5 Battles That Changed the West Forever

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:02][music] >> Imagine a world where the English language doesn't exist, the Roman Empire never happened, or Europe looks entirely unrecognizable today.

[00:00:21]We were just a few hours away from that being our reality.

[00:00:26]History class often gives us the feeling that things happen slowly, but sometimes the fate of an entire civilization is decided in a single day.

[00:00:36]From the desperate last stand at Thermopylae to the chaos of the Blitzkrieg, the West has teetered on the edge of rapid change or even outright annihilation more times than you realize.

[00:00:48]So today, let's look at the five battles that didn't only win a war, they shaped our way of life as we know it.

[00:00:54]These are the battles that defined Western civilization.

[00:00:59]The first battle I want to talk about is actually two battles. While the last stand of the 300 Spartans gets most of the hype, the twin victories of Salamis and Plataea during the Greco-Persian Wars proved most decisive in the conflict.

[00:01:13]After the fall of Athens in 480 BC, the Greek cause looked bleak.

[00:01:18]But the Athenian general Themistocles had a trap to lure the massive Persian navy into the narrow straits of Salamis.

[00:01:26]He used their size against them.

[00:01:29]The large Persian fleet had difficulty maneuvering in the choppy waters, but the thin Greek forces had no problem getting into formation and scoring a decisive victory.

[00:01:39]It forced Xerxes' fleet to retreat back to Asia, leaving his land forces isolated.

[00:01:46]A year later, the Battle of Plataea essentially wiped out the remaining Persian army, who were now stranded.

[00:01:53]After pulling back to Plataea in the province of Boeotia, The Persians surrounded themselves with fortified defenses in an attempt to hold out.

[00:02:03]But instead of attacking immediately, the Greeks simply outwaited the Persians.

[00:02:08]Finally, the Persians panicked and sallied out.

[00:02:11]As many of their men became entrapped in their own fortifications, they were cleaned up by the Greek army.

[00:02:17]After Plataea, the Greeks now took the offensive and began reconquering territory they had previously lost to the Persians.

[00:02:25]The battles of Salamis and Plataea were the turning points in the Greco-Persian Wars and signaled the end to Persian aggression.

[00:02:33]This meant the continuation of Greek influence throughout the Mediterranean, which has had massive trickle effects on the West.

[00:02:41]Without these victories, it's possible that Greek philosophy, medicine, architecture, and art would have never been passed down to us today.

[00:02:51]Alexander the Great may have never come to power, spreading Greek influence even further. The Gospels would have been written in another language besides Greek. And the Renaissance of the 15th century may have never happened.

[00:03:05]The second battle that shaped the West is Milvian Bridge.

[00:03:09]The Battle of Milvian Bridge took place in October of 1312 AD and it was between Constantine I and Maxentius, two competing Roman emperors.

[00:03:20]Constantine was ultimately victorious as Maxentius drowned in the Tiber River during the fighting.

[00:03:27]Though this battle had huge political ramifications by ending the tetrarchy or the dual emperorship of the Eastern and Western halves of the empire, it ultimately had a larger effect on the religious makeup of the West.

[00:03:41]According to the historian Eusebius, Constantine and his soldiers saw a vision shortly before the battle.

[00:03:48]The vision depicted two Greek letters, chi and rho, or in some stories, a cross, emblazoned in the sky while a voice proclaimed, "In this sign you will conquer."

[00:04:01]After following the vision's instructions, the soldiers were indeed victorious, attributing their success to God's intervention.

[00:04:09]Though Constantine waited until his deathbed to get baptized, tradition holds that this battle initially inclined him towards the Christian religion.

[00:04:19]The Battle of Milvian Bridge led Constantine to embrace Christianity and end its persecution in the Roman Empire.

[00:04:26]The legalization of Christianity was a massive shift in policy that allowed a flourishing of the faith.

[00:04:32]And the West's history from that point forward has been undeniably intertwined with Christianity.

[00:04:40]Number three on our list is another battle with significant religious ramifications, the Battle of Tours.

[00:04:47]It basically determined whether Islam or Christianity would dominate Europe.

[00:04:53]In October of 732, the battle was fought between the Umayyad Caliphate and a coalition of Frankish forces led by Charles the Hammer Martel.

[00:05:04]The Christian and Muslim armies met somewhere between Tours and Poitiers in modern France.

[00:05:10]Martel hoped to thwart Islamic expansion into Europe.

[00:05:14]The Umayyad Caliphate currently held a vast empire with land stretching from the Iberian Peninsula to the Middle East and sought to expand into France.

[00:05:24]Though outnumbered, the Frankish alliance boldly intercepted the Umayyad soldiers on their march northward.

[00:05:31]The Franks held a defensive phalanx formation for 7 days on top of a wooded outcrop, forcing the Muslim cavalry to charge uphill.

