History is shaped by many things, political and religious leaders, diseases and technologies are just a few.

But perhaps a thing which has resulted in the most poignant inflection points in history have been the results of great battles. Battles where if things had

gone another way the entire world we live in would look totally different.

Learn more about the most important battles in world history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode I freely admit up front, is rather subjective.

What is, quote, important, unquote, is a matter of opinion, and someone else could come up with

a very different list that would be just as valid.

Moreover, because of time constraints, there were many important battles that I had to leave out.

I tried to focus on battles that I thought were civilizational battles, battles between

east and west, battles between major religious groups, or battles that were foundational for great

empires. As such, I've left off battles primarily between different European armies and

likewise I have enlisted battles between various Chinese factions who fought against or four particular dynasties.

So the Battle of Red Cliffs and the Battle of Yaman will not be on the list but will be addressed in future

episodes as will the Battle of Panapat which took place in India in 1526.

The following is a list of battles that I think a reasonably knowledgeable person should know.

You don't need to know the details of each battle, but basically who was fighting, who won,

when it roughly took place and why it was so important. So, with those caveats aside,

the first great battle on the list is the Battle of Marathon in

490 BC. With respect to the more famous Battle of Thermopyli, which was the

basis of the movie 300, the Battle of Marathon was arguably more important.

The battle saved the Greeks from being conquered by Darius the First, the leader of the Persian

Empire. It was fought primarily by Athenians on the Greek side and its resolution in favor of the Greek

set off a century of Persia wanting to conquer Greece. This battle is famous for the

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