List of interstate wars since 1945

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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
22 October 1947 5 January 1949
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
 India  Pakistan 2,604 7,500
14 May 1948 10 March 1949 1948 Arab–Israeli War  Israel  Egypt
 Iraq
 Transjordan
Syria
 Lebanon
 Saudi Arabia
 Yemen
13,073 26,373
13 September 1948 18 September 1948
Operation Polo
 India Hyderabad 32,190 202,190
25 June 1950 27 July 1953[8] Korean War[9] UN Command
 South Korea
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 Belgium
 Canada
France
Philippines
 Colombia
Ethiopia
Greece
 Luxembourg
Netherlands
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 Thailand
 Turkey
2,568,927 4,096,927
6 October 1950 24 October 1950 Battle of Chamdo  China  Tibet 294 5,814
18 January 1952 22 June 1965 Japan-South Korea maritime clashes  South Korea  Japan 1 44
3 September 1954 1 May 1955 First Taiwan Strait Crisis  China  Republic of China
 United States
914 1,054
1 November 1955 15 May 1975 Vietnam War North Vietnam
FNL
Khmer Rouge
Khmer Issarak
Pathet Lao
 China
 North Korea
 Soviet Union
 South Vietnam
 United States[a]
 South Korea[b]
 Thailand
 Australia[c]
 New Zealand[d]
 Laos
 Khmer Republic
 Philippines
1,326,494 3,447,494
29 October 1956 7 November 1956 Suez Crisis  Israel[10][11]

 United Kingdom
France

Egypt[12] 2,848 4,198
1 November 1956 4 November 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary
Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
 Soviet Union Hungary 3,222
23 October 1957 30 June 1958 Ifni War  Spain

 France

 Morocco 1,197
23 August 1958 2 December 1958 Second Taiwan Strait Crisis  Taiwan
 United States
 China 1,054
17 April 1961 20 April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion  Cuba  United States 2,298
19 July 1961 23 July 1961 Bizerte crisis  France  Tunisia 654 657
19 December 1961 15 August 1962 Operation Trikora  Indonesia  Netherlands 223
20 October 1962 21 November 1962 Sino-Indian War  China  India 2,105 6,197
20 January 1963 11 August 1966 Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation  Malaysia
 Singapore
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 New Zealand
 Indonesia 874
25 September 1963 20 February 1964 Sand War  Morocco  Algeria 69 500
6 February 1964 6 April 1964 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War Ethiopia  Somalia 1,000 2,000
5 August 1965 23 September 1965
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
 India  Pakistan 6,800 13,459
5 October 1966 3 December 1969 Korean DMZ Conflict
South Korea

 United States
 North Korea 739
5 June 1967 10 June 1967 Six-Day War  Israel[13]  Egypt
 Syria
 Jordan
Arab Expeditionary Forces:
12,336 19,264
1 July 1967 7 August 1970 War of Attrition  Israel  Egypt
 Soviet Union
 Cuba
 Jordan
 Syria
6,442 14,290
11 September 1967 1 October 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes  India  China 120 441
20 August 1968 21 August 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia  
Poland
 Czechoslovakia 254
14 July 1969 18 July 1969 Football War  El Salvador  Honduras 3,000
2 March 1969 11 September 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict  China  Soviet Union 132 860
3 December 1971 16 December 1971
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
 India[14][15][16]  Pakistan 11,500 12,843
6 October 1973 25 October 1973 Yom Kippur War  Israel  Egypt
 Syria
Combat support:
10,521 21,300
20 July 1974 18 August 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus  Turkey  Cyprus
 Greece
6,009 9,509
April 1974 March 1975 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict
Iran
Iraq 1,000+
7 December 1975 17 July 1976 Indonesian invasion of East Timor  Indonesia East Timor 51,000+


