U.S. Military Wars & Conflicts
Wars and Armed Conflicts have been an almost constant ocurrance throughout U.S. history. It seems there are always tyrants with a bulls eye painted on their heads that the U.S. Government is chasing (and using as a poster child to help finance the military complex). One of the best quotes of recent years was on a billboard in Houston, Texas. It was advertising an American Civil War exhibit at a local museum and simply asked: “What were we Thinking?” Now that pretty much sums it up…
18th Century Wars and Armed Conflicts
Involving the U.S. (Total = 6)
The American Revolution, also known as the U.S. War of Independence, lasted from 1775 to 1783. The conflict started from tensions and disagreements between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and their colonial government, which was representing the British crown.
The Chickamunga Wars lasted from 1776 to 1794 and were a continuation of the Cherokee (''Ani-Yunwiya'', ''Ani-Kituwa'', ''Tsalagi'', ''Talligewi'') struggles against encroachment into their territory (southwestern frontier territories of the United States) by American frontiersmen from the former British colonies. The conflict resulted in a series of ambushes, campaigns, minor skirmishes, raids and several full-scale frontier battles.
Northwest Indian War [also known as Little Turtle’s War] (1785–1793)
The Northwest Indian War was also known as Little Turtle's War lasted from 1785 to 1795. It was a between the United States and a confederation of numerous Native Indian tribes, with minor support from the British, for control of the Northwest Territory. It followed many years of conflict over this territory, first among Native American tribes, and then with the added shifting alliances among the tribes and the European powers: France, Great Britain, and their colonials.
Shays’ Rebellion was fought during 1786 and 1787 in the Massachusetts countryside. It was a result of the monetary debt (economic) crisis that resulted from the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army and state militia veterans received very little reimbursement for their military service. Continental Army Captain Daniel Shays led an armed uprising against debt collection in Massachusetts. Shays' Rebellion highlighted the weakness of the nation’s finances and the national government and forced a reform to the Articles of Confederation. The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 resulted in the Constitution of the United States and the election of George Washington as the first president of the United States.
The Whiskey Rebellion began in 1791 (possibly earlier) and lasted until 1794. It was an uprising of settlers in western Pennsylvania that were rebelling against liquor taxes. It was the first time that the new U.S. Federal government was able to establish federal authority by military means within state boundaries.
Quasi-War [Associated with the French Revolutionary Wars] (1798–1800)
The Quasi-War lasted from 1798 to 1800 and was an undeclared naval war between the United States and France while President John Adams was in office. It was escalated by the XYZ Affair and ended when French politics changed direction after Napoleon came into power.
19th Century Wars and Armed Conflicts
Involving the U.S. (Total = 63)
First Barbary War [Associated with the Barbary Wars] (1801–1805)
The First Barbary War (1801–1805) was also known as the Tripolitanian War and the Barbary Coast War, and was the first of two Barbary Wars between the United States, Sweden and the four North African states known collectively as the "Barbary States". Three of these were nominal provinces of the Ottoman Empire, but in practice autonomous: Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis. The fourth was the independent Sultanate of Morocco. The cause of the war was pirates from the Barbary States seizing American merchant ships and holding the crews for ransom, demanding the U.S. pay tribute to the Barbary rulers. United States President Thomas Jefferson refused to pay this tribute, in addition Sweden had been at war with the Tripolitans since 1800.
German Coast Uprising (1811)
The German Coast Uprising of 1811 was a revolt of black slaves in parts of the Territory of Orleans on January 8–10, 1811. The uprising occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what are now St. John the Baptist and St. Charles Parishes, Louisiana. While the slave insurgency was the largest in US history, the rebels killed only two white men. Confrontations with militia and executions after trial killed 95 black people. White men led by officials of the territory formed militia companies to hunt down and kill the insurgents. Over the next two weeks, white planters and officials interrogated, tried and executed an additional 44 insurgents who had been captured. Executions were generally by hanging or firing squad, with some dismembering of the remains. Heads were displayed on pikes to intimidate other slaves.
Tecumseh's War or Tecumseh's Rebellion was a conflict between the United States Army and an American Indian confederacy led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in the Indiana Territory. Although the war is often considered to have climaxed with William Henry Harrison's victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Tecumseh's War essentially continued into the War of 1812, and is frequently considered a part of that larger struggle. The war lasted for two more years, until the fall of 1813, when Tecumseh, as well as second-in-command Roundhead died fighting Harrison's Army of the Northwest at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada, near present-day Chatham, Ontario, and his confederacy disintegrated. Tecumseh's War is viewed by some academic historians as being the final conflict of a longer term military struggle for control of the Great Lakes region of North America, encompassing a number of wars over several generations, referred to as the Sixty Years' War.
