The Battle of Chalons in 451 AD was a famous battle between the Western Roman Empire and the Hungarian Empire in the Champagne-Chalon Plain of Gaul. It ended with the victory of the Western Roman Army. The famous British historian Edward Gibbon called this battle "the last victory of the Western Roman Empire", and traditional historical viewpoints also believe that this battle determined the fate of Europe. However, is this battle really so important?
After decades of barbarian invasion, the Roman Empire has been in a precarious state. The Eastern Roman emperor is hiding behind the tall and strong walls of Constantinople, while the Western Roman emperor is watching in the palace in Ravenna. The imperial territory gradually fell under the ravages of the barbarians. When the Roman Empire was split into two parts in 395 AD, the Western Roman Empire still possessed vast territories of Britain, Gaul, Spain, North Africa, and mainland Italy. Before the Battle of Chalon, only southern Gaul and mainland Italy remained. Still under the actual control of the Western Roman Empire.
Unlike the gradual decline of the Roman Empire, the "Hungarian Empire" is flourishing under the rule of the leader Attila. Attila used brutal and terrifying means to deter countless kingdoms and tribes, large and small and controlled the vast land from the Rhine in the west to the steppes of Central Asia in the east. Europeans called it "God's Whip".
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The Hungarian Empire occupied a vast territory |
In 450 AD, Attila, who had been burning, killing, and looting in Eastern Rome, suddenly turned his attention to Western Rome, and his reason turned out to be to marry the imprisoned Western Roman princess Honoria and to collect his due dowry. It turns out that in order to escape the unsatisfactory marriage, Honoria, the sister of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III, sent a confidant eunuch to Attila with a letter and a ring, promising that if Attila marries her, she will get Western Half of the Roman territory was used as a dowry.
Attila, in the Hungarian steppe region in the middle reaches of the Danube, is the easiest route to attack Western Rome by crossing the Danube and attacking the mainland of Italy. Ask for help. So Attila decided to lead his army across the Rhine to invade Gaul.
Attila led the army to invade Gaul
During this period, the northern part of Gaul was occupied by the Franks, the middle part was the Burgundian, the Visigoths established the Visigoth kingdom in the southwest, and the Alain, Salmatia, Alemanni, and other tribes were scattered in Gaolu. In all areas of Lu, only the south was still under the control of Western Rome and was stationed there under the leadership of General Marshal Aetius. There were as many as 50,000 troops that entered Gaul under Attila, but most of them were tribal servants who surrendered to the Huns. The actual number of Huns is unknown.
After entering Gaul, the Hungarian army split into three routes to Orleans, which is located in the center of Gaul. Attila personally led the main force along the Roman Avenue through the important towns of Mainz, Trier, Metz, and Paris, and came under the city of Orleans in less than two months. The Second Route Army went straight into Orleans along the southern avenue. The Third Route Army rounded south to near Lyon and then went north to outflank Orleans. The three-way army burned, killed, and looted along the way, and the land passed by was devastated all the way. Only the Franks in northern Gaul survived because of their refuge in the Huns.
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Attila's route |
Aetius decided to unite the various tribes of Gaul to resist the Huns' invasion. He wrote to the Visigoth king Theodoric and received a positive reply, and other Germanic barbarians also decided to join the war. After the anti-Hungarian alliance assembled 50,000 troops in Arles, under the leadership of Aetius, it went north to rescue Orleans besieged by the Huns. The terrain of Orleans is dangerous, the city walls are tall and strong, easy to defend, and difficult to attack. Attila learned that Aetius was approaching after a long period of attack, and decided to lift the siege and retreat to the east of the Rhine.
Attila retreated along the way but was overtaken by Aetius near Reims. Attila turned around and set up the battlefield on the Champagne-Chalon Plain, trying to exert the invincible combat power of the Huns in the world. He divided the army into a straight line on the left, center, and right. The left-wing was the East Gothic army, and the right wing was the other servant tribal army. He led the Hungarian cavalry to sit in the middle of the town. In order to reduce the impact of the Hungarian cavalry, Aetius also laid down a bow-shaped formation between the hills and the river opposite Attila in the left, center, and right. The Visigoths and other coalition forces were placed on the right-wing and the Chinese army, respectively. He led the left wing at the foot of the mountain.
