List of civil wars

The following is a list of civil wars, fought between organized groups within the same state or country. The terms "intrastate war", "internecine war" and "domestic war" are often used interchangeably with "civil war", but "internecine war" can be used in a wider meaning, referring to any conflict within a single state, regardless of the participation of civil forces. Thus, any war of succession is by definition an internecine war, but not necessarily a civil war.

In modern geopolitics since 1945, "civil war" is also used in a loose sense to refer to any large scale military conflict within a single country (i.e. used as a strict synonym of the generic term "internecine war"), creating terminological overlap with insurgencies or coups d'état.

Terminology

The Latin term bellum civile was used to describe wars within a single community beginning around 60 A.D. The term is an alternative title for the work sometimes called Pharsalia by Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus) about the Roman civil wars that began in the last third of the second century BC.[1] The term civilis here had the very specific meaning of 'Roman citizen'. The English term civil war was first used in 1651 to refer to the English Civil War.[2]

Since the 17th century, the term has also been applied retroactively to other historical conflicts where at least one side claims to represent the country's civil society (rather than a feudal dynasty or an imperial power).[3]

Past civil wars

Ancient and medieval

This is a list of intrastate armed conflicts that fulfil the definition set by this article: civil. Note that some conflicts lack both an article or citation. Without citation, they have not been guaranteed to have happened.

• First Intermediate Period of Egypt, Second Intermediate Period of Egypt and Third Intermediate Period of Egypt are periods of political disunity in Ancient Egypt's history and series of civil wars between the governors of the nomes broke throughout the country.
• Roman civil wars (a list of numerous civil wars in the late Roman Republic and in the Roman Empire, between 100 BC and AD 400)
• First Fitna, 656–661, the first Islamic "civil war" between Ali and the Umayyads
• Second Fitna, c. 680/683 – c. 685/692, the second Islamic "civil war" between the Umayyads and Ibn al-Zubayr
• Twenty Years' Anarchy, 695–717, prolonged period of internal instability in the Byzantine Empire
• Civil War between Artabasdos and Constantine V, 741–743
• Third Fitna, 744–752, including the Umayyad civil wars of 744–748 and the Abbasid Revolution
• An Lushan Rebellion, December 16, 755 – February 17, 763
• Fourth Fitna, 809–827, including the Abbasid civil wars and other regional conflicts
• Anarchy of the 12 Warlords (Vietnam), 944–968
• Fitna of al-Andalus, 1009–1031
• Civil war era in Norway, 1130–1240
• Danish Civil War (Denmark), 1131–1157[4]
• The Anarchy (England), 1135–1153
• Revolt of 1173–74, (England)
• Civil war in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem between King Baldwin III and dowager Queen Melisende (1152–1153)

• First Barons' War (England), 1215–1217
• Age of the Sturlungs (Iceland), 1220 – 1262/64
• Second Barons' War (England), 1264–1267
• Civil War of Livonia between Livonian Order and the city of Riga and the Archbishopric of Riga, 1297–1330.
• Despenser War (England), 1321–22
• Invasion of England, 1326. Continuation of the Despenser War.
• Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328
• Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
• Byzantine civil war of 1352–1357
• Castilian Civil War, 1366–1369
• Byzantine civil war of 1373–1379
• Glyndŵr Rising (England and Wales), 1400–1415
• Ottoman Interregnum, 1402–1413
• Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War, 1407–1435
• Hussite Wars (Bohemia), 1420–1434
• Great Feudal War in Russia, 1425–1453
• Wars of the Roses (England), 1455–1485
• Ōnin War (Japan), 1467–1477
• Sengoku period (Japan), 1467–1615
• War of the Castilian Succession, 1475–1479
• Popular revolts in late-medieval Europe
• German Peasants' War, 1524–1525
• Civil War in Kazakh Khanate, 1522–1538
• War of the Two Brothers (Inca Empire), 1529–1532
• Count's Feud (Denmark), 1534–1536

Early modern (1550–1800)

• Civil War Era (Vietnam), 1533–1789 [5]
  • Lê–Mạc Dynasties War, 1533–1677
  • Trịnh–Nguyễn Lords War, 1627–1772; 1774–1775
  • Tây Sơn wars, 1771–1802