The Patriot War was an armed conflict that occurred before and during the War of 1812 in Spanish East Florida. The United States unwisely, covertly and illegally attempted to eradicate Spanish authority and control over East Florida and seize the territory. Since the Patriot War was fought on a regional scale and did not include any legendary generals or fabled battles it has been virtually forgotten in U.S. history. Florida was a Spanish colony during the time of the Patriot War and was divided into two sections: West and East Florida. When the War of 1812 began, the Madison administration withdrew its tacit support of the Patriots; Madison did not want Spain to ally with Great Britain in the larger conflict because of events in East Florida. The Patriot War was a military and political debacle that was embarrassing to the Madison Administration within the U.S. and was internationally discreditable to early U.S. foreign policy. The Madison administration used filibustering (19th century irregular military adventurers who claimed to be acting on behalf of U.S. interests while seeking and engaging in conflicts with nations in which the U.S. was at peace) and exploited boundary disputes between East Florida and Georgia in an attempt to seize Spanish territory.
The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Great Britain. The British restricted the American trade since they feared it was negatively effecting their ongoing war with France. They also wanted to set up an Indian state in the Midwest in order to maintain their influence in the region and prevent the United States from expanding westward. Contrary to popular belief, the United States did not win this war as in ended in a stalemate with the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent. No territory was lost or gained and it was bankrupting both nations.
The Creek War was fought from 1813 to 1814 and resulted in U.S. victory over Creek Indians, who were British allies during the War of 1812. The Shawnee leader Tecumseh, who expected British help in recovering hunting grounds lost to settlers, traveled to the south to warn of dangers to native cultures posed by whites. Factions arose among the Creeks, and a group known as the Red Sticks preyed upon white settlements and fought with those Creeks who opposed them. At the Treaty of Ft. Jackson on August 9, 1814 the Creeks were required to cede 23,000,000 acres of land, comprising more than half of Alabama and part of southern Georgia. Much of that territory belonged to Indians who had earlier been Jackson’s allies.
Second Barbary War [Associated with the Barbary Wars] (1815)
The Second Barbary War was fought from 1815 to 1816 and was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria. After the end of the war, the United States and European nations stopped their practice of paying tribute to the pirate states to forestall attacks on their shipping. It helped mark the beginning of the end of piracy in that region, which had been rampant in the days of Ottoman domination (16th to the 18th centuries). Within decades, European powers built ever more sophisticated and expensive ships which the Barbary pirates could not match in numbers or technology.
First Seminole War (1817–1818)
The First Seminole War erupted over forays staged by U.S. authorities to recapture runaway black slaves living among Seminole bands, who stiffly resisted. In 1818, Major General Andrew Jackson was dispatched with an army of more than 3,000 soldiers to Florida to punish the Seminole. After liquidating several native settlements, then executing two British traders (Arbuthnot and Ambrister) held for reportedly encouraging Seminole resolve, General Jackson captured the Spanish fort of Pensacola in May 1818 and deposed the government. However, he failed to snuff out Seminole opposition.
The Texas–Indian wars were a series of 19th-century conflicts between settlers in Texas and the Southern Plains Indians. These conflicts began when the first wave of European-American settlers moved into Spanish Texas.
Arikara War - The First Plains Indian War (1823)
Taking place in 1823, the Arikara War is noted as the first Plains Indian War between the United States and the western Native Americans. The Arikara, also known as the Arikaree or Ree Indians, were a semi-nomadic group who lived in tipis on the plains of South Dakota for several hundred years. Primarily an agricultural society, they were often bullied by their nomadic neighbors, especially the Sioux. Occupying a central location for trade between the Indians and the white settlers to the east, they also began to come into conflict with the many traders encroaching upon their lands.
Aegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations (1825–1828)
Aegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations began in 1825 when the United States government dispatched a squadron of ships to suppress Aegean Greek pirates. Due to the Greek civil wars and the decline of the Hellenic Navy, the Aegean quickly became a haven for pirates who sometimes doubled as privateers.
The Winnebago War (also called the Winnebago Indian Disturbances of 1827) took place in Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin). The United States sent troops from Illinois and Michigan to the Prairie du Chien area where the Winnebago surrendered.
First Sumatran Expedition (1832)
The First Sumatran expedition, which featured the Battle of Quallah Battoo (Aceh: Kuala Batèë, Malay: Kuala Batu) in 1832, was a punitive expedition by the United States Navy against the village of Kuala Batee (id), presently a subdistrict in Southwest Aceh Regency.
