5 Greatest Comebacks In History

some causes in history have seemed so utterly hopeless and forlorn that defeat and despair were all but inevitable however despite facing such depressingly impossible odds every so often calamity has not only been averted but completely reversed as what should have been a certain defeat is transformed into total victory pushed to their limits some people have managed to bounce back from the darkest depths of misfortune the sheer dedication tenacity and belief in the calls resulting in a dramatic reversal of fortunes that shows no matter how dark things get you should never give up here are my choices for five of the greatest comebacks in history some men have power and greatness reluctantly thrust upon them by the chaotic whims of fate their destiny forever altered by the harsh times and impossible circumstances they were born into yet few men in history have been unfortunate enough to experience the kind of trials and tribulations faced by the legendary English king alfred the great a man who would be forced to spend his life constantly fighting for survival in a never-ending series of battles against one of human history's most formidable foes all while stricken by a debilitating mystery illness besieged and overrun by a relentless and seemingly unstoppable tide of Viking invaders against whom he now stood alone he would suffer the humiliation of being driven out of his own capital forced to flee for his life into what was little more than a barren marshland his own support base all but gone his remaining allies few and far between yet despite enduring a devastating series of defeats and setbacks that would have crushed the confidence and determination of most men the Fallen King would persevere and stay true to his calls carrying out one of the most dramatic reversals of fortune ever recorded as he emerged from the wilderness to drive back his relentless foe retake his kingdom and laid the groundwork for the unification of a nation that would go on to shape the modern world his actions in the face of such daunting adversity preventing the fragile dream of a united England from being ruthlessly snuffed out before it had the chance to take shape born at some time in the mid 9th century as a young man Alfred never seemed likely to go down in history as a near mythical warrior king the sickly boy sharing more interest in books than war his physical stature more that of a scholar than a warrior with four older brothers in line for the throne ahead of him his odds of ever obtaining the crown were remote yet despite possessing little desire for power and with his succession so unlikely fate had ordained that Alfred would be king in doing so bestowing upon him a catastrophic and hopeless situation the saw his newly inherited Kingdom on the verge of annihilation Viking raiders from across the North Sea had long plundered settlements along the English coastline the fierce warriors conducting the lightning strikes against softly defended targets before returning to their long ships loaded with the spoils of the murderous efforts have after the arrival of a massive invasion force that became known as the great heathen army signalled a cataclysmic change in strategy no longer were these Norseman from across the North Sea simply contend with the occasional seizure of treasures they now desired the outright conquest of land enormous feats arrived feared not just with soldiers but with entire families keen to settle permanently and take advantage of England's abundant fertile soil three of the four kingdoms which made up anglo-saxon England quickly fell to the unstoppable heathen tide in an invasion so traumatic that the English believed this onslaught of outsiders to be nothing less than a divine punishment as England burned it must have seemed as though the apocalypse had arrived and with the Vikings now putting down permanent roots and establishing their own Kingdom the time of anglo-saxon England appear to have come to an end the kingdom of Wessex now stood alone against the Viking onslaught yet despite being the wealthiest strongest and most fertile of the English kingdoms the sheer power of the enemy forces arrayed against her made long-term survival lately when King Ethelred of Wessex fell in battle the mantle of leadership fell upon the 22 year old Alfred's shoulders the new monarch ascending to the throne at possibly the worst time in English history to be king with his four elder brothers before him lasting barely a decade in total Alfred could have been forgiven for feeling despondent about his chances taking over the reins of power in a year that would see nine major battles between the Saxons and the Vikings Wessex was lucky to survive the year's end however Alfred would be granted no respite as his kingdom sunk into a state of perpetual crisis and peril near-continuous conflict with the Viking invaders had brought Wessex to the brink of destruction and following a decisive defeat at the Battle of Wilton King Alfred was left with no other option but to buy peace using the already dwindling contents of his royal treasury yet it would have been clear to all that simply paying the Vikings to leave every time they invaded was an unsustainable strategy Alfred's limited supplies of gold and silver would buy five years of peace during which time preparations were made for the next inevitable war while the Vikings used the ceasefire to tighten their grip on the rest of England in January 878 the Vikings made a sudden and surprise attack on the Saxon royal stronghold at Chippenham the speed at which their overwhelming force was deployed completely catching Alfred off guard his preparations for such an eventuality still incomplete in the ensuing slaughter the men of Wessex were utterly crushed with King Alfred himself coming within a hair's breadth of being captured by the marauding Vikings the fault of the humiliating fate he would have likely faced no doubt sending a chill down his spine as the last holdouts were put to the sword Alfred his family and a handful of royal bodyguards and noblemen managed to escape the burning city the Viking pursuers chasing them into the region's remote marshland like a common band of petty thieves in just a single night Alfred had lost his army his kingdom and with it his legitimacy could such a man dare to call himself King while his lands were occupied his forces scatter to the wind with the last Saxon King driven into exile in his own lands it seemed as though the Viking conquest of England was complete and although the Royal Prize of Alfred had eluded his Norse pursuers the victors were content to let him rot in his swampy quagmire after all what threat could such a broken king of nothing pose they held all of England and the riches it contained while Alfred's mica army of starving outlaws controlled a small strip of worthless marsh safe in the knowledge that England was theirs the victorious Vikings began strengthening their hold on the country confident that should Alfred dare to emerge his tiny force would pose no threat to the hearts of seasoned warriors to illustrate just how far Alfred had fallen a famous legend tells of the forlorn King being scolded by an old peasant woman for allowing some cakes that she was baking to burn the King so lost in his troubles that he had failed to keep an eye on the simple task she had entrusted him with few kings could ever hope to recover from such a disastrous series of setbacks however alfred was about to show that he was no ordinary man rather than surrendering