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Etius |
Both sides spent too much time on the formation, and the battle did not finally start until 3 pm. The tactics of Aetius and Attila did not work from the beginning, and the battle quickly turned into a melee and hand-to-hand combat. In the face of the Ostgoths who are of the same origin but are feuds, the Visigoths exploded with amazing fighting power and quickly defeated the left-wing composed of the Ostrogoth army, but their kingdom Theodoric also died on the battlefield. . The left-wing commanded by Aetius relied on the hills to wipe out the right-wing of the Hungarian army. However, the Hungarian cavalry commanded by Attila was very powerful and brought huge losses to the coalition forces.
The battle continued until the sun went down, Attila's tactical intention to split the coalition forces failed, and the Hungarian army was completely suppressed by the coalition forces and had to withdraw from the battlefield. When Attila returned to the camp, she was very depressed and even wanted to set herself on fire. After winning, Aetius did not pursue the victory, and he persuaded the Visigoth prince to dispel the idea of revenge for his father. Attila led the remnant back safely to the east of the Rhine. This war, which is considered to determine the destiny of Europe, ended in such a sort of anticlimactic way.
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Coalition forces against the Huns |
Regarding the reason why Attila was released by Attila, some people believed that he was to prevent the Visigoths from being unchecked in Gaul. Others believed that Attila, who grew up in the Hun tribe, could not let go with the Huns. Friendship. In any case, this secret was concealed in the fog of history along with Aetius, who was killed by Emperor Valentinian III three years later.
Attila, who had escaped his life, did not stop there. In the second year, Attila led an army into Italy again. The reason was still to ask West Rome to fulfill his marriage contract with Princess Honoria. After half a year of frantic ravages in Northern Italy, Attila returned to the opposite bank of the Danube with a large amount of money and a full load of trophies paid by Western Rome. A year later, Attila died of vomiting blood in the bridal chamber with his newlyweds. With his death, the Hungarian Empire disappeared.
Regarding the significance of the Battle of Sharon, traditional Western historians believed that it was a victory to save European civilization, and Etius was also promoted to the altar of the "last Roman". In their view, if the primitive and brutal Huns won the Battle of Sharon and then conquered Rome, Europe would become an uncivilized desert. However, this is a typical "Eurocentrism" mode of thinking. If you analyze the details of this war, you can conclude that even if Attila wins, it will not have much impact on European history.
The so-called "Hungarian Empire" is just a way of expression, not a real empire. This "empire" is a loose tribal alliance centered on the Huns. The vast land that it controls from the Rhine in the west to the steppes of Central Asia in the east does not have effective administrative management. The tribes only pay tribute to the Huns at ordinary times. The obligation to send troops in wartime, the internal affairs of the territory is still managed by the tribe itself. Therefore, after Attila's death, the "Hungarian Empire" quickly dissipated automatically. Based on this point of view, Attila could not have the ambition and ability to establish an advanced form of power similar to the Roman Empire.
Although the "Hungarian Empire" is only a tribal alliance, Attila, as its supreme leader, still has the ability to mobilize all the war forces on the "Empire" land. If this is the case, the army that Attila can mobilize will reach a terrifying Number. But Attila did not do this when he invaded Gaul, he just led his own tribe and his servant army to cross the Rhine with 50,000 people. Although the number of Attila’s troops is unknown, the Hungarian steppe where he is stationed is limited in supply. I believe there will be no more than 15,000 Hungarian soldiers in his army. At this point, it is obviously not enough for the army to conquer Gaul and even Western Rome and establish political power.
Western historians are very puzzled by Attila’s act of abandoning the attack on Orleans and withdrawing to the east bank of the Rhine after learning that Attila had formed a coalition to attack him, and did not understand the true purpose of Attila’s invasion of Gaul. . But people who are familiar with ancient Chinese history will find this place very familiar. Isn't this the way the nomads in ancient China battled against the Central Plains dynasty? The nomads divided their troops into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty to burn, kill, and looting. After the Central Plains Dynasty organized a superior force, they fled with the spoils.
This shows that the true purpose of Attila's invasion of Gaul was to "make good money" in Gaul. Even if he claimed to obtain half the territory of Western Rome as a dowry, it was just a means of "extraordinarily asking prices." Two years later, Attila invaded Italy still using this slogan. In Italy, where there is no resistance, even Attila himself was not interested in fulfilling this slogan. Instead, he returned to the north bank of the Danube contentedly after plundering a large amount of loot and receiving compensation from West Rome.
Based on the above analysis, we can imagine that after Attila's victory in the Battle of Sharon, he would looting in Gaul and return to the station after obtaining the surrender of the local tribes. The situation in Gaul is no different from before the war. After Attila's death, the "Hungarian Empire" will disappear in smoke, and Europe will continue to follow its original historical trajectory. Therefore, the view that the Battle of Sharon determines the fate of Europe is untenable.