The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crossed the Mississippi River, into the U.S. state of Illinois, from Iowa Indian Territory in April 1832. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but he was apparently hoping to avoid bloodshed while resettling on tribal land that had been ceded to the United States in the disputed 1804 Treaty of St. Louis.
Second Seminole War (1835–1842)
The Second Seminole War began: December 23, 1835 and ended on August 14, 1842. It was fought between the United States and Seminole Indians of Florida. The Location of the Second Seminole War was in south and central Florida. The Second Seminole War resulted in the Seminole Indians being allowed to remain in South Florida, though some were encouraged to move West. In effect, the Army could not defeat the Seminoles, and they were allowed to remain in place.
Second Sumatran Expedition (1838)
The Second Sumatran expedition was a punitive expedition by the United States Navy against inhabitants of the island of Sumatra. After Malay warriors or pirates had massacred the crew of the American merchant ship Eclipse, an expedition of two American warships landed a force that defeated the Malays in two short engagements.
Mexican–American War (1846–1848)
The Mexican-American War, also called Mexican War, was fought between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It started after the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim). The war resulted in the United States’ acquisition of more than 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory.
After the Cayuse Indians killed 14 whites and held 53 others captive until ransomed [the Whitman Massacre], about 500 settlers took up arms and marched through Cayuse territory (southeast Washington and northeast Oregon), demanding the surrender of the warriors responsible for the crimes. US troops and militiamen from the Oregon territory were called in to suppress the Cayuse, who refused to make peace and raided settlements. Five captured Cayuse were tried and convicted of murder by a military commission and hanged on June 3, 1850. Bloodshed in the area continued until 1855, when the Indians were defeated and placed on a reservation with the Umatilla Indians. The Cayuse were greatly reduced in number by the war, and much of their tribal land was taken.
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache nations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The United States inherited conflicts between settlers and Apache groups when Mexico ceded territory after the Mexican–American War in 1846. These conflicts continued as new United States citizens came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock, crops and to mine minerals.
The Puget Sound War was an armed conflict that took place in the Puget Sound area of the state of Washington in 1855–56, between the United States military, local militias and members of the Native American tribes of the Nisqually, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Klickitat.
The First Fiji Expedition undertaken by the United States occurred in October 1855 during the civil war on the islands. In response to the alleged arson attacks on the American commercial agent in Lautoka, Viti Levu, the navy sent a warship to demand compensation for the attack from Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the Vunivalu of Bau and self-proclaimed Tui Viti (King of Fiji).
The final Rogue River War began early on the morning of October 8, 1855, when self-styled volunteers attacked Native people in the Rogue River Valley. It ended in June 1856 with the removal of most of the Natives in southwestern Oregon to the Coast Reservation, which later became the Siletz Reservation. From 235 to 267 Indian people are thought to have been killed in the war, together with fifty soldiers, among them thirty-three volunteers and seventeen regular troops. By one account, Indians killed forty-four white civilians.
Third Seminole War (1855–1858)
The Third Seminole War (1855-1858) was over American encroachment on Seminole lands. The Seminole who were living in Florida at this time were refugees who had avoided removal to Oklahoma and were living in the Everglades. The war started when Billy Bowlegs retaliated against a crew of surveyors who had looted his camp.
The Yakima War (1855-1858) was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington Territory. It took place in the southern interior of present-day Eastern Washington.
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China,was a war pitting the British Empire and the French Empire against the Qing dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860.
The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government.
The term Navajo Wars covers at least three distinct periods of conflict in the American West: the Navajo against the Spanish; the Navajo against the Mexican government; and the Navajo against the United States. These conflicts ranged from small-scale raiding to large expeditions mounted by governments into territory controlled by the Navajo. The Navajo Wars also encompass the widespread raiding that took place throughout the period; the Navajo raided other tribes and nearby settlements, who in return raided into Navajo territory, creating a cycle of raiding that perpetuated the conflict.
The Second Fiji Expedition was an 1859 United States Navy operation against the native warriors of Seru Epenisa Cakobau on the island of Waya in Fiji.
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)
The raid on Harpers Ferry; in many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry") was an effort by armed abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Note: Abolitionism - is a movement to end slavery, whether formal or informal. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism is a historical movement to end the African and Indian slave trade and set slaves free.
First and Second Cortina War (1859–1861)
The Cortina Troubles is the generic name for the First Cortina War, from 1859 to 1860, and the Second Cortina War, in 1861, in which paramilitary forces, led by the Mexican rancher and local leader Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, confronted elements of the United States Army, the Confederate States Army, the Texas Rangers, and the local militias.