to hopelessness and inaction he organized his few remaining men to construct a fort from which they could launch hit-and-run raids against the hated foe the guerrilla war they unleashed providing much-needed provisions while at the same time keeping the flame of resistance burning as long as Alfred was seen to still be in the fight the idea of a Saxon England was kept alive in the hearts and minds of the ordinary people Wessex was down but not out safely hidden deep within the marshes Alfred's fortified position was all but impossible to find without detail or local knowledge of the traversable pathways that snaked through the otherwise impenetrable swamps his new humble lodgings the perfect spot from which to launch a campaign of resistance as word spread that Alfred was still alive and fighting on the local Wessex militias rallied behind the king of a gathering from all corners of the kingdom at an agreed mustering point Alfred no doubt relieved to see such a fighting force of men assembled under his command after so long in the wilderness and is a testament to his charisma and leadership that he was able to retain such fierce loyalty during these trying times all while plagued by an illness that is said to have left him in a near constant state of excruciating pain with his full strength marshal King Alfred led his men in an all-out offensive to retake Wessex from the invaders attacking the enemy host at the Battle of Eddington in May 878 the day ending with a decisive victory for the men of Wessex bloodied and beaten the Viking remnants fled to the nearby stronger ordered Chippenham however Alfred pursued them relentlessly determined to destroy those who had driven him to such depths after enduring a two-week siege the starving pagans sued for peace and eventually agreed to surrender without a fight the leader forced to convert to Christianity as part of the Armistice before returning to his base in East Anglia Wessex was saved however Alfred's battles were far from over Viking incursions would continue unabated as a never-ending stream of ambitious warlords landed on English soil to take the place of the vanquished the North's threat remaining ever-present and forcing Alfred to spend his final years of life at near constant war as he held off wave after wave of new contenders yet Alfred and the Saxons were learning from their bitter experiences with the Northman the life-or-death struggle they fought against the invaders forcing them to evolve their tactics and strategies subsequently growing in strength until they were able to hold off and even push back against the Viking menace the kingdoms defenses were drastically overhauls and reinforced while the army was reorganized to allow for forces to be kept in the field far longer creating something along the lines of a rapid reaction force that could more effectively deal with the highly mobile nature of Viking raiding parties all would forts were rebuilt and related settlements occupying strategic sites were heavily fortified so that no part of Wessex was more than 20 miles from the sanctuary of one of these safe zones the troops garrisoned within able to be speedily deployed along specially built roads to engage any hostile presence attempting to wreak havoc together with an expanded Navy Alfred had created a fortress Wessex which the Vikings struggled to penetrate the days of easy English loot now a thing of the past although Alfred himself were to never live to witness his dream of a united England fulfilled the stunning reversal of fortunes he had overseen since those dark days in the marsh paved the way for his grandson Athelstan to become the first King of England Alfred's memory forever living on in legend as the man who turned back the Viking tide and paved the way for the formation of a country that would have a permanent impact on the history of the entire world the beginning of the 17th century almost saw Russia cease to exist as a nation-state devastated by a series of foreign invasions ruinous civil wars and mass famine instead of uniting against a common foe rival factions from within the nobility competed against each other for supremacy even consorting with foreign enemies against the fellow countrymen in their all-consuming quest for power the subsequent violence and destruction wrought upon the land so apocalyptic that the 15 year long blood drenched period of Anarchy was even given his own name the word smooter which loosely translates as the Time of Troubles with much of the country overrun by the Polish army the capital city of Moscow in enemy hands and with no rulings are to coordinate any kind of resistance or fight back for three long years it must have seemed as though the idea of an independent Russia surviving this turbulent era was all but fantasy however despite experiencing the kind of devastation havoc and upheaval that should have destroyed the country the Russian people managed to do what the ruling elites could not putting aside the petty to as individuals from all walks of life united against the common enemy undertaking an unlikely comeback as they drove out the invaders recaptured Moscow and put an end to foreign interventions in Russia saving Russia from a seemingly inevitable demise and paving the way for a new superpower to emerge with far-reaching consequences the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1584 unleashed one of Russia's darkest chapters a nation that has seen more than its fair share of historical calamities the deceased Ivan only had one living the son a man who despite rising to become Tsar Feodor proved incapable of performing his duties as leader due to a severe mental disability Theodore was simply unable to restore order to a country that was increasingly becoming gripped by chaos and in an attempt to stave off total disaster he deferred most royal duties to his most trusted advisor a minor nobleman named Boris Godunov Godin off was a competent and intelligent man and quickly became the most powerful man in Russia however just as some sense of normalcy was beginning to emerge tsar feodor died childless in 1598 is passing signaling the extinction of the Rorick dynasty a line that had controlled russia for over seven centuries whenever a dynasty ends more often than not chaos and instability follow as ambitious men fight to fill the power vacuum left behind sensing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to increase their own wealth and power and perhaps even found their own dynasty tsar feodor death would prove no different as a prolonged dispute over the russian throne and broke out with various internal factions competing for power while neighboring rivals watched on with hungry eyes as control over an entire kingdom appear to be up for grabs amidst the chaos Theodore's former advisor boris godunov barely managed to secure the backing required to be elected as the new Tsar however his ascent to the throne would not be enough to steer Russia acta stability despite being an effective leader his relatively humble origins did not sit well with the influential nobility and his short reign would be marred by a crippling lack of legitimacy as many simply refused to recognize his right to rule while vicious rumors circulated about his supposed involvement in the murder of Dmitry Ivanovich Tsar Ivan the Terrible czar the son who had died mysteriously in 1591 while still a child Tsar Godin auvs precarious position was compounded by a terrible famine that ravaged the Russian people between 1601 and 1603 leaving around 2 million people