by Akhilesh Pillalamarri
In an attempt to correct this, the Caliphs invited Turkic warriors to restore them, but this did not work and led instead to the creation of a new power, the Great Seljuk Turk Empire, which stretched from Central Asia to Turkey. The Seljuks under Sultan Alp Arslan began entering Byzantine territory, which lead to a response under the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. The two armies met in eastern Anatolia in 1071. Half the Byzantine army didn’t even fight due to internal Byzantine politics leading to treachery. The Byzantine Emperor was captured and though released, the Empire fell into civil war.
Battles can make or break states and change the destiny of nations forever. As such, they represent some of humanity’s most important events. While there have been dozens of important, interesting battles over the past five thousand years of recorded warfare, here are five that changed history forever, though by no means is this list exhaustive. Instead, I have selected a wide range of battles from across different regions and times and have specifically avoided focusing on more well-known modern battles, many of which will be covered by The National Interest soon to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars and World War II.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/ranked-5-battles-you-never-heard-changed-world-history-22047