The Paiute War, also known as the Pyramid Lake War, Washoe Indian War and the Pah Ute War, was an armed conflict between Northern Paiutes allied with the Shoshone and the Bannock against the United States. It took place in May 1860 in the vicinity of Pyramid Lake in the Utah Territory, now within present day Nevada.
American Civil War (1861–1865)
The American Civil War (commonly known as the "Civil War" in the United States) was fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The result of a long-standing controversy over slavery, war broke out in April 1861, when Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. The nationalists of the Union proclaimed loyalty to the U.S. Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States of America, who advocated for states’ rights to perpetual slavery and its expansion in the Americas.
Among the 34 U.S. states in February 1861, seven Southern slave states individually declared their secession from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America, or the South. The Confederacy grew to include eleven states. The Confederacy was never diplomatically recognized by the United States government, nor was it recognized by any foreign country (although Britain and France granted it belligerent status). The states that remained loyal, including the border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North.
Bombardment of Qui Nhơn (1861)
The bombardment of Qui Nhon in 1861 was an attack by a United States Navy warship upon a Vietnamese held fort protecting Qui Nhon in Cochinchina. United States forces under James F. Schenck went to Cochinchina to search for missing American citizens but were met with cannon fire upon arriving.
Yavapai Wars (Tonto Wars) (1861–1875)
The Yavapai Wars, or the Tonto Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between the Yavapai and Tonto tribes against the United States in Arizona. The period began no later than 1861, with the arrival of American settlers on Yavapai and Tonto land. At the time, the Yavapai were considered a band of the Western Apache people due to their close relationship with tribes such as the Tonto and Pinal The wars ended with the Yavapai's and the Tonto's removal from the Camp Verde Reservation to San Carlos on February 27, 1875, now known as Exodus Day.
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of Dakota (also known as the eastern 'Sioux'). It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota. The war saw extensive attacks on hundreds of settlers and immigrants, and caused many to flee. Intense desire for immediate revenge ended with the mass execution of 38 Dakota men on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota.
The Colorado War was fought from 1863 to 1865 and was an Indian War between the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations and white settlers and militia in the Colorado Territory and adjacent regions.
The Shimonoseki Campaign refers to a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, fought to control Shimonoseki Straits of Japan by joint naval forces from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of Chōshū, which took place off and on the coast of Shimonoseki, Japan.
The Snake War (1864–1868) was a war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians," the settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock and Western Shoshone bands who lived along the Snake River. Fighting took place in the states of Oregon, Nevada, and California, and in Idaho Territory.
Powder River Expedition (1865)
The Powder River Expedition of 1865 also known as the Powder River War or Powder River Invasion, was a large and far-flung military operation of the United States Army against the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians in Montana Territory and Dakota Territory.
Red Clouds War (Powder River War) 1866-1868. In June of 1866 the United States Government organized a great Peace conference with the Sioux and Cheyenne at Fort Laramie. With Civil War hero, William T. Sherman heading the council, great chiefs like Dull Knife, Spotted Tail and Red Cloud were brought in to talk.
The Formosa Expedition, or the Taiwan Expedition of 1867 was a punitive expedition launched by the United States against Formosa. The expedition was undertaken in retaliation for the destruction of the Rover, an American bark which had been wrecked and massacred by native warriors in March 1867.
The Comanche Campaign was led by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, commander of the Department of the Missouri, who instituted winter campaigning in 1868 as a means of locating the elusive Indian bands of the region.
United States Expedition to Korea (1871)
The United States expedition to Korea, the Shinmiyangyo, or simply the Korean Expedition, in 1871, was the first American military action in Korea. It took place predominantly on and around the Korean island of Ganghwa.
The Modoc War, or Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873.
A campaign called the Red River War was the last major conflict between the U.S. Army and the southern Plains Indians. The Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 had settled the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa on reservations in Indian Territory.
The Las Cuevas War was a brief armed conflict fought mainly between a force of Texas Rangers, commanded by Captain Leander McNelly, and an irregular force of Mexican militia. It took place in November 1875, in and around Las Cuevas, Tamaulipas.
Great Sioux War of 1876 (1876–1877)
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 between the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne and the government of the United States.
Buffalo Hunters' War (1876–1877)
The Buffalo Hunters' War, or the Staked Plains War, occurred in 1877. Approximately 170 Comanche warriors and their families led by Quohadi chief Black Horse or Tu-ukumah (unknown–ca. 1900) left the Indian Territory in December, 1876, for the Llano Estacado of Texas. In February, 1877, they, and their Apache allies, began attacking buffalo hunters' camps in the Red River country of the Texas Panhandle, killing or wounding several.