• French Wars of Religion, 1562–1598
• Marian civil war (Scotland), 1568–1573
• Zebrzydowski Rebellion (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), 1606–1609
• Shimabara Rebellion (Japan), 1637–1638
• Wars of the Three Kingdoms (England, Ireland, and Scotland), 1639–1651 involved a number of civil wars:
  • Irish Confederate Wars, some parts of which were a civil war.[6]
  • Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, to some extent a civil war, 1644–1652
  • English Civil War, 1642–1651
    • First English Civil War, 1642–1646
    • Second English Civil War, 1648–1649
    • Third English Civil War, 1650–1651
• Acadian Civil War (New France, now Canada), 1640–1645
• Fronde (France), 1648–1653
• The Ruin (Ukraine), 1659–1686
• Lubomirski's Rebellion (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), 1665–1666
• Monmouth Rebellion (England), May–July 1685
• Glorious Revolution (England), 1688–1689
• War of the Spanish Succession (Spanish Empire), 1701–1714
• Choctaw Civil War (North America), 1747-1750
• Pugachev's Rebellion (Russia), 1773–1775[7]
• War in the Vendée (France), 1793–1804; between Royalist and Republican forces, part of the French Revolutionary Wars
• Australian frontier wars (Australia) 1788–1934 involved a number of civil wars between Indigenous Australians and white settlers, some of which were in the modern period (post-1800):
  • Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars, 1795–1816
  • Bathurst War, 1824
  • Black War, 1820s–1832
  • Brunei Civil War, 1660s—1673

Modern (1800–1945)

• Castle Hill convict rebellion, 1804
• Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition (Texas), 1812–1813
• Argentine Civil Wars, 1814–1880
• Zulu Civil War, 1817–1819
• Long Expedition (Texas), 1819, 1821
• Greek Civil War, 1824–1825
• Fredonian Rebellion (Texas), 1826–1827
• Liberal Wars (Portugal), 1828–1834
• Chilean Civil War, 1829–1830
• Revolutions of 1830; numerous European countries, 1830
• Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–1833)
• Carlist Wars (Spain), 1833–1839, 1846–1849, and 1872–1876
• Texas Revolution 1835–1836
• Ragamuffin War (Brazil), 1835–1845
• Chimayó Rebellion (New Mexico), 1837
• Córdova Rebellion (Texas), 1838
• Uruguayan Civil War, 1839–1851
• Rio Grande Rebellion, 1840
• Yucatán Rebellion, 1841–1848
• Bear Flag Revolt (California), 1846
• Sonderbund War (Switzerland), November 1847
• Revolutions of 1848; numerous European countries, 1848–1849
• Revolution of 1851 (Chile)
• Taiping Rebellion (China), 1851–1863
• Bleeding Kansas (United States), 1854–1858
• Eureka Rebellion (Australia), 1854
• Utah War (United States), 1857–1858
• War of Reform (Mexico), 1857–1861
• Federal War (Venezuela), 1859–1863
• American Civil War (United States), 1861–1865
• Austro-Prussian War (Germany), 1866
• Klang War (Malaysia); also known as Selangor Civil War, 1867–1874
• Boshin War (Japan), 1868–1869
• Satsuma Rebellion (Japan), 1877
• Jementah Civil War (Malaysia), 1878
• The North-West Rebellion (Canada), 1885
• Revolution of the Park (Argentina), 1890
• Chilean Civil War, 1891
• Argentine Revolution of 1893, 1893
• War of Canudos (Brazil), 1896–1897
• Banana Wars (Central America), 1898–1934
• Federal Revolution, (Bolivia), 1899
• Boxer Rebellion (China), 1899–1901
• Thousand Days' War (Colombia), 1899–1902
• Revolución Libertadora (Venezuela), 1901–1903
• Argentine Revolution of 1905, 1905
• Persian Constitutional Revolution, 1905–1911, Civil War considered to begin after 1908
• Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920
• Warlord Era; period of civil wars between regional, provincial, and private armies in China, 1912–1928
• Russian Civil War, 1917–1923
• Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, 1918–2003
• Finnish Civil War, 1918
• Ukrainian Civil War, 1917-1921
• German Revolution, 1918–1919
• Revolts during the Turkish War of Independence, includes conflict between the Imperial Ottoman Government and the Turkish National Movement, 1919–1922
• Irish Civil War, 1922–1923
• Paraguayan Civil War, 1922–1923
• Nicaraguan Civil War, 1926–1927
• Cristero War (Mexico), 1926–1929
• Chinese Civil War, 1927–1937, 1945–1949, ceasefire since 1949
• Brazilian Civil War, (Brazil), 1932
• Austrian Civil War, February 1934
• Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939
• Spanish Anti-francoist guerrilla, 1939–1965
• Yugoslav Civil War during World War II, 1941–1945
• Ukrainian Insurgent Army insurgency, 1943–1956
• Italian Civil War during WWII 1943–1945
• Revolución Libertadora (Argentina), 1955
• Anti-communist resistance in Poland, 1944–1947/1963