dead which amounted to about one third of the entire population superstition led to many in the peasant class believing that such a calamitous event or some kind of divine punishment in retribution for Godin AUVs illegitimate seizure of power the unfortunates are blamed for the terrible suffering they were experiencing as crime rebellion and corruption blighted the land yet just when it appeared things could not get any worse for the new Tsar they did as the first in a series of pretenders to the throne arose claiming to be none other than Dmitry Ivanovich the very deceased son of Ivan the Terrible who can goad enough was suspected by many of killing if this mysterious pretenders claim was true it would make him the true and legitimate heir to the throne eventually known by history as the first of the false Dimitri's this new claimant quickly attracted potent support from disaffected Russian Nobles but also more significantly from the neighboring polish led Commonwealth were powerful men saw him as a convenient tool that could be used to extend their own influence within Russia in what was a largely Polish sponsored coup around 4,000 troops comprised of a mixture of Russian excells rebellious Cossacks and Commonwealth volunteers crossed the border and began what is known as the Dmitry had Wars the Polish King refusing to officially sanctioned the invasion to avoid an all-out war quickly driving east at the head of this international are the first false dmitri entered Moscow in June 1605 and was proclaimed saw the now deposed czar Goten of dying suddenly before he had a chance to strike back at the usurper yet force Dmitri one would soon join him in the afterlife barely holding the throne for a year before being killed by a Russian prince named Vasily show us key this new contender leading a successful up rising against the false polish backs are in 1606 now in control of Moscow chamise key ceased power for himself becoming the fourth Tsar in a space of just eight years at a time when stability and strong leadership were desperately needed yet despite being the last man left standing Russia's time of troubles was far from over sasha whiskey was deeply unpopular in Russia and before he had time to settle into his new position a second Force Dmitri appeared like his predecessor enjoying the formidable backing of the polish-lithuanian Commonwealth yet another civil war broke out and with the support of huge numbers of small landowners and peasants forced Dmitri to inflicted a devastating defeat upon Sasha whisky establishing a second rival Russian government in the north of the country with his tentative grasp on power in perilous danger sorry ski did the unthinkable and sought assistance from Sweden one of Russia's main historical rivals yet this act would escalate the already tense situation turning the soft polish sponsored coup into an all-out invasion backed by the full force of the Commonwealth seeing this formation of a Russian Swedish alliance as an existential threat the polish king formally declared war on Russia soon after inflicting a decisive defeat upon the combined Swedish and Russian forces with his army destroyed shuisky was forced to abdicate the throne however before force Dmitri too could be crowned yet another candidate emerged this time in the form of the polish king's son after all with your armies victorious why crown a man who might be difficult to control and act against your interests when your in flesh and blood could just as easily rain in your name now uh Turley crushed the Russian nobility was forced to accept the Polish Prince vladislav as Tsar elect and the Commonwealth garrison entered Moscow and occupied the Kremlin as preparations began for the princes coronation defeated on the battlefield the capital city occupied by a hostile foreign power and with millions dead from famine and war Russia was truly on its knees the neverending civil uprisings usurpers and droll imposters unleashing a state of anarchy that saw bands of armed brigands acting with impunity while the country's many borders were under constant assault from hostile Raiders and territory hungry rivals attracted by the smell of blood and weakness the entire country was on the verge of collapse and extinction or at least utter subjugation by Poland yet luckily for the Russian people the enemy was about to make a fatal mistake in exchange for control over all of Russia all the Polish Prince had to do was hand over occupied Russian territory and convert to the Orthodox faith a small price to pay for such a mighty wind for yet on the cusp of creating a personal union between Poland Lithuania and Russia an Eastern superpower that could have utterly transformed the course of history King Sigismund changed his mind at the last minute reneging on the deal and instead deciding to take the throne for himself determined to bring the Russian people over to the Catholic faith in the process instead of having the entire country peacefully handed over to his son the Polish King would now have to conquer Russia's vast landmass by force a task that would be long bloody and expensive at the best of times but would now be made impossible as all of Russia United in opposition against the hostile invaders attempting to rob them of the land and their faith for the first time in decades all classes and strata of Russian society put aside their differences and United behind a common goal the resistance movement born out of the polish kings actions rallying together under the leadership of a prince and a meat trader two men who previously would have likely had nothing to do with each other but due to the extraordinary circumstances Russia was in came together to lead an army of landowners Cossacks peasants and merchants to successfully push back the invaders recapturing Moscow and allowing for the election of Michael Romanov as our a man who would create a new dynasty that would rule Russia for over three centuries until the February Revolution in 1917 years of warfare and struggle would follow however the die was now cast Poland would eventually be he driven out and although the resulting peace treaty forced Russia to cede territory to the Commonwealth the Russian state had survived a series of events that could have easily crushed another nation the new era that began laying the foundations for the emergence of the powerful and history altering Russian Empire what began as a simple conflict between neighboring rivals quickly escalated into a global war that spanned five continents the complex web of alliances entangling Europe triggering what could be described as the first true old war as Prussia stood all but alone against the combined might of France Austria Russia Saxony Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire a nightmarish alliance of the greatest powers on earth who would put aside their differences to achieve one shared objective to utterly smash the rising power of pressure and cough up her lands until what remained was little more than a minor city-state with such a formidable force arrayed against them the Prussians soon found themselves beaten back and surrounded on all sides the once proud and intimidating army reduced to less than 60,000 men the lucrative financial backing of their only major ally withdrawn and the enemy at the gates of Berlin itself the future of Prussia looked bleak as her king prepared for the inevitable humiliation to follow however just as total defeat to ruin and partition was upon them the Prussians were saved by one of the most incredible