Marathon, Waterloo, and Gettysburg the most famous battles?

major bill

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In the April 2019 issue of Civil War Times magazine it states that Marathon, Waterloo, and Gettysburg are the most famous battles. Would this be accurate? I do wonder how many Americans are all that well informed about the Battle of Marathon. Perhaps Civil War Times is only talking about Americans and residents in other countries might see things different. What do forum members see as the most famous battle of all times?
 
How do things like movies effect what the American public sees as the most famous wars? Say instead of the TV movie about Gettysburg being made, a TV movie about Petersburg had been made? Would the Battle of Petersburg move up the "most famous battle" list?
I think that Gettysburg already had a name recognition that the movie enhanced, not the other way around. How many people would be able to identify the Battle of Fort Wagner even though it was a focal point of the movie Glory.
 
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So much depends on nationality when determining most famous. China and India are the worlds most populous nations. I wonder how many people in those countries have heard of any of the three battles on the list. In Europe, I would guess the most famous battles would come from; Waterloo, Verdun, The Somme, Stalingrad and D Day.
 
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Biggest battle in the French vs Viet Minh conflict:

Battle of Dien Bien Phu was important because it was the coup de grâce that ended France's colonization in Vietnam. Subsequently, the US got involved on unprecedented level. DBP was almost an exact replicate of Khe Sanh: a series of fortified hills surrounding the base.

Biggest battle in the Vietnam Conflict:

Khe Sanh. General Giap sent 40,000 of his top troops at 5,000 Marines and the end result was 20,000 NVA KIA'ed and they found cache of weapons with 20,000 rifles, which they believe the other 20,000 NVA troops deserted. Giap's idea was to fight Khe Sanh like Dien Bien Phu and it all backfired. This was all contrary to what Walter Cronkite reported on the news about how the Marines didn't sustain Khe Sanh= fake news.
 
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I am amazed that Yorktown is only mentioned once in passing... I admit I was not an exciting battle but if we had not won it. I do not think there would been a Gettysburg...

I did not mean to suggest that I only mention each battle once, but that the battles on the list are the ones my students are taught in a deep and thorough manner. I spend an entire day just talking about Yorktown by itself.
 
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Biggest battle in the French vs Viet Minh conflict:

Battle of Dien Bien Phu was important because it was the coup de grâce that ended France's colonization in Vietnam. Subsequently, the US got involved on unprecedented level. DBP was almost an exact replicate of Khe Sanh: a series of fortified hills surrounding the base.

Biggest battle in the Vietnam Conflict:

Khe Sanh. General Giap sent 40,000 of his top troops at 5,000 Marines and the end result was 20,000 NVA KIA'ed and they found cache of weapons with 20,000 rifles, which they believe the other 20,000 NVA troops deserted. Giap's idea was to fight Khe Sanh like Dien Bien Phu and it all backfired. This was all contrary to what Walter Cronkite reported on the news about how the Marines didn't sustain Khe Sanh= fake news.

Tha most famous battle of the Vietnam War was Ban Me Thuot during the Spring Offensive of 1975. This decisive battle cemented the unification of Vietnam. It was a huge, raging conventional battle. In the end one army was effectively destroyed.

You see this points out the usage of the term "famous". Famous to whom? To the people of today's SE Asia, Khe Sanh is probably known to a few history buffs.
 
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I was thinking about Hattin, but hadn't posted. I would also consider the Battle of Yarmouk (636) in Syria which heralded the rise of Islam; the Battle of Crecy (1346) was the beginning of the end for mounted knights and chivalry; the Fall of Granada (1492) which ended the Spanish Reconquista and let Spain look for 'other worlds' to conquer.
These are famous? Where? I've heard of Crecy, not any of the others. Famous?
 
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Tha most famous battle of the Vietnam War was Ban Me Thuot during the Spring Offensive of 1975. This decisive battle cemented the unification of Vietnam. It was a huge, raging conventional battle. In the end one army was effectively destroyed.

You see this points out the usage of the term "famous". Famous to whom? To the people of today's SE Asia, Khe Sanh is probably known to a few history buffs.

I was going with the consensus throughout this thread about American's uncanny ability to not know history, and that's why I inserted DBP and KS. Your claims are dubious to say the least, because the Majority of US troops were withdrawn by 1975, so your reference would have better compared to Dien Bein Phu considering there was a minimal American presence there, just like Ban Me Thuot. The former catalyzed independence and the latter sealed independence.

