Duration: 25 years
Ruler: Ivan IV the Terrible
Country: Russian Kingdom
Outcome: Russia has been defeated

The purpose of this war was the access of the Russian kingdom to the Baltic Sea and the provision of trade and political ties with Europe, which was actively prevented by the Livonian Order. Some historians call the Livonian War, which lasted 25 years, a life's work.

The reason for the start of the Livonian War was the question of the "Yuryev tribute." The fact is that the city of Yuryev, later called Derpt, and even later Tartu, was founded by Yaroslav the Wise and, according to the agreement of 1503, an annual tribute was to be paid to the Russian kingdom for it and the adjacent territory, but this was not done. The war was successful for the Russian kingdom only until 1568.

The Estonian city of Tartu was founded by Yaroslav the Wise

Ivan IV the Terrible lost the war and the Russian state was cut off from the Baltic Sea. The war ended with the signing of two truces: Yam-Zapolsky in 1582 and Plyussky in 1583. Russia lost all its previous conquests, as well as significant land on the border with the Commonwealth and the coastal Baltic cities: Koporye, Ivangorod and Yam.

Duration: 20 years
Ruler: Peter I the Great
Country: Russian Kingdom
Outcome: Russia won

The Northern War began with the declaration of war on Sweden by the Northern Alliance. The Northern Union was created on the initiative of the Elector of Saxony and King Augustus II of Poland. The Northern Union also included the Danish-Norwegian kingdom, headed by King Christian V, and the Russian Kingdom, headed by Peter I. It is necessary to clarify the fact that the population of Sweden then exceeded the population of the Russian Kingdom.

In 1700, after a series of quick Swedish victories, the Northern Alliance collapsed, Denmark withdrew from the war in 1700, and Saxony in 1706. After that, until 1709, when the Northern Alliance was restored, the Russian state fought with the Swedes mostly independently.

On the side of the Russian Kingdom fought: Hanover, Holland, Prussia and part of the Ukrainian Cossacks. On the side of Sweden - England, the Ottoman Empire, Holstein and part of the Ukrainian Cossacks.

The victory in the Northern War determined the creation of the Russian Empire

Three periods can be distinguished in the Great Northern War:

1. 1700-1706 - the period of the coalition war and the triumph of the Swedish arms
2. 1707-1709 - single combat between Russia and Sweden, which ended with the victory of a Russian soldier near Poltava
3. 1710-172 - finishing off Sweden by Russia together with the former allies, who, taking advantage of the opportunity, rushed to the aid of the winner

Duration: 6 years
Ruler: Catherine II the Great
Country: Russian empire
Outcome: Russia won

The reason for this war was the inciting by the French cabinet of the Porte against Russia, in order to provide assistance to the Bar Confederation. The reason for its announcement was the attack of the Gaidamaks on the Turkish border town of Balta. This is one of the key wars between the Russian and Ottoman empires.

During the First Turkish War of Catherine, the Russian army under the command of the famous commanders Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev triumphantly defeated the Turkish troops in the battles of Larga, Cahul and Kozludzhi, and the Russian fleet under the command of Admirals Alexei Orlov and Grigory Spiridov inflicted historical defeats on the Turkish fleet in the battle of Chios and at Chesme.

As a result of the war, the Russian Empire grew in territories

The main goals of this war:

• for Russia - obtaining access to the Black Sea,
• for Turkey - the receipt of the Podolia and Volhynia promised to it by the Bar Confederation, the expansion of its possessions in the Northern Black Sea region and the Caucasus, the capture of Astrakhan and the establishment of a protectorate over the Commonwealth.

As a result of the war, the Russian Empire grew in territories: it included Novorossia and the northern Caucasus, and the Crimean Khanate came under its protectorate. Turkey paid Russia an indemnity of 4.5 million rubles, and also ceded the northern coast of the Black Sea, along with two important ports.

On July 21, 1774, the Ottoman Empire signed the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi Treaty with Russia, as a result of which the Crimean Khanate formally gained independence under the protectorate of Russia.

