Most Famous Wars
Battle of Tours
(732 CE) European victory over Muslims. It halted Muslim movement into Western Europe.
The Battle of Quebec
1759 Led by James Wolfe Was fought on the plains of Abraham Bot commanders died in battle French were defeated Battle was significant engagement of Britain and American history.
Franco-Prussian War
1870-71, war between France and Prussia; seen as German victory; seen as a struggle of Darwinism; led to Prussia being the most powerful European nation. Instigated by Bismarck; France seen as the aggressor.
Russian Civil War
1918-1920: conflict in which the Red Army successfully defended the newly formed Bolshevik government against various Russian and interventionist anti-Bolshevik armies. Red vs. White Army.
Battle of the Marne
A World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918.
Battle of Marathon
A battle in 490 BC in which the Athenians and their allies defeated the Persians.
Vietnam War
A prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the non-communist armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States.
Battle of Thermopylae
Battle during the Persian wars in which Spartan troops fought to the death against a much larger Persian force.
Persian Wars
Conflicts between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, ranging from the Ionian Revolt (499-494 B.C.E.) through Darius's punitive expedition that failed at Marathon. Chronicled by Herodotus.
The Trojan War
Decade long war waged by Sparta to avenge abduction of Helen.
Napoleonic War
This war consisted in large part of the British and French punishing each other by issuing decrees that would blockade trade into one another's ports.
The Battle of Sedan
When the Second Empire, but not the war, came to an inglorious end with this battle in Sept., 1870. The emperor was captured and then allowed to go the England where he died in 1873. Shortly afterward new of Sedan reached Paris, a republic was proclaimed and a government of national defense established. Paris itself was soon under siege and the government moved to Bordeaux. Paris finally surrendered in January 1871, but France had been ready to sue for peace long before.
Battle of Actium
Battle between Marcus Antony and Octavian for control of the empire. Octavian won in 31 B.C.
Punic Wars
A series of three wars between Rome and Carthage (264-146 B.C.); resulted in the destruction of Carthage and Rome's dominance over the western Mediterranean.
Korean War
A war between North and South Korea., a war between North and South Korea, conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the People's Republic of China came to North Korea's aid. After more than a million combat casualties had been suffered on both sides, the fighting ended in July 1953 with Korea still divided into two hostile states. Negotiations in 1954 produced no further agreement, and the front line has been accepted ever since as the de facto boundary between North and South Korea.
World War II
A war between the Allies (Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands.
World War I
A war between the allies (Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro) and the central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) from 1914 to 1918.
The Crimean War
France & Great Britain vs. Russia, most of the fighting was in the Crimean region, utter military incompetence, destroyed the Concert of Europe.
The Crusades
Holy Wars fought between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land., Between A.D. 1096 and 1291, successive armies of Christians embarked on Crusades to win back the holy lands where Christ had lived; Muslims were a prime target of the crusaders. The Crusades strengthened the Christian identity of the European population and helped broaden the intellectual and economic horizons of the European privileged class.
The Battle of Trafalgar
In this October 1805 naval battle off the coast of Spain, an English fleet devastated a combined French and Spanish fleet, establishing beyond question British control of the seas and forcing Napoleon to abandon any hopes he had of invading Britain.
The Battle for Constantinople
Mehmed II wants city, Constantinople has large walls, Mehmed hires Urban to build cannon, offered Constantine XI surrender 2x-refused, kept on attacking until final surrender.
The Cold War
Refers to the period following WWII until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.This was a period when much of the world was divided by the communist/non-communist battle for military and political superiority. While the USA and the USSR were unquestionably the world's two superpowers, they avoided direct military conflict. Instead, they sought to bring other countries into their fold.
The Invincible Armada
Spanish fleet of ships that they thought could not be defeated. The English attacked so the Spanish went home but their ships were destroyed by the Protestant Winds. Everyone believed this to be a sign from God that the Protestant were doing something right. Start of the decline of Spain.
The Battle of Balaklava
The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea. The engagement followed the earlier Allied victory in September at the Battle of the Alma, where the Russian General Menshikov had positioned his army in an attempt to stop the Allies progressing south towards their strategic goal.[4] Alma was the first major encounter fought in the Crimea since the Allied landings at Kalamita Bay on 14 September, and was a clear battlefield success; but a tardy pursuit by the Allies failed to gain a decisive victory, allowing the Russians to regroup, recover and prepare their defence.
Battle of Blenhein
The Battle of Blenheim (referred to in some countries as the Second Battle of Höchstädt), fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession.[1] Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement. The dangers to Vienna were considerable: the Elector of Bavaria and Marshal Marsin's forces in Bavaria threatened from the west, and Marshal Vendôme's large army in northern Italy posed a serious danger with a potential offensive through the Brenner Pass. Vienna was also under pressure from Rákóczi's Hungarian revolt from its eastern approaches. Realising the danger, the Duke of Marlborough resolved to alleviate the peril to Vienna by marching his forces south from Bedburg and help maintain Emperor Leopold within the Grand Alliance.
Air Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England or Luftschlacht um Großbritannien, literally "Air battle for England" or "Air battle for Great Britain") is the name given to the Second World War air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command. The name derives from a famous speech delivered by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the House of Commons: "...the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin."
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815, was Napoleon Bonaparte's last battle. His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of the French. Waterloo also marked the end of the period known as the Hundred Days, which began in March 1815 after Napoleon's return from Elba, where he had been exiled after his defeats at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 and the campaigns of 1814 in France.
The Battle of Poltava
The battle of the Great Northern War in which the dominance of Sweden in the Baltic Sea came to an end, here Sweden was crushed by Russia.
French Revolution
The revolution in France against the Bourbons., The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The climactic battle of the First Indochina War between French Union forces of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, and Vietnamese Viet Minh communist revolutionary forces. The battle occurred between March and May 1954, and culminated in a massive French defeat that effectively ended the war.
Battle of Hastings
The decisive battle in which William the Conqueror (duke of Normandy) defeated the Saxons under Harold II (1066) and thus left England open for the Norman Conquest.
American Revolution
The war between Great Britain and its American colonies, 1775-83, by which the colonies won their independence.
Battle of Midway
U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet in June 1942, in which the Japanese lost four of their best aircraft carriers. It marked a turning point in World War II.
The American Civil War
War between the southern and northern american states over states rights the issue was slavery., 1861- 1865, War between the South and the North. South seceded from the Union after Lincoln's election and formed the Confederacy. Caused by: -California admitting as a free state -New Mexico and Utah following CA as free state -Agitation in North for abolition of slavery in DC -Runaway slaves assisting North via underground railroad. *North didn't want to initiate war (as stated in Lincoln's inaugural address) which caused the border states to remain part of the Union. *South believed that Britain was dependent of their cotton and would help them in the war (they didn't).
Iraq War
War in which US successfully took down a dominating dictator and is currently helping them "get back on their feet"., military campaign that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States under the administration of George W. Bush and the United Kingdom under the Prime Minister Tony Blair. The last US combat brigade left Iraq on August 19, 2010. Approximately 50,000 troops still remain in the country in an "advise and assist" capacity
The Peloponnesian War
War that began in 431 B.C. between Athens, Sparta, and Thebes as they tried to control Greece. The war weakened each city-state, with Athens ultimately surrendering and ending the Athenian Empire.