#and it pisses me off how vlad's brilliance was reduced to a personal vendetta

[coffeewithcutcaffeine]

Okay, but here is the thing with Vlad Dracula:

I know that there is this popular notion that the war in 1462 and the subsequent famous night attack at Târgoviște was Vlad’s own risky endeavour to settle personal beef with Mehmed once and for all. No matter if painted as a hero or a villain, we see this vengeful guy who cannot stop thinking about his past issues with Mehmed (and the country he represents) and keeps looking for the right opportunity to start provoking the Sultan and settle the personal conflict.

I know, I know. It adds the angst, the flavour. However, it’s not only a very incorrect way of looking at Vlad’s character and the pretext of the war, but it also takes away from his brilliance as a ruler and a strategist.

First and foremost, Vlad was a voivode of an entire country. As the ruler of the land, the fate of Wallachia fell on his shoulders. Any sovereign has to detach himself from any personal feelings and conflicts and put the matters of the state first. Vlad was not only a highly intelligent man, but his rule was definitely marked by ambitious reforms to push the country forward. To wage a war just to settle personal issues would be an insanity, a sure way to not only dig his own grave but to dig a grave of the entire country as well.

Also, we do in fact know what Vlad’s role and motives were regarding this war, and we should not omit those facts. The war of 1462 was the planned Step One of a much larger Crusade. Vlad knew the Ottomans well, knew the risks that the Wallachian attack would bring, but he was promised significant help from another, much stronger state. He was needed for his knowledge and skills. He really took the big step forward only when the help was promised.

Especially from the preserved correspondence addressed to Matthias Corvinus, we can easily tell that Vlad kept his side of the deal and was persistent on making others stick to their promises as well:

You know that our land is a neighbour to your land... You also may have heard that the Sultan has set up a huge army against us. If this land of ours is subjugated, please, realise that they will not stay content with our land but will immediately make war on you, and the inhabitants of your land will suffer great misfortunes at their hands. So now is the time: by helping us, you really help yourself by stopping their army far from your own land and by not allowing them to destroy our land and harm and oppress us.

Maybe it’s time people stopped showing Vlad as an angry, angsty avenger who pushed his country into a freaking war just to kick the Sultan’s ass out of personal issues. Let’s show it instead for what it really was — an opportunity to change the politics of the time, with Vlad being one of the most important links of the campaign. And let’s show the personal nature of the events for what it was, too — a man who stayed true to his words, did what he had promised to do (and did so valiantly), and then was betrayed by those who promised him aid.

(Also, his subsequent imprisonment and the whole slander campaign obviously shows that he was devoted to the cause and to staying loyal to the allies, but the allies had to get rid of him fast because his involvement was becoming too inconvenient.)