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It was one of the most destructive wars in the western world between the Napoleonic wars in 1815 and World War 1.

This civil war began in 1861, after the tension growing between the Northern and Southern states finally cracked. They had opposite opinions on the topic of slavery rights, and westward expansion.  After the election of Abraham Lincoln, with the people of the southern states having opposing views of Lincoln, seven states seceded for the United States. Confederate artillery were the first to fire shots.

The real fighting had begun in 1862, in Tennessee, Fredricksburg in Virginia, Maryland, and other big battles had taken place. By 1864 the Northern goal was to get rid of the  'old southern ways' and form a new union of freedom. for three long years these opposing forces fought long and hard battles. Finally by spring of 1965 the Confederate armies had surrendered, and the rebuilding of a now slavery free union began.

This war had brought the end to slavery, which had divided the country for years. Also, preserving the United States as one nation.

I believe this battle was not necessary, as over 625,000 lives were lost to solve a problem that could have been solved with a vote or a meeting. We also have to factor in that back then war was the way to solve any conflict, and its all they knew.

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The Russo-Japanese war was a military conflict fought between the Russian and Japanese Empires. It had also included both of their navy's.

The Russian were in need of a warm water port, and their leader Czar Nicholas had his sights set on the Korean and Liaodong peninsulas. Russia had a history of military aggression, so the Japanese began to sought a deal. However Russia refused, as they wanted Korea north of the 39th parallel to serve as a neutral zone. This is when the Japanese proposed war, surprising them with an attack at Port Arthur in February of 1904.

Leaders of the Russian Empire were not notified until hours after the attack, a surprise after Nicholas had been informed that the Japanese would not dare challenge them militarily. At this time the international law had not required a formal declaration of war. After the Japanese efforts had given them the upper hand at Port Arthur, then began The Battle of Liaoyang, where yet again the Japanese had come out with another victory having sunk every ship in the Russian Pacific fleet. The last battle was what secured the Japanese the decisive victory, after the Russians had failed to ambush them by travelling at night by ships. This had all ended in a peace agreement called the Treaty of Portsmouth.

This had shifted the balance of global power, as it was the first time in modern history that an Asian nation had defeated a European one in a military conflict.

The Russo-Japanese war in my opinion was necessary for the Japanese to put themselves on the map, and prove that Russia can be beat with a good strategy.

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World war 1 or The Great war was an international conflict that pitted the 'Central Powers' ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) against the Allies
(France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and in 1917 the United States).

With tensions already growing between the Austrians and Serbians, the Serbians decided that the assassination of their heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand would be payback. However the Austrians didn't feel the same and presented an unacceptable ultimatum which would end in them declaring war on Serbia. While others had been protesting against the idea of war, Germany had encouraged Franz Joseph to declare war on Serbia. Yet once war was declared Germany had sent both France and Russia demands and ultimatums to stay out of the war, but both had ignored these demands. They wanted neutrality for Belgium and the allowance to use their territory to get to France. Belgium also declined this and so Germany was forced to invade Belgium, which then involved France as they were committed to defend Belgium. With all these countries being forced to be involved it started a world war. Both sides were pretty balanced, preventing either side from a quick victory.

in the end it was the Allies who had taken the victory after 4 long years of combat and the deaths of approximately 8.5 million soldiers

this war created numerous new nations, and with the Treaty of Versailles targeting Germany for 'being the cause of the war' it was said by most to be the cause of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party.

World War 1 is a very controversial one in the matter of who started it, and the actual cause, when i believe that even without the assassination of Franz Ferdinand this war would have still occurred, it just fast tracked the process. I also believe that the Treaty of Versailles was a bit unfair to Germany as there were a multitude of causes and everyone participated, but it does not make up for what Hitler did.

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The Russian Civil war had lasted 3 years, where the Red Army successfully defended the newly formed Bolshevik government led by Vladimir I. Lenin against various Russian and interventionist anti-Bolshevik armies. Some blame the civil war on Russia's disastrous efforts in world war 1 which had encouraged a new government who has wanted to end fighting. Then the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in which a large portion of territory was yielded to Germany, and this caused a divide between the Communist Bolsheviks and the left Socialist Revolutionaries.

