WarNotable
Punic Wars
Three wars between Rome and Carthage spanning over a century, culminating in the total destruction of Carthage and establishing Rome as the dominant power of the western Mediterranean.
264 BCE – 146 BCEEurope, Africa
War
Armed conflicts that shaped borders, toppled dynasties, and reshaped the balance of power.
17 events
EmpireRevolutionPartitionColonialismKingdomTreatyDynastyIndependenceGenocideExplorationPandemicReligionCulturalEconomicLegal
WarNotable
Crusades
A series of religious wars launched by Latin Christian Europe aimed at capturing and holding Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule, spanning nearly two centuries and nine major expeditions.
1095 CE – 1291 CEEurope, Middle East
WarNotable
First Battle of Panipat
On April 21, 1526, Babur's disciplined Timurid army of roughly 12,000 — equipped with field artillery and matchlock firearms — decisively defeated Ibrahim Lodi's much larger force (traditionally estimated at 100,000, likely exaggerated), ending the Delhi Sultanate and founding the Mughal Empire.
1526 CE – 1526 CESouth Asia
WarNotable
Battle of Plassey
On June 23, 1757, Robert Clive's roughly 3,000-strong East India Company force defeated Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah's much larger Bengal army — largely through a pre-arranged betrayal by Mir Jafar. This battle transformed the British East India Company from a trading firm into a territorial power.
1757 CE – 1757 CESouth Asia
WarNotable
Napoleonic Wars
A series of conflicts involving Napoleon I's French Empire against shifting European coalitions that reshaped the political map of Europe.
1803 CE – 1815 CEEurope, Americas
WarNotable
American Civil War
A conflict between the Union and Confederate states over slavery and states' rights that resulted in abolition and the preservation of the United States.
1861 CE – 1865 CEAmericas
WarNotable
World War I
The first industrialized global conflict, killing an estimated 15–22 million people (roughly 9–11 million military and 6–13 million civilian), and fundamentally redrawing the map of Europe and the Middle East.
1914 CE – 1918 CEEurope, Middle East
WarNotable
World War II
The deadliest conflict in human history, killing an estimated 70–85 million people. The war included the Holocaust — the genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others — and ended in the Pacific theater with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1939 CE – 1945 CEEurope, Asia
WarNotable
Cold War
A geopolitical and ideological rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that defined global politics for over four decades through nuclear deterrence, proxy wars, and competition for influence across the developing world.
1947 CE – 1991 CEAmericas, Europe
WarNotable
September 11 Attacks and War on Terror
Al-Qaeda's coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon killed nearly 3,000 people and triggered a global "War on Terror" including invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq that reshaped international relations for decades.
2001 CEAmericas, Middle East
WarNotable
Peloponnesian War
A devastating 27-year conflict between Athens and Sparta that ended Athenian dominance, weakened all Greek city-states, and ultimately paved the way for Macedonian conquest.
431 BCE – 404 BCEEurope
WarNotable
Hundred Years' War
An intermittent series of conflicts between England and France over the French throne, lasting 116 years. Joan of Arc's intervention (1429) turned the tide, and France ultimately expelled English forces from the continent (except Calais).
1337 CE – 1453 CEEurope
WarNotable
Thirty Years' War
A devastating religious and political conflict centered in the Holy Roman Empire that killed an estimated 4.5–8 million people, including 25–40% of the German-speaking population.
1618 CE – 1648 CEEurope
WarNotable
Opium Wars
Two wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860) fought by Britain (and France in the second) against Qing China to force open Chinese markets and protect the profitable opium trade, resulting in "unequal treaties" and beginning China's "Century of Humiliation."
1839 CE – 1860 CEEast Asia
WarNotable
Indian National Army and Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose, rejecting Gandhi's nonviolent path, allied with Axis powers to form the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from Indian POWs and civilian volunteers in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, and led an armed campaign toward India through the battles of Imphal and Kohima (1944).
1942 CE – 1945 CESouth Asia, Southeast Asia
WarNotable
Korean War
North Korea invaded South Korea, drawing in US-led UN forces and China, ending in armistice that still governs the divided Korean peninsula.
1950 CE – 1953 CEEast Asia
WarNotable
Vietnam War
A Cold War proxy conflict between North Vietnam (communist, Soviet/Chinese-backed) and South Vietnam (US-backed) that killed over 3 million people.
1955 CE – 1975 CESoutheast Asia