The birth of Vlad III and his father Vlad II was preceded by centuries of conflicts between Muslims and Christians, known as the Crusades
In 1408 the order of the Dragon Crusaders was formed to defend Catholicism against Ottoman Muslims and Orthodox Christians
Vlad III is one of the most difficult characters in history because of the Association of this name with many legends, it is difficult to distinguish between truth and fiction in telling his story
In Romania and Bulgaria, people consider him a national hero and the only one who could stand up to the Ottoman state in its power, and others see him as a war criminal who killed women, children and elders using a stake and was eating bread mixed with the blood of his victims, and his bloody stories were inspired the Irish writer (Bram Stoker Bram Stoker) his famous novel (Dracula).
Sigismund's Attempt to Control Wallachia
In the old days, the Ottoman state was a constant headache in the head of Europe, and there was such a buffer material between the Ottomans and Europe called the Wallachia region, and this region was like an oil layer that prevents the friction of the Ottomans with the Hungarians, and one of them had to control this territory not necessarily by military intervention, but it is enough that the ruler of Wallachia to be under the control of the ruler of the Ottoman state or the ruler of Hungary.
It was agreed that the ruler of Wallachia would let his son Vlad II grow up and be raised in Budapest, the capital of the kingdom of Hungary, under the eye of Sigismund the ruler of Hungary, in order to ensure that he would not betray the ruler of Wallachia.
However, the matter did not go well for Sigismund because he suffered from keeping the ruler of Wallachia on the throne because he was excluded from the rule of Wallachia twice and Sigismund intervened twice militarily to keep him on the rule of Wallachia until he died in 1418.
Sigismund thought that this was an opportunity for Vlad II, who took care of his upbringing and loyalty, to rule Wallachia, but there is a civil war broke out in Wallachia happend that lasts 18 years from 1418 to 1436, 5 rulers ruled Wallachia in succession because of that war, but it was an opportunity for Vlad II to learn many things about governing.
At first, the relationship between Sigismund and Vlad II was logical, as was any relationship between a prisoner and a jailer, but over time the relationship between them differed, and over time, Sigismund start treats Prince Vlad II as one of his sons.
After a while Sigismund called Vlad II by the name "Dracul" and is a word meaning dragon and means that officially Vlad II became a member of the Dragon organization "Order of the Dragon"
This organization includes the most important Christian knights, and their task is to prevent the Ottomans from acquiring more meters from Europe.
Peace Treaty
In 1434, Sigismund decided to get rid of the ruler of Wallachia, who, by the way, was one of Vlad II brothers, and this is because the ruler of Wallachia decided to change the policy that his father was following and decided to join Sultan Murad II, The Sultan of the Ottoman state, and signed a peace agreement with him, one of the most important conditions of which is that the territory of Wallachia now becomes the disposal of the Ottoman state.
In 1436 Vlad II invaded the territory of Wallachia with an army supported by Hungary and became the ruler and canceled the peace treaty between Wallachia and the Ottoman state and Sultan Murad II considered the cancellation of the agreement as a declaration of war and actually prepared a large army and headed to the territory of Wallachia and unfortunately for Vlad II, King Sigismund dies and Hungary intervened in a state of political division and conflict over governance.
Vlad II soon imposed loyalty and obedience to Sultan Murad II and let the Ottoman army pass from his land to Hungary, but the Hungarians defeated the Ottoman army and Vlad II became an enemy of Hungary, but Vlad II soon apologized to the ruler of Hungary.
Vlad III "Dracula"
In 1442, a peace treaty took place between Vlad II and the ruler of the Transylvania region, "John Hunyadi", and this territory is the same as the territory of Wallachia, but under the control of Hungary.
But the Ottomans were greedy for Transylvania and decided to intervene militarily to take possession of it with the help of Vlad II, but Vlad II refused to fight with them, but he agreed that the Ottoman army would pass through Wallachia.
After Vlad II refused to join the army of the Ottomans, Murad II had to order to cut his neck, but Murad II returned him to Wallachia with 3 conditions.
The first: the pledge that he would not stand against the interest of the Ottomans in eastern Europe.
The second is to send every year 500 children from large families in Wallachia to join the Janissaries, which means the Special Forces of the Ottomans.
