Hidden Story Channel

It is important to understand historical wars.

Some major historical wars will be introduced in this article.

The History of Wars

• 1066 : Norman Conquest
• 1096-1291 : Crusades
• 1236-1241 : Batu’s Western Conquest
• 13th Century-14th Century : Mongolian Invasion of Sakhalin
• 1274-1281 : Mongol Invasion
• 1296-1333 : War of Scottish
• 1337-1453 : Hundred Years’ War
• 1419-1436 : Hussite Wars
• 1455-1485 : War of the Roses
• 1524-1525 : German Peasants War
• 1562-1598 : Huguenot War
• 1605-1618 : Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618)
• 1618-1648 : Thirty Years’ War
• 1621-1629 : Polish-Swedish War
• 1640-1649 : Irish Confederate War
• 1641-1649 : English Civil War
• 1643-1645 : Torstenson War
• 1648-1653 : The Fronde
• 1652-1654 : First Anglo-Dutch War
• 1654-1667 : Russo-Polish War
• 1655-1660 : First Northern War
• 1665-1667 : Second Anglo-Dutch War
• 1672-1678 : Dutch War
• 1672-1674 : Third Anglo-Dutch War
• 1676-1681 : Russo-Turkish War (1676-1681)
• 1701-1714 ： War of the Spanish
• 1702-1713 ： Queen Anne’s War
• 1733-1738 ： War of the Polish Succession
• 1735-1737 ： Spanish-Portuguese War
• 1735-1739 ： Austro-Russian-Turkish War
• 1740-1748 ： War of the Austrian Succession
• 1744-1748 ： Carnatic Wars
• 1741-1743 ： Russian-Swedish War
• 1752-1757 ： Konbaung-Hanthawaddy War
• 1756-1763 ： Seven Years’ War
• 1754-1763 ： French and Indian War
• 1762-1763 ： Spanish-Portuguese War
• 1768-1774 ： First Russo-Turkish War
• 1775-1783 ： American Revolutionary War
• 1778-1779 ： War of the Bavarian Succession
• 1792 ： Polish-Russian War
• 1792-1802 ： French Revolutionary Wars
• 1803-1815 : Napoleonic Wars
• 1807-1814 : Spanish War of Independence
• 1809-1825 : Bolivian War of Independence
• 1810-1821 : Mexican War of Independence
• 1821-1829 : Greek War of Independence
• 1838-1842 : First Afghan War
• 1843-1852 : Sikh War
• 1846-1848 : Mexican-American War
• 1850-1865 : Taiping Rebellion
• 1856-1860 : Second Opium War
• 1861-1865 : American Civil War
• 1866 : Austro-Prussian War
• 1870-1871 : Franco-Prussian War/span>
• 1877-1878 : Russo-Turkish War
• 1884-1885 : Sino-French War1884年～1885
• 1898 : Spanish American War
• 1904-1905 : Russo-Japanese War/span>
• 1912 :Balkan Wars
• 1918-1919 : Ukrainian-Polish War
• 1918-1919 : Hungarian-Romanian War
• 1919-1921 : Irish War of Independence
• 1926-1949 : Chinese Civil War
• 1931-1933 : Manchurian Crisis
• 1936-1939 : Spanish Civil War
• 1939 : The Battle of Khalkhin
• 1939-1945 : World War II
• 1941-1945 : Pacific War
• 1948-1973 : Arab-Israeli Wars
• 1950-: Korean War
• 1954-1962 : Algerian War
• 1969 : Sino-Soviet Border Dispute
• 1980-1988 : Iran-Iraq War
• 1990-1991 : Gulf War
• 1999-2000 : Kosovo Conflict
• 1994-1996 : First Chechen War
• 1998-2002 : Second Congo War
• 1999-2009 : Second Chechen War

Major Wars of the Early Modern Period

 

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic wars are the wars that France declared to invade its neighboring countries.

What makes the Napoleonic war distinct is the undeniable authoritative power that Napoleon held.

The invasions began after Napoleon became the leader of France following the French Revolution.

Human rights were violated in the Napoleonic Wars.

Napoleon reinstated slavery and dehumanized people of color.

In addition, Napoleon famously regarded men more highly than women.

As mentioned above, Napoleonic wars violated many human rights.

Reference : “Napoleonic Wars and the United States, 1803–1815 – United States Department of State”

Greek War of Independence

Greece was seeking independence from the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was mighty.

However, in the Greek War of Independence, the Ottoman Empire showed limit to their power.

Due to this, Greece was able to have an uprising for independence.

With the help of Britain and France, Greece was able to win their independence.

There were human rights violations in this Greek War of Independence as well.

“The Massacre at Chios” is a painting created by the French artist Eugène Delacroix to capture these scenes.

This oil painting was inspired by the massacre from the Greek War of Independence.

