Chapters
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (451 CE) took place between the Western Roman Empire and the Huns. It ended with a victory for Rome.
Background of events
The Goths, Vandals, Suebi, Burgundians, Franks, Alans and Anglo-Saxons were nothing new to the Western Empire, which was dying out in the 5th century CE. Rome has fought more than once with Germanic tribes similar to them: Cherusci, Chaukami and Marcomanni. But the stone that moved the avalanche of migrations of peoples from the distant steppes of Asia, the tribe of Huns, was a completely new quality of warfare. It is true that the sons of the wolf had met the Scythians or the Sarmatians on the battlefield before, but these were not military events of this scale, as were the raids of new nomads.
The Huns were known to the Chinese before our era as the Hu peoples. It was against them that the Great Wall was erected. However, around the 4th century CE, the Huns left Mongolia and moved west and south. This was a characteristic principle in the history of the Great Steppe. The tribe that achieved hegemony maintained it until drought destroyed pastures for horses and cattle. Then the subordinate clans and tribes raised a revolt, forcing the existing rulers to emigrate. Thus, first the Huns, then their conquerors, Juan-juan (or Avars), and then those who defeated the Avars set out on the journey. Only the Mongols under the command of Temujin broke this cyclical regularity. Their expansion was no longer an escape for the defeated, but a perfectly organized march of winners.
The Huns split into two factions during the journey. One fell like a thunderbolt on India and Persia, the other moved westward towards the Volga and Transnistrian steppes. The Scythian, Sarmatian and Alan tribes succumbed to the Huns very easily, many of them were part of the great Orda, which was moving further towards Roman Europe.
The next dam in the form of the Ostrogothic state in today’s Ukraine and Poland was also broken very quickly. The Eastern Goths fell under the yoke of the steppe riders for several dozen years. In subduing the Slavic and Germanic tribes of Central Europe, the Huns used cruel and terrifying methods, even for those times. Mass slaughter and destruction of everything that stood in the way was characteristic of all subsequent invaders straight from the steppe. Unfortunately, exact information about this type of “activities” of the Huns has not survived, but some conclusions can be drawn on the basis of analogies with the Mongol conquests. Historians say that the steppe peoples were characterized by an extremely fierce hatred of all settled people. In the case of the Mongols, however, there is ample evidence that their famous cutting to the drawbar of a cart or massacring the population of cities with a quick and simple method (under horse’s hooves) was a pre-planned psychological action aimed at spreading panic and demoralizing possible opponents.
We do not know if the Huns were also such consummate “psychologists”, at least the panic and fear they aroused became the cause of the mass migration of the Germans. The fortified lines of the Danube and the Rhine seemed to the fleeing barbarians as a barrier that would hold back the Huns. From an early age, Rome was forced to admit entire Germanic tribes (eg the Franks) into its territory as “allies”. The invasion of the Visigoths into the Balkans, and then the Suebi, Burgundians or Herulas into Gaul, were also somehow sanctioned by giving uninvited guests some border areas.
The aforementioned invasion took place in 450 CE, the Huns plundered Germania and Gaul. Cities such as Colonia Agrippinensis (today Cologne), Magoontiacum (Mainz), Colonia Augusta Treverorum (Trier), Argentorate (Strasbourg), Divodurum Mediomatrici (Metz), Durocortorum Remorum (Reims) and others. Attila had to withdraw from the siege of Lutetia (Paris) when, according to the legend of St. Genowefa (to this day the patron saint of this city). It was said that “One virgin’s faith saved the city”.
The Huns, meanwhile, chose Panonia as their main base and from there they started devastating raids on the territory of both empires. Their attacks depopulated and led to economic ruin in many areas in the Balkans, northern Italy and Gaul. In Pannonia itself, the Huns became semi-settled. Their combat tactics have also changed significantly. Following the example of the Sarmatians and Alans, they increased the number of heavy horsemen among their troops. The appearance of a capable and ambitious ruler among the Huns, Atylli, who gained absolute power by murdering his brother, Bleda was to bring a new quality to the Hun invasions. Chaotic attacks quickly turned into organized raids. Successive tribes of Slavs and Germans paid tribute to Atylla and provided armed contingents.
It can be called a fortunate coincidence that in the face of this deadly threat, the dying Western Empire had a man capable of withstanding Attila. Aetius, because we are talking about him of course, tradition dictates that we call “the last Roman