Since 1945

• Iran crisis of 1946, 1945–1946
• Greek Civil War, 1946–1949
• Paraguayan Civil War, 1947
• Romanian anti-communist resistance movement, 1947–1962
• Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, 1947–1948
• Costa Rican Civil War, 1948
• 1948 Arab–Israeli War, 1948
• Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion, 1948
• Jeju uprising, 1948
• La Violencia (Colombia), 1948–1958
• Malayan Emergency (Federation of Malaya), 1948–1960
• Internal conflict in Myanmar, ongoing since 1948
• Korean War, 1950–1953, ceasefire since 1953
• Cuban Revolution, 1953-1959
• Laotian Civil War, 1953–1975
• First Sudanese Civil War, 1955–1972
• Congo Crisis, 1960–1966
• Guatemalan Civil War, 1960–1996
• North Yemen Civil War 1962–1970
• Sarawak Communist Insurgency (Malaysia), 1962–1990
• Nicaraguan Civil War, 1962–1990
• Dominican Civil War, 1965
• Rhodesian Bush War, 1965–1980
• Communist insurgency in Thailand (Thailand), 1965–1983
• Cypriot Civil War (Cyprus crisis of 1963–64)
• Cambodian Civil War, 1967–1975
• Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970
• Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–89)
• The Troubles (Northern Ireland), 1960–1998
• Bangladesh Liberation War (Pakistan), 1971 (However, the war is not an official civil war, only to the perspective to those who did not support the existence of the independent state of Bangladesh.)
• Ethiopian Civil War, 1974–1991
• Lebanese Civil War, 1975–1990
• Mozambican Civil War, 1975–1992
• Angolan Civil War, (1961–1974), 1976–2002
• Free Aceh Movement, 1976–2005
• Soviet–Afghan War, part of / also called War in Afghanistan (1978–present) December 24, 1979 – February 15, 1989 (Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years from 1979–1989 and was part of the Cold War but it was inevitable that the regime was to collapse within three to six months after the Soviet withdrawal)
• Salvadoran Civil War (El Salvador), 1979–1992
• Peru's War on Terror 1980–1993
• Second Sudanese Civil War, 1983–2005
• Sri Lankan Civil War, 1983–2009
• South Yemen Civil War, 1986
• Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), February 15, 1989 – April 30, 1992 The continuing part of the civil war where the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving the Afghan communist government to fend for itself against the Mujahideen months later part of / also called War in Afghanistan (1978–present)
• First Liberian Civil War, 1989–1996
• Rwandan Civil War, 1990–1994
• Casamance Conflict (Senegal), 1990–2006
• Georgian Civil War, 1991–1993
• Uprisings in Iraq, 1991
• Sierra Leone Civil War, 1991–2002
• Yugoslav Wars, 1991–1999[8][9][10][11][12]
• Algerian Civil War, 1991–2002, conflicts persist
• Civil war in Tajikistan, 1992–1997
• Afghan Civil War (1992–1996), April 30, 1992 – September 27, 1996 When the Afghan communist government falls to the Mujahideen there was a rise in different kinds of ideology, power-sharing, Belligerents and violent fighting continue to escalate part of / also called War in Afghanistan (1978–present)
• Burundi Civil War, 1993–2005
• First Yemeni Civil War, 1994
• Iraqi Kurdish Civil War, 1994–1997
• Afghan Civil War (1996–2001), September 27, 1996 – October 7, 2001 In 1996 the Taliban captured the Afghan capital Kabul and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan part of / also called War in Afghanistan (1978–present)
• First Congo War, 1996–1997
• Clashes in Cambodia, 1997
• Nepalese Civil War, 1996–2006
• Rebellion in Albania, 1997
• Republic of the Congo Civil War, 1997–1999
• Guinea-Bissau Civil War, 1998–1999
• Second Congo War, 1998–2003
• Second Liberian Civil War, 1999–2003
• Iraqi Civil War, 2006–2009
• First Libyan Civil War, 2011
• Syrian Civil War, 2011–present
• War in Donbass, 2014–present
• Second Libyan Civil War, 2014–present
• Second Yemeni Civil War, 2015–present

Ongoing civil wars

The following civil wars are ongoing as of April 2020. Only ongoing conflicts meeting the definition of a civil war are listed. See list of ongoing military conflicts and lists of active separatist movements for lists with a wider scope.