18 August 1976 21 August 1976 Korean axe murder incident  North Korea  United States
 South Korea
2
21 July 1977 24 July 1977 Egyptian–Libyan War  Egypt  
Libya
500
13 July 1977 23 March 1978 Ogaden War
South Yemen
 Soviet Union
 Somalia 39,836
29 January 1978 11 September 1987 Chadian–Libyan War  Chad
 France
 
Libya
8,500+
9 October 1978 3 June 1979 Uganda–Tanzania War  Tanzania
 Mozambique
 
Libya
4,135 4,323
21 December 1978 26 September 1989 Cambodian–Vietnamese War  Vietnam
People's Republic of Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
 Thailand
270,000 297,000
17 February 1979 16 March 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War  Vietnam  China 36,945 175,000
24 February 1979 19 March 1979 Yemenite War of 1979  North Yemen  South Yemen 1,084
16 March 1979 1 November 1991 Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991)  Vietnam  China 6,000
24 December 1979 15 February 1989 Soviet–Afghan War  Soviet Union
 Afghanistan
(from 1988) 600,000 2,000,000
22 September 1980 20 August 1988 Iran–Iraq War  Iran[22]  Iraq
 United States[e]
405,000 1,200,000
2 April 1982 14 June 1982 Falklands War  United Kingdom  Argentina 907
June 1982 August 1982 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War  Somalia Ethiopia
18 April 1983 April 1983 Chadian–Nigerian War  Nigeria  Chad 100+
25 October 1983 29 October 1983
Invasion of Grenada
 United States
 Antigua and Barbuda
 Barbados
 Dominica
 Jamaica
 Saint Lucia
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 Grenada
 Cuba
102
25 December 1985 30 December 1985 Agacher Strip War  Mali  Burkina Faso 142
20 February 1988 12 May 1994 First Nagorno-Karabakh War  Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
 Armenia
 Azerbaijan 37,413 56,000
9 April 1989 18 July 1991 Mauritania–Senegal Border War  Mauritania  Senegal 200+
20 December 1989 31 January 1990 United States invasion of Panama  United States  Panama 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  Kuwait
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Saudi Arabia
 France
 Italy
 Canada
 Australia
 Egypt
 Syria
 Qatar
 Iraq 29,231 59,231
1 March 1991 19 March 2003 Iraqi no-fly zones conflict  United States
 United Kingdom
 France[f]
 Saudi Arabia
 Turkey
 Australia
 Iraq
27 June 1991 7 July 1991 Ten-Day War  Slovenia  Yugoslavia 76
20 September 1991 3 January 1992 Croatian War of Independence  Croatia  Yugoslavia 5,040 7,279
6 April 1992 19 May 1992 Bosnian War[23]  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Yugoslavia[g]
 Serbia and Montenegro[h]
19 September 1994 31 March 1995 Operation Uphold Democracy  United States  Haiti 302
26 January 1995 28 February 1995 Cenepa War  Peru  Ecuador 84 410
24 October 1996 16 May 1997 First Congo War
SPLA
 Eritrea
 
