Manzikert 1071 and the Crusades

The Battle of Manzikert was fought on this date in 1071. The Seljuk Turks defeated the armies of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). I know you're thinking - SO WHAT?!! This defeat in what is today eastern Turkey created a much higher threat to Europe, especially the east. In reaction, Pope Urban II proclaimed in 1096 the First Crusade and set in motion 200 years of war between Christian Europe and Islamic forces. The Pope called upon the monarchs and nobles of western Europe to gather their forces and take Jerusalem back from Muslim overlords. (Jerusalem had been conquered by Muslim armies in the mid - 600s and had been occupied every since). So this fairly obscure battle, a serious defeat for the Byzantine (Roman) forces, motivated western Europe to challenge Islam militarily. By 1099, the armies of the West reconquered Jerusalem and occupied it and the surrounding territory for nearly 100 years. But Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1187 sparking the unsuccessful Third Crusade, starring Richard the Lionheart. For the next century, several more expeditions attempted to take back Jerusalem, including the Fourth Crusade which actually successfully attacked the Byzantine capital of Constantinople - largest and richest city in the western world - in 1204. If you travel to Venice, look at the lions on top of the columns in front of St. Mark's basilica, as they are trophies brought back from Constantinople to Venice by the Crusaders.

August 1861

By August 1861 people sensed the war would not be short, and it could be bloody. There was still hope for a quick solution, but a string of victories for the South emboldened the Confederacy, and firmed up Lincoln's resolve. So how did the sides compare? From all appearances, the North held a tremendous advantage: more than 3 times the number of available fighting men, 70% of railroads, over 90% of iron & coal production, and three quarters of the nation’s wealth. The South produced by far the greatest export - cotton - but that was cut off by the Union naval blockade. Yet, the South had important strengths. They needed only to win a defensive war fighting for their homes. Cotton was crucial to British and French industry; thus, the diplomatic pressure could favor the Confederacy. But most important, in a war of unprecedented scale and complexity, the South had superior military leadership. Stonewall Jackson routinely outfought larger Union forces. Robert E Lee would go down in history as one of the greatest of field commanders. The Civil War would be a new kind of war with extensive use of railroads, the telegraph, the machine gun and ironclad warships. And, no one was prepared for the casualties. By war's end there were over 600,000 dead and 2 million wounded. But in that August 158 years ago, few could foresee such a tragic outcome.