•  Myanmar, Internal conflict in Myanmar, since 2 April 1948
•  Israel/ Palestine, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, since mid-20th century (c. 1948)
•  Indonesia, Papua conflict, since 1963
•  Colombia, Colombian conflict, since 1964
•  Philippines, Civil conflict in the Philippines, since 1969
•  Angola, Cabinda War, since 1975
•  Afghanistan, War in Afghanistan, since 1978
•  Turkey, Kurdish–Turkish conflict since 1978
•  Somalia, two conflicts
  • Somali Civil War, since 1989
  • Islamist insurgency in Somalia, since 2009
•  Moldova/ Transnistria, Transnistria War, 2 March – 21 July 1992, ceasefire since July 1992
•  Nigeria, Communal conflicts in Nigeria, since 1998
•  DR Congo, Ituri conflict, since 1999
•  Sudan, three conflicts
  • War in Darfur, since 26 February 2003
  • Sudanese nomadic conflicts, since 26 May 2009 through at least 2017
  • Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile since 5 June 2011
•  Iraq, ISIL insurgency since 9 December 2017
•  Thailand, South Thailand insurgency, since 2004
•  Paraguay, Paraguayan People's Army insurgency, since 2005
•  Mexico, 2 conflicts
  • Chiapas conflict, since 1994
  • Mexican Drug War, since 2006
•  Syria, Syrian Civil War, since 15 March 2011, also see List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
  • Opposition-ISIL conflict during the Syrian Civil War, since 2014
•  Mali, Mali War, since 16 January 2012
•  Central African Republic, Central African Republic conflict, since 10 December 2012
•  Libya, Second Libyan Civil War, since 16 May 2014
•  Yemen, Second Yemeni Civil War, since 19 March 2015
•  Cameroon, Anglophone Crisis, since 2017
•  Mozambique, Insurgency in Cabo Delgado, since 2017
•  Ethiopia, Tigray War, since 2020

See also

• List of coups d'état and coup attempts
• List of revolutions and rebellions
• List of wars of independence (national liberation)
• List of Roman civil wars
• List of English civil wars
• Ongoing wars
• Exclusive mandate

References

1. "Lucan | Roman author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
2. Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan: "Sidney Godolphin, who [...] was unfortunately slain in the [...] late Civill warre" (p. 390).
3. OED: "war between the citizens or inhabitants of a single country, state, or community". Early use of the term in reference to neither the Roman Republic nor the English Civil War include the War in the Vendée (1802) and the civil war in Portugal ( 1835, 1836).
4. Bøgh, Anders (26 May 2015). "The Civil War periode 1131–1157". danmarkshistorien.dk/ (in Danish). Aarhus Universitet. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
5. Early Modern Wars 1500-1775. Amber. 2013. ISBN 9781782741213.
6. F. Warner, 1768
7. Milner-Gulland, R. R.; Dejevsky, Nikolai J. (1989). Atlas of Russia and the Soviet Union. Phaidon atlases of world civilizations. Phaidon. p. 108. ISBN 9780714825496. Retrieved 2014-02-11. 1774 [...] the civil war against Pugachov reached its climax.
8. "Politics this week:Feb 14th 2002". The Economist. 16 February 2002. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
9. M. Hayden (1992). "Human Rights and the Civil War in Yugoslavia: Morality of Liberal Absolutism". Economic and Political Weekly. 27 (24/25): 1252–1254. JSTOR 4398510.
10. Igić (March 2002). "The influence of the civil war in Yugoslavia on publishing in peer-reviewed journals". Scientometrics. 53 (3): 447–452. doi:10.1023/A:1014833315145. S2CID 12170831.
11. Gerrits (1992). "Some Comments on the Civil War in the Yugoslavia". Helsinki Monitor. 3: 54–56. doi:10.1163/157181492x00435.
12. Van Hook. "Yugoslavian Civil War, 1991–1999". Oxford Bibliographies Online. Retrieved 3 December 2017.