Who Won The Crusades ?
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The crusade was started by Pope Urban II in 1905. The main agenda of the crusade was to remove the Turks from Anatolia. It was also meant to restore Rome and the Byzantine Empire which was under a threat at that time. Jerusalem was considered as the Holy Land of Christianity, and the crusaders wanted to reclaim it. Who won the crusades is debatable, as there is never a winner in a war. Both sides faced numerous losses and miseries.
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It took almost one year for the crusaders in Constantinople to meet at Constantinople. From 1906 to 1907 the effort was put to meet and plan the attack. The crusaders reclaimed the city of Nicae and the Byzantine Empire started making progress by increasing troops and posting them in various places. Things got worse between them. Neither the crusaders were going to back off nor was the Byzantine Empire willing to give up.
The first crusade by far was the most successful and it lasted two years, from 1097 until 1099. Majority of the objectives of the crusade were achieved. The crusaders could not overcome the Turks, but they did put them in a serious trouble by halting them. The crusaders marched into Jerusalem and Palestine and conquered it. The massacre was huge in this crusade. In the Middle East, there were two main powers seats. One was in Egypt, while the second one was the Caliph living in Baghdad.
Egypt had its interests in the Mediterranean region and North Africa. Caliph was interested in Persia. Even though the two empires had totally opposite interests, a neutral state was to be established in between. The Muslims never had any interest in Palestine but they were threatened because of the crusaders.
In the whole sequence of events, the crusaders adopted unethical and wrong strategies. Ideally, if they sought a common ground with their neighbors, things would have worked out much better. The first crusade employed a Muslim ruler to attack Damascus. However, the ruler’s ultimate intentions were to go after the crusaders eventually. The crusaders created a pact with all destabilizing forces in the area.
Eventually the Muslims of different regions united and gathered to launch an attack against the Christian soldiers. This force was much greater than the crusaders would have imagined. Jihad is the result of strength that came together and was headed the leader of the Kurds, Saladdin. The crusaders went to the extent of attacking Saladin’s sister’s caravan. That was their doom and the crusaders eventually lost their fight. Jerusalem was ultimately conquered by the Muslims and they continued to gain power.
More Articles :
University of Wisconsin: The Crusades
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/westtech/xcrusade.htm
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One of the distinct events during the Middle Ages which spanned for 200 years from 1095 to 1291 was the crusades. There were nine crusades in all of which the first four were most successful.