The strangest cases in the history of wars. Military history: the most terrible cases. summer "turtle" war
From the history of wars.
Berwick upon Tweed is a small town on the border between England and Scotland, on the coast of the North Sea. Once in the Middle Ages, it was an important port and a bone of contention between the English and Scottish kingdoms. In the end, the arguments (in the form of numerical and technical military superiority) of the English side turned out to be more convincing and the King of Scotland agreed to transfer Berwick to the English king, provided, however, that the city does not become part of the English kingdom. Thus, Berik received a unique status of autonomy and a separate mention both in the title English kings, and in official international documents issued on behalf of the United Kingdom.
In particular, Crimean War in 1854 was declared to Russia by Queen Victoria on behalf of "England, Scotland and the city of Berwick". And at the conclusion of peace a few years later, the city of Berik was forgotten to be mentioned.
Thus, the proud city of Berik was at war with Russia (later with the USSR) until 1965, i.e. 111 years. In 1965, the USSR ambassador to Great Britain and the mayor of the city of Berwick finally signed a peace treaty. However, there are doubts about the validity of the treaty, since the mayor of the city of Berwick is not the authorized successor of Queen Victoria.
In 1940, a Pepsi-Cola manager named Russell Arundel bought 1.5 hectares of Bald Island from the Tusket Islands off the Atlantic coast of Canada for $750. He named it the Principality of Outer Baldonia, issued a constitution, and became head of the new state. Anyone could become a citizen who, for $50, would buy a fishing license in the territorial waters of the principality. By 1947, the number of subjects reached 70 people.
The constitution was written in a spirit of such extreme selfishness that in 1953 it received the attention of the Literary Gazette, which criticized it. In response, on March 9, 1953, the Principality of Outer Baldonia declared war on the Soviet Union. Allied to the Principality, the Armdale Yacht Club took its fleet to the open sea towards military glory, which it really never achieved, since Soviet government limited to a small company in the media.
In 1970, Russell Arundel sold his homeland to Canada for $1. The constitution of the Principality of Outer Baldonia is still preserved in the local history museum of Yarmouth County.
In 1980, US authorities set up a checkpoint on the road linking Key West with the rest of Florida to detect drug smuggling. Little by little, the control post grew into a real customs checkpoint with barriers, where all cars were subjected to inspection, without exception, in both directions. Ultimately, the Mayor of Key West decided that the US had seceded from its jurisdiction and established a normal border post. Thus, he considered himself entitled to declare the islands of Key West an independent republic called the Conch Republic, which he did on April 23, 1982. As part of the independence ceremony, he also declared war on the United States by committing an act of attacking a member of the US Army. In fact, he took a loaf of bread and smacked it on the helmet-clad head of a Marine. The next day, Mer announced the surrender of the Republic and asked for $1 billion. humanitarian aid to eliminate the consequences of the war.
All of this brings to mind the role of alcohol in military history. As far as I know, these events formed the basis of a well-known anecdote in its time.
Having gained independence in the war with Spain, the Netherlands supported all the enemies of the latter and, in particular, England. The Dutch, in general, did not care who rules there in England, as long as they were in conflict with Spain. Which, in general, was not so difficult, given the Anglo-Spanish relations. At first, the Dutch dealt with the monarchy, but when the revolution happened and the king's head was cut off, the republican Netherlands sided with Cromwell without any hesitation. The Isles of Scilly, which lie near the western tip of Cornwall, were the last refuge of the defeated royalists. They were (and partly still are) a private fief, which had (and still has) a certain autonomy from the United Kingdom. Although the revolutionaries were victorious on land, the Royal Navy remained largely in royalist hands, hiding in the bays of the Isles of Scilly. So Cromwell turned to the Dutch for help, and in 1651 they declared war on the Isles of Scilly and staged a naval blockade while the British prepared a landing force that forced the royalists to surrender. The Dutch did not fire a single shot.
Subsequent events buried the episode in the abyss of oblivion until, in 1985, a request from an enthusiast to the Dutch embassy revealed the fact that the war was still going on. So in 1986, the Dutch ambassador to the UK made a pleasant excursion to the picturesque Isles of Scilly, during which a peace treaty was signed that ended 335 years of war.
As part of the qualifying tournament for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, at each stage it was planned to hold 2 matches, and if the other team wins each, then appoint the third. In one of the stages, further participation in the tournament of El Salvador or Honduras was to be decided. The honor of two great nations was at stake. The first match took place in the capital of Honduras and El Salvador lost. The mood was such that one of the fans of the El Salvador national team (it is strange that only one) publicly shot herself screaming that she could not survive such a shame for her country. In the second leg in El Salvador, the Hondurans lost, the reason for which may have been crowd attacks on the Honduras national team.
On June 24, 1969, the government of El Salvador, heeding the voice of the people, announced the mobilization of the army in order to protect national pride by any means. Two days later, the government of Honduras, in an effort to uphold the sporting honor of their country, did the same, of course. To paraphrase Clausewitz a little, war is a continuation of sports competitions by other means.
After losing the third match, Honduras decided enough was enough and moved from disorganized massacre to regular military action.
It's hard to say how many lives it all cost. Direct losses in battles amounted to several thousand (the figure is extremely inaccurate). To this must be added the dead in the riots before and after the hostilities. But most importantly, in both countries, this eventually led to military juntas, whose rule, as well as the civil wars that followed their fall, resulted in innumerable victims and terrible devastation of the economy in both countries.
3 The Punic War was officially declared in 149 BC. It ended with an assault, the complete destruction of Carthage and the almost complete sale of the survivors into slavery. Those. there was no one to conclude a peace treaty with.
Time passed, rulers, political subjects, population, cultures and languages changed. However, the state of war formally continued to exist. Until, finally, in 1985, Hugo Vetere, mayor of Rome, and Chadli Halebi, mayor of Carthage, now an autonomous region of the city of Tunisia, signed a peace treaty that formally ended the longest war that lasted 2,100 years.
In 1838, the owner of a French confectionery in Mexico City named Remontelle turned to King Louis Philippe of France for protection, because 10 years earlier, in 1828, during urban riots, some scoundrels in military uniform broke into his establishment and ate all the cakes. The memory of this apparently haunted the Frenchman for years as he made custom cakes. France demanded compensation for the cakes in the amount of 600,000 pesos, the amount that could be poured with custard on the streets of historic Mexico City.
