Wars and Conflicts Catalog
A reference catalog of major wars from the Peloponnesian War to ongoing conflicts in 2026. Each row gives dates, belligerents, principal causes, course or decisive engagements, outcome, casualty estimates (where established), and the dominant historiographical reading. Dates BCE / CE; casualties rounded.
I. Classical (431 BCE – 476 CE)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course / decisive events | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peloponnesian War | 431 – 404 BCE | Delian League (Athens) vs Peloponnesian League (Sparta + Corinth + Thebes) | Athenian imperial expansion; Megarian Decree; alliance fears | Archidamian phase 431–421; Sicilian Expedition 415–413 (Athenian disaster); Decelean War 413–404; Aegospotami 405 | Spartan victory; Athenian empire dissolved; Thirty Tyrants installed | ~250 k military + civilian | Thucydides History (canonical); modern: Kagan 4-vol. |
| Punic Wars | 264 – 146 BCE | Rome vs Carthage | Sicilian dispute; trade rivalry; Hannibal’s grievances | First: Sicily, Mylae 260; Second: Cannae 216 (Roman disaster, ~50 k killed in one day), Zama 202; Third: siege and destruction of Carthage 146 | Roman Mediterranean hegemony; Carthage erased | ~1 M+ over all three | Polybius (contemporary); Livy; modern: Goldsworthy |
| Macedonian Wars | 214 – 148 BCE | Rome vs Antigonid Macedon (Philip V, Perseus) | Roman expansion east; Carthage alliance | Cynoscephalae 197 (legion vs phalanx); Pydna 168 | Macedon dissolved; Greece reduced to province 146 | tens of thousands | Polybius; Livy |
| Roman Civil Wars (Caesar’s; Triumviral; Year of Four Emperors) | 49 BCE – 30 BCE; 69 CE | Caesar vs Pompey; Octavian vs Antony | Senatorial dysfunction; ambition; succession | Crossing of Rubicon 49 BCE; Pharsalus 48; Philippi 42; Actium 31 BCE | Augustan principate; end of Republic | hundreds of thousands | Suetonius; Tacitus; Plutarch; modern: Syme Roman Revolution |
| Jewish-Roman Wars | 66 – 73 CE; 115 – 117; 132 – 135 | Roman Empire vs Judaean rebels | Tax burden; cultic affronts | First: siege and destruction of Jerusalem and Temple 70 CE; Masada 73–74; Third (Bar Kokhba): Hadrianic suppression 135 | Judaean polity destroyed; diaspora deepened | ~600 k–1.5 M | Josephus Jewish War; Cassius Dio; modern: Goodman |
| Three Kingdoms (China) | 220 – 280 CE | Wei vs Shu vs Wu | Han collapse 220; warlord consolidation | Red Cliffs 208 (Wu-Shu defeat Cao Cao); Wei conquers Shu 263; Jin conquers Wu 280 | Jin reunification 280 | ~36 M population decline | Chen Shou Records of the Three Kingdoms; Romance 14th c |
| Migration Period invasions | c.376 – 568 CE | Roman Empire vs Goths, Vandals, Huns, Lombards | Hunnic pressure on steppe; Roman frontier weakness | Adrianople 378 (Valens killed); Sack of Rome 410 (Alaric); 455 (Vandals); Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 451 (Aetius vs Attila); deposition of Romulus Augustulus 476 | Collapse of Western Roman Empire | Population fell from ~70 M to ~40 M in West | Heather Fall of the Roman Empire; Ward-Perkins |
II. Medieval (632 – 1492 CE)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Islamic conquests | 632 – 750 | Rashidun + Umayyads vs Sassanids + Byzantines + Visigoths | Religious expansion; political consolidation | Yarmuk 636 (Byzantine defeat); al-Qādisiyyah 636 (Sassanid defeat); Guadalete 711 (Visigoth defeat); Tours 732 | Sassanid Empire eliminated; Byzantines lose Syria-Egypt-North Africa; Umayyad Caliphate spans Iberia to Indus | hundreds of thousands | Kennedy Great Arab Conquests; Donner |