CNDD-FDD
UNITA
ADF
FLNC
235,000 250,000
28 February 1998 10 June 1999 Kosovo War  Kosova
 NATO[i]
 Yugoslavia 16,056 16,879
3 May 1998 18 June 2000 Eritrean–Ethiopian War  Ethiopia  Eritrea 53,000 300,000
3 May 1999 26 July 1999 Kargil War  India  Pakistan 884 5,600
7 August 1999 30 April 2000 Second Chechen War  Russia  Ichkeria 20,000
5 June 2000 10 June 2000 African Six-Day War
Part of the Second Congo War
 Rwanda  Uganda 4,051+
7 October 2001 17 December 2001 War in Afghanistan
Part of the Afghan conflict
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Canada
 Australia
 Afghanistan
 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan 9,550 14,388
19 March 2003 1 May 2003 Iraq War  United States
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 Poland
 Iraq 10,996 53,016
28 June 2006 Ongoing Gaza–Israel conflict  Israel Gaza Strip 4,461
10 June 2008 13 June 2008 Djiboutian–Eritrean border conflict  Eritrea  Djibouti 144
10 June 2008 4 July 2012
War in Afghanistan
 United States
 Afghanistan
 Pakistan 55
1 August 2008 12 August 2008 Russo-Georgian War  Russia  Georgia 730 737
19 March 2011 31 October 2011
First Libyan Civil War
 NATO
 Qatar
 Sweden
 United Arab Emirates
Libya 72 403+
26 March 2012 26 September 2012 Heglig Crisis  Sudan  South Sudan 316 1,485
30 January 2013 Ongoing
Syrian Civil War
 Israel  Iran
 Syria
645 671
20 February 2014 Ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War (outline)  Ukraine  Russia 198,813
22 September 2014 Ongoing
Syrian Civil War
 United States  Syria
 Russia
 Iran
 Islamic State
192+
1 April 2016 5 April 2016 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict  Azerbaijan  Artsakh
 Armenia
137 2,060
24 August 2016 Ongoing
Syrian Civil War
 Turkey 5,702+ 10,705+
27 February 2020 6 March 2020
Syrian Civil War
 Turkey  Syria
 Iran
238 446
27 September 2020 10 November 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War  Azerbaijan  Armenia 7,726
12 May 2021 Ongoing Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis  Azerbaijan  Armenia 1,163
27 January 2022 20 September 2022 2022 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan clashes  Kyrgyzstan  Tajikistan 117[24][25][26] 133[24][25][26]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ After 8 March 1965.
  2. ^ From 11 September 1964 to 23 March 1973.
  3. ^ From June 1965 to 12 March 1972.
  4. ^ From July 1965 to 9 December 1971.
  5. ^ From 19 October 1987 to 18 April 1988.
  6. ^ Until 1996.
  7. ^ Until 27 April 1992.
  8. ^ After 27 April 1992.
  9. ^ After 24 March 1999.
  10. ^ Until 30 September 2022.
  11. ^ Until 30 September 2022.

References

  1. S2CID 220780771
    .
  2. ^ "History of the UN | United Nations Seventieth Anniversary". www.un.org. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  3. .
  4. .
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ Human Security Research Group, Simon Fraser University (2013). "Human Security Report 2013: The Decline in Global Violence" (PDF). Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  8. ^ US State Department statement regarding "Korea: Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission" and the Armistice Agreement "which ended the Korean War."
  9. ^ "The Korean War (article) | 1950s America". Khan Academy. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  10. ^ "Israel Routs Egypt"
  11. ^ "Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins"
  12. ^ "Nasser lost the war in military terms"
  13. ^ "Six-Day War". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  14. . India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and emergence of independent Bangladesh dramatically transformed the power balance of South Asia
  15. . However, India's decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 led the Shah to pursue closer relations with India
  16. . India's decisive victory in 1971 led to the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972
  17. ^ Shazly, p. 278.
  18. . Cuba also dispatched combat troops to Syria in 1973 during the Yom Kipur War
  19. ^ Gott, Cuba, A New History, p. 280.
  20. ISBN 978-2213630151.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  21. ^ W. Michael Reisman, James Silk (1988). "WHICH LAW APPLIES TO THE AFGHAN CONFLICT?" (PDF). American Journal of International Law. 82: 485-486.
  22. ^ "Iran 'won' the war with Iraq but at a heavy price". Atlantic Council. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  23. 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.
  24. ^ a b "Tajik Foreign Ministry says 41 killed in border clashes - AKIpress News Agency". 2022-09-19. Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  25. ^ a b "Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border fighting claimed nearly 100 lives - BBC News". BBC News. 2022-09-18. Archived from the original on 2022-09-18. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  26. ^ a b "Death toll from border conflict up to 59 - Kyrgyz health ministry - World - TASS". 2022-09-18. Archived from the original on 2022-09-18. Retrieved 2022-10-22.