Wars of Russia XVII-XX centuries. The bloodiest wars

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According to historians, in the entire history of mankind, more than 15 thousand wars have taken place, in which up to 3.5 billion people died. We can say that humanity has always been at war throughout its history. Historians have calculated that for 5.5 thousand recent years people were able to live in the world for only an insignificant 300 years, that is, it turns out that in each century a civilization lived in the world for only a week.

How many people died in the wars of the twentieth century?

It is not possible to accurately determine the number of those who died in wars, records were not kept in all cases, and estimates of the number of deaths are only approximate. It is also difficult to separate the direct victims of the war from the indirect ones. One attempt to estimate this number was made by the Russian historian Vadim Erlikhman in his work “Population Losses in the 20th Century”. Having compiled a list of wars, he tried to find data on the number of victims for each. According to his calculations, the human losses directly related to the wars of the 20th century amount to 126 million people worldwide (including death from disease, starvation and captivity). But this figure cannot be considered firmly established. Below is data from the same work.

Throughout its history, man has tried to destroy his own kind and has come up with more and more sophisticated methods for this. From a stone club, a spear and a bow to an atomic bomb, military gases and bacteriological weapons. All this is aimed at only one thing - to destroy in the most rational way as many of their own kind as possible. Only one thing can be said in the entire history of human civilization, violence, and especially armed violence, has played an important role and has even been a kind of engine of progress. Today, man continues the "glorious traditions": weapons are launched even before peaceful solutions have been exhausted.

They share several main stages in the development of wars and military art: five important stages of wars can be distinguished, although another classification can be applied: pre-nuclear and nuclear wars. The main milestones of the change of generations of wars coincided with qualitative leaps in the development of the economy, which led to the creation of new types of weapons, a change in the forms and methods of armed struggle.

The stages of wars of the pre-nuclear period are associated with the development of human society, its technological and correlates with leaps in the development of mankind itself. The first major leap in the development of military conflicts was the use of new types of bladed weapons instead of the usual sticks and stones that were typical for people of the Stone Age. The bow, arrows, swords and spears enter the stage of history. With similar weapons, maybe only slightly modernized, people have been destroying each other for several thousand years. The wars of the first generation in historical terms already acted as a way to resolve contradictions, but they could also be of a pronounced political nature. Their origin should be attributed to the tribal, tribal and family-patriarchal stages. human development with their inherent exchange of the results of labor within the tribe, clan and the development of commodity relations into commodity-money.

The wars of the first generation took place in the slaveholding and feudal period of the development of society, at a time when the development of production was very weak, but nevertheless, even then, wars were a means of implementing the policy of the ruling classes. The armed struggle in these wars was carried out at the tactical level of units of exclusively manpower - foot soldiers and cavalry equipped with edged weapons. The main goal of such hostilities was the destruction of enemy troops. In such wars, the warrior, his physical fitness, endurance, courage and fighting spirit came to the fore. This era occupies an important place in human history, she is sung in songs and fanned with legends. Time of heroes and myths. It was in this era that Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans fought, Alexander the Great and his Macedonians, Hannibal and Spartacus led their troops into battle. All these events are certainly beautifully described in books and Hollywood films, but it hardly looked beautiful in reality. Especially for those people who were directly involved in them or civilians who became victims of these conflicts. The peasants, whose crops were trampled by the knightly cavalry and who because of this were doomed to starvation, were hardly up to romance. This stage in the development of mankind lasted a very long time - this is probably the longest stage in the history of the development of wars and military art. From the very beginning of human history to the 12th-13th century a new era, and completed his new invention of the human mind - gunpowder. After that, it became possible to recruit larger armies with less trained fighters - to own a musket or an arquebus, many years of training were not required, which went into training a master swordsman or archer.

The forms and methods of waging wars of the second generation were due to a revolution in military affairs associated with the development of material production in feudal society. In the 12th-13th century, firearms came to the forefront of history - various muskets, arquebuses, cannons and squeaks. At first, this weapon was bulky and imperfect. But his appearance immediately led to a real revolution in military affairs - now the fortress walls of feudal castles could no longer be a reliable defense - siege weapons swept them away. For example, it was thanks to huge siege weapons that the Turks were able to take Constantinople in 1453, a city that had successfully repulsed all attacks on its walls for almost a thousand years. The firearms of this era, especially its beginnings, were very inefficient, they were smooth-bore, so there is simply no need to talk about shooting accuracy, very large and difficult to manufacture. In addition, it had a very low rate of fire. The bow fired much faster and more accurately. But it took years to train an archer, and a musket could be put into the hands of a former peasant and trained as a musketeer in the shortest possible time. In addition, at this time, the value of heavy armor immediately drops - firearms easily pierced any armor. We can say that the brilliant time of the knights has sunk into oblivion. Typical representatives of this era include D'Artagnan and his three comrades, as well as Ukrainian Cossacks, their weapons and battle tactics are typical for that era and for the second stage of armed conflicts.

The third stage in the development of military affairs is directly related to the capitalist, industrial system, which replaced the feudal system in the countries of the Old World. It was he who contributed to the progress in technology, the emergence of new means of production and new scientific inventions, which the restless humanity immediately put on a war footing. The next stage in armed conflicts is also associated with firearms, or rather, its further improvement and improvement. There are rifling in the bore, thereby significantly increasing the accuracy of fire, increasing the range of guns and their rate of fire. Many iconic inventions were made that remain in demand today - a cartridge with a cartridge case was invented, loading from the breech of a weapon, and others. It is to this period that the inventions of a machine gun, a revolver and many other iconic weapons are attributed. The weapon became multiply charged and one warrior could destroy at once a large number of enemies. Wars began to be fought from trenches and other hiding places and required the creation of armies of many millions. The bloody madness of the First World War became the bloody apotheosis of this stage in the development of wars.

The further development of weapons and the emergence of new types of them - combat aircraft and tanks, as well as the improvement of communications, improved logistics and other innovations led to the transition of hostilities to a new stage - this is how fourth-generation wars arose - prominent representative which is World War II. In principle, many features of this war have retained their relevance for the actions of the ground forces to this day. But in addition, the end of World War II was marked by the invention of nuclear weapons. Many experts take a war with the participation of such weapons out of the classification altogether, because in a nuclear war there will simply be no winners and losers. Although other military analysts attribute nuclear weapons to fifth-generation wars. Their signs include the development of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery to the target.

Sixth generation wars are associated with the development of precision weapons and the ability to kill at a distance, the so-called non-contact war. In addition, in many cases, not enemy troops are destroyed, but the entire infrastructure of the state. This is what we saw in Serbia and in Iraq. With the help of aviation and cruise missiles, air defense systems are destroyed, and then life support facilities on the territory of the state are systematically destroyed. The concept of "rear" at this stage of wars and with such tactics is simply absent. Communications, bridges, industrial facilities are being destroyed in the state. The economy is in decline. The strikes are accompanied by powerful information pressure and political provocations. The state with its institutions simply ceases to exist.

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Wars are financed by those who later receive the maximum profit.
Capitalism benefits from wars and the subsequent exploitation of countries for one reason - this is a lot of money. This means that in the conditions of capitalism, wars are inevitable, this is proved not only by common sense, but also by the history of the world. Any military conflict is organized and provoked by a third party, which solves the problem of creating sales markets in the territory destroyed by the war, the problem of access to gratuitous raw materials, technologies, and cheap labor. Throughout the century, a select circle of bankers were constantly in touch (with the White House) not only on financial, economic and trade policy, but also on issues related to wars. The financial expansion of American banks politically pushed America's transformation into a world "superpower".

"I just tremble for my country when I think that God is just," US President Thomas Jefferson.

1622 - attack on the Indians. in Jamestown.
1635 - Algoquin Indian War in New England
1675 - war ended with the destruction of almost half of the cities in Massachusetts. Other wars and skirmishes with the Indians continued until 1900. In total, the Americans destroyed about 100 million Indians, which makes it possible to speak of a real genocide, far exceeding the mass murder of Jews by Hitler (4-6 million victims).

1661-1774 Military conflict. About a million live slaves were imported from Africa to the United States, over nine million died along the way. The income of slave traders from this operation in the prices of the middle of the 18th century was about 2 billion dollars.

From 1689 to 1763, four major imperial wars took place involving England and its North American colonies, as well as the French, Spanish and Dutch empires. From 1641 to 1759 there were 40 riots and 18 internal conflicts among the settlers, five of which rose to the level of rebellion. In 1776 the War of Independence began and ended in 1783. Second war against England in 1812-1815. consolidated independence, while the 40 Indian Wars from 1622 to 1900 ended with the addition of millions of acres of land.

1792 - Americans recapture Kentucky Indians

1796 - Americans recapture Tennessee Indians

1797 Cooling of relations with France after the USS Delaware attacks the civilian ship Croyable; naval clashes continue until 1800.

1800 - Slave rebellion led by Gabriel Prosser in Virginia. About a thousand people were hanged, including Prosser himself. The slaves themselves did not kill a single person.

1803 - Americans recapture the Ohio Indians

1803 - Louisiana. In 1800, under a secret treaty, Spain handed over to France the former French colony of Louisiana until 1763, in return for this, the Spanish king Charles IV took an obligation from Napoleon to give his son-in-law the kingdom in Italy. The French troops were never able to occupy Louisiana, where the Americans settled before them.

1805 - 1815 - The United States waged the first war in Africa - on its Mediterranean coast. By this time, merchants from the American Republic had developed a significant trade with the Ottoman Empire, buying opium there for $3 a pound and selling it in the Chinese port of Canton (Guangzhou) for $7 to $10. A lot of opium was sold by the Americans also in Indonesia and India. In the first third of the 19th century The United States obtained from the Turkish sultan the same rights and privileges in trade in the Ottoman Empire, as well as from the European powers: Great Britain, Russia and France. Subsequently, the United States entered into a struggle with Britain for control of the opium markets in the eastern Mediterranean. As a result of a series of wars, by 1815 the United States imposed enslaving treaties on the North African countries and provided its merchants with large cash receipts. Later, in the 30s, the United States tried to obtain from the Kingdom of Naples the transfer of ownership of Syracuse as a support base, although these harassment remained unsuccessful.