In response, Mexico froze the payment of debts on French loans. In turn, King Louis Philippe considered himself obliged to declare war on Mexico and send a fleet to blockade Mexican ports on the Atlantic coast. The Mexicans began to carry out transport operations through the ports of the then independent Republic of Texas, which brought France into conflict with it. With typical enthusiasm, which in the event of a fight and scandal still turns spectators into participants, the United States has already intervened on the side of France, when sobering up has finally come. The blockade was lifted, Mexico continued to pay its debts, and the confectionery continued its destructive activity for the sugar balance.
The idea of protecting their own subjects on foreign territory was happily picked up by aggressors of all stripes, but German Empire in 1911 it was possible to bring it to the point of absurdity. As you know, Germany, late to the division of the world into colonies, passionately dreamed of rectifying the situation and, in particular, wanted to get the Moroccan port of Agadir, the gateway to Africa since ancient times. But in 1911 it was no longer possible to simply sail, stick a cross and declare everything the property of the German monarchy. A pretext was needed and the protection of the subjects seemed the most suitable to send a cruiser armed with large-caliber guns from the Krupp company.
The catch, however, was that there were no German subjects in Agadir. But such trifles should not interfere with the plans of the General Staff! After intensive searches throughout Morocco, one single German citizen was found, by the name of Wilberg, who worked as an engineer in a mine 3 days from Agadir. A telegram was sent to the engineer, informing him that he was under threat, needed protection, and therefore had to arrive in Agadir. The engineer considered this a stupid prank and it took 2 more telegrams before he decided to go and find out what was the matter. When he arrived in Agadir, the German gunboat for three days now she had been in the middle of the port waters, protecting the unfortunate Wilberg from terrible dangers. Arriving in the city, the German subject found that it was impossible to contact the cruiser protecting him, since he was on alert and promised to shoot at anyone who approached him. At first, Wilberg simply ran along the pier, trying to attract the attention of the ship, and when this did not help, he went to the journalists. And only when the whole story was published and all of Europe was laughing, a radio message came from Berlin that one of the people on the pier is just the one who needs to be protected. The only German in Morocco was taken on board and taken to Germany at public expense.
When the US declared independence, Canada did not yet exist, but was a normal possession of the British Empire. The agreement that determined the passage of the border, as is often the case in such cases, allowed for discrepancies. In particular, this concerned the straits between the islands in the Vancouver area, where it was not clear who owns the small island of San Juan - the United States or Great Britain. This did not prevent people from growing potatoes and raising pigs on the island. It did not interfere until June 15, 1859, a pig of a British subject of Irish origin once again ate a potato of an American citizen, also of Irish origin. A British Irishman offered $10 to compensate for the dug up potato beds. The American Irishman demanded 100, in response to which the British Irishman sent an American to where St. Patrick did not drive pigs. The cup of Irish patience overflowed. The British Irish demanded that the British authorities arrest the American, and the American Irish demanded protection.
The American commandant sent a company of soldiers to the previously peaceful island of San Juan with orders to prevent the extradition of an American citizen to the British authorities. The English governor, in turn, sent 3 ships. A military escalation began and eventually 450 troops and 14 guns of the US Army looked from their fortified positions through the sights at the British squadron of 5 ships with 2000 people and 170 guns on board. We must pay tribute to the fact that it was the soldiers and officers, both in the trenches and on the decks, who considered it the height of idiocy to give their lives for potatoes devoured by a neighbor's pig and over and over again refused to obey orders to open fire. Higher authorities in both Britain and America were horrified by the actions of local armchair warriors and ordered to embark on the path of diplomacy. First, they agreed on the joint occupation of the island and the limitation of the military contingent of 100 people on each side. So the British camp is located in the north of the island, and the American one in the south. This stalemate continued for 12 years, until the Americans and the British, desperate to find a solution themselves, decided to turn to the first person they met. The first comer was the German emperor Wilhelm 2, who decided that the island should belong to America. No one else has benefited from it. The pig by this time had long been slaughtered and eaten. And I strongly doubt that even one Irishman would share potatoes with the German emperor for nothing.
They say it's bad luck to meet a woman with empty buckets. Well I do not know. Meeting a soldier with an empty bucket is even worse.
In 1325, a brave cavalryman served in the Italian city of Bologna. Or rather, not brave enough - one fine day he decided to leave his place of service and go to the city of Modena (it should be noted that at that time many Italian cities were independent microstates). In order to water the horse, the Bolognese took with him a wooden bucket.
After some time, the indignant compatriots of the deserter turned to the Modenese. They demanded to return ... a state-owned wooden bucket. The inhabitants of Modena did not react in any way to the absurd request, after which Bologna sent an army to the arrogant neighbors.
The war lasted 22 years, the loss of both sides amounted to hundreds of people. As a result, Bologna did not return the ill-fated bucket - she lost this conflict.
In 1653, Sweden and the Commonwealth were to sign an agreement on friendship and alliance. When the Swedish king read the treaty, he was outraged that after all his titles the words "and other" were repeated twice, and after listing the titles Polish king- three times.
As a result, the Swedish diplomats wrote an angry letter, the Poles answered, word for word - the war of 1655-1660 began, in which Sweden celebrated the victory.
No one knows how many wars there have been in the history of mankind. Most often they talk about 5-6 thousand. However, this uncertainty does not prevent historians from analyzing military conflicts in order to find the “best” wars. For example, the seven most strange wars, one of the many options that is offered to your attention.
1. The shortest war
According to most historians, the war between England and Zanzibar ended most quickly. Not surprising, because it lasted less than an hour. The war between the United Kingdom, the largest world empire at the end of the 19th century, and the tiny sultanate of Zanzibar in East Africa began on the morning of August 27, 1896 and ended in about 38 minutes.
The immediate cause of the armed conflict was the death of the pro-British sultan Hamada ben Tuwayni and accession to the throne of the Sultan Khalid ben Barghash which the British did not like. In London they wanted to see on the Sultan's throne Hamud bin Mohammed. According to an agreement between the two powers from 1886, a ruler approved by the British consul was to sit on the throne of Zanzibar. Khalid became sultan bypassing this condition.
