Possibly Normandy, or Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be the most influencial battle.

From my British perspective I'd definitely say the Battle of Britain and D-Day were candidates for the key battles in history.

Personally, though, I agree the key war was the American Revolution, but if we have to narrow it down to a particular battle I'd say George Washington at Trenton.

After a series of rebel defeats, starting in Long Island in August 1776, leading to the evacuation of New York, it was really the crossing of the Delaware and the defeat of the Hessians at Trenton the day after Christmas which turned the tide of the war.

After the Revolutionary War ended, the Second British Empire came into being, with India, Australia and New Zealand, and the world's oceans coming under British control. The military empire which the Americans fought against became more concerned with individual rights, to the degree that it abolished the slave trade in 1807 and Mary Wollstonecraft was able to write the Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Unfortunately it still did its fair share of impoverishing the native peoples, but there we are.

Meanwhile, the French revolution which came about in 1789 was surely inspired by the American events, and with that came the rise of Napoleon and the French domination of continental Europe for most of the 19th century.

So, a critical battle. And one which would have turned the other way had Colonel Rall of the Hessians prepared field positions, or read the note which a spy sent on Christmas Day warning of the attack. As it was, the note remained unread, the Hessians were shot down in the streets of Trenton, and the world changed.

And as for the rebels? Well, they seem to have done well for themselves, even if they do have a cute accent

Battle for Germany. The road to Berlin..................

Milvian Bridge, 312 AD, The Army of Constantine defeats the Army of Maxentius even though heavilly outnumbered, and establishes christianity as the West's leading ideology.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Another equally decisive event although not a battle as such, was the accidental death of Ghengis Khan in 1227AD, just when the Mongols, having utterly destroyed a combined force of 40000 Knights and other soldiers drawn from several European nations in Poland, were on the verge of the total conquest of Europe. Upon his death, the Mongol armies simply returned home with his body leaving Europe defenceless and on its knees before them, ready to be put to the sword.

You mean Ogedai Khan, son of Ghengis Khan. Ghengis Khan was dead well before the Battle of Liegnitz where the Mongols wiped out that force, etc. Sad thing is, numerous 'credible' sources screw that one up too. It was Ghengis Khan who sent Subedai on the Great Raid, which to my thinking implies that he ultimately planned to conquer Russia eventually.

What I'd really like to find out is this: Why is it that Mongolian History always gets mistold/mixed up/distorted or flatly blown completely out of proportion??

Well anyways, the most important battles ... all of those claimed are really good. I'd say its Milvan Bridge vs Thermopolae depending on whether you think Christianity or Greek Culture is the more important aspect of Western Culture. I think Greek Culture has made a greater impact overall so Thermopolae would be my choice.

Originally Posted by godofthunder9010

You mean Ogedai Khan, son of Ghengis Khan. Ghengis Khan was dead well before the Battle of Liegnitz where the Mongols wiped out that force, etc. Sad thing is, numerous 'credible' sources screw that one up too. It was Ghengis Khan who sent Subedai on the Great Raid, which to my thinking implies that he ultimately planned to conquer Russia eventually.

What I'd really like to find out is this: Why is it that Mongolian History always gets mistold/mixed up/distorted or flatly blown completely out of proportion??

Well anyways, the most important battles ... all of those claimed are really good. I'd say its Milvan Bridge vs Thermopolae depending on whether you think Christianity or Greek Culture is the more important aspect of Western Culture. I think Greek Culture has made a greater impact overall so Thermopolae would be my choice.

Yeah you're right. It wasn't Ghengis Khan but you'll be amazed at the number of sources who state that it was.

Yeah, the tricky thing is to find an "expert source" that isn't flawed. I know it's stupid that way.

The Battle of Britain was the most important battle of all time for reasons discussed previously

but

A battle that changed history was the Revolutionary War. We would have lost to the British. But we held strong. We would probably be drinking tea and working for a world that is in chaos.

A world in chaos? Why? As part of the Empire, now Commonwealth, the world would be a bit more stable or at least no different from now

What I meant was we would not be the great country we are if britian took over. We would all have an accent probably. and the greatest things in the united states probably wouldn't have happened

But you do have an accent! If Britain had retained America, the chances are you WOULDN’T have an accent

She would have remained a British controlled colony, and as far as we know, not a free democratic republic.

No, you would have been a free, democratic country with a Parliament and a Monarch and slavery would have been abolished a lot earlier

Originally Posted by IrishWizard

Hmm Im not sure. So many battles have been significant in history. But if you'd have to choose the greatest you would have to talk about ancient so I would probably say Battle of Marathon where 4,000 Spartans fought 24,000 Persians till there was no more Spartans left. They fought so the Athenians could retreat from the island. All the Spartans died but they killed 17,000 Persians. If that didn't happen then the greek culture which influenced basically all of the world, would of been different.

That wasn't Marathon that was Thermopoly. Marathon was fought without Sparta becuase of a religious holiday.