The third : to send two of his sons to reside at the court of the Ottoman state under the eyes of Murad II, and Vlad II actually sent his son Radu, aged 7, and the other is Vlad III, aged 11, who was laterly named Dracula, which means son of the dragon, because his father, Vlad II, was called Dracul, which means Dragon.
Unjustified Folly
The two brothers were completely opposite to each other in character and appearance, Radu was good-natured and handsome and loved the Turks, unlike his brother Vlad III, his features were dry and he did not like the Turks, but he did not show it.
The two were friends of Mehmed II, the son of Murad II and the Crown Prince of the Ottoman Sultan, but Radu was getting closer to Mehmed II for his love for him, and Vlad III was getting closer to him because he was his enemy and he was thinking that he should study his enemy well.
Meanwhile, Vlad II committed the strangest folly in history, allied with John Hunyadi, the governor of the Transylvanian province, and decided to go to war against the Ottoman state, but they were defeated.
Vlad II again went to Murad II to apologize to him and make him see his sons, but John Hunyadi considered this a betrayal of Vlad II and declared war on him.
Vlad II was later killed by John Hunyadi and Wladyslaw was appointed governor of Wallachia by John Hunyadi.
John Hunyadi and Wladyslaw Rebellion
John Hunyadi and Wladyslaw formed an army and continued to oppose the Ottomans, dared and penetrated and became on the outskirts of the capital Kosovo.
He was 17 years old when Murat II sent Vlad III "Dracula" and put his hand on his shoulder and hugged him and began to tell him how John Hunyadi managed to kill his father and his family in the most terrible ways and how he drank their blood and mutilated their bodies, and this to ensure Dracula's loyalty to him and also to take control of the two most important dividing areas between him and Europe.
Murad II divided the army in half, half with Dracula and their goal was to invade Wallachia and seat Dracula on the throne, and the other half with him to repel the attack of John Hunyadi and Wladyslaw.
Of course, the troops of John Hunyadi and Wladyslaw were trampled in the famous Battle of Kosovo, and Murad II could not identify the bodies of John Hunyadi and Wladyslaw Because of the large number of people killed.
At the same time, Vlad III actually entered Wallachia and sat on its throne, but they were all surprised that Wladyslaw was not killed, but somehow he survived and managed to form an army that entered Wallachia and expelled Vlad III and returned again to Murad II and Wladyslaw actually became the ruler of Wallachia.
John Hunyadi later will be the Prince of Hungary, but what happened to him in the Kosovo war will not be easily forgotten by the Hungarians and they will not see John Hunyadi only as a defeated man who fled and surrendered during the war
A Break in Dracula's Life
Wladyslaw found himself in the same position as Vlad II between the jaws of the lion on his left the Ottoman state and on his right Hungary, both of which coveted the territory of Wallachia.
It made sense for Wladyslaw to throw himself into the arms of the Hungarians, but Wladyslaw's advisers pointed out to him an idea of sending a letter to Murad II with including just two words : " your requests? "
When Vlad III learned of the negotiations taking place between the Ottomans and Wladyslaw, and And because politics is a dirty game he fled to his uncle, the ruler of Moldova, thinking that Murad II would hand him over to Wladyslaw.
Dracula lived for 3 years, they were actually the happiest 3 years in his life or maybe the calmest 3 years in his life the 3 years were like a break at halftime of a football match because the second half began after the death of the two most important characters in Dracula's life at that time, the first was his uncle, the ruler of Moldova in a military coup organized by his half-brother, and the second was Sultan Murad II and after him ruled his son Mehmet II, who grew up with Dracula or who would later be known historically as Mehmed the Conqueror.
Conquest of Constantinople
The days pass and the year 1453 comes so that Mehmed II could open Constantinople, which all leaders throughout Islamic history have been unable to open, and therefore he was named Mohammed the Conqueror by occasion.
Constantinople was the last fortress of Europe and especially the Hungarians in front of the Ottoman state, you can imagine the horror that befell the whole of Europe after the conquest of Constantinople and its control by Mehmed II.
Now John Hunyadi has become the ruler of Hungary and, of course, Wladyslaw, the governor of the territory of Wallachia, will run to Muhammad II and offer fealty and obedience to him, so what does John Hunyadi do?.
And because politics is a dirty game, as we said earlier, John Hunyadi allied with Vlad III," Dracula, " the man who once promised Murat II that he would only calm down when he drank from John Hunyadi's blood.
