War World

War World

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The legendary Trojan War, from ancient Greek stories, painted by Tiepolo (Wikimedia Commons)

Greco-Persian Wars, 499-449 BC, Greek city-states against the Persian Empire (Wikimedia Commons)

Greco-Persian Wars

Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BC, Athens against Sparta in ancient Greece (Wikimedia Commons)

Peloponnesian War

Wars of Alexander the Great, 336-323 BC, ancient Roman mosaic of the Battle of Issus (Wikimedia Commons)

Wars of Alexander the Great

Punic Wars, 264-146 BC, Rome against Carthage; painting of Hannibal crossing the Alps (Wikimedia Commons)

Gallic Wars, 58-50 BC, Julius Caesar's Roman legions against the Gauls (Wikimedia Commons)

Roman Civil War, 49-45 BC, a conflict for control of the Roman Republic (Wikimedia Commons)

Roman Civil War

Third Servile War, 73-71 BC, an uprising led by Spartacus in ancient Rome (Wikimedia Commons)

Spartacus's Revolt

Boudican Revolt, 60-61 AD, Queen Boudica led Britons against Roman rule (Wikimedia Commons)

Boudican Revolt

Fall of the Western Roman Empire, 376-476 AD, as Rome faced invasions and decline (Wikimedia Commons)

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Early Islamic Conquests, 7th century, map showing the rapid growth of the early Caliphate (Wikimedia Commons)

Early Islamic Conquests

Viking Age raids, about 793-1066 AD, Norse seafarers raided and traded across Europe (Wikimedia Commons)

Viking Age Raids

Norman Conquest of England, 1066, William of Normandy invaded England (Wikimedia Commons)

Norman Conquest of England

First Crusade, 1096-1099, European crusaders and forces of the Levant (Wikimedia Commons)

Third Crusade, 1189-1192, including King Richard the Lionheart of England (Wikimedia Commons)

Mongol Conquests, 1206-1368, Genghis Khan and his successors built a vast empire (Wikimedia Commons)

Mongol Conquests

Hundred Years' War, 1337-1453, England against France, including Joan of Arc (Wikimedia Commons)

Hundred Years' War

Wars of the Roses, 1455-1487, English noble houses of York and Lancaster (Wikimedia Commons)

Wars of the Roses

Reconquista, 711-1492, centuries-long campaigns in medieval Spain and Portugal (Wikimedia Commons)

Fall of Constantinople, 1453, the Ottoman Empire took the Byzantine capital (Wikimedia Commons)

Fall of Constantinople

Ottoman Conquests in the Balkans, 14th-16th centuries, Ottoman expansion into southeast Europe (Wikimedia Commons)

Ottoman Conquests in the Balkans

Spanish Armada, 1588, Spain's fleet sailed against England (Wikimedia Commons)

Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648, a major conflict across much of Europe (Wikimedia Commons)

Thirty Years' War

English Civil War, 1642-1651, Parliament against the King in England (Wikimedia Commons)

English Civil War

Great Northern War, 1700-1721, Sweden against Russia and its allies (Wikimedia Commons)

Great Northern War

War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714, a European war over who would rule Spain (Wikimedia Commons)

War of the Spanish Succession

Seven Years' War, 1756-1763, a global conflict fought on several continents (Wikimedia Commons)

Seven Years' War

American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783, the thirteen colonies won independence from Britain (Wikimedia Commons)

American Revolutionary War

Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804, enslaved people won Haiti's independence from France (Wikimedia Commons)

Haitian Revolution

French Revolutionary Wars, 1792-1802, France against a series of European coalitions (Wikimedia Commons)

French Revolutionary Wars

Napoleonic Wars, 1803-1815, Napoleon's France against coalitions of European powers (Wikimedia Commons)

Napoleonic Wars

Battle of Trafalgar, 1805, a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Waterloo, 1815, the final defeat of Napoleon's army (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Waterloo

War of 1812, 1812-1815, the United States against Britain (Wikimedia Commons)

Mexican War of Independence, 1810-1821, Mexico's fight for independence from Spain (Wikimedia Commons)

Mexican War of Independence

Venezuelan War of Independence, 1810-1823, led in part by Simón Bolívar (Wikimedia Commons)

Venezuelan War of Independence

Argentine War of Independence, 1810-1818, led in part by José de San Martín (Wikimedia Commons)

Argentine War of Independence

Chilean War of Independence, 1812-1826, Chile's fight for independence from Spain (Wikimedia Commons)

Chilean War of Independence

Peruvian War of Independence, 1809-1826, Peru's fight for independence from Spain (Wikimedia Commons)

Peruvian War of Independence

Gran Colombia's Wars of Independence, 1819-1822, campaigns that freed much of northern South America (Wikimedia Commons)

Gran Colombia's Wars of Independence

Brazilian War of Independence, 1822-1825, Brazil's separation from Portugal (Wikimedia Commons)

Brazilian War of Independence

Greek War of Independence, 1821-1832, Greece's fight for independence from Ottoman rule (Wikimedia Commons)

Greek War of Independence

Crimean War, 1853-1856, Russia against an alliance including Britain and France (Wikimedia Commons)

Florence Nightingale's nursing work during the Crimean War, 1853-1856 (Wikimedia Commons)

Crimean War Nursing

First Opium War, 1839-1842, Britain against Qing dynasty China (Wikimedia Commons)

First Opium War

Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864, a massive civil war in Qing dynasty China (Wikimedia Commons)

Taiping Rebellion

American Civil War, 1861-1865, the Union against the Confederacy in the United States (Wikimedia Commons)