pieces of luck ever to end a major conflict as fortunes smile upon her people as what became known as the miracle of the house of Brandenburg averted catastrophe and completely altered the conflicts outcome the death of the Russian Empress Elizabeth shattering the enemy alliance and forcing a peace treaty that cemented Prussia's position as a great power and had massive far-reaching consequences for wild history the first half of the 17th century was a period of enormous chaos and bloodshed for Europe yet for those leaders capable of shrewd maneuvering combined with a healthy dose of good fortune it was also a period of great opportunity the destructive 30 Years War had left the continent a ruined wasteland but had also shattered the strength of many of the traditional great powers paving the way for ambitious and strategically placed smaller kingdoms and States to emerge from the conflict with dramatically increased influence and strength Prussia was one such Kingdom the 17th and early 18th centuries seeing her star firmly on the rise thanks to astute leadership and the fearsome fighting ability of the Prussian army a body of men chiseled into an intimidating fighting force by incredibly strict drilling and training that produced broken but fearless soldiers who were capable of winning unbelievable victories on the battlefield against often overwhelming odds these seemingly unstoppable disciplined killing machines striking fear into the hearts of neighboring rivals by the time Frederick the Great ascended to the throne in 1740 the King of Prussia still technically owed his allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna but it was becoming increasingly apparent that such an arrangement held no future the rivalry between the Austrian and Prussian rulers growing more intense with each passing year until it proved simply impossible for the two to peacefully coexist the Holy Roman Empire was only big enough for one great power and it was only a matter of time until an all-out war between the two strongest kingdoms in the Empire began for the mastery of all of Germany the two sides faced off during the War of the Austrian succession in 1748 the peace treaty that ended the conflict ranting the province of silesia to the Prussian King how of the loss of such a lucrative territory proved to be a humiliating blow for the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa a slight that she would never forget Silesia was no ordinary province containing immense agricultural wealth coupled with an unusually large German population control over such land would allow its owner enhanced influence potentially tipping the balance of power within the frustratingly complex Holy Roman Empire in the ruling Kings favour allowing him to dominate German politics and potentially rise to become the Emperor himself this peace treaty was widely viewed as a mere temporary armistice the already deep hostility between Austria and Prussia heightened by this unfinished business and the fact that King Frederick and Empress Maria Theresa shared a mutual personal loathing of one another keen to recover the lost land and prevent Prussia's runaway ascent Empress Maria Theresa focused all of her efforts on preparing for the coming inevitable conflict reforming Austria's government and army while at the same time engineering a remarkable diplomatic realignment for centuries European diplomacy revolved around an almost permanent rivalry between the Austrian House of Habsburg and the kingdom of France both sides working tirelessly to keep the other in check however in 1756 a defensive alliance was formed between the two kingdoms in a dramatic political shift that became known as the diplomatic revolution such an alliance would have previously been thought unthinkable however motivated by their mutual concern of the rapid growth of Prussian power the historical rivals put aside their differences and formed an alliance so terrifying in its power that none should have been able to stand against it to make matters even worse for the Prussians Russia decided to join this new enemy coalition Empress Elisabeth offering to dispatch 80,000 Russian troops to partake in the planned attack on Prussia perhaps foreseeing the potential this rising German Kingdom held and therefore wishing to smother this dangerous rival in its crib before it grew strong to stop a prudent course of action for those of us in possession of hindsight when you consider the destructive conflicts that the formation of a united Germany unleashed upon Europe and the world the one minor ray of light in this diplomatic shift was that Prussia was not entirely isolated another intense rivalry existed that threatened to plunge the continent into war at any moment the growing colonial empires of France and Britain bringing the two enemies into frequent bouts of conflict wishing to secure his ancestral homeland in Hanover and ever keen for ways to counter French influence King George ii of Great Britain saw Prussia as a natural ally in the future war that was brewing however this addition of the British Empire to the tangled web of alliances snaking their way through Europe were taken otherwise regional conflict global its battles fought as far afield as North America and India aware of the coming storm King Frederick decided to strike first against the daunting coalition of great powers assembled against him hoping to land crippling blows against each enemy individually before they could unify into one unstoppable wave of military might blaming the hostile plotting of his rivals in 1756 he marched fifty-eight thousand men into Saxony hoping to both secure his existing holdings and possibly expand his kingdom even further taking his enemies by surprise Saxony was quickly overrun the Prussians utilizing the abundant resources of the newly seized territory to plan for the long war ahead incorporating their surviving troops into the Prussian army while all but draining the state treasury numerous victories and defeats followed in the long list of battles fought however despite possessing perhaps the best army in the world and being one of the most talented commanders of his era Frederick proved unable to land a decisive knockout blow against his foe his dream of defeating Austria before France and Russia could fully mobilize the formidable military machines now turning into a nightmare as Sweden joined the overwhelming enemy it's the coalition's enormous numerical advantage now slowly being brought to bear prussia found herself in the unenviable position of being surrounded on all sides by hostile enemies intent on overturning all of the hard-fought territorial gains won by prussian sweat and blood in the recent decades the simmering hatred of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa likely to only be soothed when Prussia had been reduced to little more than a powerless minor German province with vastly greater manpower and resources to draw upon the Austrian led coalition was able and willing to accept enormous losses in order to secure victory the kind of losses that Prussia simply could not hope to match the battlefields the two sides fought upon reduced a little more than meat grinders in this war of attrition for mastery of Germany even with the immense financial backing of Great Britain a nation who despite making a minimal contribution to the fighting in Europe kept the Prussians from going bankrupt the scales were becoming irreversibly tipped in favor of the enemy the foreign gold and unbreakable discipline of the