List of interstate wars since 1945
Appearance
This is a list of interstate wars since 1945. Interstate warfare has been defined as
wars of independence, or smaller clashes with limited casualties (less than 100 combat deaths). The largest interstate war in history, World War II, involved most of the world's countries, after which the United Nations (UN) was established in 1945 to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts.[2] The post-WWII era has, in general, been characterized by the absence of direct, major wars between great powers, such as the United States and (until 1991) the Soviet Union.[3][4][5][6][7]
1945–1989
Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum
Start | Finish | Name of conflict | States in conflict | Combat deaths | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Min estimate | Max estimate | |||||
November 1945 | December 15, 1946 | Iran crisis of 1946 | ![]() |
Azerbaijan People's Government | 2,000+ | |
22 October 1947 | 5 January 1949 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
|
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2,604 | 7,500 |
14 May 1948 | 10 March 1949 | 1948 Arab–Israeli War | ![]() |
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13,073 | 26,373 |
13 September 1948 | 18 September 1948 | Operation Polo
|
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32,190 | 202,190 |
25 June 1950 | 27 July 1953[8] | Korean War[9] | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2,568,927 | 4,096,927 | |
6 October 1950 | 24 October 1950 | Battle of Chamdo | ![]() |
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294 | 5,814 |
3 September 1954 | 1 May 1955 | First Taiwan Strait Crisis | ![]() |
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914 | 1,054 |
1 November 1955 | 15 May 1975 | Vietnam War | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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1,326,494 | 3,447,494 |
29 October 1956 | 7 November 1956 | Suez Crisis | ![]() |
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2,848 | 4,198 |
1 November 1956 | 4 November 1956 | Soviet invasion of Hungary Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 |
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3,222 | |
23 October 1957 | 30 June 1958 | Ifni War | ![]() |
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1,197 | |
23 August 1958 | 2 December 1958 | Second Taiwan Strait Crisis | ![]() ![]() |
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1,054 | |
17 April 1961 | 20 April 1961 | Bay of Pigs Invasion | ![]() |
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2,298 | |
19 July 1961 | 23 July 1961 | Bizerte crisis | ![]() |
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654 | 657 |
19 December 1961 | 15 August 1962 | Operation Trikora | ![]() |
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223 | |
20 October 1962 | 21 November 1962 | Sino-Indian War | ![]() |
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2,105 | 6,197 |
20 January 1963 | 11 August 1966 | Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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874 | |
25 September 1963 | 20 February 1964 | Sand War | ![]() |
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69 | 500 |
6 February 1964 | 6 April 1964 | 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War | ![]() |
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1,000 | 2,000 |
5 August 1965 | 23 September 1965 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
|
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6,800 | 13,459 |
5 October 1966 | 3 December 1969 | Korean DMZ Conflict | ![]() South Korea ![]() |
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739 | |
5 June 1967 | 10 June 1967 | Six-Day War | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() Arab Expeditionary Forces: |
12,336 | 19,264 |
1 July 1967 | 7 August 1970 | War of Attrition | ![]() |
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6,442 | 14,290 |
11 September 1967 | 1 October 1967 | Nathu La and Cho La clashes | ![]() |
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120 | 441 |
20 August 1968 | 21 August 1968 | Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia | ![]() Poland
|
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254 | |
14 July 1969 | 18 July 1969 | Football War | ![]() |
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3,000 | |
2 March 1969 | 11 September 1969 | Sino-Soviet border conflict | ![]() |
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132 | 860 |
3 December 1971 | 16 December 1971 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
|
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11,500 | 12,843 |
6 October 1973 | 25 October 1973 | Yom Kippur War | ![]() |
![]() ![]() Combat support: |
10,521 | 21,300 |