The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict between several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the Palouse tribe led by Red Echo (Hahtalekin) and Bald Head (Husishusis Kute), against the United States Army. The conflict, fought between June–October 1877, stemmed from the refusal of several bands of the Nez Perce, dubbed "non-treaty Indians", to give up their ancestral lands in the Pacific Northwest and move to an Indian reservation in Idaho.
The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U.S. military and Bannock and Paiute Tribal warriors in Southern Idaho lasting from June to August 1878. The Bannock-Paiutes totaled about 500 warriors and were led by Chief Buffalo Horn and later Chief Egan. The U.S. military, consisting of the 21st Infantry Regiment and volunteers, was led by Brigadier General Oliver O. Howard.
Cheyenne Campaign or Cheyenne War (1878-1879) - a conflict between the United States' armed forces and a small group of Cheyenne families. Pine Ridge Campaign (November 1890 - January 1891) - numerous unresolved grievances led to the last major conflict with the Sioux.
The Sheepeater Indian War of 1879 was the last Indian war fought in the Pacific Northwest portion of the United States; it took place primarily in central Idaho. A band of approximately 300 Shoshone people, the Tukudeka, were known as the Sheepeaters because of their proficiency in hunting Rocky Mountain sheep.
Victorio's War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Following his escape from the San Carlos Indian Reservation in southeastern Arizona, Victorio led a guerrilla war across the Southwest and northern Mexico. Many engagements were fought until the Mexican Army killed Victorio and defeated his warriors in October 1880. After Victorio's death, Chief Nana continued the war into 1881. Following the Battle of Cibecue Creek, in August 1881, Nana and his band joined Geronimo.
The White River War, also known as the Ute War, or the Ute Campaign, was fought between the White River Utes and the United States Army in 1879, resulting in the forced removal of the White River Utes and the Uncompahgre Utes from Colorado, and the reduction in the Southern Utes' land holdings within Colorado.
Pine Ridge Campaign [Wounded Knee Massacre] (1890–1891)
The Wounded Knee Massacre (also called the Battle of Wounded Knee) occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Čhaŋkpé Ópi Wakpála) on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota.
The Garza Revolution, or the Garza War, was an armed conflict fought in the Mexican state of Coahuila and the American state of Texas between 1891 and 1893. It began when the revolutionary Catarino Garza launched a campaign into Mexico from Texas to start an uprising against the dictator Porfirio Diaz.
The Rio de Janeiro Affair refers to a series of incidents during the Brazilian Naval Revolt in January 1894. Following three attacks on American merchant ships in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, a bloodless naval engagement occurred between a United States Navy warship and an ironclad of Rear Admiral Saldanha Da Gama's rebel fleet. Ultimately the Americans completed their objective, and Da Gama offered to surrender his fleet to the Americans, but the offer was never pursued.
The Yaqui Wars,were a series of armed conflicts between New Spain, and the later Mexican republic, against the Yaqui Native Americans. The period began in 1533 and lasted until 1929. The Yaqui Wars, along with the Caste War against the Maya, were the last conflicts of the centuries long Mexican Indian Wars. Over the course of nearly 400 years, the Spanish and the Mexicans repeatedly launched military campaigns into Yaqui territory which resulted in several serious battles and some infamous massacres.
Second Samoan Civil War (1898–1899)
The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain, located in the South Pacific Ocean.
The Spanish-American War, (1898), conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.
Philippine–American War (1899–1902)
Philippine-American War 1899-1902 was a war between the United States and Filipino revolutionaries from 1899 to 1902; the insurrection may be seen as a continuation of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule.
The Moro Rebellion (1899–1913) was an armed conflict between Moro Indigenous Ethnic groups and the United States military which took place on Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan (Minsupala) in the Philippines following the Spanish-American War in 1898.
The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-foreign/Christian movement by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists in China. In response to imperialist expansion and missionary evangelism, local organizations began to emerge in Shandong in 1898.
20th Century Wars and Armed Conflicts
Involving the U.S. (Total = 29)
The Crazy Snake Rebellion, also known as the Smoked Meat Rebellion or Crazy Snake's War, was an incident in 1909 that at times was viewed as a war between the Creek people and American settlers. It should not be confused with an earlier, bloodless, conflict in 1901 involving much of the same people.
The Border War, or the Border Campaign, refers to the military engagements which took place in the Mexico-United States border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. The Bandit War in Texas was part of the Border War.