| Crusades I–IX | 1095 – 1291 | Latin Christian states vs Fatimids, Seljuks, Ayyubids, Mamluks | Pope Urban II call at Clermont 1095; Seljuk pressure on Byzantium | I: Antioch 1098, Jerusalem 1099 (massacre); III: Saladin retakes Jerusalem 1187; IV: Sack of Constantinople 1204; final fall of Acre 1291 | Crusader states (1099–1291) gradually erased; Latin-Greek schism deepened | ~1.7–3 M | Asbridge; Tyerman God’s War |
| Mongol conquests | 1206 – 1294 | Mongol Empire (Genghis, Ögedei, Möngke, Khubilai) vs Khwarazmian, Jin, Song, Abbasid, Kievan Rus, Hungary, Poland | Steppe consolidation; tribute; Genghis’s grievances | Sack of Khwarazm 1219–21; Kalka 1223; sack of Baghdad 1258 (end of Abbasids); Ain Jalut 1260 (Mamluks halt Mongols); Khubilai conquers Song 1279 | Largest contiguous empire in history; Pax Mongolica trade; four ulus successor states (Yuan, Ilkhanate, Chagatai, Golden Horde) | ~40 M (highest estimate) | Jackson; May; Weatherford |
| Reconquista | 718 – 1492 | Christian Iberian kingdoms vs Andalusi caliphate + taifa successors + Almoravid/Almohad | Religious-political consolidation | Las Navas de Tolosa 1212; Granada falls 1492 | Catholic Monarchs unify Iberia 1492; expulsions | unknown | O’Callaghan; Lomax |
| Hundred Years’ War | 1337 – 1453 | England (Plantagenet) vs France (Valois) | English claim to French throne; Edward III’s invasion | Crécy 1346 (English longbow); Poitiers 1356; Agincourt 1415; Jeanne d’Arc and Orléans 1429; Castillon 1453 (French victory ends war) | French expulsion of English (except Calais); rise of national monarchies | ~3.5 M | Sumption 5-vol.; Curry |
| Wars of the Roses | 1455 – 1487 | Lancaster vs York (then Tudor) | Henry VI’s incapacity; magnate factionalism | Towton 1461 (largest battle on English soil, ~28 k dead); Bosworth 1485 (Henry VII victorious) | Tudor monarchy founded | ~50 k | Pollard; Carpenter |
III. Early Modern (1494 – 1763)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italian Wars | 1494 – 1559 | France + Valois vs Habsburg (Spain + HRE) and shifting Italian states + Ottomans | French claim to Naples + Milan; Habsburg–Valois rivalry | Pavia 1525 (Francis I captured); Sack of Rome 1527; Cateau-Cambrésis 1559 | Habsburg dominance in Italy until 1700 | ~250 k | Mallett & Shaw |
| Schmalkaldic War | 1546 – 1547 | Charles V (HRE) vs Schmalkaldic League (Lutheran princes) | Reformation politics | Mühlberg 1547 (Imperial victory); Peace of Augsburg 1555 (cuius regio, eius religio) | Religious compromise; precedent for confessional states | ~30 k | MacCulloch |
| Eighty Years’ War (Dutch Revolt) | 1568 – 1648 | United Provinces vs Spain | Calvinist Iconoclasm; Alba’s repression; tax revolt | Sack of Antwerp 1576; Twelve Years’ Truce 1609–21; Peace of Münster 1648 | Dutch independence recognized; Spanish Habsburg decline | ~1.2 M | Israel The Dutch Republic |
| Thirty Years’ War | 1618 – 1648 | HRE + Catholic League + Spain vs Protestant states + Sweden + France | Defenestration of Prague 1618; religious + dynastic | Bohemian, Danish, Swedish, French phases; Lützen 1632 (Gustavus Adolphus killed); Peace of Westphalia 1648 | Sovereign-state system codified; HRE fragmented; Germany devastated | ~8 M (German population fell ~25–40 %) | Wedgwood; Wilson Europe’s Tragedy |
| English Civil War | 1642 – 1651 | Parliamentarians (“Roundheads”) vs Royalists (“Cavaliers”) | Charles I + Parliament conflict over taxation, religion, prerogative | Edgehill 1642; Marston Moor 1644; Naseby 1645; execution of Charles I 30 Jan 1649; Worcester 1651 | Commonwealth 1649; Cromwell Protectorate 1653; Restoration 1660 | ~200 k | Stone; Kishlansky |