Prussian rank-and-file simply not enough to overcome the sheer numerical advantage held by Empress Maria and her allies yet despite such overwhelming odds things were about to go from bad to worse in 1759 King Frederick suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the combined Russian and Austrian force losing more than a third of his army over the course of just 6 hours of fighting and by the end of 1761 his once elite military machine had been left a crippled shadow of its former glory most of the well disciplined killers who marched war just five years earlier now buried under one of the conflicts many battlefields outnumbered by as much as 20 to 1 the vital financial backing of Great Britain now rescinded and with large swathe of Prussia under enemy occupation the Austrian led coalition was now at the gates of Berlin itself it would take nothing less than a miracle to save Prussia from total defeat and partition yet fortunately for King Frederick a miracle is exactly what fate granted him on the 5th of January 1762 the Russian Empress Elizabeth suddenly died in what became known as the miracle of the house of Brandenburg her demise shattering the anti Prussian alliance that was on the verge of total victory her successors are Peter the third was a great admirer of King Frederick and the Prussians and immediately ended the war and made peace with drawing Russian troops from occupied East Prussia and mediating an armistice between Prussia and Sweden with France struggling to contain Great Britain in the many colonial theatres of the conflict a war weary and near bankrupt Austria was left all but alone to deal with a resurgent Prussia the reinvigorated King Frederick quickly driving his Austrian rivals out of the long disputed lands of Silesia and forcing the Austrian Empress to negotiate a peace treaty with tens of thousands dead millions spent and much of Central Europe reduced to ashes the Seven Years War finally ended with a return to the status quo or the destruction wrought and sacrifices made for nothing however the impact of the conflict would have far-reaching consequences that would echo through history Prussia emerged as the dominant power in the Holy Roman Empire reducing Austrian influence and ultimately bringing about German unification while the huge financial burden of the war coupled with the loss of her colonies in India and North America contributed towards the French Revolution and her later support for the 13 colonies against Britain during the American Revolution this single miraculous turnaround potentially paving the way for the rise of Germany Napoleon and the United States few causes in history have been as utterly hopeless as the plight faced by the Spanish Christians in the 8th century driven back to the northernmost fringes of their native land by a terrifyingly powerful and relentless invader the ranks of their one's numerous army is whittled away until just a handful of diehard fighters remained and with no outside support from the fellow so-called brothers of the faith forthcoming these besieged rebels occupying a tiny strip of mountainous terrain barely large enough to be called a kingdom or on the verge of being wiped out forever yet despite facing such overwhelming odds this last bastion of Christian rule refused to give in to despair and surrender instead rising to the mammoth challenge that lay before them as over the course of seven long and blood-soaked centuries of struggle they managed to painstakingly drive back their foe reconquering everything that had been lost and establishing a new empire that would cover huge swaths of the world and alter human history forever this incredible feat of sheer determination and commitment to a cause over multiple generations a perfect demonstration of how victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat following the fall of the Roman Empire the old imperial province of hispania was seized by the Visigoths a tribe of romanized central Europeans who forged a new Christian kingdom that spanned the entire Iberian Peninsula and even included areas of southwestern France founded at some time in the fifth century this fiercely independent kingdom prospered for 300 years however a series of calamitous events would see the rule of these Christian Visigothic Kings prematurely brought to an end by the turn of the eighth century the ruling establishment was coming apart at the seams the Visigoths had forcibly imposed the rule upon the Iberian natives and as they made up just 2% of the total population putting down dissent and outright rebellion was becoming increasingly difficult for such a minority elite while at the same time various factions within the aristocracy began competing for power and influence their greed and self-interest unleashing ruinous civil wars that left Visigothic Spain weakened and ripe for conquest by outside powers watching on with hungry eyes invaders from the expanding the Umayyad caliphate decided that now was the perfect time to strike keen to incorporate this rich but low-hanging fruit into their already massive Empire with the Christians in disarray a small scouting group of some 7,000 North African Berber troops landed on Iberian soil keen to capitalise on the weakness of the ruling Visigoths and conquer new territory for the Caliphate a vast and rapidly growing Empire that already spread from North Africa - as far as modern-day Turkey and Persia in the east the weakened physic off King quickly assembled his royal army and marched out to meet the strange invaders from across the sea the two armies clashing at the Battle of Guate lotty in 711 ad however after being betrayed by a group of scheming Nobles who are said to have switched sides during the fighting the Visigoths were utterly crushed in the ensuing slaughter the king falling in battle along with most of the aristocracy a decisive defeat that left the remaining Visigoths leaderless and disorganized the land now wide open to the Muslim invaders keen to capitalize on this stunning victory and the massive power vacuum it created an Arab reinforcement army was dispatched to turn this scouting mission into a full-scale invasion meeting little resistance from the now broken Visigoths the victorious Muslims rapidly took control of vast swathes of southern Iberia the now combined Arab and Berber forces carrying out an unstoppable seven-year onslaught that brought about the total destruction of the Visigoths Kingdom their armies even driving deep into France where they came close to overwhelming all of Europe before finally being beaten back by the king of the Franks after his legendary victory at the Battle of Tours in 732 a triumph that many believed preserved Christianity in Europe and prevented the entire continent from being absorbed by the Umayyad Caliphate with the Visigoths vanquished all of modern day Spain and Portugal was conquered and subdued the establishment of what became known as the emirate of Cordoba leaving just a tiny sliver of the far north under tentative Christian control this rugged mountainous stretch of and filled with the last vestiges of the fallen Christian kingdom deemed more effort than it was worth to finish off driven back to a tiny barren strip of territory on the fringes of the once mighty kingdom surrounded by a hostile rival that was just one small part of perhaps the most powerful empire on the planet at the time and with no allies to speak of recapturing territory from such a formidable behemoth was impossible and the very idea of a Christian kingdom reemerging