20 July 1974 | 18 August 1974 | Turkish invasion of Cyprus | ![]() |
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6,009 | 9,509 |
April 1974 | March 1975 | 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict | ![]() Iran
|
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1,000+ | |
30 October 1975 | 6 September 1991 | Western Sahara War | ![]() |
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10,000 | 20,000 |
7 December 1975 | 17 July 1976 | Indonesian invasion of East Timor | ![]() |
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51,000+
| |
13 July 1977 | 23 March 1978 | Ogaden War | ![]() |
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39,836 | |
21 July 1977 | 24 July 1977 | Egyptian–Libyan War | ![]() |
![]() Libya
|
500 | |
29 January 1978 | 11 September 1987 | Chadian–Libyan War | ![]() ![]() |
![]() Libya
|
8,500+ | |
9 October 1978 | 3 June 1979 | Uganda–Tanzania War | ![]() ![]() |
![]() Libya
|
4,135 | 4,323 |
21 December 1978 | 26 September 1989 | Cambodian–Vietnamese War | ![]() ![]() |
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270,000 | 297,000 |
17 February 1979 | 16 March 1979 | Sino-Vietnamese War | ![]() |
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36,945 | 175,000 |
24 February 1979 | 19 March 1979 | Yemenite War of 1979 | ![]() |
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1,084 | |
16 March 1979 | 1 November 1991 | Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) | ![]() |
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6,000 | |
24 December 1979 | 15 February 1989 | Soviet–Afghan War | ![]() ![]() |
![]() Afghan Interim Government (from 1988)
|
600,000 | 2,000,000 |
22 September 1980 | 20 August 1988 | Iran–Iraq War | ![]() |
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405,000 | 1,200,000 |
2 April 1982 | 14 June 1982 | Falklands War | ![]() |
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907 | |
June 1982 | August 1982 | 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War | ![]() |
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||
18 April 1983 | April 1983 | Chadian–Nigerian War | ![]() |
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100+ | |
25 October 1983 | 29 October 1983 | Invasion of Grenada
|
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102 | |
25 December 1985 | 30 December 1985 | Agacher Strip War | ![]() |
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142 | |
20 February 1988 | 12 May 1994 | First Nagorno-Karabakh War | ![]() ![]() |
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37,413 | 56,000 |
9 April 1989 | 18 July 1991 | Mauritania–Senegal Border War | ![]() |
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200+ | |
20 December 1989 | 31 January 1990 | United States invasion of Panama | ![]() |
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540 | 3,338 |
1990–present
Denotes war with more than 10,000 combat deaths at minimum
Start | Finish | Name of conflict | States in conflict | Combat deaths | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Min. estimate | Max. estimate | |||||
2 August 1990 | 28 February 1991 | Persian Gulf War | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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29,231 | 59,231 |
2 November 1990 | 21 July 1992 | Transnistria War | ![]() |
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316 | 637 |
5 January 1991 | 24 June 1992 | South Ossetia war (1991–1992) | ![]() |
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1,000+ | |
27 June 1991 | 7 July 1991 | Ten-Day War | ![]() |
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76 | |
20 September 1991 | 3 January 1992 | Croatian War of Independence | ![]() |
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5,040 | 7,279 |
6 April 1992 | 19 May 1992 | Bosnian War[23] | ![]() |
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||
14 August 1992 | 27 September 1993 | War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) | ![]() |
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25,000 | 30,000 |
19 September 1994 | 31 March 1995 | Operation Uphold Democracy | ![]() |
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302 | |
26 January 1995 | 28 February 1995 | Cenepa War | ![]() |
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84 | 410 |
24 October 1996 | 16 May 1997 | First Congo War | ![]() SPLA
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235,000 | 250,000 |
28 February 1998 | 10 June 1999 | Kosovo War | ![]() ![]() |
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16,056 | 16,879 |
3 May 1998 | 18 June 2000 | Eritrean–Ethiopian War | ![]() |
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53,000 | 300,000 |
3 May 1999 | 26 July 1999 | Kargil War | ![]() |
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884 | 5,600 |
