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[AmericanThinker] Although the rising Ottoman empire, by 1500, would stretch from the modern states of Algeria to Yemen to Hungary, in 1453, Constantinople was still Christian and a major thorn in the side of Muslim Sultan Mehmed II. He planned to fix that.
By late May, after besieging the city for two months and making no headway, Mehmed prepared to retreat. A small number of his advisors suggested giving the siege one last day before they withdrew. Mehmed agreed, and on May 29, the Ottomans threw everything they had at the city. Constantinople’s defenders repulsed the first three Ottoman assaults, and the Ottoman generals despaired at the prospect of defeat.
But then one of the great turning points in history happened. Among the 40,000 defenders (against an Ottoman force of approximately 80,000) were 700 Genoese fighters defending the most vulnerable parts of the walls. The defenses stretched thin, these Genoese warriors, led by their captain Giovanni Giustiniani, had held the Turks at bay for two months.
Through the third assault of the day, the Genoese had performed impeccably, and the smell of victory was beginning to waft through the defenses. At that very moment, however, just as the fourth and final assault was commencing, Giustiniani was shot. Wounded, Giustiniani commanded his troops to evacuate him from the city. Either because of a miscommunication or because they were afraid they could not succeed without Giustiniani, all 700 Genoese abandoned the walls and left the most vulnerable defenses unprotected.
Seeing their opportunity, the Ottomans made their move before the city’s defenders could divert reinforcements, breaching the walls and taking the city. Mehmed would later make Constantinople the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Ultimately, Constantinople fell because it didn’t have the resources to defend itself effectively.
Couldn't chew gum and walk at the same time?
It repeatedly pleaded with Christian rulers across Europe for help repelling the Ottoman army. Most of the West’s caterwauling kings and nobles, however, had been too busy with their domestic concerns, dynastic infighting, and petty jealousies to bother sending support. As a result, a mere 700 men, or in reality, one man, were the only things that had protected what was seen as the Christian bulwark against the Muslim menace in the east. When they (or he) fell, the city fell.
There are lessons to be had from the kings’ and nobles’ inaction. How many times have you heard pro-lifers say they can’t vote for Trump because they feel he’s soft on abortion? Or free-market advocates say they can’t vote for Trump because he supports tariffs? Or someone who says he won’t vote because everyone’s corrupt?
We all know Trump is flawed. But the reality is that we’re all flawed. We know more about Trump’s flaws because he spends so much time talking—and the media spend so much time talking about him. I dare anyone to speak for a fraction of the time Trump does and not leave a trail of breadcrumbs that the propaganda ministry can’t use to paint you as Satan.