July 4th, an International Holiday

[MaDuce]

An article I wrote originally for a newspaper. They have a word limit so I initially cut a few things short (and eventually had to cut 2/3 of the article) so it's not quite as complete as I would have liked. I still think you'll get the overall picture and enjoy it.

 

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The 4th of July is celebrated all over America as the day of our independence and the beginning of our experiment with individual freedom. Its meaning is significant to many; if not all of us.

As sacred as it is to me in our national history, I am compelled to share with you a side to the 4th of July few Americans are aware of. For the 4th of July is not just an independence day for the United States, but western civilization as a whole.

I am not talking about America opening freedom up to the world. I am talking about a specific battle in history that decided the fate of the world for centuries to come but is more or less forgotten by western civilization today.

It may seam unlikely something so important would be completely forgotten by the west but many of us are familiar with evidence that it happened. For example, you may have driven down San Juan Blvd, visited a San Juan medical facility or heard of the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. They are all named after one of the two defending commanders in this battle. The ringing of church bells at noon was started as a call to prayer for the success of the troops fighting in the battle. One of the competing armies in the battle was the same army who conquered Constantinople.

Our story begins with one of the two defending commanders. A man commonly known as Janos Hunyadi. Having served as regent of Hungary and prince of Transylvania; Hunyadi had been involved in a life long struggle against the Ottoman Empire’s efforts to gain western real estate through force or aggressive persuasion (creating vassal states) and was burdened throughout his career with the age old problem of Balkan nations bickering amongst each other, rogue soldiers in his own army and western society’s refusal to come to grips with the gravity of the situation. And grave it was.

The Ottoman Empire was the super power of it’s day. Their troops wielded the finest of military technology including the legendary Damascus swords as well as the latest and greatest artillery of the day such as the massive Urban super cannons which more or less fired a giant marble wrecking ball. Although they often literally couldn't hit the broad side of a city, they had proved devastating to the walls of Constantinople whenever they did hit their mark.The Ottomans also had perhaps the most elite special force in the world at the time; the Janissary Corps.

One of the ironies of the time was that the western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians were at each other’s throats and western Catholicism in particularly was being infiltrated by opportunists who we today might think of as Italian mafia. Even after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the Sultan Mehmed II’s threats against the Vatican, the western Catholic leadership refused to acknowledge the gravity of the threat posed by the Ottoman Empire.

This meant Janos Hunyadi was more or less on his own and had the seemingly impossible task of bringing the Balkan nations together to stand up against their common enemy. But he was also at another disadvantage. Even though Hunyadi had a long string of military successes against the Ottoman Empire, it was no secret that; when it came to tactics, the Ottoman Empire had the upper hand. This may have been one of the reasons why Hunyadi; unlike most military commanders at the time, learn to read.

It became apparent that; on top of assembling a massive coalition, he also needed an inside look at Ottoman war tactics. In other words, he need an alliance with someone dedicated to the Christian cause who had served as an Ottoman commander. Believe it or not, such a man existed. In particular, a man named, Vladislav Basarab.

 

There was a problem though. In response to treasonous acts, Janos Hunyadi led a group of nobles in a plot to have Vladislav’s father assassinated and Vladislav very openly declared a vendetta against Hunyadi. In short, Vladislav regarded Hunyadi as his worst enemy at the time.

To make matters worse, Vladislav was an unusually vindictive and ruthless man. Although Janos didn’t live to see it, Vladislav would eventually win the thrown of the neighboring province of Wallachia and lead an 8 year reign of terror for which he became infamously known as Vlad the Impaler.

Ultimately the two met privately at Ft. Hunedoara in the hall of knights. Neither ever elaborated on their discussion but when they emerged, they were allies.

Not long after, Hunyadi received another huge break. The pope died and the new pope (Callixtus III); although a puppet pope on most other matters, was aware of the seriousness of the Ottoman threat. Even so, the rest of the west was at odds with him and he really only had the powers granted to him by his office. Luckily, it was enough.

In addition to a propaganda campaign, he dispatched a well known and well liked preacher known as Giovanni de Capistrano to help recruit troops in the Balkans. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is the man the Mission of San Juan Capistrano is named after.

Hunyadi and Giovanni worked very fast and hard at recruiting troops, refining battle tactics and even arranging the overthrowing of thrones, which included Vladislav’s rise to the Thrown of Wallachia.

Although they were making great progress in their preparations for a grand showdown with the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans cut their efforts.

On July 3rd, the Ottoman Army arrived at the city of Nandorfehervar in attempt to take the city’s fortress of Belgrade. To make a long story short, the fortress of Belgrade was; at the time, the only “thing” preventing a full scale invasion of Western Europe who’s armies were no match for the Ottoman forces.

The Ottoman Sultan made brief but futile efforts to convince the defenders to surrender without a fight. On the 4th of July, the fireworks began as the Ottoman army pounded the city with relentless artillery fire. For two weeks, the siege was mostly just that; a siege.

But Janos Huunyadi received word of the siege rather quickly and marched the coalition to the city. The coalition arrived on July 17th. The fighting was intense but more or less at a stand still from then on. That is, until July 21st. That night, the Ottoman Empire unleashed their shock and awe on the Fortress. Following a heavy bombardment of artillery, the Ottoman army dispatched the Janissaries to infiltrate the city and break the defenses wide open.

 

But the coalition had a trick up their sleeve. They threw flammable waste from the city over the walls and ignited it, which cut the janissaries off from the main army. A bloody and agonizing massacre followed. Agonizing because the janissaries were drafted as children from Balkan puppet countries, many of whom were now participating in the coalition. This means that some of the janissaries were the children of the people they were fighting.

It was this factor that may have triggered the true turning point in the battle. A temporary cease fire was agreed upon by both sides so the Ottomans could bury their dead. Although all the leaders of both sides honored the cease fire, some of the troops apparently lost control and started fighting with the Ottomans as they tried to bury their dead.

Despite efforts by both sides to break it up, the flaring of tensions were unstoppable and everyone was forced to resume the battle. But this also meant the battle; to some degree, resumed behind Ottoman lines.

During the heat of the chaos, the coalition managed to capture the Ottoman Empire’s artillery. On top of that, the Sultan Mehmed II himself was severely wounded in the battle.

In the end, the Ottoman Empire was forced to lift the siege and retreat, leaving their grand artillery and much of their equipment behind.

Unfortunately, both Janos and Giovanni wouldn’t enjoy the victory for long. Within two months of their victory, both had died of the Black plague.

Known today as the Great Siege of Belgrade, the 1456 siege of Nandorfehervar is believed to have decided the fate of Christendom.

So when you celebrate the 4th of July, remember that it’s more then just an American holiday. An early “D-Day”, the 4th of July is an independence day for all of western civilization. So lets celebrate the 4th of July both in memory of the brave Americans who fought and struggled for our national freedom, as well as those forgotten warriors who stood up to the most powerful army on the planet in 1456 and; like the Colonials in 1776, made the struggle for our freedom possible.

Edited July 4, 2013 by MaDuce

[BLKSHEEP]

Thanks MaDuce, I love history but had previously only heard parts and pieces of that story. <thumbsup>

[gnatshooter]

And I thought this was going to be about that old trick question, 'Do they have a Fourth of July in Britain?'

[392heminut]

Great article! Thanks for taking the time to post it!