[00:05:40]Martel's battle-hardened infantry, many of whom had fought with him for over a decade, proved to be a deciding factor.

[00:05:49]The Battle of Tours set the stage for the Carolingian dynasty, eventually producing Charlemagne, the father of Europe. It also ensured a Christian Europe. Many have speculated that an Umayyad victory at Tours would mean a Muslim Europe today.

[00:06:06]Edward Gibbon claimed in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, "Perhaps the interpretation of the Quran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Muhammad."

[00:06:24]Historian Godfrey Kurth emphasized Gibbon's claim.

[00:06:29]"Tours must ever remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe."

[00:06:42]Number four on our list is the Battle of Waterloo, which set the stage for modern Europe.

[00:06:48]On June 18th, 1815, near the small town of Waterloo in modern Belgium, Napoleon's army battled a coalition of forces in what would be the French emperor's final battle.

[00:07:01]The coalition was made up of two armies.

[00:07:03]One, a British-led army hailing from the UK, Netherlands, and various German states headed by the Duke of Wellington.

[00:07:11]The other, a Prussian force.

[00:07:13]Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo forced an abdication of his throne, ending his reign as French emperor.

[00:07:20]The prevailing coalition's forces entered Paris several days later.

[00:07:26]The battle cleared the way for Great Britain's global hegemony because it eliminated France as a serious competitor on the European continent and the world stage.

[00:07:36]Without British influence around the globe, English wouldn't be be common international language, dozens of nations that Britain influenced would have completely different histories and cultures.

[00:07:47]And slavery might even be more prevalent today as the British Empire played a huge role in suppressing the practice.

[00:07:55]The following decades after Waterloo are sometimes referred to as the Pax Britannica or the Concert of Europe because of the relative peace and prosperity that followed Napoleon's downfall.

[00:08:07]The final battle I want to talk about is the Battle of Britain. I think you could pick a number of battles from World War II, but I picked this one because it defined the new mode of warfare that we still use today, the strategic fight for air superiority.

[00:08:23]This air battle was fought primarily between the British Royal Air Force or the RAF and the German Luftwaffe over the skies of England during 1940 and 41.

[00:08:34]Germany hoped its air attack would force Great Britain to negotiate a peace settlement. The air raids first targeted shipping ports. However, these attacks soon progressed to airfields and infrastructure.

[00:08:45]Finally, cities were bombed in an attempt to terrorize the population and force surrender.

[00:08:52]Despite heavy mobilization, the Luftwaffe was unable to establish significant air superiority, ultimately failing in their original mission.

[00:09:01]Historian Richard Evans writes, "Irrespective of whether Hitler was really set on this course, he simply lacked the resources to establish the air superiority that was the prerequisite of a successful crossing of the English Channel."

[00:09:17]A third of the initial strength of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, had been lost in the Western campaign in the spring.

[00:09:24]The Germans lacked the trained pilots, the effective fighter aircraft, and the heavy bombers that would have been needed.

[00:09:32]The battle was notable from a technological standpoint because it was the first major military campaign fought solely with air forces.

[00:09:40]Germany's defeat was also the first large-scale military victory by one of the Allied nations, signaling a weakness in Germany's air capabilities.

[00:09:50]And it allowed the US to use Britain as a launching point for their own sea and air invasions of continental Europe.

[00:09:58]Now, there are a number of other battles that could have easily been added to this list, and there are great arguments for adding them. The Battle of Vienna, for example, certainly deserves consideration.

[00:10:08]But at the end of the day, I had to pick five, and I tried to spread them out across different time periods.

[00:10:14]So, I had to leave out some good picks.

[00:10:17]The battles I chose were picked mainly on how they affected the culture and religion of the West today.

[00:10:23]If these conflicts had turned out differently, the West may be speaking different languages or practicing other religions.

[00:10:30]I'd love to know your picks, though, so make sure to leave them in the comments.

[00:10:35]Putting this list together reminded me that battles are the ultimate crossroads in history.

[00:10:40]Points where cultures and individuals are defined by the choices they make, shaping outcomes irreversibly.

[00:10:48]At the end of the day, this exercise has reminded me that for all our comfort and safety, our culture is the way that it is because men with swords and guns preserved it.

[00:10:59]There's a popular phrase, "Freedom isn't free," which is true.

[00:11:04]And what's also true is that our culture and our way of life isn't cheap.

[00:11:08]It's been paid for time and time again with lives and bravery.

[00:11:14]One more thing before you go. If you enjoy our video content, we have a lot more to offer over on our Substack. It's where we publish weekly in-depth essays on the same meaningful topics we discuss here.

[00:11:27]It's also the best way to support us. As the internet is increasingly taken over by cheap AI slop, it's important to support us real human creators so we can make more of what's meaningful.

[00:11:40]I'll drop a link in the description.

[00:11:43]Thanks for watching. My name is Adam from Thinking West. Catch you next time.

[00:11:49]>> [music]