In London, this was considered quite sufficient reason for declaring war. The British government gave Khalid an ultimatum. The British demanded that he order his troops to lay down their arms and abdicate. In response, the sultan barricaded himself with the guards in the sultan's palace.
The ultimatum expired at 09:00 on 27 August. By this time, the British had assembled 3 cruisers and 2 gunboats at the entrance to Zanzibar harbor with 150 marines and 900 Zanzibaris on board. At 9.02 they began shelling the palace. The outbreak of fire put out of action the artillery of the defenders of the palace. One of the shells broke the staff of the Sultan's flag. The shelling stopped at 0940 after Khalid's surrender. The Zanzibaris lost approximately 500 men. The British had one sailor slightly wounded.
2. 335 year war
This war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, a small archipelago 45 km off the southwest coast of Britain, is remarkable not only for its duration - St. three centuries (1651-1986). During all this time, not only was there not a single victim, but not a single shot was fired. However, the absence of a peace treaty, concluded only at the end of the last century, allows us to consider it one of the most long wars in the history of mankind.
Over the years, even the cause of the war has been forgotten. It is only known that it is connected with the events of the Second civil war in England.
In 1985 Roy Duncan, historian and chairman of the Isles of Scilly, wrote a letter to the Dutch embassy in London, in which he stunned the Dutch diplomats with the most unpleasant news. It turns out that the archipelago has been at war with the Dutch kingdom for more than three centuries. The following year, the Dutch ambassador came to the islands and signed a peace treaty. There were wars about longer than this. For example, the Araucanian War between first Spain and then Chile, on the one hand, and a number of Indian tribes led by the Mapuche tribe, on the other, lasted 345 years (1536-1881). Moreover, it was a real war, accompanied by numerous victims.
However, the longest war can be considered ... Third Punic War(149-146 BC). Carthage was destroyed to the ground, and formally the peace treaty was never signed. The mayors of Rome and Carthage only signed it in 1985. Thus, the Third Punic War formally lasted 2131!
3. Pig war
The British also participated in this strange war, only the Americans were their opponents. It occurred in 1859 and was caused by disputes over the border between the United States and British North America (Canada). The cause of the conflict was the San Juan Islands, located between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
The name of the war was due to the killed pig. An American farmer shot a pig that was destroying his garden. When it turned out that it belonged to an Irish employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, he offered $10 in compensation. The Irishman demanded $100. The war has begun.
The increased attention to the poor animal is explained by the fact that, fortunately, it turned out to be the only victim of the conflict.
4. Ostrich war
In November 1932, under pressure from farmers in the west of the continent, in Campion County, who were not allowed to live by breeding emus, the Australian Department of Defense decided to conduct a military operation against birds.
That summer was long and very hot. Due to the lack of food and water, the birds were indeed quite aggressive. Commanded the fighting against ostriches Major of Artillery George Meredith. His detachment was armed with two Lewis machine guns and approximately 10,000 rounds of ammunition. However, it was not easy to fight with birds that reach speeds of up to 50 km / h. Firstly, they rarely gathered in large flocks, and secondly, they did not let people near them. Shooting from trucks also proved to be ineffective.
For a week, out of about 20 thousand birds, the soldiers managed to kill only a few dozen. Major Meredith was so amazed at the agility and caution of the birds that he compared them to the elusive ... Zulus.
Finally, the Minister of Defense George Pierce announced a cessation of hostilities. So formally Australia lost the Ostrich War.
5. Drunk war
After the collapse Soviet Union two-thirds of Moldova wanted to strengthen ties with its western neighbor, Romania, and one-third, located east of the Dniester, favored maintaining strong ties with Ukraine and Russia. The East of Moldova separated and formed the Transnistrian Republic, which was not recognized by the international community.
The military themselves called the war between Moldova and Transnistria ... a drunken war. The fact is that at night its participants organized joint drinking parties, and in the morning they dispersed to their positions and again began to shoot at each other.
6. Football war
The reason for this strange war, as the name suggests, was a football match. The war lasted 100 hours. Hence its second name - the Hundred Hour War.
Of course, football was just a pretext in the war between El Salvador and Honduras. The main reasons were political. The most acute was the conflict over the migration of Salvadorans to Honduras.
The fighting began after the riots that occurred during and after the second match of the qualifying tournament for the 1970 World Cup final between the teams of El Salvador and Honduras.
On July 14, 1969, the Salvadorans invaded Honduras. Through the mediation of the Organization of American States, a ceasefire was reached on 20 July. In early August, Salvadoran troops left the territory of Honduras.
By the way, the national team of El Salvador went to the championship in Mexico. She didn't even manage to get out of the group at the first stage.
7. The war that shouldn't have happened
The reason for the war between Great Britain and the United States in 1812 was communication problems. The Anglo-American War of 1812, or Madison's War as it is also called, is not only the first war of the new state, but also, perhaps, the strangest in the history of the United States. Two days before the declaration of war, the British government, under the leadership of Lord Liverpool, announced the repeal of laws that interfered with maritime trade between America and France and caused great discontent among the Americans. However, news two centuries ago traveled across the ocean for three weeks. If at the beginning of the 19th century there had been a telegraph communication between America and Europe, then war would have been avoided.
In the peace treaty that ended the Anglo-American war, its causes were never resolved. In addition, the outcome of the war remained unclear, and both sides claimed victory. Moreover, the absence of a telegraph played a negative role not only at its beginning, but also at the very end. In January 1815, the last battle of the war took place, near New Orleans. The war has officially ended, but the news of peace is again too late.
RP recalls the most unusual armed conflicts in the history of mankind
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Protest in Reykjavik during one of the Cod Wars. AP Photo, 1973. Source: AP
History knows examples of wars and conflicts, to which contemporaries and descendants were given unusual, and in some cases quite poetic titles. The vast majority of people have probably heard of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses in medieval England. Many people know the Strange War - the passive behavior of Great Britain and France in 1939-1940, when, although they declared war on Hitler in response to the Wehrmacht's invasion of Poland, they refrained from any action for a long time, actually voluntarily giving the Nazis the initiative. And certainly everyone knows what the Cold War was - an indirect confrontation between the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact and the NATO bloc, which lasted almost the entire second half of the 20th century.