John Hunyadi believed that Dracula is the ideal alternative to Wladyslaw, someone who is able to lead the next confrontation for sure against the Ottomans, someone who is fully aware of the Ottomans because he trained and grew up with them, and also John Hunyadi can guarantee Vlad III's seat on the throne of Wallachia and that is the most important thing for Vlad III.
Siege of Belgrade
An agreement was made between John Hunyadi and Vlad III, and in the year 1456, 3 years after the conquest of Constantinople, and in front of the walls of the city of Belgrade, both armies lined up.
Vlad III's role was to prevent the forces of Wladyslaw from catching up with the forces of Mehmed II, while John Hunyadi's role was to break the siege imposed by the Ottomans around the city and enter it to strengthen its defense, John Hunyadi's mission was, in the eyes of people it's a suicide mission, but in a coincidence that would not be repeated he did it, Mehmed II's forces had to break their siege of Belgrade and withdraw, and Vlad III's joy was not completed, so As a result of the Ottoman siege and due to malnutrition and rotting corpses, The Plague struck Belgrade and one of the most important victims of this epidemic was the ally John Hunyadi.
Here, the speed of decision-making was the most important thing, Vlad III did not withdraw, but penetrated into Wallachia until he met with Wladyslaw and the closest story is that he asked him to duel for the throne and Vlad III succeeded in killing Wladyslaw and thus Vlad III ascended the throne of Wallachia.
Dracula's Terrifying Law
As soon as Vlad III sat on the throne of Wallachia, he began to execute his opponents and his enemies, he did not hang them or cut off their heads with the guillotine, but he used to bring his spear of wood and put oil on its pointed end and hit the person's body with it, but the blow is in a place that does not kill at the moment, he beats him so that the pointed tooth penetrates the body Implemented from the other side of the person's body and lifts the spear straight so that the person remains suspended in the ultimate pain that You can imagine it in your life and he leave it to bleed to death.
This method of execution was called The impaling and because of it Vlad III in history called Vlad the Impaler.
As soon as Vlad III sat on the throne in 1457, he sent a letter to Mehmed the Conqueror informing him that he wanted a truce with the Ottomans in exchange for him paying 2000 gold coins as an annual tribute and allowing the Ottoman armies to cross his land at any time, this was not submission as much as he wanted to buy time for the massacre he intended to commit in Wallachia .
The streets of Wallachia were filled with blood, anyone who suspected Dracula of plotting against him was executed in the gruesome way that we mentioned before, he and his whole family, the application of this law was terrifying, if someone accused of murder was cut off his neck,if any women betrayed her nut, she would be skinned alive, if a peasant took a day off to be executed in the same gruesome way, in short, the life of the people of Wallachia under Dracula was hell.
It is said that once he saw that the bankers gave him a headache in his head and every time they told him that the country had debts and he did not need a brain ache, so he prepared a feast for them at lunch and while they were eating he went to the bathroom and closed the palace door on them and set fire to the whole palace.
It is said that once a delegation from the church came to him to visit Wallachia, and the priests of the delegation hinted to him that the church was angry at the way people were being executed, so he Quietly pointed to his guards., they took the priests and executed them in front of the people in the same way.
Enmity with the Ottomans
Although Vlad III "Dracula" was a bloody dictator, but you should know, dear reader, that the main problem of Wallachia was the corruption of the rich class or the ruling class who were ruling the country, and without them Wallachia would not became up for grabs coveted by Hungary and the Ottomans, so Vlad III had to get rid of them completely.
As mentioned before, in 1457, Vlad III pledged to send 2000 gold pieces to Muhammad the Conqueror, but now in 1461 Vlad III did not send the island for the last three years, so Muhammad the Conqueror sent a delegation of a general, two ambassadors and some soldiers to Vlad III in order to summon Vlad III to the court of Muhammad the Conqueror, so Dracula slaughtered the soldiers and executed the general and the ambassadors in the same way as Dracula's favorite execution method.
Dracula not only executed the apostles, but also committed many massacres and war crimes against the Ottoman villages located on the border with Wallachia.
Union of Pope Vatican and Vlad III
The whole of Europe was terrified after the conquest of Constantinople, and they believed that Muhammad the Conqueror did not calm down until he also entered Rome, that's mean the end of Catholic Christianity.