American Civil War

Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871, Prussia and German states against France (Wikimedia Commons)

Franco-Prussian War

Wars of German Unification, 1864-1871, brought the German states together as one nation (Wikimedia Commons)

Wars of German Unification

Wars of Italian Unification, 1848-1871, campaigns that united Italy into one nation (Wikimedia Commons)

Wars of Italian Unification

Paraguayan War, 1864-1870, Paraguay against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay (Wikimedia Commons)

Anglo-Zulu War, 1879, Britain against the Zulu Kingdom in southern Africa (Wikimedia Commons)

First Boer War, 1880-1881, Boer settlers against British rule in South Africa (Wikimedia Commons)

Second Boer War, 1899-1902, Britain against the Boer republics in South Africa (Wikimedia Commons)

Second Boer War

Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878, Russia against the Ottoman Empire (Wikimedia Commons)

Russo-Turkish War

First Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895, Japan against Qing dynasty China (Wikimedia Commons)

First Sino-Japanese War

Spanish-American War, 1898, Spain against the United States (Wikimedia Commons)

Spanish-American War

Philippine-American War, 1899-1902, Filipino forces sought independence (Wikimedia Commons)

Philippine-American War

Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901, an uprising in China met by an international alliance (Wikimedia Commons)

Boxer Rebellion

Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905, Japan against the Russian Empire (Wikimedia Commons)

Russo-Japanese War

Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920, a major conflict that reshaped Mexico (Wikimedia Commons)

Mexican Revolution

Iraq War, 2003-2011, a conflict that began with a US-led invasion of Iraq (Wikimedia Commons)

World War I, 1914-1918, a global war fought mainly across Europe (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of the Somme, 1916, one of the largest battles of World War I (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of the Somme

Gallipoli Campaign, 1915, Allied forces including Anzac troops fought the Ottoman Empire (Wikimedia Commons)

Gallipoli Campaign

Russian Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1923, a turning point in Russian history (Wikimedia Commons)

Russian Revolution and Civil War

Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921, Ireland's fight for independence from Britain (Wikimedia Commons)

Irish War of Independence

Chinese Civil War, 1927-1949, a long conflict between rival Chinese political forces (Wikimedia Commons)

Chinese Civil War

Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, a conflict in Spain remembered partly through Picasso's painting Guernica (Wikimedia Commons)

Spanish Civil War

World War II, 1939-1945, the largest conflict in history, fought on many continents (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Britain, 1940, the Royal Air Force defended Britain from air attack (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Britain

Attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941, brought the United States into World War II (Wikimedia Commons)

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Battle of Stalingrad, 1942-1943, a major turning point on the Eastern Front of World War II (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Midway, 1942, a major turning point in the Pacific during World War II (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Midway

North African Campaign, 1940-1943, fighting across North Africa during World War II (Wikimedia Commons)

North African Campaign

D-Day, 1944, Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, during World War II (Wikimedia Commons)

D-Day Normandy Landings

Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945, Japan against China, later part of World War II (Wikimedia Commons)

Second Sino-Japanese War

Pacific War, 1941-1945, the United States and Allies against Japan across the Pacific (Wikimedia Commons)

The Holocaust, 1941-1945, the Nazi genocide of six million Jewish people and others during World War II, remembered today at memorial sites (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945, US Marines and the Japanese military fought in the Pacific (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Iwo Jima

Battle of Berlin and end of World War II in Europe, 1945 (Wikimedia Commons)

Battle of Berlin

End of World War II in the Pacific, 1945, remembered today at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park (Wikimedia Commons)

End of World War II in the Pacific

Winter War, 1939-1940, Finland against the Soviet Union (Wikimedia Commons)

Korean War, 1950-1953, North Korea against South Korea and its allies (Wikimedia Commons)

Vietnam War, 1955-1975, North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its allies (Wikimedia Commons)

The Cold War, about 1947-1991, a long period of tension between the United States and Soviet Union (Wikimedia Commons)

Suez Crisis, 1956, a conflict over control of the Suez Canal in Egypt (Wikimedia Commons)

Hungarian Revolution, 1956, an uprising in Hungary against Soviet-backed rule (Wikimedia Commons)

Hungarian Revolution

Algerian War of Independence, 1954-1962, Algeria's fight for independence from France (Wikimedia Commons)

Algerian War of Independence

Six-Day War, 1967, a short but major conflict in the Middle East (Wikimedia Commons)

War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021, a long conflict following international intervention in Afghanistan (Wikimedia Commons)

War in Afghanistan

Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970, a conflict following the attempted secession of Biafra (Wikimedia Commons)

Nigerian Civil War

Soviet-Afghan War, 1979-1989, Soviet forces fought in Afghanistan for a decade (Wikimedia Commons)

Soviet-Afghan War

Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988, a long and costly war between Iran and Iraq (Wikimedia Commons)

Falklands War, 1982, Argentina and the United Kingdom fought over the Falkland Islands (Wikimedia Commons)

Yugoslav Wars, 1991-2001, a series of conflicts as Yugoslavia broke apart (Wikimedia Commons)

Gulf War, 1990-1991, an international coalition responded to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (Wikimedia Commons)

Kosovo War, 1998-1999, a conflict in Kosovo that drew international intervention (Wikimedia Commons)

Rwandan Genocide, 1994, a tragic period of mass violence in Rwanda's history, remembered today so it is never repeated (Wikimedia Commons)

Rwandan Genocide

Sri Lankan Civil War, 1983-2009, a long conflict between the government and separatist forces (Wikimedia Commons)

Sri Lankan Civil War