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Wars & Revolutions
25 conflicts that shaped the modern world, from ancient Greece to Afghanistan.
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Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Global
Africa
2 conflicts
0/2 learned
1954 – 1962
Algerian War of Independence
FLN vs France
→ Algerian independence
~500K casualties
·
Ahmed Ben Bella
★
After 132 years of French colonial rule, Algeria won independence in one of the most brutal decolonization wars — France deployed over 400,000 troops and used widespread torture.
April – July 1994
Rwandan Genocide
Hutu extremists vs Tutsi minority
→ ~800,000 killed in 100 days
~800K casualties
·
Paul Kagame
★
The fastest mass killing in recorded history — an average of 8,000 people murdered every day for 100 days, mostly with machetes, while the UN withdrew its peacekeepers.
Americas
4 conflicts
0/4 learned
1775 – 1783
American Revolutionary War
American colonies vs British Empire
→ American independence
~70K casualties
·
George Washington
★
The colonies' victory at Yorktown in 1781 ended the war. France's support was decisive — without it, the revolution likely would have failed.
1791 – 1804
Haitian Revolution
Enslaved people vs French colonizers
→ Haitian independence
~350K casualties
·
Toussaint Louverture
★
The only successful slave revolt in history, creating the first Black republic and the first free nation in Latin America — which France then forced to pay reparations for 122 years.
1861 – 1865
American Civil War
Union (North) vs Confederacy (South)
→ Union victory; slavery abolished
~620K casualties
·
Abraham Lincoln
★
America's deadliest war — it killed more US soldiers than all other American wars combined. The Battle of Gettysburg alone left 50,000 casualties in three days.
1953 – 1959
Cuban Revolution
Castro's forces vs Batista regime
→ Revolutionary victory
~5K casualties
·
Fidel Castro
★
Fidel Castro launched his revolution with just 82 men who landed from a leaking boat. Two years later they had overthrown a US-backed government and turned Cuba communist.
Asia
6 conflicts
0/6 learned
1206 – 1368
Mongol Conquests
Mongol Empire vs Eurasia
→ Mongol dominance across Asia and Europe
~40M casualties
·
Genghis Khan
★
The most destructive conquests in history — killing an estimated 10% of the world's entire population. Cities that resisted were annihilated; those that surrendered were spared.
1927 – 1949
Chinese Civil War
Communist Party vs Nationalist Party
→ Communist victory; PRC founded
~8M casualties
·
Mao Zedong
★
The Communist victory drove 2 million Nationalists to Taiwan, creating a political divide that persists today. The People's Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October 1949.
1950 – 1953
Korean War
UN & South Korea vs North Korea & China
→ Armistice — no peace treaty signed
~5M casualties
·
Douglas MacArthur
★
The 'Forgotten War' ended without a peace treaty — technically North and South Korea are still at war. The demilitarized zone created in 1953 is now the world's most heavily fortified border.
1955 – 1975
Vietnam War
North Vietnam & Viet Cong vs South Vietnam & USA
→ North Vietnamese victory
~3.5M casualties
·
Ho Chi Minh
★
The first war the United States lost. The US dropped more bombs on Vietnam than were used in all of World War II — and still withdrew in defeat, ending with the fall of Saigon.
1979 – 1989
Soviet-Afghan War
USSR vs Afghan Mujahideen (CIA-backed)
→ Soviet withdrawal
~2M casualties
·
Mikhail Gorbachev
★
Often called 'the Soviet Union's Vietnam,' this war drained the USSR economically and militarily. The CIA's arming of the Mujahideen helped create the network that later became al-Qaeda.
2001 – 2021
War in Afghanistan
USA & NATO vs Taliban
→ Taliban returned to power
~240K casualties
·
Osama bin Laden
★
America's longest war ended exactly as it began — with the Taliban controlling Afghanistan. Twenty years and $2 trillion later, the Taliban took Kabul in 11 days as US forces withdrew.