| Glorious Revolution | 1688 – 1689 | William III + Mary II + Dutch + parliamentarian alliance vs James II | Catholicism of James II; “warming-pan baby” | William lands at Torbay; James flees; Bill of Rights 1689 | Parliamentary monarchy; toleration; Jacobitism subdued by 1746 | minimal | Pincus 1688 |
| War of the Spanish Succession | 1701 – 1714 | Grand Alliance (HRE + England + Dutch) vs Bourbons (France + Spain) | Charles II of Spain dies 1700 without heir | Blenheim 1704 (Marlborough); Ramillies 1706; Treaty of Utrecht 1713 | Philip V keeps Spanish throne but France-Spain forever separated; British acquire Gibraltar | ~700 k | Lynn The Wars of Louis XIV |
| Great Northern War | 1700 – 1721 | Sweden vs Russia + Denmark-Norway + Saxony-Poland | Russian access to Baltic | Narva 1700 (Swedish victory); Poltava 1709 (Russian victory; turning point) | Peace of Nystad 1721; Russia becomes Baltic power; Swedish empire ends | ~350 k | Frost Northern Wars |
| War of the Austrian Succession | 1740 – 1748 | Prussia + France + Spain + Bavaria vs Austria + Britain + Dutch + Russia | Maria Theresa’s accession; Frederick II seizes Silesia | Mollwitz 1741; Aix-la-Chapelle 1748 | Prussia keeps Silesia; Maria Theresa retained Habsburg lands | ~450 k | Anderson Crucible of War (in part) |
| Seven Years’ War | 1756 – 1763 | Britain + Prussia + Portugal vs France + Austria + Russia + Sweden + Spain | Continental + colonial rivalry; Diplomatic Revolution 1756 | Plassey 1757 (Clive in India); Quebec 1759 (Wolfe); Rossbach 1757; Treaty of Paris 1763 | British global hegemony; France loses Canada + India; first “world war” | ~1 M | Anderson Crucible of War; Szabo |
IV. Age of Revolutions (1775 – 1871)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Revolution | 1775 – 1783 | 13 Colonies + France + Spain + Dutch Republic vs Britain | Taxation without representation; mercantilist regulation | Lexington-Concord 1775; Saratoga 1777 (French alliance); Yorktown 1781; Treaty of Paris 1783 | US independence; constitutional convention 1787 | ~70 k Americans + ~24 k British | Wood; Middlekauff; Maier |
| French Revolutionary Wars | 1792 – 1802 | First Coalition–Second Coalition vs Revolutionary France | Counter-revolutionary intervention | Valmy 1792; Marengo 1800; Lunéville 1801; Amiens 1802 | French expansion to natural frontiers | ~600 k | Doyle Oxford History of the French Revolution |
| Napoleonic Wars | 1803 – 1815 | France + satellites vs successive coalitions (Britain ever-present) | Napoleon’s imperial expansion | Trafalgar 1805 (naval); Austerlitz 1805; Continental System 1806; Russian campaign 1812 (~500 k French losses); Leipzig 1813; Waterloo 18 June 1815 | Bourbon restoration; Congress of Vienna 1815; British naval supremacy | ~3.5 – 6 M | Esdaile; Schroeder |
| Latin American Wars of Independence | 1808 – 1833 | Creole patriots vs Spain (and Portugal in Brazil) | Napoleonic invasion of Iberia 1808 weakens metropolitan grip; Creole grievances | Bolívar’s campaigns: Boyacá 1819; Carabobo 1821; Ayacucho 1824 (Sucre ends Spanish rule in S. America); Mexico independent 1821; Brazil 1822 | Independence of Mexico, Central America, Gran Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil | ~600 k | Lynch The Spanish American Revolutions |
| Greek War of Independence | 1821 – 1832 | Greek revolutionaries + Britain + France + Russia vs Ottoman Empire + Egypt | Greek nationalism; Philhellenism | Navarino naval battle 1827 (allied destruction of Ottoman fleet); London Protocol 1830 | Independent Greek kingdom 1832 | ~125 k | Brewer |
