War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding right down to the present.

Wars made the United States independent, kept it together, increased its size, and established it as a global superpower.

Hi, I'm James Early, host of the Key Battles of American History Podcast.

In each episode, I discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's Wars.

To start listening now, go to pathanonpodcast.com or search Key Battles of American History on your favorite podcast platform.

The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, from their deep origins to our present epoch.

Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling, wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders, environment, and geography.

I invite you to come along for the ride.

Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast.

The unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes, myth busts historical lies, and rediscoveres the forgotten stories that changed our world.

I'm your host, Scott Rank.

Some of the most ancient documents we have, whether a Kenia form or stone inscriptions, has to do generally with one of two topics.

The first is tax records, so the government can see where money is coming and going, and the second has to do with military peace treaties.

That's because some historians, like John Keegan, argue that the written history of the world is largely a history of warfare.

Well, that's not a popular view today, because a lot of historians look at history from the social or cultural level and look how distinct groups of people interact with one another, whether trade guilds, peasants.

Maybe marginalize members of society.

But the truth is, the military really does have a huge impact on history.

One example is how modern-day borders are drawn up, and a lot of them have to do with where battles happened, and which side won.

Well, to get into this concept a little bit more, I am joined by Carl Reilett, host of the History of Europe Key Battles Podcast.

His podcast does exactly what it claims to do, looks at how the formation of Europe happened, through its military clashes, and key battles.

Today, we're specifically going to look at the siege of Kazan, between the emerging Russian Empire, in the 1550s, and the Kha'ne of Kazan, which was a daughter state of Ganges Khan's great horde.

In the aftermath of Russia's success, Russia was able to conquer the Volga River Basin, go to the Caspian Sea, eventually push all the way through Siberian to the Pacific, and become a great power.

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