CHAPTER (BLM) 4TURKIC STATES IN HISTORY-2 (TARHTEK BYK TRK
DEVLETLER)EUROPEAN HUN EMPIRESTRUCTURE OF EUROPE DURING THIS PERIOD
European Hun Empire established by Huns who were living in the
Caspian Region.In a very short time, they have left indelible marks
in the World history and formed the basis of the other great
Turkish Empires. Moreover, emergence of this state has great
significance in the European history. The demographic structure of
Europe was much more vague than the current structure before
European Huns were proceeding to Europe from the Caspian
Sea.European continent was consisting of the Roman Empire and the
other tribes called Barbarian Tribes such as Goths, Vandals,
Bulgars, Alans, Suebi, Frisians, and Franks, among other Germanic
and Slavic tribes.These tribes did not reach the level of an
empire.However, they did not leave their territory that they were
locating to the Roman administration.Due to the very weak
residential patterns and cultural values of these communities, they
were referred to as tribes.These tribes are the ancestors of the
countries of the todays European continent.
Roman Empire was divided into two parts as Western Roman Empire
and Eastern Roman Empire as a result of pressures and attacks of
these tribes to the Roman Empire.
Demographic structure of the region was affected significantly
as a result of Hunnic progress in Europe.History has recorded this
period as the Migration of Tribes.
EMERGENCE OF EUROPEAN HUNS After the collapsing of Great Hun
Empire, Turkish tribes started to settle firstly around the Aral
Sea.Then, they moved the region between the Ural and Volga
rivers.And, they settled there.
Recent research showed that Kama Tarkan was the first leader of
the European Hun Empire.He unified the Turkish tribes and
communities in that region and founded the state in 352.Kama Tarkan
ruled the state until 370 and became the major force around the
Caspian Sea.During his period, these tribes and communities became
more organized, structured and ordered as a new state.
BECOMING EMPIREBalamir became the leader of the Empire after the
death of Kama Tarkan.At the middle of the 4th century, they started
to migrate to the west again.In this period, they first overran the
Alani, who occupied the plains between the Volga and the Don
rivers.Then quickly overthrew the empire of the Ostrogoths between
the Don and the Dniester.
About 376 they defeated the Visigoths living in what is now
approximately Romania and thus arrived at the Danubian frontier of
the Roman Empire.
ATTILA - THE HUNThe European Hun Empire had its most glamorous
period when Attila was leading the Empire.He was the 19th
generation grandson of Great Hun Emperor Mete Han.
The mass migration of the Huns into Europe, led by Attila,
brought with it great ethnic and political upheaval. During his
rule, he was one of the most fearsome of the Roman Empire's
enemies.His empire stretched from the Netherlands to the Ural River
and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea.
Some histories lionize Attila as a great and noble king, and he
plays major roles in three Norse sagas. He reigned over what was
then Europe's largest empire, from 434 until his death.
Attila had further increased pressure on the Eastern Roman
during this period.Eastern Roman Emperor who could not resist to
this pressure, was forced to leave the Middle Danube to Huns.As a
result of East Rome's unwillingness to pay the annual tax to the
Huns, Attila organized a campaign to the Eastern Roman
Empire.Thereupon the Emperor Theodosius II, was forced to sue for
peace (447).In accordance with the Treaty Anatolios; Eastern Roman
(Byzantine), agreed to keep their soldiers in the south of the
Danube;they had to pay war reparations ,and annual tax became
tripled.
After proving his authority on the Eastern Roman as a result of
this treaty, Attila decided to organize another campaign to the
Western Roman.He marched through France as far as Orleans before
being turned back at Chalons (451).A year later, he crossed the
Alps with a large army and came to the Po plain.
He conquered the northern Italian cities (Aquileia, Verona,
Vincentia, Milano), so the road to Rome was open.Although Ravenna
was Emporer Valentinian III's usual residence, he and the court
eventually moved back to Rome, where he was as Attila
approached.Valentinian sent Pope Leo I and two leading senators to
negotiate with Attila.The Pope asked Attila for not destroying to
the city and not killing the people on behalf of the Emperor and
whole Christian world.
Attila did not want to give any damage to Roma that was an
ancient center of civilization and Christian World and he increased
the taxes and returned back after his meeting with the Pope.As a
result of this campaign, Attila showed his authority on Western
Roman Empire.
DEATH AND LEGACY OF ATTILAAttila left Italy and returned to his
palace across the Danube. From there, he planned to strike at
Constantinople again and reclaim the tribute which Marcian had cut
off. (Marcian was the successor of Theodosius and had ceased paying
tribute in late 450 while Attila was occupied in the west).Before
this planned attack, he wanted to get married to a German girl
named ldiko. On the night after a feast celebrating, he suffered a
severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor.
An alternative theory is that he succumbed to internal bleeding
after heavy drinking.Another story of his death, first recorded
eighty years after the fact by the Roman chronicler Count
Marcellinus, reports that Attila, King of the Huns and ravager of
the provinces of Europe, was pierced by the hand and blade of his
wifeThe Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda also claim that Attila
died at the hands of his wife, Gudrun.Another theory suggests that
Byzantine Emperor Marcian hired assassins to kill Attila.Legend
says that he was laid to rest in a triple coffin made of gold,
silver, and iron, along with various goods of his conquests. His
men diverted a section of the Tisza Riva, buried the coffin under
the riverbed, and then were killed to keep the exact location a
secret.
The Huns contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire yet
Rome's internal squabbles and disunity was also a major factor in
their success, enabling them to invade as far as the gates of
Rome.The Roman Empire referred Attila as God's scourge suggesting
that he was an instrument of divine punishment for the iniquities
of the Roman Empire, which at the time was disunited and
self-indulgent.In the West, Attila's name has become a byword for
cruelty and barbarism. Some of this may have arisen from confusion
between him and later steppe warlords, such as Genghis Khan and
Tamerlane.The reality of his character is probably more complex.
The historical context of Attila's life played a large part in
determining his later public image: in the waning years of the
western Empire, his conflicts with Aetius (often called the "last
of the Romans") and the strangeness of his culture both helped
dress him in the mask of the ferocious barbarian and enemy of
civilization, as he has been portrayed in any number of films and
other works of art. The Germanic epics in which he appears offer
more nuanced depictions: he is both a noble and generous ally, as
Etzel in the Nibelungenlied,
and a cruel miser, as Atli in the Volsunga Saga and the Poetic
Edda.
Attilas reputation in the East differs from the traditional
Western image of barbarism. After the empire's demise, Huns settled
in Eastern Europe where Attila is regarded as a brave and
courageous hero. He was offered a sympathetic portrait of Attila as
a wise and beloved leader.
The European Hun Empire did not outlive Attila by much more than
a decade.The quick collapse of the Hunnic empire was mainly due to
the difficulty of perpetuating a polity designed for constant
warfare that was ill suited for administering an extensive
territory. For their part, the Romans knew how to administer a vast
territory but were neglecting this due to their "internal
decay.".
Thank you for your attentionmy dear students.