Europe
7 conflicts
0/7 learned
499 – 449 BCE
Greco-Persian Wars
Greek city-states vs Achaemenid Persia
→ Greek victory
~300K casualties
·
Themistocles
★
300 Spartans held the pass of Thermopylae against a Persian army of 100,000+ for three days. Their sacrifice bought Athens time to evacuate and ultimately defeat Persia at sea.
264 – 146 BCE
Punic Wars
Rome vs Carthage
→ Roman victory; Carthage destroyed
~1.5M casualties
·
Hannibal Barca
★
Hannibal crossed the Alps with 37 war elephants and a 40,000-man army, defeating Rome in three massive battles. Yet he never attacked Rome itself — a mystery historians still debate.
1337 – 1453
Hundred Years' War
England vs France
→ French victory
~3M casualties
·
Joan of Arc
★
Joan of Arc, a 17-year-old peasant girl who claimed divine visions, led French armies to key victories before being captured and burned at the stake at age 19.
1618 – 1648
Thirty Years' War
Catholic vs Protestant European powers
→ Peace of Westphalia
~8M casualties
·
Cardinal Richelieu
★
Fought mainly in the Holy Roman Empire, it killed one-third of the German population. The Peace of Westphalia that ended it established the modern concept of national sovereignty.
1789 – 1799
French Revolution
Republican forces vs monarchy & European coalitions
→ End of French monarchy
~600K casualties
·
Maximilien Robespierre
★
The Reign of Terror executed over 17,000 people in less than a year — including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It ended when Robespierre himself was guillotined.
1803 – 1815
Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic France vs European coalitions
→ Allied victory; Napoleon exiled
~5M casualties
·
Napoleon Bonaparte
★
Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 with 685,000 troops. Fewer than 100,000 returned. The catastrophe broke his empire — he was defeated at Waterloo just three years later.
1917 – 1922
Russian Revolution
Bolsheviks vs White Army & foreign powers
→ Bolshevik victory; USSR founded
~10M casualties
·
Vladimir Lenin
★
Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were executed in a cellar in July 1918. The revolution that followed created the Soviet Union — which would last 74 years and reshape the world.
Middle East
4 conflicts
0/4 learned
June 1967
Six-Day War
Israel vs Egypt, Jordan & Syria
→ Israeli victory
~20K casualties
·
Moshe Dayan
★
Israel launched a pre-emptive strike that destroyed three Arab air forces in hours, then captured the Sinai, Gaza, West Bank, and Golan Heights — tripling its territory in six days.
1978 – 1979
Iranian Revolution
Islamic revolutionaries vs the Shah
→ Islamic Republic established
~3K casualties
·
Ayatollah Khomeini
★
The revolution transformed Iran from a US-allied monarchy into an anti-Western theocracy overnight, triggering the hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq War, and reshaping the entire Middle East.
1990 – 1991
Gulf War
US-led coalition vs Iraq
→ Coalition victory; Iraq expelled from Kuwait
~75K casualties
·
Saddam Hussein
★
The first televised war — CNN broadcast live missile strikes on Baghdad. After 38 days of air campaign, the ground war lasted just 100 hours before Iraq surrendered.
2003 – 2011
Iraq War
US-led coalition vs Iraqi government & insurgents
→ Saddam toppled; prolonged insurgency
~460K casualties
·
George W. Bush
★
Launched on false claims that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction, the war destroyed the Iraqi state and created the conditions for the rise of ISIS.
Global
2 conflicts
0/2 learned
1914 – 1918
World War I
Allied Powers vs Central Powers
→ Allied victory; four empires destroyed
~20M casualties
·
Franz Ferdinand
★
A single assassination triggered a war that killed 20 million people. It introduced poison gas, tanks, and aerial combat — and destroyed the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and German empires.
1939 – 1945
World War II
Allied Powers vs Axis Powers
→ Allied victory; UN founded
~70M casualties
·
Adolf Hitler
★
The deadliest conflict in human history. The Holocaust killed 6 million Jews and 5 million others. The war ended with atomic bombs destroying two Japanese cities — weapons never used in war before or since.