odd surrenders

[Pellaken]

So, I was watching some Babylon 5.
One of the plot elements is the Earth-Minbari war.
In it, we end up in a war with aliens that are much stronger than us.
On the verge of their victory, they suddenly surrender to us.

I am writing my own sci fi stories.
In it, we humans have an alien race that is our traditional enemy.
That alien race gets into a fight with a more powerful race.
To protect themselves, they surrender, not to them, but to us.


I'm curious what real history "odd surrenders" there have been. Have either of the above two cases happened in real life? have there been any other strange occurrences during wartime? I know once Russia pulled out of a war they were winning against the Prussians, due to a leadership change in Russia.

I am curious about all such things.

 

[Cynical Dreamer]

One that comes to mind is Russia's peace treaty with Prussia when they were on the verge of winning during the Seven Years War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_House_of_Brandenburg.

 

[profxyz]

Some Chinese examples:

For your first case, if you believe some of the more nationalistic accounts of the Sino-French war of the 1880s, this was what happened after the Chinese performed well against the French in that war. Certainly the First Opium War was that from the Qing Chinese point of view, with Hong Kong Island being ceded at the Convention of Chuanbi after the 'failed' (more like abandoned) 1st British attack on Canton. The negotiator who negotiated that treaty, without the knowledge of the Qing court, was banished to Ninguta for his transgression, the Emperor believing that the British had been 'repelled' for good.

Then there was the Convention of Chanyuan, where a faltering Liao attack on the Yellow River valley was basically saved by the Song deciding to pay tribute and become a sort-of lesser partner to the Liao Empire. The Treaty of Shaoxing, where the Southern Song was on the verge of reconquering all territory lost to the Jin Empire (under Yue Fei) before they suddenly agreed to become a vassal of the Jin, is another example.

For your second case, the Southern Xiong-Nu became a protectorate of the Han Dynasty of China in the late 0 BC in order to protect themselves from attacks by the Northern Xiong-Nu. There is also the case where the State of Han owned a citadel (Shangdang) which was under attack by the State of Qin. Knowing that Han did not have the power to hold off against Qin indefinitely, Han ceded the citadel to the neighboring state of Zhao. This caused Qin to attack Zhao - which led up to one of the bloodiest wars of the ancient era, the Battle of Changping.

 

[joak]

The Mongolians withdrawing from central Europe on the death of the Khan probably looked a lot like the Babylon 5 scenario from the point of view of many of their victims--a mysterious, unexplained withdrawal. (OT: "The Mongoliad" is a novel that "explains" the events leading up to this in more detail. So little is known I don't think it contradicts the record, though it's totally unrealistic and meant to be.)

Too common to be really interesting, but in many cases a besieging army would just give up for reasons that had little to do with the defenders. One is given a miraculous spin in the Bible when the enemy (Assyrians?) were slain "by the angel of death", presumably a disease that hit the besieging army.

These are withdrawals. Actual surrenders? I'm drawing a blank.

Edit: There is John Lackland's (ie, King John of England) total surrender to the papacy. Not much to do with an army but definitely weird; look it up for more details.

 

[Lord Finnish]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sveaborg

 

[trybald]

Battle of Halys River, 585 BC which ended the war between Medes and Lydians. According to Herodotus, the battle was interrupted by a solar eclipse. Both sides immediately surrendered and agreed to a truce.

 

[Narwhal]

In 1402, Constantinople had been sieged for 8 years now by Bayezid I. Then suddenly the siege was lifted - Bayezid was marching to the East again Timur's army...

A bit comparable : in the 1390ies, the Balkanic Christian states [at least Wallachia which I know best] were fighting the same Bayezid. In 1397 the Ottomans suddenly end their raids [due to situation in Anatolia, and focus on Constantinople]. A few years later, the Ottomans propose Wallachia a mild vassalage and alliance out of the blue. "Oh well, I may as well take it", said Mircea Ier...

 

[Pellaken]

Some Chinese examples:

For your first case, if you believe some of the more nationalistic accounts of the Sino-French war of the 1880s, this was what happened after the Chinese performed well against the French in that war. Certainly the First Opium War was that from the Qing Chinese point of view, with Hong Kong Island being ceded at the Convention of Chuanbi after the 'failed' (more like abandoned) 1st British attack on Canton. The negotiator who negotiated that treaty, without the knowledge of the Qing court, was banished to Ninguta for his transgression, the Emperor believing that the British had been 'repelled' for good.

Then there was the Convention of Chanyuan, where a faltering Liao attack on the Yellow River valley was basically saved by the Song deciding to pay tribute and become a sort-of lesser partner to the Liao Empire. The Treaty of Shaoxing, where the Southern Song was on the verge of reconquering all territory lost to the Jin Empire (under Yue Fei) before they suddenly agreed to become a vassal of the Jin, is another example.