As stated above, human rights violations were committed in significant degrees such as man slaughter.

Major Modern Wars

World War I

The wake of Sarajevo incident triggered the outbreak of World War I.

The allies of World War I were: The United Kingdom, France, Serbia, the Russian Empire, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Romania and the United States of America.

The other allies were: Germany and Austria-Hungary.

World War I was the clash between these allies.

World War I stole the lives of many, especially in Europe.

The death toll was incomparable to other wars, totaling more than 10 million.

This quantity of destruction was due to modernization.

In World War I, modern technology was used to enhance weapons such as firearms and poisonous gases.

The level of destruction of such weapons intensified the number of deaths.

After World War I, in 1919, the League of Nations was established.

This was put in place “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security” under the Treaty of Versailles,

Reference : “The League of Nations, 1920 – United States Department of State”

World War II

World War II was declared by Britain on Germany.

Allies of Germany at the time, Japan and Italy, got involved.

On the other hand, major powers such as France and the United States of America was on Britain’s side.

This is how World War II spread all over the world.

Furthermore, in World War II, Germany was putting into effect mass murder such as the Holocaust.

During the Holocaust, people of European Jews were targeted.

Such unprovoked annihilation is unmistakably a violation of human rights.

World War II itself violated many human rights as well.

Just like in World War I, in many battle fields, modern weapons were used.

It goes without saying that the result was a massacre in all nations.

However, in the wake of these horrific events, the United Nations was established.

In addition, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was declared where basic human rights are described.

Reference : “Lend-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War II – United States Department of State”

The Cold War

The Cold War occurred between the Soviet Union, a communist nation and the United States, a capitalist nation, and their respective allies.

There is a big difference from other wars.

That is that there are no casualties.

In the Cold War, neither party declared war.

However, the Cold War brought up a major problem in maintaining international peace.

That is the power of veto in the UN.

The UN has published the below.

The creators of the United Nations conceived that five countries – China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) [which was succeeded in 1990 by the Russian Federation], the United Kingdom and the United States –, because of their key role in the establishment of the United Nations, would continue to play important roles in the maintenance of international peace and security.

They were granted the special status of Permanent Member States at the Security Council, along with a special voting power known as the ”right to veto”. It was agreed by the drafters that if any one of the five permanent members cast a negative vote in the 15-member Security Council. The resolution or decision would not be approved.

As mentioned, both the Soviet Union and the United States had the power to veto.

Therefore, there was no way for the UN to step in.

This is because the Soviet Union and the United States would exercise the power of veto on any resolution.

Systematic issues such as these, which would hinder the maintenance of international peace, were raised in the Cold War.

Major Modern Wars

Some modern wars:

• The Gulf War
• The Kosovo Conflict
• The Second Chechen War

The Gulf War

The Gulf War was set off on August 2, 1990 by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

The United States had doubts over Iraq’s position on Israeli and Palestinian politics.

With the invasion of Kuwait, attack on Iraq was triggered, lead by the United States.

Again, serious human rights violations were committed.

For example, the Human Shield Action.

The human shield was made up of foreigners in Kuwait who were taken hostage.

By using these human shields, Iraq tried to avoid international attacks.

Evidently, many lives were lost as a result of this Gulf war.

Reference : “The First Gulf War – United States Department of State”

The Kosovo Conflict

The dispute in the Republic of Serbia is called the Kosovo Conflict.

Kosovo in Serbia, an autonomous province, consisted of many Albanians which is an ethnic group that differed from the rest of the Republic of Serbia.

For such reasons, Kosovo desired independence from the Republic of Serbia.

However, the Republic of Serbia did not accept this wish for independence.

Thus, the Kosovo Liberation Army, seeking the separation of Kosovo, was formed.

Many civilians were harmed due to attacks by NATO.

Reference : “Historical Overview (Kosovo) – United States Department of State”

The Second Chechen War

In 1999, an armed conflict in Chechnya began.

There were frequent conflicts in Chechnya, between those who wanted to remain a part of Russia and those who wanted independence.

Therefore, Russia was involved in this war.

With the aim of maintaining peace in Chechnya, Russia attacked to purge the independence movement.

The Human Rights Watch has stated the below:

Since the beginning of the conflict, Russian forces have indiscriminately and disproportionately bombed and shelled civilian objects, causing heavy civilian casualties. The Russian forces have ignored their Geneva convention obligations to focus their attacks on combatants, and appear to take few safeguards to protect civilians…

Reference : “War Crimes In Chechnya and the Response of the West – Human Rights Watch”

As stated, there were many casualties in the Chechen War dues to such attacks by the Russian troops.

Let’s Understand the History of Wars

It is important to know about historical wars.

Furthermore, being aware of the human rights violations that were committed in these wars is meaningful.

By understanding and learning about wars, it will improve people’s conscience in maintaining international peace.