Within Russia those who opposed the Bolsheviks then looked to other Western powers to help. Wanting to split up the German army they agreed. In the south, the resistance of the Bolsheviks was led by Kornilov. Then the Socialist Revolutionaries claimed to govern the whole of Siberia, and seized the city of Vladivostok. While the royal family was alive there was encouragement to the Whites, which resulted in Lenin ordering for their execution.
Czech prisoners of war had joined Kerensky's army, and had won him the initial success of this war

There was an upturn for the Bolsheviks that came after WW1, because of strategic reasons, and the closing of a front, the Whites then lost the upper hand. The Red Army ended up winning and bringing security to the Bolshevik government, which they then established the Soviet Union.

With Lenin's Red Army taking home the victory of this war, it had then paved the way for the spread of communism to become a more influential political belief around the world. As well approximately over 10 million casualties, with a majority of them being civilians.

This war had little to no benefits for really anyone besides Lenin, as it destroyed any chances of democracy, which is what i believe in, but thats more of a political view, and also allowed for dictatorship in the future. The people of Russia now have to deal with these consequences, and most likely will continue to affect them for decades. The White's army had been said to ignorant and incompetent, which could also be a reflection of their commander, as its their job to train, and keep them in line when necessary.

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World War 2 involved virtually every part of the world during the long 6 years of combat. There were two sides with the first being the Axis- Germany, Italy, and Japan. Then the Allies- France, Great Britain, United States, The Soviet Union, and a small influence from China. Most will say this war was the result of the unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which targeted and humiliated Germany for their efforts in WW1. The death toll being the largest in history at 40-50 million deaths having occurred.

in early 1939 was when Adolf Hitler had been in power of Germany as their dictator. He had been determined to invade Poland, as that was the land that previously belonged to Germany. However, Poland had the guaranteed support of both the French and British military if ever invaded. Before invading Poland, Germany first had to secure a deal with the Soviet Union in order to stop them from stopping this invasion. They had agreed upon splitting Poland between them. He had planned for the invasion, but then heard of a treaty being signed, impacting these plans. However, this didnt stop him and on August 31st he ordered the invasion to begin. This resulted in both Great Britain and France declaring war on Germany on Sept 3rd, and this is when WW2 began.

The Allies had the superior Military in terms of manpower, but Germany had better training, making them more effective. Along with better training they also had more superior Firepower, while the Allies only had a slightly greater army then World War 1. Germany's tanks and strategy had allowed them to break enemy lines easily in the first years of the war, along with their air force the Luftwaffe which led the beginning of the war, meanwhile France was desperately trying to upgrade their planes, by buying from the United States. While this was going on there had been both the Russo-Finnish war and the War in the west. There was also the battle of power between Hiltler and Stalin, as Hitler needed to take over the Soviet Union to become the greatest power, but he was stopped multiple times, and fights with his commanders threw this plan out the window. While all this is going on Hitler was still continuing his plan to exterminate the Jews, which was hidden to a certain extent.

The last leg of the war from 1944-45 was when the Allied powers began taking the victory. With the invasion of Sicily and Italy, to D-Day on June 6, 1944. In which the Allies began a massive invasion of Europe. Germany had formally surrendered on May 8th, with Hitler being dead by suicide in April.

This war was proven to be the deadliest, with high death tolls including the 6 million Jews who had died because of the Nazis during the Holocaust. This war encouraged the spread of communism in the Soviet Union all the way into eastern Europe. It had also shifted the power to the USA and the Soviet Union, who would soon battle in the Cold War.

This war impacted so many lives, and although i think some parts of this war were completely unnecessary it shaped the world into the place it is today. The extermination of the Jews could have been stopped way sooner, but with the amount of wars taking place it allowed for the Nazi's to do this with little to no recognition. Although Germany is the most hated for this war, they did have amazing strategy coming from a battle perspective.