But there were other conflicts in history, not so large in scale and not with such significant consequences, but no less remarkable for their unusual names. Some of these wars did not claim a single human life, while others, on the contrary, were bloody. Some began because of mere trifles, others funny case was only an excuse for the start of a long-overdue confrontation, while others received an unseemly name for other, subjective reasons.
The War of the Oak Bucket, also known as the War of the Bucket
In the Middle Ages, Italy was a "patchwork" of many independent states and cities that formed alliances for war with each other. The cities of Modena and Bologna in the north of the country were no exception. Their enmity was also due to the fact that they supported various political forces fighting for influence in Italy. These forces were the so-called Guelphs - supporters of the Pope, and the Ghibellines, who supported the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Modena was dominated by the views of the Ghibellines, while Bologna was the city of the Guelphs. So these two glorious cities stood as unkind neighbors for decades, and it is not known how much longer they would have stood in a state of such hidden enmity if a comical incident had not occurred in 1325, which nevertheless led to a war lasting 22 years.
Oak bucket in the tower at the Duomo. Source: wikitravel.org
One day, a soldier from the garrison of Bologna decided to change his “employer” and deserted to Modena along with a horse and weapons. In order to water the horse on the way, he took with him a strong oak bucket from the well in the town square.
Whether the townspeople of Bologna were so angry with this misconduct or the theft of the state bucket served only as an excuse to unleash a war against the hated neighbors, it is now difficult to say. But the fact remains - when the townspeople and the authorities of Modena expectedly ignored the ridiculous request of the delegation from Bologna to return the bucket, the Bolognese officially declared war.
The only battle of that war was the battle of Zappolino in November of the same 1325, where the Modenese defeated the superior forces of the Bolognese advancing on them, and they were forced to go home without glory and without a bucket. The oak bucket itself, by the way, is still kept in Modena as a relic to this day.
club war
This is the name given to the peasant uprising in Finland that flared up at the end of the 16th century. At that time, Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom, so all the hardships Russian-Swedish war 1596-1597 fell fully on her. The country was devastated and drained of blood by recruiting sets, in addition, the situation was aggravated by an internal crisis in the kingdom - various noble groups were fighting for power among themselves and with the ruler of the country, Duke Charles.
Weapons and clothing of Jaakko Ilkki in the Ilmajoen Museum. Photo: Jari Laurila
Under these conditions, the mortified Finnish peasantry raised a rebellion in November 1596 against the Swedish aristocrats and administration. Jaakko Ilkka stood at the head of the uprising. Most of the peasants were not trained in martial arts, in addition, normal armor and swords were an unaffordable luxury for the poor, so they armed themselves with what was at hand. The most common type of weapon among the rebels were clubs, which later gave the name to the conflict. At first, Ilkki's army was successful - in an unstoppable wave they swept through rich estates and cities in Finland, killing nobles and tax collectors. However, due to poor organization, low discipline and lack of training, this army could not fight on an equal footing with the royal army in the open field and, as a result, was defeated by the governor of the province, Claes Fleming, in December of the same year. Ilkka himself was caught and executed. Nevertheless, the Club War has taken its place both in the history of Finland and in local folklore. It was the largest peasant uprising in the history of the country.
Reaper War
Under this name, the war between the region of Catalonia and Spain in 1640-1652 is known, during which the independence of the province was restored for a short time.
The popular performance itself was due to a number of reasons - the all-powerful favorite of the king, the Count-Duke of Olivares, planned to take away from the Catalans a number of freedoms granted to them earlier by the Spanish crown. In addition to this, foreign mercenaries of the royal army were constantly located in the province, which annoyed the locals. The last straw was the massive recruitment of Catalan youths and men into the army - Spain at that time took an active part in Thirty Years' War, and she constantly needed reinforcements at the front.
In response to the tyranny of Madrid in 1640, a rebellion broke out in Catalonia - Barcelona was taken by detachments of peasants called segadors ("reapers"). The Spanish administration fled, the viceroy of the province was killed.
Realizing that they alone could not stand against the king, the representatives of the Catalan aristocracy, who took command of the forces of the rebels, turned to their natural ally - French king Louis XIII, who in the Thirty Years' War was an opponent of Spain and actively fought with it. The French immediately realized that such gifts of fate are not scattered, and hastily concluded an alliance with the rebels. At the end of 1640, French troops entered the province, and Louis XIII was proclaimed the Count of Barcelona by the local nobility.
Thanks to the support of France, the province successfully fought off the Spaniards for almost twelve years, but over time, the state of constant war began to burden the local population and cause great damage to Catalonia. This was played by the Spanish king, who in 1651 laid siege to Barcelona and began to force the Catalans into obedience. Court turmoil reigned in France at that time, and Paris had no time for Spanish affairs, so the Catalans, seeing the hopelessness of their situation, agreed to make peace with Spain, provided that they were promised certain liberties.
Jenkins' Ear War
Surprisingly, the conflict, which received a similar name, was not a small-town showdown, but a serious confrontation that eventually resulted in one of the largest wars of the 18th century - the War of the Austrian Succession.
By the middle of the 18th century, a direct conflict of interests between Spain and England had matured in the Caribbean. Madrid desperately continued to cling to the remnants of its former colonial power, but managing the scattered overseas possessions became more and more difficult every year. This was largely due to the increased activity of England, which was rapidly acquiring the status of the mistress of the seas, having already displaced Holland from the pedestal and actively squeezing France into secondary roles. Spain, although it had left this race for a long time, was jealous of its positions in the Caribbean archipelago, where the most important trade routes lay, bringing fabulous incomes to those who control them.