| Crimean War | 1853 – 1856 | Russia vs Ottoman Empire + Britain + France + Sardinia | Holy Places dispute; Russian expansion threatens Ottoman Empire | Sinop 1853; Siege of Sevastopol 1854–55; Treaty of Paris 1856 | Russia checked; Black Sea demilitarized; Nightingale and Russell reportage transformed war coverage | ~700 k | Figes The Crimean War |
| American Civil War | 12 Apr 1861 – 9 Apr 1865 | Union vs Confederate States | Slavery; secession after Lincoln’s 1860 election | Fort Sumter Apr 1861; Antietam 17 Sep 1862 (bloodiest single day, ~22 k casualties); Emancipation Proclamation 1 Jan 1863; Gettysburg 1–3 Jul 1863; Vicksburg 4 Jul 1863; Appomattox 9 Apr 1865 | Union preserved; slavery abolished (13th Amendment); Reconstruction 1865–77 | ~620 k (revised 750 k Hacker 2011) | McPherson Battle Cry of Freedom; Foner |
| Italian unification (Risorgimento) | 1848 – 1871 | Sardinia-Piedmont + Garibaldi vs Austria + Bourbons + Papal States | Italian nationalism | First War 1848; Second 1859 (Solferino); Garibaldi’s Thousand 1860; Rome captured 1870 | Kingdom of Italy proclaimed 1861; Rome capital 1871 | ~50 k | Hearder; Riall |
| German unification wars | 1864 – 1871 | Prussia + allies vs Denmark / Austria / France | Bismarck’s policy | Second Schleswig 1864; Austro-Prussian 1866 (Königgrätz); Franco-Prussian 1870–71 (Sedan; Paris siege) | German Empire proclaimed at Versailles 18 Jan 1871; Alsace-Lorraine annexed | ~200 k | Wawro |
| Russo-Turkish War | 1877 – 1878 | Russia + Romania + Bulgaria + Serbia + Montenegro vs Ottoman Empire | Pan-Slavism; Bulgarian uprising 1876 | Siege of Plevna; Treaty of San Stefano (revised at Berlin 1878) | Bulgarian autonomy; Romanian and Serbian independence | ~285 k | Jelavich |
V. Late 19th – Early 20th Century (1880 – 1918)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boer Wars | 1880–1881; 1899–1902 | Britain vs Boer republics (Transvaal + Orange Free State) | Gold + diamonds; imperial expansion | Mafeking siege; Spion Kop 1900; guerrilla phase + concentration camps (~28 k Boer civilians + ~14 k Black African deaths) | British annexation; Union of South Africa 1910 | ~75 k | Pakenham |
| Russo-Japanese War | 1904 – 1905 | Russia vs Japan | Manchuria-Korea rivalry | Port Arthur siege; Tsushima 27–28 May 1905 (Japanese destroy Baltic Fleet) | Treaty of Portsmouth (Roosevelt mediated); Japan becomes Pacific power | ~150 k | Connaughton |
| Balkan Wars I-II | 1912 – 1913 | Balkan League (Bulgaria + Serbia + Greece + Montenegro) vs Ottoman Empire; then Bulgaria vs others | Ottoman weakness; territorial ambitions | I: Ottoman defeat; II: Bulgaria attacks former allies | Treaty of London + Bucharest; Macedonia partitioned | ~140 k | Hall |
| World War I | 28 Jul 1914 – 11 Nov 1918 | Allied + Associated Powers (France, Britain, Russia, Italy from 1915, US from 1917) vs Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria) | Assassination of Franz Ferdinand 28 Jun 1914; alliance system; arms race; Schlieffen Plan | Marne 1914; Gallipoli 1915–16; Verdun + Somme 1916 (~1.2 M casualties combined); Brusilov 1916; US entry Apr 1917; Russian Revolution 1917; Hundred Days 1918; Armistice 11 Nov 1918 | Treaty of Versailles 1919; collapse of four empires (German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Ottoman); League of Nations 1920 | ~17 M military + ~20 M influenza dead 1918–19 | Stevenson; Tuchman The Guns of August; Strachan; MacMillan Paris 1919 |
VI. Interwar (1918 – 1939)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian Civil War | 1918 – 1921 | Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs White Armies + Allied interventions (UK, France, US, Japan, Czechoslovak Legion) + Greens + Black (Makhno) | Bolshevik seizure of power Oct/Nov 1917 | Volga campaigns 1918–19; defeat of Kolchak, Denikin, Wrangel; Polish-Soviet War 1919–21 (Battle of Warsaw 1920) | Soviet consolidation; USSR formed 1922 | ~8–12 M (war + famine + Red/White Terror) | Mawdsley; Figes A People’s Tragedy |
