The Battle of.....(Name Recognition)

[Smellincoffee]

Which battle in global, western, or your own country's history do you think have the most name recognition among the general public? Which battles do you think are confused with one another? I ask because I was wondering to myself, what battle in western history is the most well-known? By that I'm thinking more along the lines of set-piece battles that occurred relatively quickly, not so much extended altercations like "The Battle of the Atlantic" or "The Battle of Britain".

In American history, I would venture to say that "Washington Crossing the Delaware", Gettysburg, and "D-Day" are the most recognized battles, thought I doubt many know the proper name for the battle of Trenton. More likely, people are familiar with the famous painting.

If I were to hazard a guess about British battles among the American populace, it would be Waterloo, Trafalgar, and perhaps Hastings. It would be a distant third to the Napoleonic struggles, though.

If a professional historian created a list of the top fifty battles in western history, could you name them?

 

[Flying Pig]

Waterloo, almost certainly, though most of that is down to Abba. Bannockburn north of the border. Would Marathon be cheating?

 

[Kyriakos]

A number of battles, but i suspect mostly the following:

-Marathon

-Thermopylae

-(general) Peloponnesian war

(Salamis & Plataea a bit behind i suppose).

Otherwise -apart maybe from Gaugamela- not very much, so the rest are in the spoiler.

Spoiler :

Many in strategy game forums obviously would know of Matzikert or Kleidi (Basil II's crucial victory against Simeon's empire), or even Myriocephalon, but mostly the losing battles.

From the Macedonian dynasties (and related empires), mostly Gaugamela? The other two main battles of Alexander a lot less? The siege of some coastal towns there? Otherwise some campaign by Antiochos the Great (again only strategy enthusiasts). The naval-battle of Actium as well (Cleopatra&Anthony vs Octavian).
Post 1830 battles of the Greek kingdom are likely only known by people who are interested in such strategy-historic information. Of those i suspect the most known wars would be the Greek-Turkish 1919-1922 one, and the Greek-Italian 1940 one.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Armageddon

 

[Domen]

So the last Greek battle of any recognition was before 300 BC ???

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Battles in Polish history which have the most recognition among the general public are, I suppose, these ones:

- Grunwald 1410 (1410 is also Polish recipe for moonshine - 1 kg of sugar, 4 litres of water and 10 dag of yeast)
- Kircholm 1605
- Klushino 1610
- Jasna Góra 1656
- Vienna 1683
- Warsaw 1920
- Britain 1940
- Ghetto Uprising 1943
- Warsaw Uprising 1944
- Monte Cassino 1944

Maybe also Legnica 1241 and Płowce 1331 but hard to say.

Maybe also Cedynia in 972 and Głogów in 1109 but hard to say as well.

Anyway - for sure Grunwald 1410 is universally known (and not just among moonshiners).

 

[Kyriakos]

So the last Greek battle of any recognition was before 300 BC ???

Of any (very large*) layman recognition. Yes. After that we stopped focusing on war and cared more about which noble has more nomismata or fountain heads in his estate. Afaik the collected Byzantine gold at the time of Basil II was something like 20 times more than the (guessed estimate) of the gold Alexander gained by conquering the entire Persian Empire.

But the previous Roman Empire was equally callous, so it was more of the same. Just send more Housecarles to fight for us

*By contrast do you think there are many battles by Poland or PLC that many people know about without being specifically interested in history and war?

 

[Domen]

*By contrast do you think there are many battles by Poland or PLC that many people know about without being specifically interested in history and war?

I don't know. For sure no of Polish battles beats Thermopylae in popularity (due to recent promotion).

But for example Marathon can be matched - IMO - by Grunwald 1410 or Warsaw 1920 or 1943 Ghetto Uprising.

 

[Goodfella]

US-related: D-Day, Gettysburg, Yorktown

In general: Battle of Endor, Minas Tirith

 

[Kyriakos]

In general: Troy

 

[Domen]

US-related: D-Day, Gettysburg, Yorktown

In general: Battle of Endor, Minas Tirith

Last Samurai Final Battle surely beats Gettysburg.

It is US-related because the last Samurai was American.

In general: Troy

So semi-legendary battles also count? OK.

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Edit:

Afaik the collected Byzantine gold at the time of Basil II was something like 20 times more than the (guessed estimate) of the gold Alexander gained by conquering the entire Persian Empire.

So Bulgaria was apparently richer than the Persian Empire ???

Nice.

 

[Flying Pig]

But for example Marathon can be matched - IMO - by Grunwald 1410 or Warsaw 1920 or 1943 Ghetto Uprising.

I think only the actual invasion of Poland would count as generally known, and that only because of the incorrect belief about lancers charging tanks.

 

[cybrxkhan]

For American battles I'd say probably D-Day, even more so than civil war or revolutionary war battles, since there's still people alive that remember it.

As for Vietnamese battles, I'd wager... I'd guess Dien Bien Phu for the VIetnamese in Vietnam. Not sure about overseas Vietnamese. Maybe one of the gazillions of battles we've had with the Chinese.

 

[Domen]

I think only the actual invasion of Poland would count as generally known

I did not even count the invasion of Poland as "battle". That was a campaign / war / invasion, not a battle.

And while the fact of the invasion itself is commonly known, most people would not be able to mention even a single battle of that invasion.

 

[Goodfella]

I think most adult Americans would be able to name Iwo Jima as well.

 

[Domen]

Simply look at the list of Hollywood war movies, and you will have your answer.

Battle of the Bulge is commonly recognized.

Stalingrad is probably the most recognized battle of all history (or at least in top 10).

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Cannae goes without saying.

 

[trader/warrior]

The Battle of Stiklestad is by far the most known in Norway, I would think. Stamford bridge is also well known. Other than those, probably just D-day, Stalingrad etc.

Edit: Additionaly, I suppose ww2 Narvik might be the most well known battle internationally that took place in Norway. Also, I heard in a documentary about Vikings with that long-haired scottish guy that the raiders of Lindisfarne probably came from the west coast of Norway, so that might sort of count. And the Battle of Hafrsfjord might be quite known domestically as well.

 

[Joecoolyo]

I would think Lexington and Concord would be up there as well for Americans, with the "shot heard round the world" thing.

 

[nc-1701]

Hmmm I'de put the American top list something like this:

1) Gettysburg
2) D-Day
3) Pearl Harbor
Top 3 are easy then it gets a lot harder... So without a specific order:
Battle of Antietm
Washington Crossing the Deleware
Battle of New Orleans
Battle of Manassas (maybe?)
Iwa Jima
Fallujah
Battle of the Bulge

 

[red_elk]

Stalingrad, I guess.

 

[Perfection]

Battle of Yavin