RIII wrote:
quote:
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Originally posted by Benderino
Who do so many of you think that the Hungarians were the Huns? The Hungarians were the Magyars, not the Huns...since the Huns came from the Asian Steppes, not the plains west of the Carpathian Mountains (ie. Hungary).
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The Magyars came fr the Asian steppes too, just at a later age, as with many other tribal confederations...
Yup - the ancient Hungarians started out in Bashkiria and migrated westward over 2000 years' time across southern Russia until a Pecheneg attack in the late 9th century sent them scurrying into the Carpathian Basin. Their political structure was entirely based on the old Bulgar and Khazar models - which is why the first Byzantine sources to mention them call them
Turkoi.
Necron wrote:
Uhm... Guys... Why Poland?
As far as I know the Poles havent been a force (in any way, cultural, militairy, ect.) in, well, ever.
Well, whether they get included as a Civ in the game is one thing, but Poland was a great Medieval power. It was a fairly successful kingdom under its first dynasty from c. 963-1138 (winning several wars against Rus) and after an inter-regnum it re-constituted itself under an Anjou princess and a Lithuanian Grand Duke in 1386. This launched its greatest dynasty, the Jagiellonians, who established the common union with Lithuania that lasted until 1795. The united Poland-Lithuania defeated and conquered the Teutonic Knights (Grunwald/Tannenburg, 1410-1457) and made Prussia a Polish fief for two centuries, conquered vast Russian territories (making Smolensk and Kiev Polish cities), defeated the Swedish navy in the Baltic in the epic battle of Oliwa (1627), repeately defeated the Ottoman Empire and drove invading Ottoman armies out of its territory (Chocim, 1629) and Vienna & Hungary (1683-1699). Polish troops even intervened in the Russian civil wars and occupied Moscow in 1610-1613.
The Jagiellonian dynasty ruled a few times in Bohemia (having a vote in the Holy Roman Empire) and Hungary, leading an almost-successful anti-Turkish crusade that got as far as Varna (modern Bulgaria) in 1444. At one point the combined Polish-Lithuanian lands stretched from the Baltic to the Black seas. Polish hussars, with their winged armor, became famous throughout Europe. (Check out
this link here for some pics of Polish hussars' famous attire.)
Unfortunately what made Poland powerful in Medieval times did not transfer well into modern times and the empire became an increasing anachronism in the 17th and 18th centuries, until its very messy death in 1795. This is the Poland you are more familiar with, the prostrate occupied Poland. I might add that modern times have not been completely without some bright spots though; Poland defeated the Soviets in spectacular fashion in 1920 and managed fairly well in September 1939 despite amazing odds. Poland also contributed more than a million men to the Allied cause in WW II, the 4th largest contribution after the USSR, the US and Britain. Not bad, eh...?
As per the thread, I would include Hungary as it also played a critical role in Medieval European history.