Again, I was referring to the lack of knowledge Americans have for history that is not dropped on their laps, in which you confirmed when you stated only a few historians/buffs know about KS.

I'm quite sure DBP and KS were "famous" enough for Americans know about, one triggered us into involvement and the other Cronkite stated was lost and the war was unwinnable.
 
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In the April 2019 issue of Civil War Times magazine it states that Marathon, Waterloo, and Gettysburg are the most famous battles. Would this be accurate? I do wonder how many Americans are all that well informed about the Battle of Marathon. Perhaps Civil War Times is only talking about Americans and residents in other countries might see things different. What do forum members see as the most famous battle of all times?
D-day and Pearl Harbor are easily more famous to modern Americans.
 
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The Second Battle of Marne during WWI: the Marines at Belleau Wood helped the allies push the Germans back which was the turning point of the war.
 
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Perhaps Civil War Times is only talking about Americans and residents in other countries might see things different. What do forum members see as the most famous battle of all times?
Of all time? Fame is so subjective isn’t it ? So for the most important battle or battle that had the most significance for the west I pick the Battle of Milvian bridge. For the east the Battle of Badr or perhaps the fall of Constantinople. For the Far East the Mongol Invasion of Japan. For fame I will pick the Battle of Jericho.
 
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The Zulu Wars documentary is: Secrets of the Dead: Zulu Dawn. As far as WWI I have read some books on Passcendaele, and I still know a lot about Korea and Nam.
I always found WW1 fascinating to study. I guess the Somme is one of the more famous battles (and justifiably so), but what I read about Passchendaele really stayed with me because the anecdotes of men and horses drowning in the mud freaked me out. :frown:
 
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I did not mean to suggest that I only mention each battle once, but that the battles on the list are the ones my students are taught in a deep and thorough manner. I spend an entire day just talking about Yorktown by itself.

No, I was not picking on you but I was just chiding our forum for forgetting the one battle that freed us from the Brits...
 
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Among Americans I'd guess that Gettysburg and Normandy are probably the most famous battles that American troops participated in. Bunker Hill & Lexington & Concord are probably more recognizable to most than Saratoga or Yorktown, despite the latter two having more historical impact.

Relatively modern European battles that the US didn't participate in..I'd guess Americans would be most familiar with some of the more important battles in British history like Waterloo or Hastings. The defeat of the Spanish Armada is probably better known than Trafalgar.

Ancient battles...I'm doubtful most Americans would even recognize it as anything other than a race. I think earlier posters have it right in that Thermopylae would be far more famous thanks to movies like 300. Battles like Gaugamela or Cannae or Alesia of course would be very well known to military history geeks, but I doubt the average person would recognize any as being the name of a battle. I would not be surprised if some, if asked about the significance of Guagamela, responded with "it is a country." (confusing it with Guatemala) :D

Asian or African battles from any period...the average American would not be able to name a single one that took place outside the Second World War or Vietnam. They'll recognize some historical figures like Genghis Khan or Shaka Zulu, but probably wouldn't know the names of battles.
 
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I'm of an age where these things were taught in my junior high and high school years. I did learn about Marathon, Hastings and Waterloo. Not in any great detail, but enough to place them in the flow of history.


Right? Have been trying to pin down why history is so important to me- probably a few reasons but remember Waterloo from 4th grade, maybe Trafalgar later on. Must have had some amazingly involved teachers, bless them. 4th grade! Clearly remember the teacher. Hastings wasn't until high school. Heck, seem to remember Bosworth made an appearance.

Always had trouble thinking of the Brits as the enemy when we got around to the Revolution.
 
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I was going with the consensus throughout this thread about American's uncanny ability to not know history, and that's why I inserted DBP and KS. Your claims are dubious to say the least, because the Majority of US troops were withdrawn by 1975, so your reference would have better compared to Dien Bein Phu considering there was a minimal American presence there, just like Ban Me Thuot. The former catalyzed independence and the latter sealed independence.

Again, I was referring to the lack of knowledge Americans have for history that is not dropped on their laps, in which you confirmed when you stated only a few historians/buffs know about KS.

I'm quite sure DBP and KS were "famous" enough for Americans know about, one triggered us into involvement and the other Cronkite stated was lost and the war was unwinnable.

I feel like we let the Vietnamese people down. That bad guys won that war.
 
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