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World War 2 had divided Korea into two sectors, the Communist northern half, and the American occupied southern half, divided at the 38th parallel. The Korean War started when the Northern army crossed this parallel and invaded the south. With the Northern army run by Kim ll-sung overtaking the south quickly, the United States came into South Korea's aid. They began to hold off the North's army at Pusan. MacArthur orchestrated an assault on Inchon, a port on the west coast of Korea. He then captured Seoul and then crossed the 38th parallel and made his way to the Northern most part of North Korea. Afraid of the US taking interest in North Korea, The People's Republic of China secretly sent an army across the Yalu river.

President Truman had hoped to end the war quickly, MacArthur went against presidential order and continued spouting incendiary lines to reunify Korea, however this cause Truman to let go of MacArthur in an unpopular choice.

Ridgway held off the communists just north of the 38th parallel, sending the occasional offensive against the Iron Triangle. This is when peace negotiations dragged on at Kaesong, and the US tried to use bombing to intimidating the Communists into a peace treaty, but this wasn't successful. Neither side wanted to appear weak, so the talks of the peace treaty went on for months, before Eisenhower became president and could make agreements with the Communists. This is when a peace treaty was signed in 1953.

This war had ended with Korea returning to a divided status, just the same as before the war. This war did nothing to lesson the tension that would eventually lead to the Cold War.

This war seemed to be a battle of politics, and seemingly unnecessary. With nothing changing from beginning to end there was no point in this war, as it also did nothing but encourage the eventual Cold War.

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The Vietnam war had roots in Vietnam's numerous years of imperial and colonial domination. China had first ruled ancient Vietnam, and then France in the late 1800's, and then the early 1900's nationalists emerged and demanded more self governing and less French influeunce.

During WW2, when France was occupied by Nazi Germany, it had lost its hold on Vietnam, so Japan took over control. After Japan surrendered in 1945 they declared Vietnam to be an independent country. However, France refused this claim and returned to Vietnam. Ho asked for aid from the United States, but they were already intertwined with the Cold War, and distrusted Ho's communist leaning and decided to help the French instead. This escalated into the First Indochina War, ending with France seeking a peace settlement.

Later the United States had pledged to keep the US involvement in Vietnam to a minimum. After North Vietnamese forces attacked US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. The US then began sending and bombing Vietnam and this led to nearly 400,000 US trooping in Vietnam. The United States kept trying to bury the Vietnamese Communist forces, and using unconventional weapons, but made little headway. In 1968, the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong launched a massive attack called the Tet Offensive, attacking nearly 30 US targets and other cities in South Vietnam. The US started to loose support and the troops morale was at an all time low, which ended with the U.S soldiers killing hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in a small village.

After secret negotiations between the US and North Vietnam had ended. this is when the Cease-Fire was signed in January 1973, and the last of the U.S military left in March. It had been the longest battle in American history, and yet the most unpopular in the 20th century. It ended in Vietnam being united under one communist government.

The United States had used some questionable methods in this war, just to end up not even reaching their final goal of stopping them from becoming a communist region. Although some could say it was pointless it did end conscription in the United States, which helped improve their overall morale.

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During WW2, the United States and the Soviet Union had fought together as a part of the Allied powers. However their relationship was always a tense one, with the United States being wary of Soviet communism and their questionable leader Joseph Stalin. The United States had never treated the USSR as legitimate, which caused a late entry into the Second World War, causing millions of Russians deaths to create distrust.

After WW2 the United States had feared that the Soviet Union would take over, so they came up with a strategy called the containment, which would in the long term keep them from expanding. Truman had recommended they use military force in order to reinforce said Russian expansion. The American officials had introduced the former idea of atomic bombs, which encouraged the Soviet Union to do the same.  This made the Americans start preparation and build bomb shelters in their back yards. This started a battle of space, with both launching satellites in competition with one another.