| Spanish Civil War | 17 Jul 1936 – 1 Apr 1939 | Republicans + Soviets + International Brigades vs Nationalists (Franco) + Italy + Germany + Portugal | Polarization between Popular Front and conservative-military right | Guernica bombing 26 Apr 1937; Battle of Ebro 1938; Madrid falls Mar 1939 | Franco dictatorship 1939–75 | ~500 k | Beevor The Battle for Spain; Preston |
VII. World War II and Aftermath (1937 – 1953)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Sino-Japanese War | 7 Jul 1937 – 9 Sep 1945 | China (KMT + CCP united front) vs Empire of Japan | Japanese expansion in Manchuria 1931 + North China | Marco Polo Bridge incident; Nanjing Massacre Dec 1937; Battle of Wuhan 1938 | Japanese surrender ends ground war; merges into Chinese Civil War 1945–49 | ~20 M Chinese | Mitter Forgotten Ally |
| World War II | 1 Sep 1939 – 2 Sep 1945 | Allies (UK, France, USSR from 1941, US from Dec 1941, China, dozens more) vs Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan, satellites) | Nazi expansion; Pacific imperialism; failure of collective security; Versailles legacy | Fall of France Jun 1940; Operation Barbarossa 22 Jun 1941; Pearl Harbor 7 Dec 1941; Stalingrad Aug 1942 – Feb 1943; Midway Jun 1942; Kursk Jul 1943; D-Day 6 Jun 1944; Holocaust 1941–45 (~6 M Jews + ~5 M others murdered); Hiroshima 6 Aug + Nagasaki 9 Aug 1945; V-E Day 8 May 1945; V-J Day 2 Sep 1945 | Allied victory; UN founded Oct 1945; Cold War alignment; decolonization accelerated; Marshall Plan 1948; NATO 1949 | ~70–85 M (~3 % of world population) | Beevor; Overy; Hastings; Snyder Bloodlands; Tooze Wages of Destruction |
| Chinese Civil War | 1927–37; 1945–49 (active phases) | KMT (Chiang Kai-shek) vs CCP (Mao) | Communist-Nationalist split 1927; resumed after WWII | Long March 1934–35; Liaoshen, Huaihai, Pingjin campaigns 1948–49; Mao proclaims PRC 1 Oct 1949 | KMT retreats to Taiwan; PRC controls mainland | ~6 M | Westad Decisive Encounters |
| Korean War | 25 Jun 1950 – 27 Jul 1953 | UN (US-led, 16 states) + South Korea vs North Korea + PRC + Soviet air support | DPRK invasion across 38th parallel | Pusan Perimeter Aug 1950; Inchon landing 15 Sep 1950; Chinese intervention Nov 1950; stalemate from 1951; armistice at Panmunjom | Division at 38th parallel preserved; no peace treaty | ~3 M (including Korean civilians) | Cumings; Halberstam |
VIII. Cold War and Decolonization (1945 – 1991)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indochina (First) | 1946 – 1954 | Viet Minh vs French Union | Decolonization | Dien Bien Phu 13 Mar – 7 May 1954 | Geneva Accords 1954; Vietnam partitioned at 17th parallel | ~500 k | Logevall Embers of War |
| Algerian War of Independence | 1 Nov 1954 – 19 Mar 1962 | FLN vs France + pied-noir | French colonial rule + repression | Battle of Algiers 1957; OAS terror 1961–62; Évian Accords | Algerian independence 5 Jul 1962; ~900 k pied-noir flee | ~300 k–1 M Algerian | Horne A Savage War of Peace |
| Suez Crisis | 29 Oct – 7 Nov 1956 | UK + France + Israel vs Egypt | Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal Jul 1956 | Israeli Sinai campaign; Anglo-French paratroop landing; US + Soviet pressure forces withdrawal | British imperial decline confirmed; Nasser ascendant | ~3,000 | Kyle |