For your second case, the Southern Xiong-Nu became a protectorate of the Han Dynasty of China in the late 0 BC in order to protect themselves from attacks by the Northern Xiong-Nu. There is also the case where the State of Han owned a citadel (Shangdang) which was under attack by the State of Qin. Knowing that Han did not have the power to hold off against Qin indefinitely, Han ceded the citadel to the neighboring state of Zhao. This caused Qin to attack Zhao - which led up to one of the bloodiest wars of the ancient era, the Battle of Changping.

These are good.

Many of the other examples are stopping attacks, and not surrenders. The third one in particular interests me. I'll look in to it more.

 

[Amallric]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sveaborg

Very interesting event, I didn't know about it. This is really a strange surrender.

 

[Yakman]

hundreds of Iraqi Army soldiers surrendered to unarmed reporters during the First Gulf War.

 

[Plank of Wood]

Maybe not in the same vein as what everyone else is looking for/suggesting, but a French Calvary regiment once captured a Dutch fleet while it was at sea.

 

[Swamp Rat]

So, I was watching some Babylon 5.
One of the plot elements is the Earth-Minbari war.
In it, we end up in a war with aliens that are much stronger than us.
On the verge of their victory, they suddenly surrender to us.

I am unfamiliar with the terms being used here. Who are those "us" that you speak of?

 

[Rey]

Maybe not in the same vein as what everyone else is looking for/suggesting, but a French Calvary regiment once captured a Dutch fleet while it was at sea.

Amazing..

 

[krieger11b]

hundreds of Iraqi Army soldiers surrendered to unarmed reporters during the First Gulf War.

Not really odd considering that their Army was soundly beaten, in very poor supply, many without food or water, bombed day and night for a long period of time and Saddam wasn't the most liked dictator in history, so outside the Republic Guard the moral was complete crap.

Battle of Halys River, 585 BC which ended the war between Medes and Lydians. According to Herodotus, the battle was interrupted by a solar eclipse. Both sides immediately surrendered and agreed to a truce.

This fits the Membari surrender the best since both were done purely on religious reasons.

 

[Graf Zeppelin]

Amazing..

+1

 

[Yakman]

Not really odd considering that their Army was soundly beaten, in very poor supply, many without food or water, bombed day and night for a long period of time and Saddam wasn't the most liked dictator in history, so outside the Republic Guard the moral was complete crap.

it's more the surrendering to the camera crews rather than just running for their lives that was astonishing.

also, it was hundreds of guys at a time in some of the more extreme instances.

 

[krieger11b]

it's more the surrendering to the camera crews rather than just running for their lives that was astonishing.

also, it was hundreds of guys at a time in some of the more extreme instances.

Running for their lives without fuel, water, or food to a country who's leader will punish them and their families isn't the greatest idea ever. However it was funny as hell. A group along the Gulf Coast surrendered to a very early version of a UAV that was launched from one of the Iowa class Battleships that was being used to help aim their gunfire.

 

[Rubidium]

Slightly different, but it was fairly common during the Middle Ages for a besieged castle to make an agreement with the besiegers that it would surrender if not relieved (often defined as "an allied army arrives within X distance") by a certain date. This allowed both the besiegers and besieged to avoid having to press the siege as hard, and also protected the castle's inhabitants from a sack.

The Battle of Bannockburn for instance, was a failed effort to relieve Stirling Castle, which was under such an agreement.

 

[unmerged(31881)]

The Mongolians withdrawing from central Europe on the death of the Khan probably looked a lot like the Babylon 5 scenario from the point of view of many of their victims--a mysterious, unexplained withdrawal. (OT: "The Mongoliad" is a novel that "explains" the events leading up to this in more detail. So little is known I don't think it contradicts the record, though it's totally unrealistic and meant to be.)

Too common to be really interesting, but in many cases a besieging army would just give up for reasons that had little to do with the defenders. One is given a miraculous spin in the Bible when the enemy (Assyrians?) were slain "by the angel of death", presumably a disease that hit the besieging army.

These are withdrawals. Actual surrenders? I'm drawing a blank.

Edit: There is John Lackland's (ie, King John of England) total surrender to the papacy. Not much to do with an army but definitely weird; look it up for more details.

Regarding the Assyrians: if it's the same one i'm thinking of then it was a surrender, complete with humiliating public ceremony of capitulation and triumphal monument left behind to declare the victory of the Assyrians.

Enough time passes and you could (re-)write a situation to an "odd surrender"/withdrawal if it suits sci-fi-story purposes.

 

[joak]

Regarding the Assyrians: if it's the same one i'm thinking of then it was a surrender, complete with humiliating public ceremony of capitulation and triumphal monument left behind to declare the victory of the Assyrians.

The Assyrian victor was a different event, a few decades or three after the siege I described IIRC.