Thanks for posting. This is a fun concept for a thread.
Top ten battles of history:
1. The battle of Badr, 624. A small Arabian force from Medina under prophet Muhammad, wins a defensive battle against a much larger force from Mecca. This was truly decisive, because if the battle had gone differently Islam might not exist.
2. The battle of yarmuk in 636. Arab forces defeat a larger force of Romans and go on to conquer Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa. Self evidently of huge global significance for the next 1400 years.
3. Battle of Qadisiyya, also in 636. The Arabs decisively defeat the Sassanid Persian Empire, opening up the conquest of Persia for the forces of Islam. Hugely important and decisive moment in time that shaped the world we live in today.
4. Conquest of Carthage by Rome in 146BC. This removed the last major rival to total Roman dominance in the Mediterranean. A seminal moment in the history of the Mediterranean, near East and Europe.
5. Battle of the Milvian bridge, 312. Roman emperor Constantine defeats his enemies after supposedly seeing the sign of the cross. His decision to adopt Christianity leads to Christianity becoming the religion of Europe and of Rome. Hugely important for the historical consequences.
6. Battle of Tenochtitlan. As mentioned above, the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs was a hugely significant moment which opened up the new world to European conquest and colonisation.
7. Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258. This was arguably the most calamitous event in world history. The massacre of scholars and destruction of books and treasures in Baghdad set back Muslim civilisation with severe consequences for the future. Although the Mongols were eventually absorbed the damage they did was never fully recovered.
8. Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. A seminal moment in the rise of arguably the greatest Muslim empire of them all. The Ottomans went on to dominate the near East for centuries, building one of the most successful empires the world has seen.
9. Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. This ensures British Empire would rule the world for a century and a half. Pretty decisive in shaping the modern world and the only naval battle in this list.
10. Battle of Berlin, 1945. The Nazi defeat in the second world war was important in setting up the current world balance of power. The victory of the USSR and USA led to the current American dominated world order.
I'd argue for either Zama or Pidna as the battle tha cemented the Roman domination in the Med. The siege of Carthage was important but not that decisive in macrohistorical terms as the outcome of the Second Punic War settled at Zama. I also would say that the Battle of Berlin was not "decisive" in this sense. The decisive battle for the Nazi defeat was arguably Stalingrad. .
The rest of the list are pretty solid cases.I fully agree about Tenochtitlan. Other good cases:
1) Battle of Kishtan (743 BCE) won by Tiglat-Pilser III of Assyria over a coalition led by Sarduri of Urartu. Opened the Levant to Assyrian conquest and removed Urartean competition. Long-term consequences impact heavily on the Israelite kingdoms in a critical formative phase of Yahvist monotheism.
2) Battle of Valmy. Arguably saved the Revolutionary Regime in France. 'nuff said.
3) Manzikert. The beginning of the end for the ERE, according to most accounts.
4) Plassey, which set the stage for British domination in India.
5) Kulikovo is vastly overrated by traditional Russian historiography, but if cultural consequences of battles must be considered, it probably counts. Anyway, it WAS a Mongol setback and set the trend for the emergence of Muscovy. Ok, by this standard, we should put again Salamis and Marathon near the top, even if I tend to agree they are both overrated (anyway, while Greek culture and civilization WOULD have survived under Persian rule indeed, the specific Athenian Golden Age would not have accourred, and Athens certainly left quite a big political and cultural legacy).
6) Las Navas de Tolosa, the death knell of al-Andalus.
7) Dien Bien Phu 1954. A turning point in the anti-colonial struggle with global resonance.
8) I feel that Teutoburg deserves a mention even if a lot of people here would caution about it. In my view, it mostly stopped, and even set back, Roman expansion in Europe, but I concede it may be more episodic than usually thought.
9) Karbala' (680). Defined the Sunni-Shi'a divide.
10) Nihawand (642). Even more than Qadisiyya, secured Muslim dominance over the Iranian Plateau, with all that entails.
There is certainly plenty of very important battles in places I know less (I am looking at you, China) which would probably deserve to be in such list, but I have not the expertise to name them.