The Shortest Wars In History
The Shortest Wars In History
Wars have shaped nations, empires, peoples, and countries—today, they're more commonly a last-resort measure rather than the go-to. Some wars last for years, even more than a decade. One war that has never officially ended is the Korean War; even though an armistice was signed in 1953, there has never been a peace treaty. Thus, officially, the Korean War is still ongoing.
But what about some of the shortest-lived conflicts in human history? Let's look at the wars that lasted mere months, days, and even minutes.
The Falklands War
The war over the Falkland Islands was fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina in the early 1980s. It began on April 2, 1982, after Argentinian forces landed on the Islands under the orders of their President. Argentina laid claim to the Islands, which lie less than 1,200 miles from the Argentine mainland, but they've been under British rule since 1833. A 10-week war ensued after the British sent the Royal Navy and Royal Marines to defend their territory. The Argentines surrendered on June 14th after the British surrounded the Islands.
The Second Balkan War
The first Balkan War was fought between October 1912 and May 1913, but unresolved disputes from that war caused a second Balkan War that erupted in June 1913. The Bulgarians (on the losing side in the first conflict) attacked Serbia and Greece in the same week. Unfortunately for the Bulgarians, the Greeks and Serbians had back-up in the form of Romania, Montenegro,and the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarians were outnumbered 2-to-1 and surrendered after just 43 days, leading to the Treaty of Bucharest.
The Not Quite 30-Day War
The Greeks and the Ottomans may have been on the same side in 1913, but that was not the case in 1897 when the two countries went to war over the island of Crete. Crete was controlled by the Ottomans and the Greeks felt it belonged to them—so they fought the Ottomans for 34 days and eventually lost. European nations intervened and obtained peace through diplomacy on May 9, 1897, for a war that began on April 5th.
Ethnic Persecution Begets Ethnic Persecution
Following the Cambodian-Vietnamese War of 1978—wherein the Khmer Rouge (backed by the People's Republic of China) began persecuting ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia, and Vietnam responded by invading and persecuting ethnic Chinese citizens living in Cambodia—the Sino-Vietnamese War began. Fought between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, China withdrew its forces after just 27 days, although both sides claimed victory.