Spain, which did not have its own merchant fleet, traditionally hired French merchant ships to transport its cargo. At the same time, the strengthening of England's position in the region had a negative impact on the profits of the Spanish crown. In London, they did not make plans to oust the Spaniards from the colonies - the role of Spain as an intermediary in the transit of goods from the New World to Europe suited everyone. The problem was that it was quite difficult for these two forces to get along in the Caribbean without mutual harassment. The Spaniards were annoyed by the impudence of the English merchants, who traded in excess of the approved annual limit, and besides, they smuggled en masse, which meant hundreds of thousands of pesos in losses for the Spanish treasury. It got to the point where the king of Spain established a corps of the so-called coast guards, which were hired ships engaged in catching and eliminating smugglers. In fact, these were privateers in the service of the Spanish crown. The British have repeatedly expressed indignation at the actions of the Guardakostas (“coast guards”), who captured and robbed their merchant ships, but up to a certain point the parties managed to balance on the verge between war and peace.
The incident that gave rise to the conflict occurred with the English merchant Robert Jenkins, whose ship was intercepted by the Spanish privateer Isabella, who escorted the British to the port of Havana for inspection. During the inspection of the ship, the Spaniards behaved defiantly, and when the Englishman tried to rebel, the Spanish captain ordered the merchant to be put on his knees and cut off his ear, adding: "The same will happen to him (the king) if he is caught smuggling." Jenkins, recovering from this, immediately hurried home to England, taking with him an ear alcoholized in a jar - he carried it everywhere with him for another seven years, hoping to find a doctor who could sew it back on him. Arriving in London, Jenkins first wrote a complaint to the king, and when this had little effect, he personally appeared at a meeting of Parliament, where in a fiery speech he told what had happened, presenting his scar and his ear in alcohol as evidence. The parliamentarians became furious, believing that in the person of Jenkins they themselves, and the king, and England were offended. Prime Minister Walpole had no choice but to obey the will of the majority - on October 23, 1739, England declared war on Spain.
The confrontation between the two powers, which began as a colonial war, soon escalated into a pan-European conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession, but that was another story.
The Potato War, also known as the War of the Bavarian Succession and the War of the Plum Bazaar
The reason for the war was Austria's claim to a number of lands that had gone with Bavaria to the Elector of the Palatinate in the 70s of the 18th century. The Bavarian house was cut short, and under the terms of the Pavia Treaty of 1329, which divided the Wittelsbach dynasty into the Palatinate and Bavarian branches, everything went to Charles Theodor of the Palatinate. but Austrian emperor Joseph II started a complex intrigue in order to appropriate part of the richest Bavaria. He managed to convince the apathetic and childless Karl Theodor to cede Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate to him, after which he immediately sent his troops there in the winter of 1778.
However, Prussia strongly disagreed with this alignment, where the old Frederick II, who still did not lose his former hardness and military talent, ruled. Prussia and Austria had long vied for hegemony within the Holy Roman Empire, so any strengthening of Vienna was a threat to Berlin. Friedrich deftly found formal occasion for the war, conspiring with Karl of Zweibrücken, a representative of another line of the Palatinate Wittelsbachs, who himself had plans for the electorship after the death of the childless Karl Theodor. Of course, in the act of the latter, Karl of Zweibrücken saw the squandering of lands that should have belonged to him in the future, so he immediately declared a threat to the Palatinate House and turned to his "old friend" Frederick of Prussia for help.
Frederick II the Great. Portrait by Anton Graf, 1736
themselves fighting, however, were more like a game of cat and mouse and were not rich in major collisions. The Austrians were too afraid of the formidable Frederick, who beat them to smithereens in the Seven Years' War, and tried to act cautiously. The Prussian king himself retreated under the onslaught of age, no longer showing the world that seething energy, the flight of strategic thought and military genius, which in the past years more than once brought awe and delight all of Europe. The armies marched, waited, looked for a convenient opportunity for a surprise attack, and along the way they ate all the supplies that the Bavarian peasants had at their disposal. This gave the war names associated with potatoes and plums - the soldiers of both armies fought more actively and more successfully with food than with each other.
Finally, on May 13, 1779, through the mediation of France and Russia, a peace was concluded in Teschen, according to which Austria received a small district on the banks of the Danube, in return renouncing any further claims and recognizing the hereditary right to the Palatinate and Bavaria of the henchman of Friedrich Karl of Zweibrücken.
Confectionery War
Such a harmless name had a conflict that occurred in 1838-1839 between Mexico and France. It all started with simple vandalism. During the destruction of the Parian market in Mexico City during the turmoil of 1828, the confectionery shop, which was held by the Frenchman Remontel, was also destroyed. Moreover, it was not ordinary bandits who destroyed the store, but Mexican marauding officers. However, the owner decided to declare his trouble only ten years later. He was afraid to seek compensation from the Mexican authorities and asked for the protection of his immediate overlord, King Louis Philippe of France. The latter responded to the pleas of his subject and billed the Mexican government for the inconvenience caused to the confectioner. They counted 600 thousand pesos - a fabulous amount and, undoubtedly, exceeding real losses. In addition, the Mexican side defaulted on loans issued by France, which only aggravated its debt to Paris.
Louis Philippe demanded “money for a barrel” in an ultimatum form, and when his demand was ignored, the enraged king sent a powerful fleet under the command of Admiral Bodin to Mexico as proof of the seriousness of his intentions. In December 1838, French ships blocked the main Mexican ports, bombed the fort of San Juan de Ulua, and, to top it all, captured almost the entire Mexican fleet in the harbor of the city of Veracruz.
Bombardment of the fortress of San Juan de Ulua. Painting by Vernet Horace, 1841
Mexico, which lost its fleet and suffered huge losses from the blockade of ports, nevertheless declared war on France. Mexico City hoped to support the budget by smuggling overland across the border with Texas, which at the time was an independent republic. However, the French agreed with both the Texans and the Americans, having received support from both, as a result of which all channels for Mexican trade were blocked.
Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante, realizing the gravity of his position, was forced to give in and agree to pay the French all debts. Peace was concluded, and on March 9, 1839, Louis Philippe withdrew his ships.
The Pig War, also known as the Pig and Potato War
Despite the name, the causes of the conflict between the United States and Great Britain that unfolded around San Juan Island in 1859 lie more in the field of geography and law than in the field of animal husbandry.