| Bangladesh Liberation War | 26 Mar – 16 Dec 1971 | India + Mukti Bahini vs Pakistan | Bengali nationalism; Awami League election 1970 nullified | Operation Searchlight Mar 1971; ~10 M refugees flee to India; Indian intervention Dec 1971 | Independent Bangladesh; ~93 k Pakistani POWs | 300 k–3 M (disputed) | Bass The Blood Telegram |
| Vietnam War | 1 Nov 1955 – 30 Apr 1975 | North Vietnam + NLF/Viet Cong vs South Vietnam + US + ROK + Australia | Cold War containment; reunification | Gulf of Tonkin 1964; Tet Offensive 1968; Cambodia incursion 1970; Paris Peace Accords 1973; Fall of Saigon 30 Apr 1975 | Reunified socialist Vietnam; ~58 k US dead | ~3 M Vietnamese; ~500 k Cambodian + Lao | Logevall Choosing War; Karnow; Nguyen Lien-Hang |
| Six-Day War | 5 – 10 Jun 1967 | Israel vs Egypt + Syria + Jordan + Iraq | Tiran Strait closure; Egyptian buildup | Israeli pre-emptive airstrikes Day 1; Sinai, West Bank + East Jerusalem, Golan Heights captured | Israeli territorial expansion sets terms of subsequent peace process | ~21 k Arab + ~1 k Israeli | Oren Six Days of War |
| Yom Kippur / October War | 6 – 25 Oct 1973 | Israel vs Egypt + Syria | Sadat’s reclamation of Sinai | Egyptian crossing of Suez; Syrian Golan attack; Israeli counter-offensive | Strategic Israeli victory but Egyptian political opening; Camp David Accords 1978 | ~16 k Arab + ~3 k Israeli | Rabinovich |
| Iran-Iraq War | 22 Sep 1980 – 20 Aug 1988 | Iraq (Saddam) vs Iran (Khomeini) | Shatt al-Arab; Khuzestan; revolutionary export anxieties | Trench warfare reminiscent of WWI; mass infantry assaults; tanker war; chemical weapons (Halabja 1988) | UN-mediated ceasefire; status quo ante | ~1 M | Razoux |
| Cold War proxies (Angola, Mozambique, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Afghanistan) | 1975 – 1991 | Local + US + USSR + Cuba + China + South Africa | Decolonization + Cold War competition | Afghanistan: Soviet invasion Dec 1979; Mujahideen + US Stinger missiles; Soviet withdrawal Feb 1989. Nicaragua: Sandinista revolution 1979; Contra war | Soviet exhaustion + collapse 1989–91 | ~3 M | Westad The Global Cold War |
| Falklands War | 2 Apr – 14 Jun 1982 | United Kingdom vs Argentina | Argentine seizure of British-administered islands | British task force; sinking of Belgrano 2 May; Goose Green; Stanley falls 14 Jun | British recovery; junta collapse, Argentina democratizes 1983 | ~900 | Hastings & Jenkins |
IX. Post-Cold War (1990 – 2026)
| War | Dates | Belligerents | Causes | Course | Outcome | Casualties | Historiography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf War | 2 Aug 1990 – 28 Feb 1991 | UN coalition (35 states, US-led) vs Iraq | Iraqi invasion of Kuwait | Desert Shield buildup; Desert Storm aerial 17 Jan 1991; 100-hour ground war 24–28 Feb | Kuwait liberated; Saddam retained; no-fly zones | ~25 k Iraqi + ~300 coalition | Atkinson Crusade |
| Yugoslav Wars | 25 Jun 1991 – 12 Nov 2001 | Federal/Serbian forces + Croatian + Bosniak + Albanian + NATO (1995, 1999) | Collapse of SFRY; ethnic nationalism | Croatia 1991–95; Bosnia 1992–95 (Sarajevo siege; Srebrenica genocide Jul 1995, ~8,000 Muslim men killed); Dayton Accords Nov 1995; Kosovo + NATO bombing Mar–Jun 1999; insurgency in N. Macedonia 2001 | Six post-Yugoslav states; ICTY 1993–2017 | ~140 k | Silber & Little; Glenny |
| Rwandan Genocide | 7 Apr – 15 Jul 1994 | Hutu Power militia + interahamwe vs Tutsi + moderate Hutu | Habyarimana assassination 6 Apr; ethnic radicalization | RPF (Kagame) advance from Uganda; Operation Turquoise (French) | RPF victory; Kagame regime; ~2 M Hutu refugees flee to DRC | ~800 k–1 M | Des Forges; Prunier |