1806 - attempted American invasion of the Rio Grande, i.e. into Spanish territory. The leader of the Americans, Captain Z. Pike, was caught by the Spaniards, after which the intervention bogged down.

1810 - Louisiana Governor Clairborne invaded Spanish-owned West Florida on the orders of the President of the United States. The Spaniards retreated without a fight, the territory passed to America.

1811 - slave revolt led by Charles (surnames were often not given to slaves, just as they are not given to dogs). 500 slaves headed for New Orleans, freeing their brethren in misfortune on their way. American troops destroyed on the spot or later hanged almost all the participants in the uprising.

1812 - 1814 - war with England. Invasion of Canada. "I am looking forward not only to annex Florida to the south, but also Canada (Upper and Lower) to the North of our state," said one of the members of the House of Representatives, Felix Grandi. "The Creator of the world defined the Gulf of Mexico as our boundary in the south, and the region of eternal cold in the north," another senator Harper echoed him. Soon the huge British fleet approached and forced the Yankees to leave Canada.
In 1814, England even managed to destroy many government buildings in the US capital, Washington.

1812 - US President Madison ordered General George Matthews to occupy part of Spanish Florida - Amelia Island and some other territories. Matthews showed such unprecedented cruelty that the president later tried to disown this enterprise.

1813 - American troops capture Spanish Mobile Bay without a fight, Spanish soldiers surrender. In addition, the Americans occupy the Marquesas Islands, the occupation continued until 1814.

1814 - US General Andrew Jackson raided Spanish Florida, where he occupied Pensacola.

1816 - attack US troops at Fort Nichols in Spanish Florida. The fort belonged not to the Spaniards, but to runaway slaves and Seminole Indians, who were destroyed in the amount of 270 people.

1817 - 1819 conquest by Florida. The pretext for the invasion of American troops in Florida was the persecution of the Indian tribe of the Seminoles, who gave shelter to Negro slaves who had fled the plantations (General Jackson deceived two leaders of the Indian tribes of the Seminoles and Creeks into an American gunboat, hanging an English flag, and then brutally executed). The true reason The invasion of the Americans was the desire of the planters of the US South to seize the fertile lands of Florida, which was revealed in the debate in Congress in January 1819, after the report of the representative of the military commission Johnson on the military operations in Florida.

1824 - The invasion of two hundred Americans led by David Porter in the Puerto Rican city of Fajardo. Reason: shortly before that, someone insulted American officers there. City officials were forced to issue a formal apology for the bad behavior of their residents.

1824 - American landing in Cuba, then a Spanish colony.

1831 Virginia slave rebellion led by priest Nat Turner. 80 slaves destroyed their slave owners and their families (60 people in total), after which the uprising was crushed. In addition, the slave owners decided to launch a "preemptive strike" in order to prevent a larger uprising - they killed hundreds of innocent slaves in the surrounding regions.

1833 - the invasion of Argentina, where at that time there was an uprising.

1835 - Mexico. The United States, seeking to seize the territory of Mexico, took advantage of its unstable domestic political situation. Coming from the beginning of the 20s. to the colonization of Texas, in 1835 they inspired a rebellion of the Texas colonists, who soon announced the separation of Texas from Mexico and proclaimed its "independence".

1835 - the invasion of Peru, where at that time there were strong unrest of the people.

1836 - another invasion of Peru.

1840 - American invasion of Fiji, several villages were destroyed.

1841 - after the murder of an American on Drummond Island (then called Upolu Island), the Americans destroyed many villages there.

1842 is a unique case. A certain T. Jones for some reason imagined that America was at war with Mexico, and attacked Monterey in California with his troops. Finding that there was no war, he retreated.

1843 - American invasion To China

1844 - another invasion of China, suppression of an anti-imperialist uprising

1846 - Mexicans were offended by the loss of Texas, whose residents decided to join the US in 1845. Border disputes and financial disagreements increased tension. Many Americans believed that the US was "destined" to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Since Mexico did not want to sell this territory, some US leaders wanted to seize it - US President James Polk sent troops to Texas in the spring of 1846. For the next two years, fighting took place in Mexico City, Texas, California, and New Mexico. The American military was better trained, had newer weapons, and more effective leadership, Mexico was defeated. In early 1847, California was under US rule. In September, Mexico City fell under attack by the US Army. On February 2, 1848, the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Peace. In this treaty, Mexico agreed to sell 500,000 square miles to the US for $15 million.

1846 - aggression against New Granada (Colombia)

1849 - The American fleet approaches Smyrna to force the Austrian authorities to release the arrested American.

1849 - shelling of Indochina.

1851 - American troops land on Johanna Island to punish local authorities for arresting the captain of an American ship.

1852 - American invasion of Argentina during popular unrest.

1852 - In 1852, the US government sent a squadron of M. Perry to Japan, who, under the threat of the use of weapons, achieved the conclusion of the first American-Japanese treaty in Kanagawa on March 31, 1854, which opened the ports of Hakodate and Shimoda to American ships on extremely unfavorable terms for Japan.
The American Consul General T. Harris, who arrived in Japan in 1856, using threats and blackmail, achieved the conclusion on June 17, 1857, of a new treaty more favorable to the United States, and a year later, on July 29, 1858, a trade treaty that was enslaving for Japan.
On the model of the American-Japanese trade treaty of 1858, treaties were concluded with Russia (August 19, 1858). America established freedom of trade for foreign merchants with Japan and included it in the world market, granted foreigners the right of extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction, deprived Japan of customs autonomy, and imposed low import duties.

1853 - 1856 - the Anglo-American invasion of China, where they knocked out favorable terms of trade through military clashes.

1853 - Invasion of Argentina and Nicaragua during popular unrest.

1853 - An American warship approaches Japan to force her to open her ports to international trade.

1854 - The Americans destroyed the Nicaraguan city of San Juan del Norte (Greytown), thus they avenged an insult to an American.

1854 - The United States made an attempt to capture the Hawaiian Islands. Capture of the Tiger Island off the Isthmus of Panama.

1855 - A detachment of Americans led by W. Walker invaded Nicaragua. Relying on the support of his government, he proclaimed himself in 1856 President of Nicaragua. The American adventurer sought to annex Central America to the United States and turn it into a slave base for American planters. However, the combined armies of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras pushed Walker out of Nicaragua. He was later captured and shot in Honduras.

1855 - American invasion of Fiji and Uruguay.

1856 - Invasion of Panama. Considering huge role The Isthmus of Panama, Great Britain and the USA fought for mastery of it, or at least for control over it. Great Britain, which owned a number of islands in the Caribbean, as well as part of the Mosquito Coast, sought to maintain its influence in Central America. In 1846, the United States imposed on New Granada a treaty of friendship, trade and navigation, under which they pledged to guarantee the sovereignty of New Granada over the Isthmus of Panama and at the same time received equal rights with it in the operation of any route through the isthmus and a concession to build a railway through it. Railway, the construction of which was completed in 1855, brought the American strengthening of US influence on the Isthmus of Panama. Using the 1846 treaty, the USA systematically interfered in the internal affairs of New Granada and repeatedly resorted to direct armed intervention (1856, 1860, etc.). Treaties between the United States and Great Britain - the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) and the Hay-Pownsfot Treaty (1901) further strengthened the US position in New Granada.

1857 - two invasions of Nicaragua.

1858 - intervention in Fiji.

1858 - invasion of Uruguay.

1859 - attack on the Japanese fort Taku.

1859 - Invasion of Angola during popular unrest.

1860 - Invasion of Panama.

1861 - 1865 - Civil war. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina seceded from the rest of the states and declared themselves an independent state. The North sends in troops ostensibly to free the slaves. In fact, it was, as always, about money - basically, they quarreled over the terms of trade with England. In addition, there were forces that prevented the disintegration of the country into a number of small, but very independent colonies.

1862 - the expulsion of all Jews from Tennessee, of course with the confiscation of their property.

1863 - punitive expedition to Shimonoseki (Japan).

1864 - a military expedition to Japan in order to get himself favorable conditions in trade.

1865 - Paraguay. Uruguay with unlimited military assistance from the USA, England, France, etc. invaded Paraguay and destroyed 85% of the population of this then rich country. Since then, Paraguay has not risen. The monstrous massacre was openly paid for by the international banking house of the Rothschilds, closely associated with the famous British bank Baring Brothers and other financial structures, where the Rothschild tribesmen traditionally played a leading role. The fact that it was carried out under the slogans of the liberation of the Paraguayan people from the yoke of dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the country gave special cynicism to the genocide. Having lost half of its territory, the bloodless country has turned into a miserable Anglo-American semi-colony, known today for one of the lowest living standards in the world, rampant drug mafia, huge external debt, police terror and corrupt officials. The land was taken away from the peasants, giving it to a handful of landowners who arrived in the wagon train of the occupiers. Subsequently, they created the Colorado Party, until now ruling the country For the sake of the dollar and Uncle Sam. Democracy has triumphed.

1865 - the introduction of troops into Panama during a coup d'état.

1866 - unprovoked attack on Mexico

1866 - punitive expedition to China for attacking an American consul.

1867 - punitive expedition to China for the murder of several American sailors.

1867 - attack on the Midway Islands.

1868 - Multiple invasions of Japan during the Japanese Civil War.

1868 - invasion of Uruguay and Colombia.

1874 - the entry of troops into China and Hawaii.