Negro Rebellion [Part of the Banana Wars] (1912)
The Negro Rebellion (Spanish: Levantamiento Armado de los Independientes de Color, "Armed Uprising of the Independents of Color", also known as the Little Race War, the War of 1912, or The Twelve) was an armed conflict for several weeks during 1912 in Cuba between Afro-Cuban rebels and the armed forces of Cuba and the United States.
Note: The Banana Wars is the term used by some historians to refer to the occupations, police actions, and interventions involving the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between the Spanish–American War (1898) and the inception of the Good Neighbor Policy (1934). These military interventions were most often carried out by the United States Marine Corps.
Occupation of Nicaragua [Part of the Banana Wars] (1912–1933)
The United States occupation of Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933 was part of the Banana Wars, when the US military forcefully intervened in various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934. The formal occupation began in 1912, even though there were various other assaults by the U.S. in Nicaragua throughout this period. American military interventions in Nicaragua were designed to stop any other nation except the United States of America from building a Nicaraguan Canal.
The Bluff War, also known as Posey War of 1915, or the Polk and Posse War, was one of the last armed conflicts between the United States and native Americans. It began in March 1914 and was the result of an incident between a Utah shepherd and Tse-ne-gat, the son of the Paiute Chief Narraguinnep ("Polk"). It was notable for involving Chief Posey and his band of renegades who helped Polk fight a small guerrilla war against local Mormon settlers and Navajo policemen. The conflict centered on the town of Bluff, Utah and ended in March 1915 when Polk and Posey surrendered to the United States Army
Occupation of Haiti [Part of the Banana Wars] (1915–1934)
Prompted by the assassination of the Haitian President in July of 1915, President Woodrow Wilson sent the United States Marines into Haiti to restore order and maintain political and economic stability in the Caribbean. This occupation is known as the Occupation of Haiti and it continued until 1934.
Sugar Intervention [Part of the Banana Wars ] (1917–1922)
The Sugar Intervention refers to the events in Cuba between 1917 and 1922, when the United States Marine Corps were stationed on the island.
Occupation of the Dominican Republic [Part of the Banana Wars ] (1916–1924)
The US Occupation of the Dominican Republic started in 1916 mostly because a chaotic and unstable political situation there was preventing the Dominican Republic from paying back debts owed to the USA and other foreign countries.
World War I began in 1914, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and lasted until 1918. During the conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers). Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.
The Russian Civil War (November 1917 – October 1922) was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire immediately after the Russian Revolutions of 1917, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. The two largest combatant groups were the Red Army, fighting for the Bolshevik form of socialism led by Vladimir Lenin, and the loosely allied forces known as the White Army, which included diverse interests favoring monarchism, capitalism and alternative forms of socialism, each with democratic and antidemocratic variants.
The Posey War, also known as the Last Indian Uprising and several other names, occurred in March 1923 and may be considered the final Indian War in American history. Though it was a minor conflict, it involved a mass exodus of Ute and Paiute native Americans from their land around Bluff, Utah to the deserts of Navajo Mountain. The natives were led by a chief named Posey, who took his people into the mountains to try and escape his pursuers. Unlike previous conflicts, posses played a major role while the United States Army played a minor one. The war ended after a skirmish at Comb Ridge. Posey was badly wounded and his band was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Blanding. When Posey's death was confirmed by the authorities, the prisoners were released and given land allotments to farm and raise livestock
The instability created in Europe by the First World War (1914-18) set the stage for another international conflict–World War II–which broke out two decades later and would prove even more devastating. Rising to power in an economically and politically unstable Germany, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi Party) rearmed the nation and signed strategic treaties with Italy and Japan to further his ambitions of world domination. Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, and World War II had begun. Over the next six years, the conflict would take more lives and destroy more land and property around the globe than any previous war. Among the estimated 45-60 million people killed were 6 million Jews murdered in Nazi concentration camps as part of Hitler’s diabolical “Final Solution,” now known as the Holocaust.
Important People of World War II - 16 people that influenced the history of World War II.
Korean War [Part of the Cold War] (1950–1953)
The Korean War was a conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation.
Note: The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others). Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine (a U.S. foreign policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism) was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed.
The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a Lebanese political crisis caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included a U.S. military intervention. The intervention lasted around three months until President Camille Chamoun, who had requested the assistance, completed his term as president of Lebanon. American and Lebanese government forces successfully occupied the port and international airport of Beirut. With the crisis over, the United States withdrew.
Bay of Pigs Invasion [Part of the Cold War] (1961)
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure.
