www.HistorysGreatestBattles.com
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The British victory at Fort Niagara shattered French dominance and secured their grip on the Great Lakes, a turning point in the French and Indian War. But for the Iroquois, their cooperation in that war was not a triumph, it was the beginning of the end. Once the most formidable native power in the Northeast, they had gambled on British strength, believing it would protect their place in the new order. Instead, they were cast aside, their lands devoured by the very empire they had helped to build. In choosing a side, they had sealed their own destruction.
Peckham, Howard. The Colonial Wars, 1689-1762.Steele, Ian. Warpaths.Anderson, Fred. The Crucible of War.
Fort Niagara. July 10 - 25, 1759.
British and Indian Forces: 2,000 British Troops, 1,000 Iroquois Braves.
French Forces: 486 Soldiers, Marines, and Militia, 30 Seneca Indian Scouts.
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The fall of La Rochelle marked the definitive end of French toleration for Protestantism, dismantling any illusions of coexistence under the Edict of Nantes. This event triggered an exodus of Huguenots, tens of thousands fleeing persecution to seek refuge abroad, reshaping societies across Europe and the Americas.
Lockyer, Roger. Buckingham.Roche, O.I.A. the Days of the Upright: The story of the Huguenots.Burckhardt, Carl. Richelieu and his Age.
La Rochelle. September 10, 1627 - October 27, 1628.
Huguenot Forces: Unknown, Likely Entire Male Population of La Rochelle.
British Forces: ~ 5,000 Troops.
French Forces: ~ 30,000 Troops.
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The American victory instilled an unwarranted confidence in the colonies’ military prowess, fostering a belief that their amateur forces could stand toe-to-toe with professional armies. Yet, this triumph was overshadowed by the betrayal felt when Louisbourg, hard-won through their blood and sacrifice, was handed back to France in a distant peace negotiation. This decision by the British government deepened colonial resentment, planting the seeds of hostility that would only grow in the decades to come.
Leckie, Robert. A Few Acres of Snow.Peckham, Howard. The Colonial Wars, 1689 - 1762.Balcom, B.A. Louisbourg; American History Magazine.
Louisbourg. May 1 - June 17, 1745.
American Forces: 4,270 Militia.
French Forces: 560 French Marines and Swiss Mercenaries with an additional ~ 1,400 Militia.
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