1876 ​​- invasion of Mexico.

1878 - attack on the islands of Samoa.

1882 - the entry of troops into Egypt.

1888 - attack on Korea.

1889 - punitive expedition to Hawaii.

1890 - the introduction of American troops in Haiti.

1890 - Argentina. Troops are brought in to protect the interests of Buenos Aires.

1891 - Chile. Collisions between American troops and rebels.

1891 - Haiti. The suppression of the uprising of black workers on the island of Navassa, which, according to American statements, belonged to the United States.

1893 - the introduction of troops to Hawaii, the invasion of China.

1894 - Nicaragua. Within a month, the troops occupy the Bluefields.

1894 - 1896 - invasion of Korea.

1894 - 1895 - China. American troops participate in the Sino-Japanese War.

1895 - Panama. American troops invade the Colombian province.

1896 - Nicaragua. American troops invade Corinto.
1898 - American-Spanish War. American troops recapture the Philippines from Spain, 600,000 Filipinos are killed. American President William McKinley announced that the Lord ordered him to seize the Philippine Islands in order to convert their inhabitants to Christian faith and bring them civilization.
McKinley said he spoke to the Lord as he walked down one of the hallways of the White House at midnight.
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The reason used by America to start this war is curious: on February 15, 1898, an explosion occurred on the battleship Maine, it sank, killing 266 crew members. The US government immediately blamed Spain. After 100 years, the ship was raised, and it turned out that the ship had been blown up from the inside. It is possible that America decided not to wait for a reason to attack Spain and decided to speed things up by sacrificing a couple of hundred lives. Cuba is recaptured from Spain, and since then the American military base Guantanamo Bay has been located there.

1898 - American troops invade the port of San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.

1898 - Hawaii. The capture of the islands by American troops.

1899 - American-Philippine War

1899 - Nicaragua. American troops invade the port of Bluefields.

1901 - the entry of troops into Colombia.

1902 - invasion of Panama.

1903 - The United States sent warships to the Isthmus of Panama in order to isolate Colombian troops. On November 3, the political independence of the Panamanian Republic was proclaimed. In the same month, Panama, which turned out to be in fact completely dependent on the United States, was forced to sign an agreement with the United States, according to which the territory for the construction of the canal was "permanently" provided for the use of the United States.

1903 - the entry of troops into Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Syria.

1904 - the entry of troops into Korea, Morocco and the Dominican Republic.

1904 - 1905 - American troops intervene in the Russo-Japanese War.

1905 - American troops intervene in a revolution in Honduras.

1905 - entry of troops into Mexico (helped the dictator Porfirio Díaz suppress the uprising).

1905 - the entry of troops into Korea.

1906 - the invasion of the Philippines, the suppression of the liberation movement.

1906 - 1909 - American troops enter Cuba during elections.

1907 - US troops enforce "dollar diplomacy" protectorate in Nicaragua.

1907 - American troops intervene in a revolution in the Dominican Republic

1907 - American troops participate in the war between Honduras and Nicaragua.

1908 - American troops enter Panama during elections.

1910 - Nicaragua. American troops invade the port of Bluefields and Corinto. The United States sent armed forces to Nicaragua and organized an anti-government conspiracy (1909), as a result of which Celaya was forced to flee the country. In 1910, a junta was formed from pro-American generals: X. Estrada, E. Chamorro, and A. Diaz, an employee of the American mining company. In the same year, Estrada became president, but the very next year he was replaced by A. Diaz, supported by American troops.

1911 - Americans land in Honduras to support an uprising led by former President Manuel Bonnila against legitimately elected President Miguel Davil.

1911 - suppression of the anti-American uprising in the Philippines.

1911 - the introduction of troops into China.

1912 - American troops enter Havana (Cuba).

1912 - American troops enter Panama during elections.

1912 - American invasion of Honduras.

1912 - 1933 - the occupation of Nicaragua, the constant struggle with the partisans. Nicaragua became a colony of the monopoly of the United Fruit Company of other American companies. In 1914, an agreement was signed in Washington, according to which the USA was granted the right to build an interoceanic canal in Nicaragua. In 1917, E. Chamorro, who concluded several new agreements with the USA, became president. which led to even greater enslavement of the country.

1914 - American troops enter the Dominican Republic, battle with the rebels for Santa Domingo.

1914 - A series of invasions of Mexico.
In 1910, a powerful peasant movement by Francisco Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata began there against the protege of America and England, dictator Porfirio Diaz. In 1911, Diaz fled the country and was replaced by the liberal Francisco Madero. But even he did not suit the Americans, and in 1913, again, the pro-American General Victoriano Huerta overthrew Madero by killing him. Zapata and Villa pressed on, and at the end of 1914 they occupied the capital of Mexico City. Huerta's junta collapsed and the US moved to direct intervention. Actually, already in April 1914, an American landing force landed in the Mexican port of Veracruz, which remained there until October. Meanwhile, the experienced politician and large landowner V. Carranza became the President of Mexico. He defeated Villa, but opposed US imperialist policies and promised land reform.
In March 1916, units american army under the command of Pershing, they crossed the Mexican border, but the Yankees did not get an easy walk. The government troops and partisan armies of P. Villa and A. Zapata, temporarily forgetting civil strife, united and Pershing was thrown out of the country.

1914 - Haiti. After numerous uprisings, America brings in its troops, the occupation continues for 19 years.

1916 - 8-year occupation of the Dominican Republic.

1917 Military occupation of Cuba, economic protectorate until 1933.

Participation in the 1st World War.

1917 - 1918 - participation in the 1st World War. At first, America "observed neutrality", i.e. sold weapons for astronomical sums, grew rich uncontrollably, entered the war as early as 1917, i.e. at almost the very end; lost only 40,000 people (Russians, for example, 200,000), but after the war they considered themselves the main winner. As we know, they fought in the same way in the Second World War. States in Europe fought in World War I to change the rules of the “game”, not to “achieve greater equality of opportunity”, but to ensure absolute inequality in the future in favor of the United States. America came to Europe not for the sake of Europe, but for the sake of America. Overseas capital was preparing this war, and he won it. After the end of the war, through various machinations, they succeeded more than other allies in enslaving Germany, as a result of which the country, already weakened by the war, fell into absolute chaos, where fascism was born. Fascism developed with the active funding of America and Western capitalists until the end of World War II. States other than the United States, after the war, found themselves indebted to international financial groups and monopolies, where US capital played already the first, but by no means the only violin.

1993 - Americans help Yeltsin to carry out the execution of several hundred people during the storming of the Supreme Council.

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The Americans actively finance the propaganda of democracy, bribe military generals, officials, the media, actively promote new values, promising all people to become "bankers and rock or movie stars", trying to convince the population of the failure of the USSR economy. They get a lot of help from the Chubais team.
They are actively intimidating by the communists, they are filming a video of a Russian pensioner in tears begging not to vote for Zyuganov, as he promises to dispossess all peasants and drive the protesters into camps (this video can be found on YouTube). Before December 24, 1990, Zyuganov organized an All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR in which 77.85% of the population voted for the preservation of the USSR. And if it were not for the active support of the media and the betrayal of many officials, the United States would not have been able to win, since there was quite a strong and high-quality resistance among the intelligentsia towards the communists.

In early 1991, Zyuganov called for the removal of Mikhail Gorbachev from the post of General Secretary. In July 1991, together with a number of well-known state, political and public figures, he signed the appeal “Word to the people”. The appeal spoke about measures to prevent the collapse of the USSR and about possible tragic events - this appeal made many think and change their new views in favor of the communists.
Zyuganov in 1993 organized the impeachment of Yeltsin. Thanks to Zhirinovsky, then 16 votes were not enough for Yeltsin to be put on trial and recognized as a state criminal. The military also did not provide support.
In 1999, Zyuganov organized another vote to impeach Yeltsin. But the supporters of impeachment did not get the required 300 votes, and most of the officials support Yeltsin. In 2010, Zyuganov organized a military tribunal for V. Putin, considering him a successor to B. Yeltsin and a protege of Chubais, the prosecutor was military prosecutor V. Ilyukhin, at which Putin was found guilty of disarming Russia and deliberately economic collapse of the country. After the tribunal, Zyuganov and the Communist Party organized a rally in Moscow at which the verdict was announced, asking for help and support from the army and the people, but the army and the people remain indifferent to this.
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1993 - 1995 - Bosnia. Patrolling during the Civil War no-fly zones; downed planes, the bombing of the Serbs.

1994 - 1996 - Iraq. An attempt to overthrow Hussein by destabilizing the country. Bombing never stopped, people died of starvation and disease due to sanctions, explosions were constantly carried out in public places, while the Americans used the terrorist organization Iraqi National Congress (INA). It even came to military clashes with the troops of Hussein, because. the Americans promised the National Congress air support. True, military assistance never came. The attacks were directed against civilians, the Americans hoped in this way to provoke popular anger towards the Hussein regime, which allows all this. But the regime did not allow this for long, and by 1996 most of the members of the INA had been destroyed. The INA was also not allowed into the new Iraqi government.

1994 - 1996 - Haiti. Blockade directed against the military government; troops reinstate President Aristide in office 3 years after the coup.

1994 - Rwanda. The story is dark, much remains to be seen, but now we can say the following. Under the leadership of CIA agent Jonas Savimbi, approx. 800 thousand people. Moreover, at first it was reported about three million, but over the years the number decreases in proportion to the increase in the number of mythical Stalinist repressions. We are talking about ethnic cleansing - the destruction of the Hutu people. The heavily armed UN contingent in the country did nothing. How much America is involved in all this, what goals were pursued by this, is still unclear. It is known that the army of Rwanda, which was mainly engaged in the massacre of the civilian population, exists on US money and is trained by American instructors. It is known that Rwandan President Paul Kagame, under whom the massacres took place, received a military education in the United States. As a result, Kagame established excellent ties not only with the US military, but also with US intelligence. However, the Americans did not receive any visible benefit from the genocide. Maybe for the love of art?