4 War with Persia 1804-1813

Duration: 8 years
Ruler:
Country: Russian empire
Outcome: Russia won
Peculiarities:

Persia was extremely dissatisfied with the growing Russian power in the Caucasus and decided to fight this power before it had time to take deep roots. The accession of Eastern Georgia to Russia and the capture of Ganja by Tsitsianov served as catalysts for the start of this war.

In the summer of 1804 hostilities began: numerous Persian detachments began to attack Russian posts. The Shah of Persia, Baba Khan of Persia, vowed to drive out of Georgia, massacre and exterminate all Russians to the last man. The forces were very unequal: Tsitsianov had only 8,000 people scattered throughout the South Caucasus, while the Persians had an army of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza of 40,000 people.

A characteristic episode of the war was the battle on the Askerani River, where a small detachment of Colonel Karyagin - 500 rangers of the 17th regiment and Tiflis musketeers stood in the way of the Persian troops. For two weeks, from June 24 to July 7, a handful of Russian brave men repulsed the attacks of 20,000 Persians, and then broke through their ring, transporting both of their cannons over their bodies, as if over a living bridge. Dedicated to the selflessness of Russian soldiers. The initiative of the living bridge belongs to Private Gavrila Sidorov, who paid with his life for his selflessness.

The Living Bridge is an example of the dedication of Russian soldiers

With this resistance, Karyagin saved Georgia. The offensive impulse of the Persians was broken, and in the meantime Tsitsianov managed to gather troops and take measures to defend the country. On July 28, under Zagama, Abbas Mirza suffered a crushing blow. Tsitsianov began to subjugate the surrounding khans, but on February 8, 1806, he was treacherously killed under the walls of Baku.

On October 12 (24), 1813, the Gulistan Peace was signed in Karabakh, according to which Persia recognized the entry into the Russian Empire of Eastern Georgia and Northern Azerbaijan, Imeretia, Guria, Mengrelia and Abkhazia. In addition, Russia received the exclusive right to maintain a navy in the Caspian Sea.

Duration: 2 years
Ruler: Alexander I Pavlovich the Blessed
Country: Russian empire
Outcome: Russia won
Peculiarities: Russia fought two wars at the same time

The whole of 1811 was spent in preparations for the coming big war, both in France and in Russia, which nevertheless maintained diplomatic relations for the sake of appearance. Alexander I wanted to take the initiative into his own hands and invade German lands, but this was prevented by the unpreparedness of the Russian army and the ongoing war with Turkey in the Caucasus. Napoleon forced his father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, and his vassal, the King of Prussia, to place their armed forces at his disposal.

By the spring of 1812, the forces of the Russian Empire amounted to three armies with a total of 200,000 people.

1. 1st Army - Commander: Barclay de Tolly. Number: 122,000 bayonets. The army observed the Neman line from Russia to Lida.
2. 2nd Army - Commander: Bagration. Number: 45,000 bayonets. The army was located between the Neman and the Bug, near Grodna and Brest.
3. 3rd Army - Commander: Tormasov. Number: 43,000 bayonets. The army gathered at Lutsk covered Volhynia.

The Patriotic War consists of two major periods:
1) the war with Napoleon in Russia - 1812
2) foreign campaigns of the Russian army - 1813-1814

In turn, the foreign campaigns of the Russian army consist of two campaigns:

1. campaign of 1813 - liberation of Germany
2. campaign of 1814 - the crushing of Napoleon

The war ended with the almost complete destruction of the Napoleonic army, the liberation of the territory of Russia and the transfer of hostilities to the lands of the Duchy of Warsaw and Germany in 1813. Among the reasons for the defeat of Napoleon's army, the Russian historian Troitsky calls:

• popular participation in the war and the heroism of the Russian army,
• the unpreparedness of the French army for military operations in large areas and in the natural and climatic conditions of Russia,
• military leadership talents of the Russian commander-in-chief M. I. Kutuzov and other generals.