to once again cover all of Iberia must have seemed like sheer fantasy however so long as a Christian held territory remained free and independent no matter how tiny weak isolated and besieged there was still hope and when there was hope there would be men who were prepared to devote their entire lives to the cause no matter how long it might take to achieve and unbeknown to the Spanish Christians at the time seven centuries of victory defeat sacrifice and struggle lay ahead of them with the Muslim armies preoccupied with their drive deep into France and the rest of Europe a fragile seed of resistance burst into life in the north and most mountainous edges of Iberia what would become known as the kingdom of Asturias emerged from humble origins his very existence balanced upon a knife's edge scarcely able to dare call itself a kingdom this remote last outpost of Christian rule in Iberia began life as little more than a Rocky refuge for hunted outlaws when the Visigoths Kingdom fell to the Arab onslaught an unusual mixture of former Royals Nobles and discontented soldiers and refugees fled north to the mountains of Asturias hoping to escape the clutches of the invaders rallying around a former Visigoths nobleman named Don pelayo who had established a guerrilla resistance force in the region refusing to recognize his Spanier's new Arab rulers Don poleo who organized his army of refugees into a surprisingly effective fighting force using the region's inhospitable mountainous terrain to his advantage as successfully repulsed army sent to crush him his defiance against the invaders acting as a beacon for all those who still wish to resist the Caliphate this was not a man who would be willing to submit with his prestige and popularity growing the Christian guerrillas formally elected Don poleo as their King in the year seven one eight the newly crowned rebel refusing to pay the non-muslim jizya tax while at the same time carrying out devastating raids on the tiny Caliphate Garrison's stationed in the region while this defiant rebellion was a major source of inspiration and pride for the Christians their actions barely registered with the Muslim ruling elite this minor uprising in the remote mountains of little consequence two men who were more preoccupied with large-scale conflicts in other areas of the sprawling Empire however this failure to take King poleo seriously while he was still weak would come back to haunt them while he was technically declared a king and had at his disposal an army of faithful followers Don poleo had no formal Kingdom under his control his claim on Asturias unrecognized by anyone outside of his Mountain Court his delicate hold on power likely to be shattered at a moment's notice however this uncertain situation was about to suddenly change just months after dhan payos coronation a new mired army campaigning in France suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Toulouse the fleeing survivors forced to retreat and abandon their mission unwilling to return to the emirate of cordoba with news of total failure the disgraced commander formulated a plan that he hoped might wash away some of his shame and perhaps save his career believing that rooting out and defeating these troublesome Christian rebels in the north would provide him an easy victory to take home that might mask his earlier defeat the Umayyad general marked his men deep into the mountains of Asturias in pursuit of their elusive new quarry however the hunter would soon become the hunted rather than scattering to the winds as they evilly did King poleo decided that the Thai for hit-and-run attacks was over resolving to make his stand now and that tactics courage and fate decide the outcome he skillfully lured the enemy host into a narrow mountain valley before ordering his hidden troops to unleash a withering storm of arrows from high up the slopes of the surrounding cliffs the rebels eagerly charging down to finish off the stunned survivors the warrior king personally leading his men in an attack which saw the enemy general slain this victory at what became known as the Battle of Covadonga ensured that the independence of Asturias could no longer be disputed this former safe haven for rebels and refugees was now a formal Kingdom in its own right and would prove to be a launchpad for centuries of bitter fighting and reconquest as the dream of a Christian roared hispana slowly but surely came to fruition buoyed by the first major battlefield victory King poleo and his successors saw the hoardings grow exponentially as the borders of their kingdoms were gradually pushed further south at the expense of a foe was becoming increasingly disunited and preoccupied with more pressing crises in other parts of the Caliphate these continuous incursions into enemy territory were so successful that by the 10th century most of northern iberia was firmly under Christian control the kingdom of Asturias growing and expanding to such an extent that it was now unrecognizable when compared to the humble strip of mountain that once was the new territory now known as the Kingdom of Leon yet despite this growing power the task that lay ahead was still almost insurmountable the vast enemy Empire they were biting at the heels of capable of easily squashing them underfoot shouldn't mobilize even just a fraction of the military might at his disposal however the power of the Umayyad caliphs was waning the once mighty Caliphate eventually fragmenting into a series of competing Islamic kingdoms the proved unable or simply unwilling to work together against the advancing Spanish Christians plagued by ethnic tension internal strife and mutinies and petty squabbles with neighbouring rival so for borders and territory this lack of a United Muslim Front was a tremendous boon to the crown of Leon which greatly seized upon the enemy's disunity to gobble up ever larger amounts of territory the Christians spreading from their old strongholds in the north to found the new kingdoms of Navarre Portugal Castile and Aragon this expansion in the name of Christendom earned the Spanish Kings the backing of Rome and in 1212 the Pope called for a crusade the resulting victories on the battlefield expanding their domains even further at the expense of the ant Aleutians dealing the Muslim kingdoms a blow from which they would never recover the long list of battles and seizures continued to grow over the decades and centuries as the Christian kingdoms steadily Bart unrelentingly edged the way south and by the end of the 13th century the Reconquista was close to completion with just the surrounded outnumbered and isolated emirate of Granada all that remained of the once overwhelming Muslim presence in Iberia this tiny Enclave in the far south ironically mirroring the precarious situation the kingdom of Asturias in the far north found itself in all those centuries ago the whole situation a graphic illustration of just how drastically fortunes can be reversed with the correct application of determination skill persistence and luck forced to pay a tribute to the Christians for his continued existence the emirate of Granada was living on borrowed time and when the Crown's of Aragon and Castile were united with the marriage of ferdinand ii and isabella the first in 1469 the final chapter of the seventh century long saga began the now united kingdom of spain finally expelling the last foothold of Islam in Iberia On January the 2nd 1492 just months before the discovery of the new world an event which would witness the Reconquista end