Simba Rebellion [Part of the Cold War] (1964)
The Simba Rebellion was a 1964 rebellion in the former Republic of Congo (the modern Democratic Republic of Congo) which began as a result of alleged abuses by the Congolese central government. It formed part of the turbulent history of the country in the first half of the 1960s.
Dominican Civil War (1965–1966)
The Dominican Civil War (Spanish: Guerra Civil Dominicana) took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of constitutionally elected former President Juan Bosch overthrew acting President Donald Reid Cabral.
Vietnam War [Part of the Cold War and Indochina Wars] (1965–1973)
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, and known in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America, was a war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam.
Note: The Indochina Wars were 20th-century conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, with the principal involvement of France (1946–54) and later the United States (beginning in the 1950s). The wars are often called the French Indochina War and the Vietnam War, or the First and Second Indochina wars.
Communist insurgency in Thailand (1965–1983)
The Communist insurgency in Thailand was a guerrilla war lasting from 1965 to 1983, involving the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT), Thailand, and the United States. The war declined in 1980 following the declaration of an amnesty and by 1983 the CPT had abandoned armed struggle.
Shaba II was a brief conflict fought in the Zairean province of Shaba (now Katanga) in 1978. The conflict broke out on 11 May 1978 after 6,500 rebels from the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC), a Katangese separatist militia, crossed the border from Angola into Zaire in an attempt to achieve the province's secession from the Zairian regime of Mobutu Sese Seko. The FNLC captured the important mining town of Kolwez.
Multinational Force in Lebanon [Part of the Lebanese Civil War] (1982–1984)
The Multinational Force in Lebanon (also MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in 1982, after the demand was made by Lebanon to the UN's secretary general, and initially to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Note: The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon, lasting from 1975 to 1990 and resulting in an estimated 120,000 fatalities. Today approximately 76,000 people remain displaced within Lebanon. There was also a mass exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon as a result of the war. The government of Lebanon had been dominated by Maronite Christians. The link between politics and religion had been reinforced under the mandate of the French colonial powers from 1920 to 1943, and the parliamentary structure favored a leading position for the Christians. However, the country had a large Muslim population and many pan-Arabist and Left Wing groups which opposed the pro-western government.The establishment of the state of Israel and the displacement of a hundred thousand Palestinian refugees to Lebanon changed the demographic balance in favor of the Muslim population.
Invasion of Grenada [Part of the Cold War] (1983)
The Invasion of Grenada was a 1983 United States–led invasion of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, with a population of about 91,000 located 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Venezuela, that resulted in a U.S. victory within a matter of weeks.
Bombing of Libya [Part of the Cold War] (1986)
The bombing of Libya by the United States in 1986 was code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon. It was a series of air-strikes against Libya on 15 April 1986 ordered by President Ronald Reagan. The attack was made by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps.
Tanker War: America's First Conflict with Iran, 1987-1988. In May 1987 the US frigate Stark, calmly sailing the waters of the Persian Gulf, was suddenly blown apart by an Exocet missile fired from a jet fighter of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein regime.
Invasion of Panama (1989–1990)
The United States' invasion of Panama during 1989-1990 was officially called "Operation Just Cause." The United States decided to invade due to deteriorating relationships with the Panamanian government.
The Persian Gulf War (August 2, 1990 – February 28, 1991), commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War 1990-1991, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations led by the United States against Iraq.
Intervention in the Somali Civil War (1992–1995)
The United States Army has a long tradition of humanitarian relief. No such operation has proven as costly or shocking, however, as that undertaken during the Intervention in the Somalia Civil War from August 1992 to March 1994. Greeted initially by Somalis happy to be saved from starvation, U.S. troops were slowly drawn into interclan power struggles and ill-defined "nation-building" missions. The American people woke up one day in early October 1993 to news reports of dozens of our soldiers killed or wounded in fierce fighting in the streets of the capital city Mogadishu. These disturbing events of a decade ago have taken on increasing meaning after the horrific attacks of 11 September 2001.
Intervention in Haiti (1994–1995)
The Intervention in Haiti also known as Operation Uphold Democracy (19 September 1994 – 31 March 1995) was an intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The operation was effectively authorized by the 31 July 1994 United Nations Security Council Resolution 940.
Bosnian War [Part of the Yugoslav Wars] (1994–1995)
The Bosnian War was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following a number of violent incidents in early 1992, the war is commonly viewed as having started on 6 April 1992. The war ended on 14 December 1995. The main belligerents were the forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska and Herzeg-Bosnia, which were led and supplied by Serbia and Croatia, respectively.