6 Crimean War 1853-1856 (3 years)

Duration: 3 years
Other name: Eastern war
Ruler: Nicholas I Pavlovich
Country: Russian empire
Outcome: Russia has been defeated

It was a war between the Russian Empire and a coalition of several countries: the British, French, Ottoman Empires and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The fighting took place in the Caucasus, in the Danube principalities, in the Baltic, Black, Azov, White and Barents Seas and in Kamchatka.

The most fierce battles of the Eastern War were in the Crimea.

The Ottoman Empire was in decline and only direct military assistance from Russia, England, France and Austria allowed the Turkish sultan to prevent the capture of Constantinople twice by the rebellious vassal Muhammad Ali of Egypt. At the same time, the struggle of the Orthodox peoples for liberation from the Ottoman yoke continued. These factors led to the desire of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I to free the Orthodox peoples of the Balkan Peninsula from the oppression of the Ottoman Empire. This was opposed by Great Britain and Austria. In addition, Great Britain sought to oust Russia from the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and from Transcaucasia.

Sevastopol Bay remained under Russian control

In the course of hostilities, the coalition troops managed to concentrate quantitatively and qualitatively superior forces of the army and navy in the Black Sea. This allowed them to successfully land an airborne corps in the Crimea, inflict a number of defeats on the Russian army, and, after a year-long siege, capture the southern part of Sevastopol. But the Sevastopol Bay remained under Russian control.

On the Caucasian front, Russian troops managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Turkish army and capture Kars. However, the threat of Austria and Prussia joining the war forced Russia to accept the terms of peace imposed by the allies. In 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed with the following terms:

1. Russia is obliged to return to the Ottoman Empire everything captured in southern Bessarabia, at the mouth of the Danube River and in the Caucasus;
2. The Russian Empire was forbidden to have a combat fleet in the Black Sea, proclaimed neutral waters;
3. Russia stopped military construction in the Baltic Sea, and much more.

At the same time, the goals of separating significant territories from Russia were not achieved. The terms of the treaty reflected the virtually equal course of hostilities, when the allies, despite all efforts and heavy losses, could not advance further than the Crimea, and were defeated in the Caucasus.

Duration: 3 years
Ruler: Nicholas II Alexandrovich
Country: Russian empire
Outcome: Russia has been defeated
Peculiarities: The Russian Empire ceased to exist

The reason for the First World War was the assassination on June 28, 1914 in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The killer was a Serbian student from Bosnia, Gavrila Princip, who was a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, which fought for the unification of all South Slavic peoples into one state.

This caused a storm of indignation and an explosion of militant moods in Vienna, which saw in the incident a convenient excuse for "punishing" Serbia, which opposed the establishment of Austrian influence in the Balkans. Nevertheless, the ruling circles of Germany were most active in unleashing the war. On July 10, 1914, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia, which contained demands that were obviously unacceptable to Serbia, which forced the Serbs to reject them. On July 16, 1914, the Austrian bombardment of Belgrade began.

Russia could not remain aloof from the conflict:
the inevitable defeat of Serbia meant for Russia the loss of influence in the Balkans

As a result of the war, four empires ceased to exist:

• Russian,
• Austro-Hungarian,
• Ottoman,
• german

The participating countries lost more than 10 million people killed soldiers, about 12 million civilians killed, about 55 million were injured.

8 Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 (4 years)

Duration: 4 years
Ruler: Joseph Stalin (Dzhugashvili)
Country: USSR
Outcome: Russia won

War of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics against Nazi Germany and its allies: Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Croatia.

The development of a plan of attack on the USSR began in December 1940. The plan was codenamed "Barbarossa" and was designed for a "blitzkrieg" - blitzkrieg. The task of Army Group North was to capture Leningrad. The most powerful group - "Center" is directed to Moscow. Army Group "South" was supposed to occupy Ukraine.

According to the calculations of the German command, within six months the fascist troops were to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. From the beginning of 1941, a massive transfer of German troops to the Soviet borders was carried out.

Blitzkrieg of Nazi Germany failed

On June 22, 1941, German troops crossed the Soviet border. At the time of the attack, the balance of power was as follows. In terms of personnel: Germany - 1.5, USSR - 1; for tanks: respectively, 1 to 3.1; by aircraft: 1 to 3.4. Thus, Germany had an advantage in the number of troops, but the Red Army outnumbered the Wehrmacht in terms of the number of tanks and aircraft.

The most famous battles of the Great Patriotic War:

1. defense of the Brest Fortress
2. Battle for Moscow
3. Rzhev battle
4. Battle of Stalingrad
5. Kursk Bulge
6. battle for the Caucasus
7. defense of Leningrad
8. defense of Sevastopol
9. defense of the Arctic
10. liberation of Belarus - operation "Bagration"
11. battle for berlin

The total number of those who died in the Great Patriotic War is about 20 million citizens of the USSR.

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

We invite you to get acquainted with the most famous wars that resulted 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 the 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 in Frankfurt between the warring countries. The terms of the treaty stipulated that Germany should vacate 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, the 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 (Treaton of Trianon) 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 the Soviet Union without warning. 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 capitulated 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 of 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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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 over the past 5.5 thousand years, people have been 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 throughout the history of human civilization, violence, and especially armed violence, has occupied 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 in 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 edged 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 of 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 to destroy the 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, it 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 beginning, 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 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 a large number of enemies at once. 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 - a prominent representative of 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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Shaken by wars. But in antiquity they were not as large-scale as they were in the 20th century. How many world wars have there been on planet Earth? There were two such conflicts: World War I and World War II. A huge amount of destruction, the death of millions of soldiers and civilians - these are the results of such military campaigns.

World War Concept

A modern person knows about military conflicts mainly from history textbooks and feature films and documentaries. But not everyone understands the meaning of the term "world war". What does this expression mean, and how many world wars have there been?

An armed conflict in which several continents take part and at least twenty countries are involved is called a world war. As a rule, these countries are united against one common enemy. There have been two such conflicts in modern history: at the beginning of the 20th century, the First World War began, and at the end of the 30s of the same century, the Second World War. Many countries were involved in both armed conflicts: Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Russia, USA, Japan. All participating countries suffered huge losses, causing much grief, death and destruction to the population. How many world wars there were, their duration and outcome excite everyone who is interested in history.

Premonition of conflict

European countries at the beginning of the new century were in a state of division into two opposing camps. The confrontation was between France and Germany. Each of these countries was looking for allies in a future war. After all, it requires huge resources to do so. In this confrontation, England supported France, and Austria-Hungary supported Germany. The unrest began in Europe long before that shot was fired in Sarajevo in 1914, which became the start of hostilities.

To overthrow the monarchy in such countries as Russia and Serbia, the Masons of France pursued an inflammatory policy, pushing states to war. How many world wars and non-world wars have been, they all began with a single event that became the starting point. So the assassination attempt on the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, committed in Sarajevo in June 1914, was the reason for the introduction of Austrian troops into Serbia. Austria-Hungary officially declared war on Serbia on July 15, 1914 and bombed Belgrade the next day.

World War I

Slavic Serbia is an Orthodox country. Russia has always acted as its patroness. In this situation, the Russian Tsar Nicholas II could not stand aside and asked the Kaiser of Germany not to support Austria-Hungary in this "ignoble" war. In response, the German ambassador, Count Pourtales, handed the Russian side a note declaring war.

In a short time, all the major states of Europe entered the war. Russia's allies were France and England. Germany and Austria-Hungary fought against them. Gradually, 38 states were drawn into the war, with a total population of almost a billion people. How long did the world war last? It lasted four years and ended in 1918.

World War II

It seemed that the experience of the First World War, the terrible human losses, should have been a lesson for the countries participating in the conflict. How many world wars there were is written in all school textbooks. But humanity is stepping on the same rake for the second time: a prisoner following the results of the First World War did not satisfy such countries as Germany and Turkey. Territorial disputes followed, which increased tensions in Europe. In Germany, the fascist movement has intensified, the country is sharply beginning to increase its military potential.

Germany took military action and invaded Poland. It became In response to the actions of Germany, France and England declared war on the aggressor, but did not provide any support to Poland, and it was occupied very quickly - within 28 days. How many years did the world war last, which drew 61 states of the world into confrontations? It ended in 1945, in September. Thus, it lasted exactly 6 years.

Main steps

The Second World War was for the whole It was in this war that nuclear weapons were first used. Many states rallied against it. It was an anti-Hitler bloc, whose members were: the USSR, France, Greece, England, the USA, China and a number of other countries. Many of them did not take part directly in hostilities, but provided all possible assistance by supplying medicines and food. There were also many countries on the side of Nazi Germany: Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland.

The main stages in this war are the following periods:

1. German European Blitzkrieg - from September 1, 1939 to June 21, 1941.
2. Attack on the USSR - from June 22, 1941 to November 1942. The failure of Hitler
3. From November 1942 to the end of 1943. At this time there is a turning point in the strategy of war. The Soviet troops went on the offensive. And at a conference in Tehran with the participation of Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, a decision was made to open a second front.
4. From 1943 to May 1945 - a stage marked by the victory of the Red Army, the capture of Berlin and the surrender of Germany.
5. The last stage is from May to September 2, 1945. This is the period of fighting in the Far East. Here, American pilots used nuclear weapons and attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

victory over fascism

So, in September 1945, World War II ended. How many soldiers and civilians died, one can only say approximately. Until now, researchers are finding burial places that have remained since the time of this cruel and destructive war for all mankind.

According to a rough estimate of experts, the losses of all parties to the conflict amounted to 65 million people. Most of all the countries participating in the war lost, of course, the Soviet Union. This is 27 million citizens. The whole blow fell on them, since the Red Army offered stubborn resistance to the fascist invaders. But according to the Russian estimate, the number of dead is much higher, and the figure presented is too low. How many world wars there were on the planet, but history has not yet known such losses as in the Second. Foreign experts agreed that the losses of the Soviet Union were the most enormous. The figure is 42.7 million human lives.

Even if it lasts only a few minutes or hours or is bloodless. Even if during hours of disturbing calm, when the guns sleep and the muses wake up, the enemy soldiers go to visit the enemy, chat about life, drink and sing songs about the motherland, mothers and brides. As it was in Spain during the years of the Reconquista, when, each for his own, Moors-Muslims, Sephardic Jews and Catholics from the north fought against each other. In that war, there were three days off a week: Friday for the faithful, Saturday for the Jewish Orthodox, and Sunday for the Christians. On the weekend, interfaith strife subsided, and the fighters of the warring armies condescended to an international spree, since meat and wine were always well prepared on the Iberian Peninsula. And, despite the Monday hangover, the white knights in the finals still drove out from the lands of the future Spain those who were much better at waving a sword, but disdained a pig.

Or, remember the anecdote of the late 1980s about how Estonia left the USSR, declared war on Finland and immediately surrendered?

Jokes are jokes, but such very unusual wars also happen. Moreover, very often history does not teach anyone anything, and repeats itself like a stupid squirrel, playing kilometers in the wheel of Samsara.

Equal! Attention! Shall we fight?

1. Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896

This is probably the shortest war between the two countries of all time, it lasted only ... 38 minutes and was awarded a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.

The conflict broke out like dry grass on a hot day on August 27, 1896. The British were saddened by the sudden death of their favorite puppet toy, the Zanzibar Sultan Hamad bin Tuwaini, whose throne was immediately taken by Khalid bin Barghash. Gentlemen did not like Khalid, puppeteers from Albion saw Hamud bin Mohammed in the royal post. By law, the Zanzibaris, before appointing a ruler, were required to consult the CIA by the British Consul. The disobedience of the islanders became a belli incident, Barghash was ordered to collect his belongings and leave the palace by 9 am on August 27. Instead, the "oborzes" monarch began to prepare for armed resistance with a single gun on a single ship, the Glasgow, and 2,800 personnel. By the appointed time, the British brought three cruisers to the island and began firing at the Sultan's palace. The Zanzibar ship was already swimming at the bottom by that time. After 38 minutes of frantic shelling, the red flag over the palace was lowered as a sign of surrender. Khalid's supporters in the "Breakfast War" lost 500 men killed and wounded, and the British lost one, and then by accident.

2 The Pig War Of 1859

There was a time when the young USA, very young Canada, amazing Russian colonies and what was left of the former power of the United Kingdom - the so-called British North America (today it is part of the USA and Canada) managed to get along on the North American mainland. In 1859, the Americans and the British decided to quarrel over the San Juan Islands in the Vancouver area. They were considered a draw, a mess, right?

On June 15, 1859, a resident of the disputed islands, an American farmer, Lyman Cutlar, shot a large black boar in his garden, which brazenly ate his potatoes, and not for the first time. It turned out that the boar was the property of a certain Griffin, an Irishman who received land from the British. Cutlar offered Griffin 10 bucks in compensation, he demanded a hundred in return. Between the "limit" the following neighborly dialogue took place:

Your pig ate my tubers!

It's your problem how to hide your tubers from my pig!

In the course of swearing and gossip, the British tried to arrest Cutlar, to which the American settlers reacted in a purely American way - they called on the army to help.

Brigadier General William Harney landed on San Juan Island with 66 soldiers. The British decided that the American squatters decided to take the whole island under the land, and sent three ships to help Griffin. Say, "we will avenge them for independence." By August 10, 461 Americans with 14 guns and 2140 British with 70 naval guns looked at each other with fierce hostility. Everyone swore, spat, showed their asses to the enemy, but no one fired, waiting for an order to do so. That's discipline, you have to learn!

The governor of Vancouver was smart and gave the order to defeat (literally!) the Americans and, if possible, capture them. But the British Admiral Robert Baines judged: "Is it possible that two great nations will be killed because of some pig!?" Independently of each other, both sides decided - to keep the defense, but not to shoot. The warring parties have the same language, so curses and brutal banter rumbled back and forth for several days. So it was tempting to shoot at the swearing enemy ...

The fate of the stupid war was soon decided when news of it reached Washington and London. Politicians are a little "goofy" from what is happening on the periphery. US President Buchanan and Governor Douglas met on a no man's island and "hushed up" the case. As a result of negotiations, it was decided to leave everything as it is. And only 12 years later, the disputed territories were finally divided between the predatory States and Canada, which was gaining power.

3. Stopitsot Three hundred and thirty-five years' war

You have not read it, this war lasted 335 years and did not cause a single physical casualty.

In Dutch, the name of this bloodless conflict sounds like Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog. This is a confrontation between the kingdom of the Netherlands and the Scilly archipelago, the southernmost point of England, located in the Irish Sea:

The stupid, unrealistic, laziest war lasted from 1651 to (you won't believe it!) 1986. A stagnant conflict began with the fact that after the Second English Civil War, the remnants of the troops of the executed king retreated to the Isles of Scilly. The Dutch fleet acted as an ally of Cromwell's forces, and the royalists in the vicinity of the islands hunted by robbing peaceful Dutch ships with goods and girls. Since all of Britain, except Scilly, was under fellow parliamentarians, the Dutch decided to declare a resolute “fe” to the rebellious archipelago. In June 1651, the revolutionaries drove the royalists from the islands, the Dutch fleet sailed peacefully home, and no one guessed to declare the war over.

In 1985, the chairman of the Council of the Isles of Scilly, historian Roy Duncan, wrote a letter to the Dutch embassy in London to deal with the "myth" of ongoing war. Diplomats confirmed the discrepancy and on April 17, 1986, a Peace Treaty was signed on the islands.

But in fact, according to all legal norms, the Dutch at any moment could afford to drown the sweetest possessions of Scilly in blood ...

In the most peaceful conditions, in an easy chair or a warm bed, in the shadow of everyday life and the accompaniment of an anti-war beat, it is good to watch chronicles about the war on TV. Interesting, almost like the World Cup in football and hockey at the same time. Every day, if you diligently switch channels, you can see Hitler on the blue screen. Know that at the moment when he, the bastard, throws up his hand in "zig heil", someone's blood is pouring somewhere on the planet. This naked and proud black man with a Kalashnikov came to the neighboring village to "fight" for his freedom. Get dressed up…

Wars burning and festering Africa, pardon the nudes for cynicism, are quite common - mountains of corpses, hunger, anger, unmotivated cruelty and senselessness of what is happening. We will continue the story of those armed conflicts, which are quite different in terms of their realities and parameters.

4. War in Transnistria 1992

In this war, which lasted almost 5 months and took 1,000 people to the graves, officers and soldiers of the warring parties shot at each other during the day, and drank together at night, abundantly remembering those who were killed the day before. The Transnistrian conflict has been dubbed the "Drunken War" by local military and civilians.

After the collapse of the USSR, centripetal whims took possession, among others, of not particularly cold-blooded Moldova. Two-thirds of the population of the small republic, those who knew the Moldovan-Romanian language, wanted to join Romania: whatever, but the West. The slogan was: "Moldova - for Moldovans!". Those who did not know the language and worked in industrial cities and towns on the banks of the Dniester wanted to go to Russia or Ukraine. red and white, enough for everyone. So they quarreled, on an unsteady head. They shot, cut, bombed, and after sunset they found out who respects whom more ...

The unrecognized Transnistrian Republic (PMR) took shape back in 1990. After the war, peacekeepers were brought into its territory, after which a lot of weapons remained in the territories controlled by Tiraspol. Because of what, one of the articles of the shadow export of the PMR in the second half of the 90s was ... hired semi-wild killers with their "trunks". But this is another topic and another pain.

5 The Great War Against Emu

Emu is a large flightless bird like an ostrich, found in. In November 1932, in the west of the continent, the weather was extremely dry and hot, there was practically nothing for the animals to eat, so 20 thousand emus went berserk. Hungry birds began to take over human settlements. The operation against the birds lasted a week and was led by an artilleryman, Major Meredith. The officer raised the soldiers into a gun, equipping each with two Lewis machine guns and 10,000 live rounds.

However, not very targeted, or even just drunken shooting at packs of birds that are able to run at a speed of 50 km / h, did not give the expected results. Even emus that had been shot managed to escape beyond the horizon.

After a week of inhumane actions, the dead ostriches were counted, it turned out to be only about a thousand. The operation did not justify the cost, and Major Meredith compared the birds with the courageous Zulus from South Africa in a true soldier's way and tried to assure the farmers that the “unfinished” emus had all died from their bullet wounds. Progressive forces flared with indignation, and a few days later the Minister of Defense of Australia resigned. Because they laughed at him too loudly. To the entire Commonwealth, to the whole world.

6 Football War 1969

"La guerra del football" lasted exactly 100 hours, and El Salvador and Honduras fought in it. The cause of the conflict was political quarrels between countries due to the active illegal migration of Salvadorans to Honduras. By 1969, 300 thousand citizens of El Salvador lived and worked in a neighboring country, they were oppressed and tried to deport, not embarrassed in tactical methods. Powers clacked at each other with their teeth and sharpened their claws, and the press enthusiastically added tar to the honey.

The casus belli turned out to be not political tensions, but sports competitions. The teams of El Salvador and Honduras contested participation in the World Cup (Mexico-1970). The first qualifying match was played in Tegucigalpa, Honduras won 1-0. Immediately after the match, an 18-year-old fan from San Salvador shot herself and was recognized as a martyr, the country's football team in full force, as well as the president himself, followed her coffin in a procession. In the second game, in the capital of El Salvador, the hosts won 3-0, and the city was filled with fighting fans and burning cars.

10 days later, on June 26, 1969, a knock-out match took place in Mexico City, and the Salvadorans won again, with a score of 3: 2 in overtime. You can imagine what the inhabitants of Honduras did in relation to Salvadoran illegal immigrants. On the same evening, the state of "Es" severed diplomatic relations with the country of "Ge", and 17 thousand refugees from the burnt villages of Honduras appeared on the Salvadoran border.

On July 14, bombers, built from civil aviation aircraft, flew out of El Salvador to bomb neighboring airfields. By the evening of the next day, the Salvadoran warriors occupied eight Honduran cities and felt like winners, but that was not the case. Real military planes flew in from the north of Honduras and began to burn enemy bases with napalm. The Nicaraguan dictator Somoza actively helped his neighbors, El Salvador was actually doomed...

On July 20, under pressure from the Organization of American States, the bloodshed was stopped. El Salvador, which "first started" protested, for which he was punished with economic sanctions. Which subsequently led the state to a civil war involving American and Soviet weapons.

The total losses of the warring countries amounted to about 3 thousand people. The El Salvador team at the 1970 World Cup did not score a single goal, blowing dry through Belgium, Mexico and the Soviet Union.

7. War of 1812-1815 between the USA, England and the Indians

This is the strangest war in the history of the United States, which was remembered by the Americans as "Mr. Madison's War." This conflict can also be called the “war of the damaged telephone”, i.e. non-working telegraph. For two days before the outbreak of hostilities, the British government decided to revise the legislative norms that caused the war. If there had been telegraph communication between England and America, bloody clashes could have been avoided. Here he is, the instigator of the war, President Madison, admire:

It turned out that Napoleon Bonaparte blocked the sea trade of Britain in Europe, and she, in response, blocked the French ports. Until that happened in 1806, the United States grew rich in exports to Europe, supplying raw materials and goods to the warring parties. And here's the problem...

While the French kept American ships out of European ports, Britain continued to control the oceans. But the British sailors preferred not to fight, but to desert to America, therefore, the British military department began to “search” US merchant ships in search of native Englishmen who could be recruited or, if they “blather”, hang on a yardarm. To which President Jefferson drove all British warships out of American harbors and banned the supply of British goods to the US markets, and vice versa. Relations between the great maritime powers began to clearly bitter, they began to look at the States as Napoleon's accomplices.

Five years later, the Americans made an attempt to negotiate with the British to lift the mutual embargo. There was silence in response, and President Madison decided to prepare for war. At that time, aggressive militarists from the southern and western states dominated Congress. They hardly managed to win new lands from the Indians, and therefore they drove themselves and the voters into the heads that the natives were being helped by ... disguised Englishmen.

On June 18, 1812, war was declared. Two days before, the British Parliament lifted all economic sanctions against the United States, but Washington did not have time to find out about this. Needless to say, what an insult aroused by the declaration of war in London?

Oddly enough, the struggle for freedom on the seas began with ... a land attack on Canada. The British and Indians gave a decisive rebuff and the operation failed. In 1814, Napoleon was pacified, and England was able to send 15,000 soldiers to Canada. Fierce battles on the border continued, the British almost took New York, and visited Washington, having slaughtered and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. And on January 8, 1815, the most useless battle took place, near New Orleans. And again, the slow mail was to blame - on New Year's Eve, the British offered America a truce, but the dispatch was late, which cost the lives of one and a half thousand British soldiers. In December of the same year, the war-torn countries did sign a peace treaty in Ghent (Belgium). The real reasons for the confrontation were forgotten, and both sides began to consider themselves winners - and this against the backdrop of exhausted economies.

Ah, if there was a telegraph ...