and the conquista begin as forged in the fires of war and conquest the newly born Spanish Kingdom extended to the conflict overseas creating an enormous globe spanning Empire at the point of a sword son to a murdered father his family cast out onto the harsh and unforgiving Mongolian steppes by the tribe they once led a young boy named Temujin was forced to scratch out a meager existence from the desolate wilderness eating roots rodents and whatever he could hunt to survive in a world where food were so scarce that a dispute over the sharing of a simple fish led to him murdering his own brother his only inheritance a blood feud with a rival clan the boy and his family were Elend lessly hunted like wild animals and by the time he was just 16 years old he would have experienced life as a slave and seen his wife kidnapped and impregnated by his hated enemies subjected to such unimaginable suffering it must have seemed as though timmikins short brutal and miserable life was destined to come to an early and insignificant end however this tormented young boy would overcome the terrible hardships of his early years and ascend to the loftiest heights of power the adversity he faced in childhood forging a Man of Steel who would be reborn as Genghis Khan a leader whose iron will unlimited ambition and refusal for lay down and die would lead to him uniting the warring Mongolian tribes into a single Maor fist that would sweep aside ancient empires and make him one of the greatest conquerors in history this exiled outcasts who became the most powerful man in the world conquering not for mere wealth and glory but simply because he could the invasions he ordered unleashing a level of bloodshed and slaughter that the world would not witness again until the 20th century when Temujin was born in the mid 12th century the Mongolian steppes were populated by a series of competing nomadic tribes whose relations with one another were clouded and complicated by ancient blood feuds disputes and rivalries the constantly shifting alliances and allegiances each faction health frequently shattered by quarrels which escalated into ultra conflict these disagreements usually fermented by the Chinese neighbors who eagerly fanned the flames of disunity to keep the Mongol tribes at each other's throats after all if the aggressive nomads were busy fighting each other they were less likely to raid and plunder Chinese cities with the warring tribes unable to unify the Mongolian threat was successfully kept in check for centuries life on the steppes was hard violent and often short but it produced some of the toughest people on the planet the very kind of people that softer settled civilizations were keen to keep at a safe distance Temujin surly life would perfectly reflect this turbulent and dangerous world into which he was born the son of a minor clan chieftain when Temujin was just 8 years old his father was poisoned the man falling victim to one of the many grudges and blood feuds that for so long had plagued Mongolian politics his murderers from a rival tartar tribe sending him to the afterlife in retribution for a raid or robbery he had supposedly carried out against them years before while in ordinary times the orphaned Temujin might have taken over the reins of power his young age made him unsuitable for the burdens of leadership and fearful of an uncertain future the clan his father once led abandoned Temujin and the rest of his family no doubt realizing that the best chances for security prosperity and long-term survival lay elsewhere in the hands of a strong and experienced leader reduced to little more than exiled refugees Temujin and his family were banished to the wilderness his mother left to raise seven children alone as the now vulnerable family struggled to fend for themselves on the harsh Mongolian steppes yet even more dangerous than this shortage of food and reliable shelter was the newfound lack of friends or allies without the protection of a strong clan the woman and her young children would be left perilously vulnerable completely at the mercy of other tribes and wandering bandits who could now rob and attack them without fear of retribution yet as with so many of the misfortunes that beset him Temujin would learn from his bitter experience the young boy realizing that friends and allies were essential if he was ever to claw his way out of the dirt and avenge his murdered father and he would later write that a man who seeks power needs friends with power driven away to the worst hunting and grazing grounds the forsaken family spent several years destitute and starving forced to survive on whatever they could forage and hunt as they eked out a stark and miserable existence each approaching winter potentially signaling their demise in a region where temperatures could plummet to minus 43 yet despite this experience no doubt being extremely traumatic for Temujin his harsh childhood was forging him into a man of iron the new suffering each day brought hardening him to the grim realities life could hold in fact food was so scarce the resulting hunger so all-consuming that an otherwise resolvable or dispute over food led to the unthinkable crime of fratricide the starving Temujin murdering his older half-brother in cold blood over his refusal to share a fish he had secretly called the family tearing itself apart over a morsel of food in a disturbing insight that just how desperate the plight had become Temujin would never express remorse for the killing and with his position as head of the family now confirmed he set about planning to bring them all back from the brink however fate still had more setbacks in store the exiled family had long been prey for the murdered father's enemies and they were no strangers to life on the run however shortly after the killing of his older brother Temujin was kidnapped and enslaved it's unknown whether this act was carried out as punishment for his crime or simply because as the son of a former chief he was seen as a potential threat should he attempt to one day claim his birthright however what is known is that for weeks or even months he received the kind of treatment that would usually be reserved for common criminals his day spent carrying out menial tasks receiving humiliating punishment and being taunted by his captors all must have seemed lost yet with cunning bravery and a healthy dose of good luck Temujin successfully carried out a daring night escape safely making it back to his family camp however there was still one more major bout of misfortune awaiting him around the age of 16 he returned to claim the bride his late father had arranged for him the two marrying soon after however as yet more enemies and rivals raided his camp Temujin was forced to flee for his life leaving his new wife at the mercy of his enemies at this point the teenage Temujin could have been forgiven for falling into despair convinced that the world and perhaps even the gods were against him his short life so far had been one of near uninterrupted suffering his father murdered deserted by his clan his childhood spent on the run while barely foraging enough food to stave off starvation a level of desperation that drove him to murder his own brother before spending time as a slave only for his new bride to experience the same fate and as though things were not bad enough there is also the possibility that she fell pregnant by one of her captors the other man's son growing inside of her a constant reminder of the calamities that had befallen him he had such unimaginable