7 August 1999 | 30 April 2000 | Second Chechen War | ![]() |
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20,000 | |
5 June 2000 | 10 June 2000 | African Six-Day War Part of the Second Congo War |
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4,051+ | |
7 October 2001 | 17 December 2001 | United States invasion of Afghanistan Part of the Afghan conflict |
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9,550 | 14,388 |
19 March 2003 | 1 May 2003 | 2003 invasion of Iraq | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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10,996 | 53,016 |
28 June 2006 | Ongoing | Gaza–Israel conflict | ![]() |
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42,783 | |
10 June 2008 | 13 June 2008 | Djiboutian–Eritrean border conflict | ![]() |
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144 | |
10 June 2008 | 4 July 2012 | War in Afghanistan
|
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55 | |
1 August 2008 | 12 August 2008 | Russo-Georgian War | ![]() |
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730 | 737 |
19 March 2011 | 31 October 2011 | First Libyan Civil War
|
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72 | 403+ |
26 March 2012 | 26 September 2012 | Heglig Crisis | ![]() |
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316 | 1,485 |
30 January 2013 | Ongoing | Syrian Civil War
|
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645 | 671 |
20 February 2014 | Ongoing | Russo-Ukrainian War (outline) | ![]() |
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198,813 | |
22 September 2014 | Ongoing | Syrian Civil War
|
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192+ | |
1 April 2016 | 5 April 2016 | 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | ![]() |
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137 | 2,060 |
24 August 2016 | Ongoing | Syrian Civil War
|
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5,702+ | 10,705+ | |
27 February 2020 | 6 March 2020 | Syrian Civil War
|
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238 | 446 |
27 September 2020 | 10 November 2020 | Second Nagorno-Karabakh War | ![]() |
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7,726 | |
15 December 2020 | 1 December 2022 | Al-Fashaga conflict | ![]() |
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97 | 108+ |
27 January 2022 | 20 September 2022 | 2022 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan clashes | ![]() |
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146 | 263+ |
See also
Notes
- ^ After 8 March 1965.
- ^ From 11 September 1964 to 23 March 1973.
- ^ From June 1965 to 12 March 1972.
- ^ From July 1965 to 9 December 1971.
- ^ From 19 October 1987 to 18 April 1988.
- ^ Until 27 April 1992.
- ^ After 27 April 1992.
- ^ After 24 March 1999.
- ^ Until 30 September 2022.
- ^ Until 30 September 2022.
References
- S2CID 220780771.
- ^ "History of the UN | United Nations Seventieth Anniversary". www.un.org. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- ISBN 0-19-504335-9.
- S2CID 153738298.
- S2CID 145698353.
- S2CID 148993870.
- ^ Human Security Research Group, Simon Fraser University (2013). "Human Security Report 2013: The Decline in Global Violence" (PDF). Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ^ US State Department statement regarding "Korea: Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission" and the Armistice Agreement "which ended the Korean War."
- ^ "The Korean War (article) | 1950s America". Khan Academy. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Israel Routs Egypt"
- ^ "Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins"
- ^ "Nasser lost the war in military terms"
- ^ "Six-Day War". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ISBN 978-1-57607-712-2.
India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia
- ISBN 978-0-8157-0388-4.
However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India
- ISBN 978-0-521-83973-0.
India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972
- ^ Shazly, p. 278.
- ISBN 978-0199301447.
Cuba also dispatched combat troops to Syria in 1973 during the Yom Kipur War
- ^ Gott, Cuba, A New History, p. 280.
- ISBN 978-2213630151.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ W. Michael Reisman, James Silk (1988). "WHICH LAW APPLIES TO THE AFGHAN CONFLICT?" (PDF). American Journal of International Law. 82: 485-486.
- ^ "Iran 'won' the war with Iraq but at a heavy price". Atlantic Council. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
- Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Hence, even after 19 May 1992 the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the Bosnian Serbs and the central authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be classified as an international armed conflict.