1994 - first, second Chechen campaigns. Dudayev's militants were trained in CIA training camps in Pakistan and Turkey. Undermining stability in the Middle East, the US has declared the oil wealth of the Caspian a zone of its vital interests. They, through intermediaries in this zone, helped to hatch the idea of ​​separating the North Caucasus from Russia. People close to them with big bags of money incited Basayev's gangs to "jihad", a holy war in Dagestan and other areas where quite normal and peaceful Muslims live. The Chubais group completely controlled the Yeltsin administration and had absolute influence in the Kremlin representing the interests of the United States.

The following have been trained in the USA: Khattab, bin Laden, Chitigov and many others.
There is a scandal with the English organization "Helo-Trust". Theoretically, the "Halo Trust", created in the UK in the late 80s as a charity non-profit organization, is engaged in providing assistance in carrying out work on the demining of territories affected by armed conflicts.
In fact, since 1997, Halo-Trust instructors have trained more than a hundred mine-explosive specialists. Halo Trust is funded by the UK Department for International Development, the US Department of State, European Union, the governments of Germany, Ireland, Canada, Japan, Finland, as well as individuals.

1995 - Mexico. The US government is funding a campaign against the Zapatistas. Under the guise of "the fight against drugs" there is a struggle for territories that are attractive to American companies. Helicopters with machine guns, rockets and bombs are used to destroy local residents.

1995 - Croatia. Bombing of the airfields of the Serbian Krajina before the advance of the Croats.
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1996 - On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded in the evening sky near Long Island and crashed into Atlantic Ocean- all 230 people on board were killed - 125 of them were US citizens. There is strong evidence that the Boeing was shot down by an American missile. The motivation for this attack has not been established, among the main versions is an error during the exercises or the elimination of an objectionable person on board the aircraft.
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1996 - Rwanda. 6,000 civilians are massacred by government troops trained and funded by America and South Africa. In the Western media, this event was ignored.

1996 - Congo. The US Department of Defense was secretly involved in the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). American companies were also involved in Washington's covert operations in the DRC, one of which is associated with former president USA by George Bush Sr. Their role is due to economic interests in mining in the DRC. Forces special purpose The United States trained the armed groups of the warring parties in the DRC. To maintain confidentiality, private military recruiters were used. Washington actively helped the Rwandans and Congolese rebels to overthrow the dictator Mobutu. The Americans then supported the rebels who started a war against the late DRC President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, because "by 1998, the Kabila regime began to annoy the interests of American mining companies." When Kabila received the support of other African countries, the US changed tactics. American special agents began to train both opponents of Kabila - Rwandans, Ugandans and Burundians, and supporters - Zimbabweans and Namibians.

1997 - Americans staged a series of explosions in Cuban hotels.

1998 - Sudan. The Americans destroy a pharmaceutical plant with missiles, claiming that it produces nerve gas. Since this plant produced 90% of the country's medicines, and the Americans naturally banned their import from abroad, the result of the missile attack was the death of tens of thousands of people. There was simply nothing to treat them.

1998 - 4 days of active bombing of Iraq after inspectors report that Iraq is not cooperative enough.

1998 - Afghanistan. Attack on former CIA training camps used by Islamic fundamentalist groups.
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1999 - ignoring the norms international law Bypassing the UN and the Security Council, the United States launched a 78-day aerial bombardment campaign by NATO forces against the sovereign state of Yugoslavia. The aggression against Yugoslavia, carried out under the pretext of "averting a humanitarian disaster", caused the worst humanitarian catastrophe in Europe since the Second World War. For 32,000 sorties, bombs with a total weight of 21 thousand tons were used, which is equivalent to four times the power of the atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima. According to official figures alone, more than 2,000 civilians were killed, 6,000 wounded and maimed, over a million left homeless and 2 million without any source of income. Direct economic losses are estimated at $600 billion.
Devastating and lasting damage has been done to the ecological environment of Yugoslavia, as well as Europe as a whole. From the testimony collected by the International Tribunal for the Investigation of American War Crimes in Yugoslavia, chaired by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, it clearly follows that the CIA created, fully armed and financed Albanian terrorist gangs (the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA) in Yugoslavia . In order to finance the KLA gangs, the CIA established a well-organized drug trafficking criminal structure in Europe.

Before the start of the bombing of Serbia, the government of Yugoslavia handed over to NATO a map of objects not subject to bombing, because. it will cause an ecological catastrophe. The Americans, with the cynicism inherent in this nation, began to bomb exactly those objects that were indicated on the Serbian map. For example, they bombed the Pancevo oil refinery 6 times. As a result, along with the poisonous gas phosgene formed in huge quantities, 1200 tons of vinyl chloride monomers, 3000 tons of sodium hydroxide, 800 tons of hydrochloric acids, 2350 tons of liquid ammonia and 8 tons of mercury got into the environment. All this went to the ground. The soil is poisoned. Groundwater, especially in Novi Sad, contains mercury. As a result of the use of NATO bombs with a uranium core, diseases of the so-called. "Gulf syndrome", deformed children are born. Ecologists in the West, primarily Greenpeace, completely hush up the atrocious crimes of the American military in Serbia.
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2000 - coup in Belgrade. The Americans finally overthrew the hated Milosevic.

2001 - invasion of Afghanistan. A typical American program: torture, banned weapons, mass destruction of civilians, assurances of the imminent restoration of the country, the use of depleted uranium, and, finally, the "evidence" of Osama bin Laden's involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks, sucked from the finger, based on dubious video footage from unintelligible sound and a completely different person from Bin Laden.

2001 - Americans chase Albanian terrorists from the Kosovo Liberation Army throughout Macedonia, who were trained and armed by the Americans themselves to fight the Serbs.

2002 - Americans send troops to the Philippines, because. there are fears of popular unrest.

2002 - Venezuela, pro-American coup, the opposition illegally ousted popular President Hugo Chavez. The very next day, a popular uprising began in support of the president, Chavez was released from prison and returned to his post. Now there is a struggle going on between the government and the American-backed opposition. The country is in chaos and anarchy. Venezuela, as you might expect, is rich in oil. Also, it's no secret that Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, is the best friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. And Venezuela is one of the few countries that openly criticizes US foreign policy.

2003 - Philippines, American military operation "Enduring Freedom", the official goal of which is the fight against international terrorism. The bloody conflict with Muslim and communist rebels that has been going on for almost forty years in the south of the Philippines has already claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.

2003 - Iraqi war. The military conflict that began with the invasion of US forces and their allies in Iraq to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein. The first operation was codenamed Iraqi Freedom. Against this small country that staunchly fought for its sovereignty and the life of its people, in addition to the United States, 48 ​​countries participated in the coalition.

Here are these countries - "Heroes" replenishing the economies of their countries through murder and robbery:

USA - 250,000 members
Australia - 2000 members
Azerbaijan - 250 members
Albania - 240 members
Armenia - 50 members
Bulgaria - 490 members
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 40 members
Great Britain - 45 000 members
Hungary - 300 members
Honduras - 370 members
Georgia - 2000 members (since August 2003, the contingent was withdrawn in August 2008 due to the conflict in South Ossetia)
Denmark - 550 members
Dominican Republic - 300 members
Iceland - 2 members
Spain - 1300 chl
Italy - 3200 chl
Kazakhstan - 30 members
Latvia - 140 members
Lithuania - 120 members
Macedonia - 80 members
Moldova - 20 members
Mongolia - 180 people
Netherlands - 1350 members
Nicaragua - 230 members
New Zealand - 60 members
Norway - 150 people
Poland - 2500 members
Portugal - 130 members
South Korea - 3600 members
Romania - 730 members
El Salvador - 380 members
Singapore - 160 pcs
Slovakia - 110 members
Thailand - 420 chl
Tonga - 60 members
Ukraine - 1650 members
Philippines - 50 pcs
Czech Republic - 300 members
Estonia - 40 members
Japan - 600 members
This is just the official number. The true figures of the participants and their losses are traditionally kept silent.

As of December 2011, 162,000 people died in Iraq, according to an incomplete estimate of the Iraq Body Count project, of which approximately 79 percent were civilians. In the fall of 2010, WikiLeaks released about 400,000 documents related to the Iraq War. According to them, the loss of the civilian population of Iraq during the war amounted to about 66,000 people, the loss of militants - about 24,000. A terrible consequence of the Iraq war was an increase in the number of Iraqi children with birth defects.

2003 - armed conflict in Liberia between the country's government and rebel groups in 1999-2003. The war ended with the victory of the rebel groups and the flight of President Charles Taylor from the country. UN peacekeepers were brought into Liberia and an interim government was established. During the war, hundreds of thousands of people died or became refugees.

2003 - Syria. As it usually happens, in a fit of passion, the United States begins to destroy not only the victim country (in this case, Iraq), but also the surrounding countries.
On June 24, the Pentagon announced that it may have killed Saddam Hussein or his eldest son, Uday. According to a senior official of the US military, the Predator unmanned aircraft attacked a suspicious convoy. As it turned out, in pursuit of the leaders of the former Iraqi regime, the US military was operating in Syria. The US military command acknowledged the clash with the Syrian border guards. Paratroopers were thrown into the area. From the air, the special forces troops were covered by airplanes and helicopters.

2003 - Coup in Georgia. Assistance to the Georgian opposition was provided through the US Ambassador to Tbilisi, Richard Miles. Miles gained fame as a gravedigger of regimes: he was an ambassador in Azerbaijan when Heydar Aliyev came to power, in Yugoslavia during the bombings on the eve of the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic, and in Bulgaria, when the heir to the throne, Simeon of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, won the parliamentary elections, who eventually led the government.
In addition to political support, the Americans also provided financial assistance to the opposition. For example, the Soros Foundation allocated $500,000 to the radical opposition organization Kmara. Soros funded an opposition television channel that played a key role in supporting the Velvet Revolution and provided financial support to a youth organization that led the street protests.

2004 - Haiti. Anti-government demonstrations continued in Haiti for several weeks. The rebels occupied the main cities of Haiti. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled. The assault on the country's capital, Port-au-Prince, was postponed by the rebels at the request of the United States. America sends troops.

2004 - Coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea, where there are substantial oil reserves. British intelligence MI6, the American CIA and the Spanish secret service tried to bring into the country 70 mercenaries who were supposed to overthrow the regime of President Theodore Obisango Nguem Mbasogo with the support of local traitors. The mercenaries were detained, and their leader Mark Thatcher (by the way, the son of Margaret Thatcher) took refuge in the United States.

2004 - pro-American counter-revolution in Ukraine.

2008 - 8 August. War in South Ossetia. The US-funded and prepared aggression of Georgia against the Republic of South Ossetia.

2011 - a series of armed conflicts during the struggle for political power in Libya. The attack on Libya is a military operation by aggressor countries from NATO (USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Canada) against the Libyan government and Jamahiriya leader M. Gaddafi, which began on March 19, 2011. Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey also announced their intention to take part in it to some extent.

2012-2015 - Conflict in the Central African Republic. Armed conflict between the CAR government and the rebels. The participants in the conflict are the Muslim and Christian communities of the country.

2013-The military conflict in Syria was organized by the United States. Logistically, anti-government militants were supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and some other states, the Syrian government was supported by Iran, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela.

2013 military coup in Egypt. US foreign policy took an active part in the "Arab Spring", and the sudden change of power in Cairo was not without the assistance of American "peace doves".

2014 - pro-American counter-revolution in Ukraine.

2014-2015 - Armed conflict in Yemen - a civil war between the Houthis (Shia rebels) on the one hand, and government forces on the other. The US authorities decided on a counter-terrorist operation against Al-Qaeda in Yemen. To complete the picture, here are a couple of the most famous Houthi slogans: “Death to America!”; "Death to Israel!"

In the history of mankind, various wars occupy a huge place.
They redrawn maps, gave birth to empires, destroyed peoples and nations. The earth remembers wars that lasted more than a century. We recall the most protracted military conflicts in the history of mankind.

1. War without shots (335 years old)

The longest and most curious of the wars is the war between the Netherlands and the Scilly archipelago, which is part of Great Britain.

Due to the lack of a peace treaty, it formally went on for 335 years without firing a shot, which makes it one of the longest and most curious wars in history, and even the war with the least losses.

Peace was officially declared in 1986.

2. Punic War (118 years)

By the middle of the III century BC. the Romans almost completely subjugated Italy, swung at the entire Mediterranean and wanted Sicily first. But the mighty Carthage also claimed this rich island.

Their claims unleashed 3 wars that stretched (intermittently) from 264 to 146. BC. and got the name from Latin name Phoenicians-Carthaginians (Puns).

The first (264-241) - 23 years old (began just because of Sicily).
The second (218-201) - 17 years (after the capture of the Spanish city of Sagunta by Hannibal).
The last (149-146) - 3 years.
It was then that the famous phrase "Carthage must be destroyed!" was born. Pure warfare took 43 years. The conflict in total - 118 years.

Results: Besieged Carthage fell. Rome won.

3. Hundred Years War (116 years)

Went in 4 stages. With pauses for truces (the longest - 10 years) and the fight against the plague (1348) from 1337 to 1453.

Opponents: England and France.

Reasons: France wanted to oust England from the southwestern lands of Aquitaine and complete the unification of the country. England - to strengthen influence in the province of Guyenne and return those lost under John the Landless - Normandy, Maine, Anjou. Complication: Flanders - formally was under the auspices of the French crown, in fact it was free, but depended on English wool for cloth making.

Reason: the claims of the English king Edward III from the Plantagenet-Anjou dynasty (maternal grandson french king Philip IV the Handsome of the Capetian family) to the Gallic throne. Allies: England - German feudal lords and Flanders. France - Scotland and the Pope. Army: English - mercenary. under the command of the king. The basis is infantry (archers) and knightly units. French - a knightly militia, led by royal vassals.

Turning point: after the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431 and the Battle of Normandy, the national liberation war of the French people began with the tactics of guerrilla raids.

Results: October 19, 1453 the English army capitulated in Bordeaux. Having lost everything on the continent, except for the port of Calais (it remained English for another 100 years). France switched to a regular army, abandoned knightly cavalry, gave preference to infantry, and the first firearms appeared.

4. Greco-Persian War (50 years)

Altogether, war. Stretched with lulls from 499 to 449. BC. They are divided into two (the first - 492-490, the second - 480-479) or three (the first - 492, the second - 490, the third - 480-479 (449). For the Greek policies-states - the battle for independence. For the Achaeminid Empire - captivating.


Trigger: Ionian rebellion. The battle of the Spartans at Thermopylae is legendary. The battle of Salamis was a turning point. The point was put by "Kalliev Mir".

Results: Persia lost the Aegean Sea, the coasts of the Hellespont and the Bosporus. Recognized the freedom of the cities of Asia Minor. The civilization of the ancient Greeks entered the time of the highest prosperity, laying the culture, which, even after millennia, the world was equal to.

4. Punic war. The battles lasted 43 years. They are divided into three stages of wars between Rome and Carthage. They fought for dominance in the Mediterranean. The Romans won the battle. Basetop.ru

5. Guatemalan War (age 36)

Civil. It proceeded in outbreaks from 1960 to 1996. A provocative decision by US President Eisenhower in 1954 triggered a coup.

Reason: the fight against the "communist infection".

Opponents: Bloc "Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity" and the military junta.

Victims: almost 6 thousand murders were committed annually, only in the 80s - 669 massacres, more than 200 thousand dead (of which 83% were Maya Indians), over 150 thousand went missing. Outcomes: Signing of the "Treaty for a Lasting and Lasting Peace", which protected the rights of 23 groups of Native Americans.

Outcomes: Signing of the "Treaty for a Lasting and Lasting Peace", which protected the rights of 23 groups of Native Americans.

6. War of the Scarlet and White Roses (33 years old)

Confrontation English nobility- supporters of two tribal branches of the Plantagenet dynasty - Lancaster and York. Stretched from 1455 to 1485.
Prerequisites: "bastard feudalism" - the privilege of the English nobility to pay off military service from the lord, in whose hands large funds were concentrated, with which he paid for the army of mercenaries, which became more powerful than the royal one.

The reason: the defeat of England in the Hundred Years War, the impoverishment of the feudal lords, their rejection of the political course of the wife of the feeble-minded king Henry IV, hatred of her favorites.

Opposition: Duke Richard of York - considered the right to power of the Lancasters illegitimate, became regent under an incapacitated monarch, in 1483 - king, was killed at the Battle of Bosworth.

Results: Violated the balance of political forces in Europe. Led to the collapse of the Plantagenets. She placed the Welsh Tudors on the throne, who ruled England for 117 years. Cost the lives of hundreds of English aristocrats.

7. Thirty Years War (30 years)

The first military conflict of a pan-European scale. Lasted from 1618 to 1648. Opponents: two coalitions. The first is the union of the Holy Roman Empire (in fact, Austrian) with Spain and the Catholic principalities of Germany. The second - the German states, where power was in the hands of Protestant princes. They were supported by the armies of reformist Sweden and Denmark and Catholic France.

Reason: The Catholic League was afraid of the spread of the ideas of the Reformation in Europe, the Protestant Evangelical Union was striving for this.

Trigger: Revolt of Czech Protestants against Austrian domination.

Results: The population of Germany has decreased by a third. The French army lost 80 thousand. Austria and Spain - more than 120. After the Treaty of Münster in 1648, a new independent state, the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (Holland), was finally fixed on the map of Europe.

8. Peloponnesian War (age 27)

There are two of them. The first is the Lesser Peloponnesian (460-445 BC). The second (431-404 BC) is the largest in the history of Ancient Hellas after the first Persian invasion of the territory of Balkan Greece. (492-490 BC).

Opponents: Peloponnesian Union led by Sparta and the First Marine (Delosian) under the auspices of Athens.

Reasons: The desire for hegemony in the Greek world of Athens and the rejection of their claims by Sparta and Corypha.

Contradictions: Athens was ruled by an oligarchy. Sparta is a military aristocracy. Ethnically, the Athenians were Ionians, the Spartans were Dorians. In the second, 2 periods are distinguished.

The first is "Arkhidamov's War". The Spartans made land invasions into the territory of Attica. Athenians - sea raids on the coast of the Peloponnese. It ended in the 421st signing of the Peace of Nikiev. After 6 years, it was violated by the Athenian side, which was defeated in the battle of Syracuse. The final phase went down in history under the name Dekeley or Ionian. With the support of Persia, Sparta built a fleet and destroyed the Athenian at Aegospotami.

Results: After the conclusion in April 404 BC. Feramenov's world Athens lost the fleet, torn down long walls, lost all colonies and joined the Spartan Union.

9. Great Northern War (age 21)

There was a northern war for 21 years. She was between northern states and Sweden (1700-1721), the confrontation between Peter I and Charles XII. Russia fought mostly on its own.

Reason: Possession of the Baltic lands, control over the Baltic.

Results: With the end of the war in Europe, a new empire arose - the Russian Empire, which has access to the Baltic Sea and has a powerful army and navy. The capital of the empire was St. Petersburg, located at the confluence of the Neva River into the Baltic Sea.

Sweden lost the war.

10 Vietnam War (age 18)

The Second Indochinese War between Vietnam and the United States and one of the most destructive of the second half of the 20th century. Lasted from 1957 to 1975. 3 periods: guerrilla South Vietnamese (1957-1964), from 1965 to 1973 - full-scale US military operations, 1973-1975. - after the withdrawal of American troops from the territories of the Viet Cong. Opponents: South and North Vietnam. On the side of the South - the United States and the military bloc SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). North - China and the USSR.

The reason: when the communists came to power in China, and Ho Chi Minh became the leader of South Vietnam, the White House administration was afraid of the communist "domino effect". After Kennedy's assassination, Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson carte blanche to use military force in the Tonkin Resolution. And already in March 65, two battalions of US Army Navy SEALs left for Vietnam. So the States became part of the Vietnamese Civil War. They applied the “search and destroy” strategy, burned the jungle with napalm - the Vietnamese went underground and responded with a guerrilla war.

Who benefits: American arms corporations. US losses: 58 thousand in combat (64% under the age of 21) and about 150 thousand suicides of American veterans of the explosives.

Vietnamese victims: over 1 million who fought and more than 2 civilians, only in South Vietnam - 83 thousand amputees, 30 thousand blind, 10 thousand deaf, after the operation "Ranch Hand" (chemical destruction of the jungle) - congenital genetic mutations.

Results: The Tribunal of May 10, 1967 qualified the US actions in Vietnam as a crime against humanity (Article 6 of the Nuremberg Statute) and banned the use of CBU-type thermite bombs as weapons of mass destruction.

(WITH) different places the Internet

The content of the article

WAR, armed struggle between large groups/communities of people (states, tribes, parties); regulated by laws and customs - a set of principles and norms of international law that establish the obligations of the belligerents (ensuring the protection of the civilian population, regulating the treatment of prisoners of war, prohibiting the use of especially inhuman types of weapons).

Wars in human history.

War is a constant companion of human history. Up to 95% of all societies known to us have resorted to it to resolve external or internal conflicts. According to scientists, over the past fifty-six centuries, there have been approx. 14,500 wars in which more than 3.5 billion people died.

According to an extremely common belief in antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times (J.-J. Rousseau), primitive times were the only peaceful period in history, and primitive man (an uncivilized savage) was a creature devoid of any militancy and aggressiveness. However, the latest archaeological studies of prehistoric sites in Europe, North America and North Africa indicate that armed clashes (obviously between individuals) took place as early as the Neanderthal era. An ethnographic study of modern hunter-gatherer tribes shows that in most cases attacks on neighbors, the forcible seizure of property and women are the harsh reality of their lives (Zulus, Dahomey, North American Indians, Eskimos, tribes of New Guinea).

The first types of weapons (clubs, spears) were used by primitive man as early as 35 thousand BC, but the earliest cases of group combat date back only to 12 thousand BC. - only from now on can we talk about the war.

The birth of war in the primitive era was associated with the appearance of new types of weapons (bow, sling), which for the first time made it possible to fight at a distance; henceforth, the physical strength of the combatants was no longer of exceptional importance, dexterity and skill began to play an important role. The beginnings of a battle technique (coverage from the flank) arose. The war was highly ritualized (numerous taboos and prohibitions), which limited its duration and losses.

An essential factor in the evolution of warfare was the domestication of animals: the use of horses gave nomads an advantage over settled tribes. The need for protection from their sudden raids led to fortifications; the first known fact is the fortress walls of Jericho (c. 8 thousand BC). Gradually, the number of participants in wars increased. However, there is no unanimity among scientists about the size of prehistoric "armies": the numbers vary from a dozen to several hundred warriors.

The emergence of states contributed to progress military organization. The growth in the productivity of agricultural production allowed the elite of ancient societies to accumulate in their hands funds that made it possible to increase the size of armies and improve their fighting qualities; much more time was devoted to the training of soldiers; the first professional military formations appeared. If the armies of the Sumerian city-states were small peasant militias, then the later ancient Eastern monarchies (China, Egypt of the New Kingdom) already had relatively large and fairly disciplined military forces.

The main component of the ancient Eastern and ancient army was the infantry: initially operating on the battlefield as a chaotic crowd, it later turned into an extremely organized fighting unit (Macedonian phalanx, Roman legion). In different periods, other “arms of the armed forces” also gained importance, such as, for example, war chariots, which played a significant role in the Assyrian campaigns of conquest. The importance of military fleets also increased, primarily among the Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians; The first naval battle known to us took place ca. 1210 BC between the Hittites and the Cypriots. The function of the cavalry was usually reduced to auxiliary or reconnaissance. Progress was also observed in the field of weapons - new materials are used, new types of weapons are invented. Bronze ensured the victories of the Egyptian army of the New Kingdom era, and iron contributed to the creation of the first ancient Eastern empire - the New Assyrian state. In addition to the bow, arrows and spears, the sword, ax, dagger, and dart gradually came into use. Siege weapons appeared, the development and use of which reached a peak in the Hellenistic period (catapults, battering rams, siege towers). Wars have acquired a significant scope, involving in their orbit big number states (wars of the Diadochi, etc.). The largest armed conflicts of antiquity were the wars of the Neo-Assyrian kingdom (second half of the 8th–7th centuries), the Greco-Persian wars (500–449 BC), the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), the conquests of Alexander the Great (334–323 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC).

In the Middle Ages, the infantry lost its primacy to the cavalry, which was facilitated by the invention of stirrups (8th century). The heavily armed knight became the central figure on the battlefield. The scale of the war compared with the ancient era was reduced: it turned into an expensive and elite occupation, the prerogative of the ruling class and acquired a professional character (the future knight underwent a long training). Small detachments took part in the battles (from several dozen to several hundred knights with squires); only at the end of the classical Middle Ages (14th-15th centuries), with the emergence of centralized states, did the number of armies increase; the importance of the infantry increased again (it was the archers that ensured the success of the British in the Hundred Years War). Military operations at sea were of a secondary nature. But the role of castles has unusually increased; the siege became the main element of the war. The largest wars of this period were the Reconquista (718–1492), the Crusades, and the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).

The turning point in military history was the spread from the middle of the 15th century. in Europe, gunpowder and firearms (arquebuses, cannons) (); the first case of their use is the battle of Agincourt (1415). From now on, the level of military equipment and, accordingly, the military industry has become the unconditional determinant of the outcome of the war. In the late Middle Ages (16th - first half of the 17th century), the technological advantage of the Europeans allowed them to expand outside their continent (colonial conquests) and at the same time put an end to the invasions of nomadic tribes from the East. The importance of naval warfare increased sharply. Disciplined regular infantry ousted the knightly cavalry (see the role of the Spanish infantry in the wars of the 16th century). The largest armed conflicts of the 16th-17th centuries. were the Italian Wars (1494–1559) and the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

In the centuries that followed, the nature of warfare underwent rapid and fundamental changes. Military technology has progressed unusually rapidly (from the 17th century musket to nuclear submarines and supersonic fighters in the early 21st century). New types of weapons (missile systems, etc.) have strengthened the remote nature of the military confrontation. The war became more and more massive: the institution of recruiting and who replaced it in the 19th century. the institute of universal conscription made the armies truly nationwide (more than 70 million people participated in the 1st world war, over 110 million in the 2nd), on the other hand, the whole society was already involved in the war (women's and children's labor in military enterprises in the USSR and the USA during the 2nd World War). Human losses reached an unprecedented scale: if in the 17th century. they amounted to 3.3 million, in the 18th century. - 5.4 million, in the 19th - early 20th century. - 5.7 million, then in the 1st World War - more than 9 million, and in the 2nd World War - over 50 million. Wars were accompanied by a grandiose destruction of material wealth and cultural values.

By the end of the 20th century "Asymmetric wars" have become the dominant form of armed conflicts, characterized by a sharp disparity in the capabilities of the belligerents. In the nuclear age, such wars are of great danger, because they encourage weak side violate all established laws of war and resort to different forms deterrence tactics up to large-scale terrorist attacks (the tragedy of September 11, 2001 in New York).

A change in the nature of the war and an intense arms race gave rise in the first half of the 20th century. a powerful anti-war trend (J. Jaures, A. Barbusse, M. Gandhi, general disarmament projects in the League of Nations), which especially intensified after the creation of weapons of mass destruction, which called into question the very existence of human civilization. The United Nations began to play a leading role in maintaining peace, proclaiming its task to "save future generations from the scourge of war"; in 1974 the UN General Assembly qualified military aggression as an international crime. Articles on the unconditional renunciation of war (Japan) or on the prohibition of the creation of an army (Costa Rica) were included in the constitutions of some countries.

Constitution Russian Federation does not provide any government agency the right to declare war; the president has only the right to impose martial law in the event of aggression or the threat of aggression (defensive war).

Types of wars.

The classification of wars is based on a variety of criteria. Based goals, they are divided into predatory (raids of the Pechenegs and Polovtsy on Russia in the 9th - early 13th century), aggressive (wars of Cyrus II 550–529 BC), colonial (French-Chinese war 1883–1885), religious (Huguenot wars in France 1562–1598), dynastic (War of the Spanish Succession 1701–1714), trade (Opium Wars 1840–1842 and 1856–1860), national liberation (Algerian War 1954–1962), patriotic (Patriotic War 1812), revolutionary (wars of France with the European coalition 1792-1795).

By the scope of hostilities and the number of forces and means involved wars are divided into local (waged on a limited territory and by small forces) and large-scale. The former include, for example, wars between ancient Greek city-states; to the second - the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the Napoleonic Wars, etc.

By the nature of the opposing sides distinguish between civil and foreign wars. The former, in turn, are subdivided into apex, waged by factions within the elite (the War of the Scarlet and White Roses 1455–1485) (LANCASTER), and interclass wars of slaves against the ruling class (Spartacus’s war 74–71 BC), peasants (Great peasant war in Germany 1524-1525), townspeople/bourgeoisie (civil war in England 1639-1652), social lower classes in general (civil war in Russia 1918-1922). External wars are subdivided into wars between states (the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century), between states and tribes (Caesar's Gallic Wars 58–51 BC), between coalitions of states (the Seven Years' War 1756–1763), and between metropolises and colonies. (Indochina War 1945–1954), world wars (1914–1918 and 1939–1945).

In addition, wars are distinguished by ways of doing- offensive and defensive, regular and partisan (guerilla) - and jurisdiction: land, sea, air, coastal, fortress and field, to which arctic, mountain, urban, desert wars, jungle wars are sometimes added.

The principle of classification is taken and moral criterion- just and unjust wars. A "just war" is a war waged to protect order and law and, ultimately, peace. Its prerequisites are that it must have a just cause; it should be begun only when all peaceful means have been exhausted; it should not go beyond the achievement of the main task; the civilian population should not suffer from it. The idea of ​​a "just war", which goes back to the Old Testament, ancient philosophy and St. Augustine, received theoretical formalization in the 12th-13th centuries. in the writings of Gratian, the decretalists, and Thomas Aquinas. In the late Middle Ages, its development was continued by neo-scholastics, M. Luther and G. Grotius. It regained relevance in the 20th century, especially in connection with the emergence of weapons of mass destruction and the problem of "humanitarian military actions" designed to stop genocide in one country or another.

Theories of the origin of wars.

At all times, people have tried to comprehend the phenomenon of war, to reveal its nature, to give it a moral assessment, to develop methods for its most effective use (the theory of military art) and to find ways to limit or even eradicate it. The most controversial was and continues to be the question of the causes of wars: why do they happen if most people do not want them? It gives a variety of answers.

Theological interpretation, which has Old Testament roots, is based on the understanding of war as an arena for the realization of the will of God (gods). Its adherents see war as either a way of establishing the true religion and rewarding the pious (the conquest of the "Promised Land" by the Jews, the victorious campaigns of the Arabs who converted to Islam), or a means of punishing the wicked (the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, the defeat of the Roman Empire by the barbarians).

Concrete-historical approach, dating back to antiquity (Herodotus), connects the origin of wars solely with their local historical context and excludes the search for any universal causes. At the same time, the role of political leaders and rational decisions taken by them is inevitably accentuated. Often the outbreak of war is perceived as the result of a random combination of circumstances.

Influential positions in the tradition of studying the phenomenon of war are occupied by psychological school. Even in ancient times, the belief (Thucydides) dominated that war is a consequence of bad human nature, an innate tendency to “do” chaos and evil. In our time, this idea was used by Z. Freud when creating the theory of psychoanalysis: he argued that a person could not exist if his inherent need for self-destruction (the death instinct) was not directed to external objects, including other individuals, other ethnic groups and other confessional groups. The followers of Z. Freud (L. L. Bernard) considered the war as a manifestation of mass psychosis, which is the result of the suppression of human instincts by society. A number of modern psychologists (E.F.M. Darben, J. Bowlby) reworked Freud's theory of sublimation in the gender sense: a tendency to aggression and violence is a property of male nature; suppressed in peaceful conditions, she finds necessary output on the battlefield. Their hope for the deliverance of mankind from war is associated with the transfer of control levers into the hands of women and with the assertion of feminine values ​​in society. Other psychologists interpret aggressiveness not as an integral feature of the male psyche, but as a result of its violation, citing as an example politicians obsessed with war mania (Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini); they believe that for the onset of an era of universal peace, it is enough effective system civil control, which closes the lunatics access to power.

A special branch of the psychological school, founded by K. Lorenz, is based on evolutionary sociology. Its adherents consider war to be an extended form of animal behavior, primarily an expression of male rivalry and their struggle for possession of a certain territory. They emphasize, however, that although war was of natural origin, technological progress has increased its destructive nature and brought it to a level unbelievable for the animal world, when the very existence of humanity as a species is threatened.

Anthropological school(E. Montague and others) resolutely rejects the psychological approach. Social anthropologists prove that the tendency to aggression is not inherited (genetically), but is formed in the process of education, that is, it reflects the cultural experience of a particular social environment, its religious and ideological attitudes. From their point of view, there is no connection between the various historical forms violence, because each of them was generated by its specific social context.

Political approach repelled from the formula of the German military theorist K. Clausewitz (1780-1831), who defined war as "the continuation of politics by other means." His numerous adherents, beginning with L. Ranke, deduce the origin of wars from international disputes and the diplomatic game.

An offshoot of the political science school is geopolitical direction, whose representatives see the main cause of wars in the lack of "living space" (K. Haushofer, J. Kieffer), in the desire of states to expand their borders to natural boundaries (rivers, mountain ranges, etc.).

Ascending to the English economist T. R. Malthus (1766–1834) demographic theory considers war as the result of an imbalance between population and the amount of means of subsistence, and as a functional means of restoring it by destroying demographic surpluses. Neo-Malthusians (W. Vogt and others) believe that war is immanent in human society and is the main engine of social progress.

The most popular in the interpretation of the phenomenon of war remains at present sociological approach. In contrast to the followers of K. Clausewitz, his supporters (E. Ker, H.-U. Wehler, etc.) consider war to be a product of internal social conditions and social structure of the warring countries. Many sociologists are trying to develop a universal typology of wars, to formalize them taking into account all the factors influencing them (economic, demographic, etc.), to model trouble-free mechanisms for preventing them. The sociostatistical analysis of wars, proposed back in the 1920s, is actively used. L.F. Richardson; at present, numerous predictive models of armed conflicts have been created (P. Breke, participants in the Military Project, Uppsala Research Group).

Popular among specialists in international relations (D. Blaney and others) information theory explains the emergence of wars by a lack of information. According to its adherents, war is the result of a mutual decision - the decision of one side to attack and the decision of the other to resist; the losing side always turns out to be the one that inadequately assesses its capabilities and the capabilities of the other side - otherwise it would either renounce aggression or capitulate in order to avoid unnecessary human and material losses. Hence crucial acquires knowledge of the enemy's intentions and his ability to wage war (effective reconnaissance).

Cosmopolitan theory connects the origin of the war with the antagonism of national and supranational, universal, interests (N. Angel, S. Strechi, J. Dewey). It is used primarily to explain armed conflicts in the age of globalization.

Supporters economic interpretation consider war as a consequence of the rivalry of states in the sphere of international economic relations, anarchic in nature. The war is started to obtain new markets, cheap labor, sources of raw materials and energy. This position is shared, as a rule, by scientists of the left direction. They argue that the war serves the interests of the propertied strata, and all its hardships fall on the lot of the disadvantaged groups of the population.

Economic interpretation is an element Marxist approach, which interprets any war as a derivative of a class war. From the point of view of Marxism, wars are waged to strengthen the power of the ruling classes and to split the world proletariat through appeal to religious or nationalist ideals. Marxists argue that wars are the inevitable result of the free market and the system of class inequality, and that they will sink into oblivion after the world revolution.

Ivan Krivushin

APPENDIX

MAIN WARS IN HISTORY

28th century BC. - Pharaoh Snefru's campaigns in Nubia, Libya and Sinai

con. 24 - 1st floor. 23rd century BC. - wars of Sargon the Ancient with the states of Sumer

last third of the 23rd century BC. - wars of Naram-Suen with Ebla, Subartu, Elam and Lullubeys

1st floor 22nd century BC. - Gutian conquest of Mesopotamia

2003 BC Elamite invasion of Mesopotamia

con. 19 - beg. 18th century BC. - Campaigns of Shamshi-Adad I in Syria and Mesopotamia

1st floor 18th century BC. - Hammurabi's wars in Mesopotamia

OK. 1742 BC Kassite invasion of Babylonia

OK. 1675 BC - Conquest of Egypt by the Hyksos

OK. 1595 BC Hittite campaign in Babylonia

con. 16 - con. 15th c. BC. - Egyptian-Mitannian wars

early 15 - ser. 14th c. BC. - Hittite-Mitannian wars

ser. 15th c. BC. - Achaean conquest of Crete

ser. 14th c. BC. - the wars of the Kassite Babylon with Arraphu, Elam, Assyria and the Aramaic tribes; Hittite conquest of Asia Minor

1286–1270 BC - Wars of Ramesses II with the Hittites

2nd floor 13th c. BC. - Campaigns of Tukulti-Ninurta I in Babylonia, Syria and Transcaucasia

1240–1230 BC – Trojan War

early 12th c. BC. - Israeli conquest of Palestine

1180s BC. - invasion of the "peoples of the sea" in the Eastern Mediterranean

2nd quarter 12th century BC. - Elamite campaigns in Babylonia

con. 12 - beginning. 11th c. BC. - Campaigns of Tiglath-Pileser I in Syria, Phoenicia and Babylonia

11th c. BC. - Dorian conquest of Greece

883–824 BC - wars of Ashshurnatsirapal II and Shalmaneser III with Babylon, Urartu, the states of Syria and Phoenicia

con. 8 - beginning. 7th c. BC. - invasions of the Cimmerians and Scythians in Asia Minor

743–624 BC - conquest of the Neo-Assyrian kingdom

722–481 BC - the wars of the Spring and Autumn period in China

623–629 BC - Assyro-Babylonian-Medes War

607–574 BC - Campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar II in Syria and Palestine