Note: The Yugoslav Wars were a series of ethnically-based wars and insurgencies fought from 1991 to 1999/2001 in the former Yugoslavia. These wars accompanied and facilitated the breakup of the Yugoslav state, when its constituent republics declared independence, but the issues of ethnic minorities in the new countries (chiefly Serbs, Croats and Albanians) were still unresolved at the time the republics were recognized internationally. The wars are generally considered to be a series of separate but related military conflicts which occurred in, and affected, most of the former Yugoslav republics.
Kosovo War [Part of the Yugoslav Wars] (1998–1999)
The Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict occurred between 1998 and 1999 in which ethnic Albanians opposed ethnic Serbs and the government of Yugoslavia (the rump of the former federal state, comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro) in Kosovo.
21st Century Wars and Armed Conflicts
Involving the U.S. (Total = 7)
War in Afghanistan [Part of the War on Terror] (2001–2014)
The War in Afghanistan (or the U.S. War in Afghanistan) followed the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S. was supported initially by Canada and the United Kingdom and later by a coalition of over 40 countries, including all NATO members. The war's public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. The War in Afghanistan is the longest war in United States history.
Note: The terrorist attacks in the US on on September 11, 2001 ultimately resulted in the US declaring and waging a War on Terror. Osama Bin Laden was eventually tracked down and killed some 10 years later. But the way the war on terror has been conducted has led to many voicing concerns about the impact on civil liberties, the cost of the additional security focused changes, the implications of the invasions and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more.
Iraq War [Part of the Iraqi Insurgency and War on Terror] (2003–2011)
The Iraq Waralso known as the Second Gulf War, was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict.
Note: The Iraqi Insurgency began in Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion, and lasted throughout the ensuing Iraq War (2003–2011). The first phase of the insurgency began shortly after the 2003 invasion and prior to the establishment of the new Iraqi government. From around 2004 to May 2007, the insurgency primarily targeted the Multi-National Force – Iraq, while latterly, Iraqi security forces, seen, by Iraqi insurgents, as collaborators with the coalition, were also targeted.
War in North-West Pakistan [Part of the War on Terror] (2004–present)
The War in North-West Pakistan, also known as the War in Waziristan, is an armed conflict involving Pakistan, and armed militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundallah, Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), TNSM, al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the ISIL–Khorasan (ISIL), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Movement, Emirate of Caucasus, and elements of organized crime.
Libyan Civil War [Part of the Libyan Crisis] (2011)
The first Libyan Civil War, also referred to as the Libyan Revolution or 17 February Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011, in the North African country of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government.
Note: The Libyan Crisis seized the attention of the international community and has been labeled a clear case for when timely and decisive response to uphold RtoP in the face of an imminent threat of mass atrocities should occur. In February 2011, civilians began to undertake political protests demanding an end to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year reign, wherein protestors found themselves the target of mass atrocities at the hands of government armed forces. In witnessing such violence by the Libyan government, the international community and regional and sub-regional bodies acted to protect the populations through a range of economic, political, and military measures.
Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, in the vernacular, Daesh), including both the campaign in Iraq and the campaign in Syria.
Note: The Syrian Civil War is a conflict between its long-serving government and those seeking to boot it out of office. The Assad family has held power in Syria since 1971. First it was Hafez al-Assad, then Bashar al-Assad. Unlike many regime leaders in the middle east middle, The Assad family is not religiously extreme.
Note: The Second Libyan Civil War is an ongoing conflict among rival groups seeking control of the territory of Libya. The conflict has been mostly between the government of the House of Representatives (HoR) that was elected democratically in 2014, also known as the "Tobruk government" and internationally recognized as the "Libyan government"; and the rival General National Congress (GNC) endorsed government, also called the "National Salvation Government", based in the capital Tripoli established after Operation Libya Dawn.
Note: The Boko Haram Insurgency began in 2009, when the jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. In 2012, tensions within Boko Haram resulted in gradual split of the group between Salafist conservative faction led by Abu Usmatul al-Ansari, and the more dominant, violent faction led by Abubakar Shekau. By 2015, part of the group split into al-Qaeda affiliated Ansaru, and Shekau's faction became ISIL's West Africa branch.
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
The War in Afghanistan (2015–present) refers to the period of the war in Afghanistan following the US-led 2001–2014 phase. The U.S.-led war followed the September 11 attacks, aiming to attack al-Qaeda and deny it a safe haven in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power.
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions claiming to constitute the Yemeni government, along with their supporters and allies. Houthi forces controlling the capital Sana'a and allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have clashed with forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast.