Wars
AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1775 - 1783)
The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of
Independence, was a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and
thirteen British colonies on the North American continent (as well
as some naval conflict). The war was the culmination of the
political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew
Royalist rule. In 1775, Revolutionaries seized control of each of
the thirteen colonial governments, set up the Second Continental
Congress, and formed a Continental Army. The following year, they
formally declared their independence as a new nation - the United
States of America.
WAR OF 1812 (1812 - 1815)
The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its colonies,
including Upper Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada (Quebec), Nova
Scotia, Bermuda and Newfoundland. The war was fought from 1812 to
1815, although a peace treaty was signed in 1814. By the end of the
war, 1,600 British and 2,260 American soldiers had died. Britain had
been at war with France since 1793, and to impede neutral trade with
France, imposed a series of restrictions that the U.S. contested as
illegal under international law. The Americans declared war on
Britain on June 18, 1812 for a combination of reasons, including:
outrage at the impressment (conscription) of American sailors into
the British navy; frustration at British restraints on neutral
trade; anger at alleged British military support for American
Indians defending their tribal lands from encroaching American
settlers; and a desire for territorial expansion of the Republic.
BLACK HAWK WAR (1832)
The Black Hawk War was fought in 1832 in the Midwestern United
States. The war was named for Black Hawk, a war chief of the Sauk,
Fox, and Kickapoo Native Americans, whose British Band fought
against the United States Army and militia from Illinois and the
Michigan Territory (present-day Wisconsin) for possession of lands
in the area.
MEXICAN - AMERICAN WAR (1846 - 1848)
The Mexican-American War was an armed military conflict between the
United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845
U.S. annexation of Texas. Mexico did not recognize the secession and
subsequent military victory by Texas in 1836; it considered Texas a
rebel province. The most important consequence of the war for the
United States was the Mexican Cession, in which the Mexican
territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México were
ceded to the United States under the terms of the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo.
CIVIL WAR (1861 - 1865)
The American Civil War was a war between the United States of
America (the "Union") and the Southern slave states of the newly
formed Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis. The
Union included all of the free states and the five slaveholding
border states and was led by Abraham Lincoln and the Republican
Party. Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces
attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South
Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a large volunteer army,
then four more Southern states declared their secession. Confederate
resistance collapsed after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox
Court House on April 9, 1865.
SPANISH - AMERICAN WAR (1898)
The Spanish-American War was a military conflict between Spain and
the United States that began in April 1898. Hostilities halted in
August of that year, and the Treaty of Paris was signed in December.
The war began after the American demand for Spain's peacefully
resolving the Cuban fight for independence was rejected, though
strong expansionist sentiment in the United States may have
motivated the government to target Spain's remaining overseas
territories: Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam and the
Caroline Islands. Riots in Havana by pro-Spanish "Voluntarios" gave
the United States a reason to send in the warship USS Maine to
indicate high national interest. Tension among the American people
was raised because of the explosion of the USS Maine, and "yellow
journalism" that accused Spain of extensive atrocities, agitating
American public opinion. The war ended after decisive naval
victories for the United States in the Philippines and Cuba. Only
109 days after the outbreak of war, the Treaty of Paris, which ended
the conflict, gave the United States ownership of the former Spanish
colonies of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.
Spanish-American War News Articles
Spanish-American War - Letters Home
PHILIPPINE - AMERICAN WAR (1899 - 1902)
The Philippine-American War was an armed conflict between the United
States and Filipino revolutionaries. The conflict arose from the
struggle of the First Philippine Republic to secure independence
from the United States following the latter's acquisition of the
Philippines from Spain after the Spanish-American War. The war was a
continuation of the Philippine struggle for independence that began
in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution. The war and occupation by
the U.S. would change the cultural landscape of the islands, as
people dealt with an estimated 34,000 to 220,000 Filipino casualties
(with more civilians dying from disease and hunger brought about by
war), disestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church in the
Philippines (as a "state Church" - as previously in Spain), and the
introduction of the English language in the islands as the primary
language of government, education, business, industrial and
increasingly in future decades among families and educated
individuals.
WORLD WAR ONE (1914 - 1918)
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War and
the War To End All Wars, was a global military conflict which took
place primarily in Europe from 1914 to 1918. The immediate cause of
the war was the June 28, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip,
a Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Black
Hand. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against Serbia activated a
series of alliances that set off a chain reaction of war
declarations. Within a month, much of Europe was in a state of open
warfare. The war was ended by several treaties, most notably the
Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, though the Allied
powers had an armistice with Germany in place since November 11,
1918. One of the most striking results of the war was a large
redrawing of the map of Europe. All of the Central Powers lost
territory, and many new nations were created. The German Empire lost
its colonial possessions and was saddled with accepting blame for
the war, as well as paying punitive reparations for it. The
Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires were completely dissolved.
Austria-Hungary was carved up into several successor states
including Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. The
Ottoman Empire disintegrated, and much of its non-Anatolian
territory was awarded as protectorates of various Allied powers,
while the remaining Turkish core was reorganized as the Republic of
Turkey. The Russian Empire, which had withdrawn from the war in
1917, lost much of its western frontier as the newly independent
nations of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland were
carved from it. After the war, the League of Nations was created as
an international organization designed to avoid future wars by
giving nations a means of solving their differences diplomatically.
WORLD WAR TWO (1937 - 1945)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military
conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate
conflicts. The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second
Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German
invasion of Poland. This global conflict split the majority of the
world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and
the Axis powers. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million
military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history,
and placed the participants in a state of "total war", erasing the
distinction between civil and military resources. This resulted in
the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and
scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 60
million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making
it the deadliest conflict in human history. The Allies were
victorious, and, as a result, the United States and Soviet Union
emerged as the world's two leading superpowers. This set the stage
for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years.
KOREAN WAR (1950 - 1953)
The Korean War was an escalation of border clashes between two rival
Korean regimes, each of which was supported by external powers, with
each trying to topple the other through political and guerilla
tactics. In a very narrow sense, some may refer to it as a civil
war, though many other factors were at play. After failing to
strengthen their cause in the free elections held in South Korea
during May 1950 and the refusal of South Korea to hold new elections
per North Korean demands, the communist North Korean Army moved
south on June 25, 1950 to attempt to reunite the Korean peninsula,
which had been formally divided since 1948. The conflict was then
expanded by the United States and the Soviet Union's involvement as
part of the larger Cold War. The main hostilities were during the
period from June 25, 1950 until the armistice (ceasefire agreement)
was signed on July 27, 1953.
VIETNAM WAR (1959 - 1975)
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, and in
Vietnam as the American War, occurred from 1959 to April 30, 1975.
The term Vietnam Conflict is often used to refer to events which
took place between 1959 and April 30, 1975. The war was fought
between the Communist-supported Democratic Republic of Vietnam and
the US supported Republic of Vietnam. It concluded with the defeat
and dissolution of South Vietnam. For the United States, the war
ended with the withdrawal of American troops and failure of its
foreign policy in Vietnam. Over 1.4 million military personnel were
killed in the war (only 6% were members of the United States armed
forces), while estimates of civilian fatalities range up to 2
million. On April 30, 1975, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon
fell to the communist forces of North Vietnam, effectively ending
the Vietnam War.
GULF WAR or DESERT STORM (1990 - 1991)
The Gulf War or Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 - 28 February 1991)
was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force from 34 nations
authorized by the United Nations (UN) and led primarily by the
United States in order to return Kuwait to the control of the Emir
of Kuwait. The conflict developed in the context of the Iran-Iraq
War. The entry by Iraqi troops in Kuwait was met with immediate
economic sanctions by some members of the UN Security Council
against Iraq. The expulsion of Iraqi troops from Kuwait began in
January 1991 and was a decisive victory for the coalition forces,
which took over Kuwait and entered Iraqi territory. Aerial and
ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and bordering areas of
Saudi Arabia. Iraq also launched missiles against targets in Saudi
Arabia and Israel in retaliation for their support of the invading
forces in Kuwait.
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (2001 - Present)
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is the official name used by the
U.S. Government for one of its military campaigns in the Global War
on Terrorism (GWOT) which was started after the September 11, 2001
attacks on the United States. It was originally called "Operation
Infinite Justice", (often misquoted in news articles and political
commentary as "Operation Ultimate Justice") but this phrase had
previously been restricted to the description of God (among
followers of several faiths), and it is believed to have been
changed to avoid offense to Muslims. On October 5, 2006, NATO
officially took over control of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
IRAQ WAR (2003 - 2011)
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was led by
the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents
from Australia, Poland and Denmark. A number of other countries were
involved in its aftermath. The invasion launched the Iraq War, which
is ongoing. The objectives of the invasion, according to U.S.
President George W. Bush and U.K. former PM Tony Blair were "to
disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end Saddam
Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."
Blair said the actual trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final
opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological
weapons that U.S. and coalition officials called an immediate and
intolerable threat to world peace. Since 2003, coalition forces have
recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded
mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and
destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled
pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist although
some misplaced or abandoned remnants of pre-1991 production were
found, U.S. government spokespeople confirmed that these were not
the weapons for which the U.S. went to war.