suffering that also forged a hard almost unbreakable character in a man who had been carefully learning from all of the disasters he had experienced in his short life rather than surrendering to defeat and inaction Temujin set about planning his wife's rescue the first step on a long and hard path on the way to completely rebuilding his life and with it the Mongolian nation and entire world realising that he could achieve nothing without powerful friends he set about slowly consolidating power of his own small parts growing group of followers while at the same time carefully building a network of alliances with other clans that he could call upon during times of need determined never again to find himself so woefully at the mercy of those who would do him harm with the backing of other small tribal who had now pledged themselves as blood brothers Temujin assemble the small army and launched a daring but successful rescue operation in doing so returning to his arms the woman who would bear him four sons and least six daughters and proved to be a constant source of support and inspiration throughout the many trials to come with his family reunited Temujin began the slow and methodical process of building and expanding a power base which he could use as a springboard to bring to fruition his most ambitious dreams for centuries the Mongol tribes had raided and plundered their neighbors but never conquered always falling back into the same Runa cycle of internal conflict and discord Temujin wanted the Mongols to think bigger desiring nothing less than the destruction of the traditional tribe or divisions that for so long had held the Mongol people back from realizing the true potential yet this would be no rapid rise to power and is a testament to the monumental nature of the task that lay ahead but over 20 years of struggle war and political maneuvering were required for the objective to finally be achieved the boy who was once known as Tama j'en being reborn as Genghis Khan at a gathering of the clans a named thought to mean Universal ruler and a harbinger of what was to come by building a reputation as both a fearsome a fighter and inspiring leader of men Temujin had been able to attract competent followers to his cause gathering a formidable force of warriors through a shrewd use of alliances and meritocracy placing able men in positions of power rather than relatives or elites while at the same time rewarding enemies who showed courage and bravery often incorporating them into his own ranks rather than destroying them in the corns new Mongolia only cowardice or treachery amongst enemies was punished Temujin faction growing stronger with each tribe subdued his ranks filled with the best aureus from the armies he vanquished successive hostile coalition's against him were crushed the Tatars who murdered his father were exterminated and by the time his final rival was subdued Temujin stood as the sole ruler of all Mongolia the potent military machine he had created now ready to be turned upon foreign enemies Mongol would no longer shed the blood of Mongol now was the time for the settled sedentary civilizations and empires who had for so long looked down upon their nomadic neighbors to fill the khan's wrath the primed Mongol horde was first unleashed upon the unfortunate tangled people of jiajia in northwestern China a wealthy kingdom occupying a strategic location along the Silk Road however their riches greater numbers and technological superiority would prove no match for Mongol horse archers and in 1209 an all-out offensive brought the entire kingdom to the brink of destruction the taggert king submitting to the khan and offering himself as a facile with the jia jia kingdom subjugated the mongols had achieved more than they might have ever thought possible however they could not simply go home and live in peace the Khan had created and unleashed a potent war machine that required constant conflict against outside enemies to keep it unified this new army could not be allowed to sit idle lest the Mongols once again turn on each other and descend into the kind of petty infighting that had plagued them for centuries and kept their people in the dirt a new enemy had to be found the momentum created kept going that new enemy took the form of the far larger Qin Dynasty in northern China and between 12 11 and 12 14 Mongolian invaders ravaged the countryside eventually descending upon the capital of Beijing and forcing the Jin ruler to offer up huge sums of silk gold and silver as tribute before they eventually subjugated the entire kingdom after its leader unwisely reneged on their deal yet an even worse fate was about to befall the people of the core esmad Empire which covered large swathe sort of Central Asia Africa Iran and Iran after a regional governor made the foolish mistake of robbing and murdering Mongol traders the Korres mid Sultan sealed his own fate along with millions of his subjects when he refused to punish the man responsible provoking the Carn into unleashing one of the most brutal invasions in history as his furious horde poured into the empire in a three-pronged attack that would see cities that once held millions of souls reduced to depopulated ruins the skulls of their former inhabitants piled into grisly pyramids as a warning to others of the price they would pay for daring to defy the Khan's well as the Korres mid Empire was scoured from the face of the earth a similar fate was being prepared for the tankard people of jiajia a kingdom which had submitted to the Carn ears before but recently made the mistake of failing to provide military assistance when called upon during the chorus mid conquest a betrayal that would cost the lives of millions more the vengeful Mongols once again returned to China to hand out the unique brand of punishment upon the jiajia the resulting carnage seeing army after army vanquished city after city I raised three once great empires now lay in ruins and the khan's feet and with an army of invincible warriors under his sole control the entire world seemed destined to fall to the Khan's on stoppable advance his warriors now raiding as far away as Russia and Eastern Europe the hunted exile who was once on the verge of starvation in the wilderness now stood as the most powerful and feared man alive however before he could conclude his punitive campaign against the Taggart people of jiajia the Great Khan suddenly died by his death the man who was once known as Temujin had come back from the verge of historical oblivion to lay waste to ancient great empires and forge an enormous empire that his descendants would expand further until it encapsulated an area the size of Africa stretching from the Sea of Japan to Hungary and the Middle East the iron will of one man bringing to heel an empire larger than that of the Romans an astonishing 40 million perishing in the process a figure fought to be over ten percent of the world's population at the time the incredible reversal of fortunes and rise to power of a single man forever having an immeasurable impact on the course of human history so those are my choices for five of the greatest comebacks in history let me know in the comments which other turnarounds you would have mentioned and I'll see you again on the next video

Channel: Unknown5

Views: 530,706

Keywords: history, documentaries, education, unknown5, top 5, genghis khan, documentary videos, historical documentary

Id: 5Fk_8xU6Dd8

Length: 64min 28sec (3868 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 17 2020