| Congo Wars (First + Second) | 1996 – 2003 | Rwanda + Uganda + AFDL (Kabila) + later RCD + MLC + ~9 states vs DRC government + allies | Spillover from Rwandan refugee crisis; mineral exploitation | First (1996–97): Mobutu overthrown; Second (1998–2003): “Africa’s World War” | Transitional government; conflict persists in eastern DRC | ~5.4 M (IRC estimate; mostly disease + starvation) | Stearns Dancing in the Glory of Monsters |
| Afghanistan War | 7 Oct 2001 – 30 Aug 2021 | US + NATO ISAF + Afghan Northern Alliance + ANA vs Taliban + al-Qaeda + ISIS-K | Response to 9/11 attacks | Bonn Conference 2001; surge 2009–11; bin Laden killed in Pakistan 2 May 2011; Doha Agreement 2020; Taliban retake Kabul 15 Aug 2021; US withdrawal complete 30 Aug 2021 | Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan restored | ~176 k | Gopal; Whitlock The Afghanistan Papers |
| Iraq War | 20 Mar 2003 – 18 Dec 2011 | US + UK + coalition vs Iraqi government, then Iraqi insurgents | WMD claims; “Axis of Evil”; regime change | Baghdad falls 9 Apr 2003; Saddam captured Dec 2003 (executed 30 Dec 2006); insurgency + AQI; Surge 2007; Maliki sectarianism; ISIS captures Mosul Jun 2014 (separate phase 2014–17) | Sectarian Iraqi state; Iranian influence increased | ~200 k Iraqi (IBC); broader estimates much higher (Lancet 2006: ~655 k) | Ricks Fiasco; Filkins |
| Syrian Civil War | 15 Mar 2011 – present | Government (Assad + Russia + Iran + Hezbollah) vs FSA + SDF/YPG + HTS + ISIS + Turkey | Arab Spring protests; sectarian fault lines | Aleppo siege; chemical weapons attacks (Ghouta 2013, Khan Shaykhun 2017); US-led anti-ISIS coalition 2014; Russian intervention 2015; Assad regime falls to HTS Dec 2024 | New transitional government 2025 (Sharaa); reconstruction ongoing | ~600 k | Lister The Syrian Jihad; Yassin-Kassab & al-Shami |
| Yemen War | 2014 – present | Houthi (Ansar Allah) + Iran vs Hadi government + Saudi-UAE-led coalition | 2011 transition collapse | Houthis seize Sana’a Sep 2014; Saudi intervention Mar 2015; UAE withdraws 2019; truce Apr 2022; collapsed late 2023 | Stalemated; humanitarian catastrophe | ~377 k (UN, direct + indirect) | Lackner |
| Russo-Ukrainian War | 20 Feb 2014 – present | Russia + DPR/LPR vs Ukraine + Western military aid | Maidan Revolution 2013–14; annexation of Crimea Mar 2014; full-scale invasion 24 Feb 2022 | Donbas war 2014–22; Kyiv offensive repulsed Mar 2022; Kharkiv counter-offensive Sep 2022; Kherson liberation Nov 2022; Bakhmut May 2023; war ongoing into 2026 | Ongoing | ~300 k+ Russian military; ~100 k+ Ukrainian military; ~12 k Ukrainian civilian (UN) | Plokhy The Russo-Ukrainian War; Zhukov |
| Tigray War | 3 Nov 2020 – 3 Nov 2022 | Ethiopia + Eritrea + Amhara forces vs TPLF | Federal-regional conflict | Sieges of Mekelle 2020 and after; famine warfare; Pretoria Cessation 2022 | Federal authority restored; massive humanitarian toll | ~600 k (Ghent University estimate including starvation) | (Recent; literature emerging) |
| Israel-Hamas War | 7 Oct 2023 – present (2026) | Israel vs Hamas + PIJ + Hezbollah + Houthis | Hamas attack on southern Israel 7 Oct 2023 (~1,200 killed) | Gaza ground offensive Oct 2023–; Hezbollah northern front Oct 2023–Nov 2024 ceasefire; Houthi Red Sea attacks; Iranian direct strikes Apr + Oct 2024 | Ongoing; multiple ceasefire phases | ~50,000+ Gazan reported; ~1,800 Israeli (military + civilian) | (Contemporaneous reporting) |
Adjacent
- Dynasties and monarchies catalog for the regimes that fought these wars.
- Primary source and historian catalog for the writers who recorded and interpreted them.
- Ancient history survey · Medieval history survey · Modern history survey
- Philosopher catalog for thinkers who wrote in or about each war.
- History Tier 3 index · History Tier 1 root