At the indicated time, the development of North America was still ongoing, and, since it was carried out in parallel by the Americans and the British, confusion and disputes often arose as to whose jurisdiction this or that land fell under. This is what happened with the island of San Juan in the waters of the Great Lakes, which, having not come to a consensus on the demarcation of borders, declared their property both the United States and Great Britain.
On the island itself, respectively, both the British and the Americans began to settle. The former were mainly engaged in animal husbandry, while the latter plowed and grew various crops. And everything was quiet and peaceful until one ill-fated day, June 15, 1859, when the American farmer Lyman Cutlar once again noticed a large pig on his plot that ate his potatoes. As you know, for an American, private property is inviolable, therefore, in full accordance with US laws, the farmer took out a gun and shot a pig.
Later, however, it turned out that the pig belonged to the British Charles Griffin, who had a habit of letting his pigs roam freely. The American wanted to settle the matter amicably and offered $10 compensation for the slaughtered pig. Griffin refused and demanded $100. Cutler got angry and said that in this case he would not pay anything at all, and he shot the pig in full accordance with the law, as it wandered onto his land and damaged his property. Griffin immediately filed a complaint with a court authorized by the British crown, and the judge threatened the American with arrest if he did not pay the rancher the required amount. Realizing that things were bad, Cutler turned to the American authorities for protection.
The Americans sent a detachment of 66 soldiers to the island so that they could strengthen themselves there and stop possible provocations or forceful pressure from the British authorities. The British, in turn, fearing that the Americans would occupy the island, sent three warships to its shores. In response, the US authorities sent reinforcements to the island to reinforce the detachment stationed there, and by August 1859, both sides had in the area disputed territory significant forces and artillery.
There was a stalemate. Neither side dared to open fire first, the commanders on the ground received almost identical orders - to defend with all their might in the event of an enemy attack, but not to start themselves. For several days, both sides tried to provoke each other - American soldiers from the land poured selective insults against the British sailors and marines, and they answered them the same from the ships.
When news of the conflict reached London and Washington, the officials of the two countries were shocked both by the absurdity of the situation and by how far it could go if no immediate action was taken. It was urgently decided to mutually reduce the military presence in the island area, while San Juan itself was decided to be left under the joint occupation of the British and American garrisons, which would act as guarantors of the security and interests of each side. As a result, the only shot in that conflict was made by the American farmer Cutlar, and the pig was the only victim. The issue of belonging to the island was resolved only in 1872, when, through the mediation of the German Kaiser Wilhelm I, who agreed to act as an arbitrator in the dispute, San Juan was transferred to the United States.
Little Crow's War, also known as the Dakota War
The events that went down in history as the Little Crow War in Minnesota are one of the most tragic pages in US history. The reason was the conflict between the Santee Indians and the Americans because of the enslaving terms of trade imposed by the latter. This, as well as the active expansion of white colonists to the lands of the Indians, caused increasing indignation of the indigenous inhabitants of the continent, and sooner or later the situation threatened to turn into an open confrontation.
It all started in the summer of 1862. On the night of August 17, the Indians attacked several settlements to expel the white people from their land. A massacre began, many settlers were captured. The attack was led by a leader named Little Crow, or Little Crow, the total number of Santi warriors was approximately equal to a thousand people.
Chief Little Crow, 1857
The settlers, however, were also not timid - they gathered self-defense units, and also notified the district authorities so that they would send regular troops to help. The confrontation continued throughout the fall, and as a result, the technical superiority of the Americans played a role - by mid-December, the Santee detachments were defeated, many Indians were captured and were distributed to state prisons. After a short trial, 38 of the most guilty of them were hanged.
The crow managed to escape, and having gathered around him the same surviving fellow tribesmen who had not lost their fighting spirit, he continued the armed struggle until he was shot dead on July 3, 1863.
football war
The war between El Salvador and Honduras, which broke out in July 1969, claimed a total of up to five thousand lives, including civilian losses. Football, which gave the name to that war, was only an excuse for a quarrel between neighbors.
Salvadorans and Hondurans have disliked each other for almost the entire history of these two Latin American states. Political elites and residents of Honduras envied the more developed economies of their neighbors and, in general, more high level life in El Salvador. Salvadorans, in turn, did not have enough land for cultivation and settlement, but it was more than enough in neighboring Honduras, whose vast and sparsely populated territories literally attracted Salvadoran settlers. It got to the point that entire illegal rural agglomerations were formed on the territory of Honduras, Salvadoran peasants arbitrarily occupied empty lands and cultivated them.
As a result, by the age of 60, the opinion among the Honduran public was strengthened that their country was under the threat of Salvadoran expansion. Not only did Honduras have a huge financial debt to El Salvador, but also the presence of Salvadorans in the country grew every year, which was perceived by the local population as a gradual takeover of the country. These sentiments were skillfully fanned by the Honduran government and local nationalists, who blamed all the troubles of the country on El Salvador. The government of El Salvador, in turn, could not do anything with spontaneous migrations - there was a "land hunger" in the country, forcing peasants who did not have their own plots to seek their fortune in a foreign land. The conflict was inevitable.
In the summer of 1969, the national teams of El Salvador and Honduras had to play two matches for the right to enter the upcoming World Cup. It was a matter of honor for both countries to win this confrontation. So, for example, after the first match, held in Honduras, a Salvadoran fan committed suicide, saying that she could not bear the shame of her country's defeat. For the return match at home, the Salvadorans were preparing as for the last battle, however, the Hondurans also went to it as if to war. This time, luck was on the side of the first - on their field they defeated rivals with a score of 3: 0, which gave impetus to riots, during which Honduran fans and players were beaten. In response to this, massive pogroms unfolded in Honduras - Salvadorans were beaten everywhere, even diplomatic officials were injured.
Both sides turned to the Commission on Human Rights with a demand to consider cases of unrest, and in a football confrontation, it was decided to arrange a third match, which was supposed to be held in Mexico, on no man's land to determine the winner. In a bitter struggle, the El Salvador national team won that match with a score of 3: 2, after which the countries severed diplomatic relations with each other.
From the beginning of July 1969, a series of provocations took place on the border of the two states, until on July 14, in the afternoon, Salvadoran soldiers finally crossed the border of Honduras. The war has begun.