The mere possibility of this happening prompted Pope Pius II to finance Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire to carry out a crusade against the Ottoman state, but the Kings took the money and spent it on themselves, Which made the Pope feel hopeless.
At the same time, Vlad III wanted two things: the first was to keep the throne and the second was the money so that he could strengthen his army, and here the common interests of the pope and Vlad III converged, and the pope decided to finance Vlad III.
Dracula's defeat
Vlad III's attack on the Ottoman villages in 1462 made Mehmed the Conqueror himself lead an army of 70,000 fighters and 120 field artillery to eliminate Vlad III. Radu, Vlad III's brother, was among the commanders of the Ottoman army by the way.
Vlad III quickly ordered the evacuation of the cities of Wallachia and made their residents go to the mountains to take shelter and hide there. He burned those cities and poisoned the wells and rivers so that the Ottoman army would not benefit from them. This is what is now called the scorched earth policy, and this was the same strategy that the Soviets used. In order to somewhat disrupt the Nazi invasion of their land in World War II.
Vlad III with his army somehow or another managed to form systematic and random campaigns at the same time on some battalions of the Ottoman army and already succeeded in taking many captives, and he was not satisfied with this, and because he speaks fluent Turkish, he and some of his troops dressed in the clothes of the Ottoman captives and went to the camp of the Ottoman army, going to the tent of Mehmed the Conqueror, and he was able to reach the tent already, but he found it empty, and he did not found Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror on his tent, so he had no choice but to withdraw from Wallachia completely, and hiding in the mountains.
Muhammad the Conqueror marched with his army until he entered the capital of Wallachia, which is now the city of Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and when Muhammad the Conqueror arrived in Bucharest and he was shocked by the horror of what he saw there.
he found more than 20,000 impaled and bound corpses left for Muhammad the Conqueror to see by himself.
Mehmed the Conqueror left Radu as ruler of Wallachia and left some army with him to protect the city, and here Dracula went mad and learned at the same time that the king of Hungary Matthias Corvinus was marching with his army towards Wallachia to annex it to his country.
And here Vlad III sent to the king of Hungary that he would be his servant if he joined the army with him and made him return to rule Wallachia, so the king of Hungary agreed and when Vlad III joined him, Dracula was captured by the King of Hungary.
The End
Matthias Corvinus had forged Letters From Vlad III stating that he was writing to Muhammad the Conqueror to conspire with him against the pope, against Christianity and against the whole of Europe with the aim of seizing Rome, and strangely enough, the pope believed what the king of Hungary said .
The pope decided to ally with Matthias Corvinus to arrest Vlad III, and for 14 years he was imprisoned in the prison of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.
14 years a lot of things changed and Radu was removed from the rule of Wallachia by a military coup and strained the relationship between Vlad III's cousin Stephen and Mehmed the Conqueror, which made Matthias Corvinus in 1476 to break Vlad III's captivity and make him join an army with his cousin to eliminate the Ottoman state, but they were defeated by Mehmed the Conqueror and Dracula was killed on the battlefield.
At that time, Europe had discovered printing, and there were newspapers published weekly, and their task was to exaggerate the events in order to sell in large quantities, and one of the most important events at that time was the crimes committed by Dracula against his people, but there is another group that considers Dracula a national hero because he was fighting Christians, and it depends on Which row do you stand in ?..
The important thing is that Vlad III or Dracula was not a vampire, as we see in the movies, But he was just a historical figure who committed a horrific war crimes as people outside Romania see him., but inside Romania the topic is a little different.
You should know that Romania as a country consists of 3 parts-Moldova, Wallachia and Transylvania, during the 100 years after the death of Vlad III, you will find that Moldova and Wallachia became Ottoman provinces, while Transylvania remained independent until it found itself under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The 3 territories continued to seek independence until 1878 Moldova and Wallachia became independent from the Ottoman Empire and their name became Romania, and after the first World War ended and the Ottoman Empire totally died, Transylvania joined Romania
But the question is, what makes these people strive for more than 5 centuries to gain their independence.
You will find that they have found a historical figure who fought and died for pride, dignity and independence, and this, of course, from the point of view of the Romanians, because for them he is a national hero, just because he Stood in the face of the Ottomans.
What I want to say is that no one knew what would be said about you after your death, so you should leave everyone a good biography of you before your death to remember you forever, you are the one who decides how to tell your story when you die.
