Attila

Attila (ətĭl`ə, ăt`ələ), d. 453, king of the Huns (445–53). After 434 he was coruler with his brother, whom he murdered in 445. In 434, Attila obtained tribute and great concessions for the Huns in a treaty with the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II, but, taking advantage of Roman wars with the Vandals and Persians, he invaded the Balkans in 441. Peace was made, and Attila's tribute was tripled. In 447 he again attacked the empire and spent the following three years negotiating a new peace. In 450, however, the new Eastern emperor, Marcian, refused to render further tribute as did Valentinian III, emperor of the West. In a bid for power, and without her brother's knowledge, Valentinian's ambitious sister, Honoria, jeopardized his peaceful relations with Attila by attempting an alliance with the Hun. Attila took her proposal as a marriage offer and demanded half of the Western Empire as a dowry, a demand that was refused. Leaving Hungary with an army of perhaps half a million Huns and allies, Attila invaded Gaul but was defeated (451) by Aetius at Maurica. Attila turned back and invaded (452) N Italy but abandoned his plan to take Rome itself. His withdrawal, often ascribed to the eloquent diplomacy of Pope Leo I, appears to have been motivated by a shortage of provisions and the outbreak of pestilence. Soon afterward in Hungary, Attila died of a nasal hemorrhage suffered while celebrating his marriage to Ildico. The fear Attila inspired is clear from many accounts of his savagery, but, though undoubtedly harsh, he was a just ruler to his own people. He encouraged the presence of learned Romans at his court and was far less bent on devastation than other conquerors. Often called the Scourge of God, he appears in many legends, particularly as Etzel in the Nibelungenlied (see under Nibelungen).

Bibliography

See C. D. Gordon, The Age of Attila (1960); O. Maenchen-Helfen, The World of the Huns (1973).

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Attila

(died 453) King of the Huns (434–53, ruling jointly with his elder brother until c. 445). He was one of the greatest of the barbarian rulers who assailed the Roman Empire. He and his brother Bleda inherited an empire that stretched from the Alps and the Baltic nearly to the Caspian Sea. The failure of the Romans to pay promised tributes prompted Attila to launch assaults along the Danube in 441 and 443. He murdered his brother in 445 and two years later invaded the Balkan provinces and Greece, a campaign later ended by another peace treaty that exacted heavy damages from the Eastern Romans. He invaded Gaul (451) but was defeated by an alliance of the Roman general Aetius and the Visigoths. His invasion of Italy (452) was ended by famine and plague. His depredations, which seemed to some like divine punishment, earned him the epithet Flagellum Dei (“Scourge of God”). Attila died on his wedding night, possibly murdered by his bride. His sons took control of his empire, which collapsed shortly after Attila's death.

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Attila

?406--453 ad, king of the Huns, who devastated much of the Roman Empire, invaded Gaul in 451 ad, but was defeated by the Romans and Visigoths at Châlons-sur-Marne

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Attila

(d. 453) king of Huns. [Eur. Hist.: NCE, 182]

See : Conquerors

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Attila

code name for the plan of the fascist German command for the preventative seizure of the so-called unoccupied zone of France. Operation Attila was designed to meet the contingency of the loss of control by the French Vichy government over its North African possessions; the objective of the operation was to prevent the transfer of the French naval fleet in the Mediterranean and of the French air force to the side of the English and Americans or to a separatist French military administration in North Africa. As a result of Hitler’s Directive Number 19 of Dec. 10, 1940, Operation Attila, the fascist German command undertook the necessary preparatory measures. Plan Attila was replaced in May 1942 by Plan Anton, which, in contrast to Attila, stipulated the participation of the Italian armed forces in the occupation. In accordance with this plan, German and Italian troops occupied the entire territory of France, including the island of Corsica, on Nov. 11–12, 1942.