At first, the Salvadoran troops were successful, but soon their offensive was halted due to lack of fuel and ammunition. Salvadorans occupied several key settlements and began to strengthen the bridgehead for further advance into enemy territory, pulling up new troops and bringing ammunition and fuel.
The day after the start of the war, the Organization of American States (OAS) held an emergency session to develop a unified plan to resolve the conflict. The parties were urged to cease fire, and El Salvador - to begin the withdrawal of its troops from the territory of a neighboring country. In San Salvador, these demands were ignored, moreover, as soon as the necessary resources were brought to the front, the Salvadoran army resumed the offensive, capturing a number of other settlements. At the same time, the Salvadoran press began to publish documents and historical references, which substantiated the historical right of the Salvadorans to the occupied territories of Honduras.
In response, the OAS threatened El Salvador with economic sanctions, and in the end, President Hernandez relented. He agreed to cease fire and withdraw the troops on the condition that under the patronage of the OGA a special representation would be created in the territory of Honduras, which would oversee the observance of the rights of the Salvadoran settlers.
Despite certain tactical successes of El Salvador, there were no real winners in that war. The colossal costs on both sides undermined the economies of states. Tens of thousands of Salvadoran peasants were forced to flee to their homeland, which caused a wave of unemployment in the country and provoked an economic crisis that gradually developed into a political one, which eventually resulted in a protracted civil war.
cod war
In fact, there were three so-called "cod wars", and each time the stumbling block in this series of conflicts between Great Britain and Iceland was the expansion of the borders of the exclusive economic zone by the Icelanders. But, as a rule, when they talk about the Cod War, they mean the third conflict that took place in 1975-1976, which was not without bloodshed.
The conflict between Great Britain and Iceland began in the 50s and was due to the fact that the authorities of the Land of Geysers decided to gradually expand their own territorial waters in order to increase fishing income. This caused a strong protest from the British, whose fishing boats actively fished off the coast of the island, bringing substantial profits to the treasury of the United Kingdom. Twice the parties came to a compromise, as a result of which Iceland managed to slightly expand its water area. However, in 1975, the island authorities decided to expand this zone from 50 nautical miles to 200, which was done unilaterally, and the Icelandic Coast Guard began patrolling these sectors, expelling foreign fishing vessels from there.
Second World War divided into many periods. At the very beginning of the conflict, despite the fact that Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, full-scale armed operations were never deployed. First, in Western, and then in Russian historiography, this episode began to be called a "strange war."
The emergence of the term
The term "weird war" is a loose translation of the American journalistic cliché Phoney War. The phrase appeared in the US press in the early days of the European conflict. The literal translation of the phrase is a fake, or fake war.
After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, he began a policy of uniting the lands where the German-speaking majority lived. United with Austria in 1938. A few months later, the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia was occupied.
Hitler's aggressive actions frightened his neighbors. Poland was next under attack. But she received the former German provinces, which allowed the country to access the Baltic Sea. The Fuhrer demanded the return of these lands. The Polish government refused to make concessions to its neighbor. For greater security, the Warsaw authorities entered into an alliance with France and England. According to the new document, these countries were to come to the aid of Poland in the event of German aggression.
The war did not last long. Germany attacked Poland. Two days later, France and Great Britain declared war on the Third Reich in accordance with their agreements with Warsaw. In Poland, it was hoped that the help of the Western Allies would divert as many German divisions as possible. In fact, everything turned out quite the opposite.
Siegfried line
Polish diplomats in London and Paris urged the Allies to launch an immediate general offensive to prevent the Germans from seizing the strategic initiative. It soon became clear that Great Britain and France had not even prepared a plan of action in case a large-scale conflict broke out. "Strange War" showed this in the most unsightly light.
The Allied generals decided in early September that mobilization would take place for another two weeks, after which the French would launch an attack on the Siegfried Line. This was the name of a large-scale fortification system that was erected in the western part of Germany. 630 kilometers of defense lines were needed in order to secure the country from the French offensive. There were fortifications made of concrete, as well as structures necessary to protect against tanks and infantry.
Maginot Line
France also had its own line of defense, built in case of war with Germany. It was called the Maginot Line. It was on these lines that the troops stood while the “strange war” was being waged. This went against the promises to the Poles of active assistance in the fight against the Germans.
The German command redeployed 43 divisions to its western borders. They had to defend themselves until Poland surrendered. In Germany, they rightly decided that a war on two fronts would be too difficult for the country.
Thus, for France, the only way to help Poland was to launch an offensive on a narrow section of the border with the Third Reich. In Paris, they could not order the troops to move through Belgium and the Netherlands, because in this case it violated their declared neutrality. Therefore, the Germans deployed their main forces on a 144-kilometer stretch from to the Rhine. The Siegfried Line was surrounded here. It was an almost impregnable frontier.
Allied inaction
Until September 17, the “strange war” is local battles between the two countries in limited areas. They arose almost spontaneously and did not affect the general state of affairs at the front. The mobilization of France was delayed due to the general obsolescence of the conscription system. The recruits did not even have time to pass initial courses fighter needed in order to survive in combat. Another reason to delay the offensive for Paris was the inability of Great Britain to quickly transfer troops to the continent. The "Strange War" continued as Poland surrendered city after city. On September 17, the invasion of the USSR also began, after which the republic finally fell, sandwiched between two aggressors. During this time, the "strange war" on Western front did not bring Germany any problems: the Third Reich was methodically engaged in the conquest of defenseless neighbors. After the occupation of Poland, operations began against Denmark and Norway.
Saar offensive
Meanwhile, the French finally launched an offensive that became known in historiography as the Saar. It was part of the campaign that the "strange war" represented. The determination of the operation plan fell on the shoulders of Gustave Gamelin. French troops advanced only 20-30 kilometers in the first week.
A full-scale French offensive was to begin on 20 September. However, on the 17th, it was decided to postpone it due to the hopeless position of Poland. In fact, the Western allies capitulated without starting a serious war against the Reich, untying the hands of Hitler, who could calmly bring his affairs in other regions to their logical end. Such was the result to which the "strange war" led. This indecisive Allied campaign was defined in the United States, where the press resented the passivity of France and Britain.