553–530 BC - conquests of Cyrus II

525 BC - Persian conquest of Egypt

522–520 BC - civil war in Persia

514 BC – Scythian campaign of Darius I

early 6th c. – 265 BC - Roman conquest of Italy

500–449 BC - Greco-Persian wars

480–307 BC - Greco-Carthaginian (Sicilian) wars

475–221 BC - Warring States period in China

460–454 BC Inar's liberation war in Egypt

431–404 BC – Peloponnesian War

395–387 BC – Corinthian War

334–324 BC - conquests of Alexander the Great

323–281 BC - Wars of the Diadochi

274–200 BC - Syro-Egyptian wars

264–146 BC – Punic Wars

215–168 BC - Roman-Macedonian wars

89–63 BC - Mithridatic Wars

83–31 BC - civil wars in Rome

74–71 BC - War of slaves led by Spartacus

58–50 BC - Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars

53 BC - 217 AD - Roman-Parthian wars

66–70 - Jewish War

220-265 - War of the Three Kingdoms in China

291-306 - War of the Eight Princes in China

375–571 - Great Migration

533–555 Conquests of Justinian I

502-628 - Iranian-Byzantine wars

633–714 Arab conquests

718-1492 - Reconquista

769–811 - Wars of Charlemagne

1066 - Conquest of England by the Normans

1096–1270 – Crusades

1207–1276 - Mongol conquests

late XIII - ser. 16th century - Ottoman conquests

1337–1453 - Hundred Years' War

1455–1485 - War of the Scarlet and White Roses

1467-1603 - internecine wars in Japan (Sengoku era)

1487–1569 - Russian-Lithuanian wars

1494–1559 - Italian Wars

1496–1809 - Russian-Swedish wars

1519–1553 (1697) - Spanish conquest of Central and South America

1524–1525 - The Great Peasants' War in Germany

1546–1552 - Schmalkaldic Wars

1562–1598 - Wars of Religion in France

1569–1668 - Russian-Polish wars

1618–1648 - Thirty Years' War

1639-1652 - civil war in England (War of the Three Kingdoms)

1655–1721 - Northern Wars

1676–1878 - Russian-Turkish wars

1701–1714 - War of the Spanish Succession

1740–1748 - War of the Austrian Succession

1756–1763 - Seven Years' War

1775–1783 - American Revolutionary War

1792–1799 - French Revolutionary Wars

1799–1815 – Napoleonic Wars

1810-1826 - War of independence of the Spanish colonies in America

1853–1856 – Crimean War

1861–1865 - American Civil War

1866 - Austro-Prussian War

1870–1871 - Franco-Prussian War

1899–1902 - Boer War

1904–1905 - Russo-Japanese War

1912–1913 - Balkan Wars

1914–1918 – World War I

1918–1922 – Russian Civil War

1937–1945 - Sino-Japanese War

1936–1939 - Spanish Civil War

1939–1945 - World War II

1945–1949 - Chinese Civil War

1946–1975 – Indochinese wars

1948–1973 - Arab-Israeli wars

1950–1953 - Korean War

1980-1988 - Iran-Iraq war

1990-1991 - 1st Gulf War ("Desert Storm")

1991–2001 – Yugoslav Wars

1978–2002 - Afghan wars

2003 - 2nd Gulf War

Literature:

Fuller J.F.C. The conduct of war, 1789–1961: a study of the impact of the French, industrial, and Russian revolutions on war and its conduct. New York, 1992
Military Encyclopedia: in 8 vols. M., 1994
Asprey R.B. War in the Shadows. The Guerilla in History. New York, 1994
Ropp T. War in the modern world. Baltimore (Md.), 2000
Bradford A.S. With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World. Westport (Conn.), 2001
Nicholson H. Medieval Warfare. New York, 2004
LeBlanc S.A., Register K.E. Constant battles: the myth of the peaceful, noble savage. New York, 2004
Otterbein K.F. how war began. College station (Tex.), 2004



Winston Churchill said that war is mostly a catalog of blunders.

We invite you to get to know the most famous wars resulting from the struggle for territory or the desire for world domination. These large-scale armed conflicts forever changed the course of historical events.

The most significant wars

Battle for Constantinople

The conquest of the Balkan Peninsula by the Ottoman Turks had a strong influence on the development of European states. A fortified and equipped Turkish army was formed on the territory of Asia Minor. In 1453, the Turks began the conquest of Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The city was surrounded by stone walls and was washed by the waters of the Sea of ​​Marmara.

After Constantine refused to surrender the city voluntarily and receive possession of the Peloponnese peninsula as a reward, the Turks began to attack. They dug under the wall, filled up the moat with water around the city, besieged the walls, but all their attacks were courageously repelled by the soldiers of Constantinople.

The city was defended from 250 thousand enemy soldiers by 7000 people under the leadership of Constantine XII Palaiologos. The Turks decided to take a strategic pause in order to get stronger, and then they began to besiege the city from the sea and from land.

Exhausted Constantinopolitans could not withstand the onslaught: many soldiers left the fortress. In just a few days, the Turks captured Constantinople and killed everyone who refused to submit to them.

Battle for American Independence

The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. The reason for the start of the "American Revolution" was the signing of the Stamp Act by the government of England.

The document stated that all trade transactions in America should be taxed in favor of the English crown, that is, the American people should pay to the British treasury. This measure was taken to reduce the external debt of the United Kingdom.

The discussion of these conditions took place without the presence of the American side. The act was canceled after a wave of protests from American residents. Then, in 1767, England taxed lead, glass, tea, paint, and paper imported into the American colonies.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the British kingdom, the Americans began to develop a revolutionary plan to gain independence from England. But there was no unity among them. The population was divided into three parties - "patriots", "loyalists" and those who took neutrality.

The "patriots" included people of the middle and lower classes of society who advocated US independence. To the "loyalists" - wealthy people who were afraid of losing their acquired capital and opposed the revolution. Only the Religious Society of Pennsylvania took a neutral stance.

The first armed attack that marked the beginning of hostilities occurred on April 19, 1775. 700 soldiers of the British army were supposed to seize stockpiles of weapons from the American separatists. During the short-lived battles, the "patriots" retreated, but the British army suffered significant losses.

For 8 years America fought for its independence, until in April 1782 the House of Commons of Great Britain voted to end the war. The United States was officially recognized as a sovereign state on September 3, 1783.

world wars

Seven Years' War

The war between England and France lasted from 1756 to 1763. This military conflict went down in history as the largest armed confrontation of the 18th century. The Seven Years' War engulfed countries outside of Europe. North America, the Caribbean, India and the Philippines took part.

War broke out in Europe over Silesia (located in present-day Poland), which had previously belonged to the Austrians but was recaptured by the Prussians in 1748. Overseas, the cause of the armed conflict was the struggle for the territories of the English and French colonists. In 1757, the Russian Empire entered the Seven Years' War.

The command of the troops was headed by Petr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev. For the battle victory in the battle of Kunersdorf (in Silesia), he was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky as the best commander of the Russian army.

For 7 years, due to hostilities in Austria, 400 thousand soldiers died, in Prussia - 262 thousand, in France - 169 thousand, in England - 20 thousand, in Russian Empire- 138 thousand. The Seven Years' War ended at the beginning of 1763 as a result of the complete exhaustion of the belligerents.

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War lasted from 1870 to 1871. On July 19, 1870 Germany declared war on Russia, England and France. The cause of the conflict was the desire of the German rulers to strengthen the position of the state in world politics, which at that time was dominated by the above countries. Germany ignored the military warning from Great Britain.

After 4 years of hostilities, on May 10, 1871, a peace treaty was signed between the warring countries in Frankfurt. The terms of the treaty stipulated that Germany should vacate its colonial possessions in France, Denmark and Belgium. Thus, the German state lost 13.5% (73.5 thousand square kilometers) of its territories with a population of 7.3 million people.

World War I

World War I lasted from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. The cause of the armed conflict was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia Chotek in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Two military-political blocs of states entered into confrontation: the Quarter Alliance and the Entente. The Quadruple Alliance included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. The Entente was represented by the Russian Empire, French Republic and the British Empire.

10 million people died in World War I. The losses of the Russian Empire amounted to more than one and a half million people. About 5 million were wounded and 2.5 million were taken prisoner by the enemy.

The First World War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles by the rulers of Germany. Later, peace treaties were concluded with Austria (Treaty of Saint-Germain), Bulgaria (Treaty of Neuilly), Hungary (Treanon Treaty) and Turkey (Treaty of Sèvres).

The Second World War

The Second World War began on September 1, 1939 with the invasion of German and Slovak troops into Poland. In total, 61 states took part in this war.

On June 22, 1941, Germany, together with its allies - Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Finland and Romania - attacked without warning Soviet Union. The invasion of the USSR by German troops marked the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The victims of this four-year confrontation were 27 million people.

In total, more than 60 million people died in World War II, and the total material damage amounted to $ 4 trillion. International relations between the warring states were broken.

After Germany was defeated in 1945, Adolf Hitler was accused of a crime against humanity and a desire for world domination. On April 30, 1945, the Fuhrer, along with his wife Eva Braun, committed suicide.

World War II is the only armed conflict in history when nuclear weapons were used against people. On August 6 and 9, 1945, in order to hasten the surrender of Japan, the US military command dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The nuclear attack claimed the lives of, according to various sources, from 90 to 160 thousand people. Japan finally surrendered on September 2, 1945.

Talk about World War III

Political analysts have repeatedly speculated about the beginning of the Third World War: what will be the prerequisites, who will be its participants and what will it lead to.

According to one version, the cause of the war will be running out of fresh water. Others speak about the imminent overpopulation of the planet, and then territories will become a prerequisite for war. Still others believe that the battle may begin because of the aggressive desire of the next dictator to conquer the whole world.

Before getting involved in an armed confrontation, one should look back. History provides many examples that prove that military conflicts are not the best way to resolve international issues. Millions of civilians and soldiers are suffering and dying, and the economies of warring countries are being destroyed.

Fortunately, some wars are short-lived, sometimes only a few minutes. The site has a detailed article on the shortest military confrontations.
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