In shortNumber 1 in our ranking is Stalingrad, followed by D-Day: the Normandy landings and Waterloo.
The most decisive battles in history are the ones that changed the course of a war or of an entire civilisation. We didn’t rank by size or casualties, but by what would have happened had the result gone the other way.
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1. Stalingrad
1942–1943 · World War II
One of the bloodiest battles in history and the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front. From then on, the Red Army was on the offensive.
2. D-Day: the Normandy landings
6 June 1944
The largest amphibious operation in history opened the Western Front. Less than a year later, Germany surrendered.
3. Waterloo
18 June 1815
It ended Napoleon's career for good. It ushered in a new European order that lasted for much of the 19th century.
4. Marathon
490 BC
Athens halted the first Persian invasion of Greece. Without that victory, the classical Greece that gave rise to Western democracy and philosophy might never have existed.
5. Gaugamela
331 BC
Alexander the Great defeated the Persian king Darius III with a much smaller army. The victory opened the whole Persian Empire to him.
6. Lepanto
7 October 1571
The Holy League, led by Spain, halted the Ottoman naval advance in the Mediterranean. Cervantes fought in it and called it 'the greatest occasion the centuries have seen'.
7. Hastings
1066
William of Normandy conquered England. It changed the country's nobility, its language and its history forever.
8. Midway
June 1942
The United States sank four Japanese aircraft carriers in a single battle. It turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.
9. Tours (or Poitiers)
732
Charles Martel stopped a Muslim expedition in the heart of present-day France. Many historians see it as the limit of Umayyad expansion in Western Europe.
10. Gettysburg
1863 · American Civil War
It stopped the Confederate invasion of the North and was a turning point of the war. There, Lincoln gave one of the most famous speeches in history.
Frequently asked questions
What was the most decisive battle in history?
In our ranking, Stalingrad, because it changed the course of World War II in Europe. D-Day and Waterloo complete the podium.
What was the bloodiest battle?
Stalingrad is considered one of the bloodiest in history. This ranking, however, is ordered by consequences, not casualties.
Would you change the order?
Tell us what's missing, what shouldn't be here or what you'd put at number 1.