Plan "Gelb"
The Germans launched their first counteroffensive on 16 October. During this operation, the French left all the few occupied positions and again found themselves at the turn of the Maginot Line. Time passed, but the same "strange war" continued. What is it, many historians tried to answer already in peacetime. They all came to the conclusion that the situation at the front changed when the Wehrmacht began to implement the Gelb plan. It was an operation for a large-scale invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands and France. On the day of the German offensive (May 10, 1940), the "strange war" ended. This definition stuck to several months of Allied inactivity. During this time, Germany was able to capture several European countries and secure its rear in order to start decisive military operations against France, which ended on June 22, 1940, with the signing of France according to this document. France was occupied.
Mankind has always loved to fight. There's no getting around it, that's nature. The reasons for this can be the most ridiculous, not to mention the reasons. From the banal desire to become famous to petty despicable grievances over trifles. It seems that people just like to kill, and this compilation of the 10 strangest wars in the history of mankind is a vivid confirmation of this.
1. Australian army against emus
In 1932, the emu population in Australia got out of control. According to experts, over 20,000 voracious birds ran through the desert and, in principle, did not interfere with anyone except the valiant Australian army. The country's military headquarters decided to teach the ostriches a lesson and declared war "for fun" on them, the results of which were not at all funny for the poor birds. For a week, groups of soldiers armed with machine guns ambushed an unsuspecting enemy in the desert. It was a bloody November. In seven days, 2,500 emus were killed, and then the Australian army capitulated. The soldiers refused to participate in the brutal massacre. As it turned out later, there were other reasons. Killing an emu was actually not so easy. Hit by even a few machine-gun bullets, the strong birds continued to run ahead of the heavily loaded Australian soldiers.
2. War in Transnistria
In 1992, war broke out in Transnistria on the ruins of the Soviet Union. For about four months, hostilities were fought for something that no longer mattered. But it was really strange to see fighters from both warring sides drinking on neutral territory late at night. The soldiers even made agreements not to shoot at each other the next day if they recognize the one with whom they drank. This happened not one or two nights, but regularly. One soldier wrote in his diary: "War is like a grotesque show. During the day we kill our enemies, and then during the night we drink with them. What a strange thing these wars are ...". The war in Transnistria claimed 1,300 human lives on both sides.
3. Football war
Some wars start with a surprise attack, others with a massacre, and this one started with a football match between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. El Salvador lost the match, tensions between the states increased and on June 14 the army of the losing team went on the offensive against Honduras. For four days, the Salvadoran military took revenge on the people of Honduras for the defeat of their football team. After the Organization of American States intervened, the lawlessness was stopped. The loss of life in this war amounted to 3,000 people.
By the irony of history, the longest war that our civilization has had has done without a single casualty. This is a war between the Netherlands and the Isle of Scilly, located off the southwest coast of Great Britain. No one remembers who was the first and why he declared this war in 1651, but the fact remains that not a single person died during the entire period of "hostilities". In 1986, the war was remembered and a peace treaty was concluded. If only all wars were like this...
5. Pig of discord
In 1859, a British infantryman shot and killed a pig that was roaming American soil. Outraged Americans declared war. For four months, a plan was developed to retaliate against the British troops, tactics and strategies were built for military operations, but in the end the British apologized, saying that it was an accident. This ended the war. Losses in the war: 1 pig.
6. War of pork and beans
Another funny confrontation between the United States and Great Britain on the Maine border. After the War of 1812, British troops occupied much of eastern Maine and despite the lack of troops in the area still considered it British territory. In the winter of 1838, American lumberjacks sawed wood in a disputed area and as a result provoked the ire of Britain, which moved troops to the area. The states, in response, also pulled up troops and it seemed that war would be inevitable. For eleven months, active hostilities were expected, which never began. Due to a mistake in the supply department, the American troops received a huge amount of beans and pork, which they gorged themselves on, and then staged "gas attacks", frightening the British with loud noises. And although military action was never taken, more than 550 on both sides died from illness and accidents in 11 months of inactivity.
7. War over a stray dog
In 1925 Greece and Bulgaria were sworn enemies. They fought each other during World War I, and those wounds have yet to heal. Tensions were especially acute on the border in an area called Petrich. There, the unsteady peace was broken on October 22, 1925, when a Greek soldier was chasing a dog that was running away to the Bulgarian border and was killed by a Bulgarian sentry. Greece promised revenge and invaded Petrich the very next day. They quickly cleared the frontier post of the region, killing over fifty Bulgarian soldiers, but they could not advance further inland. The League of Nations called for an end to the invasion and for leaving Petrich. Ten days later, Greece withdrew its troops, paying Bulgaria £45,000 in damages.
8 Paraguayan War
The President of Paraguay, Francisco Solano López, was a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte. He imagined himself to be a professional strategist and an excellent commander, but one thing was missing - war. To solve this small problem, in 1864 he declared war on three countries surrounding Paraguay at once - Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Outcome of the war? Paraguay was almost completely destroyed and devastated. It is estimated that about 90% of the male population of the country died during the war, disease and famine. The senseless slaughter in the name of the glory of the commander lasted from 1864 to 1870. Losses in this war amounted to over 400,000 people, which is a colossal figure for Latin America that time.
9. Bucket of Discord
This war began in 1325, when the rivalry between the independent city-states of Modena and Bologna came to a head over a simple wooden bucket. Trouble began when a detachment of Modena soldiers raided Bologna and stole a wooden bucket from one of the wells. Wanting to get the stolen thing back, Bologna declared war and for 12 years unsuccessfully tried to return the lost wooden bucket. To this day, this trophy is kept in Modena.
10. Lijar v. France
In 1883, the inhabitants of the small village of Lijar in southern Spain were furious when they learned that their beloved Spanish King Alphonse XII had been insulted by the French during a visit to Paris. In response to this, the mayor of Lijar, Don Miguel Garcia Saez, and with him all 300 inhabitants of the village, on October 14, 1883, declared war on France. The bloodless war ended 93 years later, when the Spanish king Juan Carlos made a trip to Paris, during which the French treated him with great respect. In 1981, the city council of Lijar decided that "due to excellent relations with the French", they cease hostilities and agree to a peace treaty with France.