In June 1950, the first military action began with the Soviet Union back North Korea in the invasion of its pro-Western neighbour in the south. This is when many Americans believed that this was a communist campaign that would take over the world. So Truman sent the military over to Korea and this war dragged on till a stalemate and ended three years later.  In 1955 West Germany was made a member of NATO, where the Soviets in retaliation made the Warsaw Pact (Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romanian, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria). The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis proved that the communist threat was now in the third world.

Once President Richard Nixon took office he began to change the approach to such matters from military action to diplomacy. He and the Soviet premier then later signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, which stopped the manufacturing of nuclear missiles. Despite these efforts the Cold War began to heat up under President Ronald Reagan, who yet again believed that communism was a threat to freedom, and began to militarise anticommunist governments.  This is when the fall of the Soviet Union began with its economic problems. Everywhere was replacing their former communist governments with new non communist ones. Once the Berlin Wall which was a symbol of the long Cold War was destroyed is when the Soviet Union had completely fallen apart ending the Treacherous Cold War.

This was a long, mainly political war, with little combat for the amount of time it lasted. Unlike other wars it ended with the spread of communism being stopped once and for all. This was a huge win in the Americans books with the defeat of fascist Germany, and the collapse of the Soviet Union all was well in the United States. This war was the beginning of over 15 new nations being formed, this war was one that i believe was crucial in today's history.

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This brief war was the third of the Arab-Israeli wars. Prior to the war there were attacks conducted against Israel by Palestinian guerrilla groups. This led to costly Israeli reprisals. Israel struck the village of Al-samu leaving 18 dead. They had also shot down multiple Syrian fighter jets previously. All of these heightening tensions between Israel and their Arab neighbours.

In response to the mobilization of its neighbours, on June 5th, Israel launched an air assault that destroyed more than 90% of Egypt's air force on tarmac. Without this air force they were left vulnerable, allowing Israel to achieve a victory on the ground, as they captured the Gaza Strip and all of the Sinai Peninsula.  An Eastern front was then opened on June 5th when Jordanian forces began to shell out West Jerusalem, after Israel had warned them to keep Jordan out of the fight. On June 7th is when Israeli forces drove Jordanian forces out of East Jerusalem.

The UN security council then called for a cease fire on June 7th that was immediately accepted by Jordan and Israel, and later Egypt. However Syria didn't agree and continued to shell Northern Israel, resulting in Israel launching an assault on Golan Heights, capturing it from Syrian forces, and after a day of hard fighting Syria accepted the cease fire on June 10th.

This war left Arab countries in a disaster with high numbers of casualties, and crippling losses of weaponry and equipment. It had also marked the start of a new phase in conflicts between Israel and Palestinians, since it had created hundreds of thousands of refugees.

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The United States had launched this war after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. This war lasted a long twenty years, becoming the longest war in American history. This war was triggered by the 9/11 attack in which terrorists hijacked four commercial air planes, and crashed two into the twin towers in New York, one at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C, and one in a field in Pennsylvania. They were terrorists working from Afghanistan which had been under the control of the Taliban.  They believed the Taliban was harbouring bin Laden, a Saudi, in Afghanistan. George W. Bush demanded the Taliban return them to the United States, in which they refused.

On October 7, 2001, U.S and British forces launched Operation Enduring Freedom, an airstrike campaign. This lasted five days and then ground forces followed, and soon because of the Allied forces, they quickly overtook the Taliban's hold on the country. By December Kandahar fell signalling the end of Taliban's control, allowing Al Qaeda and bin Laden to flee.

They then made plans to aid Afghanistan's reconstruction, the United States gave more than 38 billion. The United States still had troops in Afghanistan, but turned to Iraq in need of help, while they were in Iraq the Taliban regrouped and attacked once again. Once Barack Obama was president he sent more troops along with NATO countries. By May 2, 2011, after a ten year manhunt U.S Navy Seals found and killed bin Laden in Pakistan. After years of the war, and plea's to end it, Obama withdrew all troops by 2014. Only having 9,800 soldiers to train local forces.

Once Trump came into Presidency in 2015, he authorised the Pentagon to make plans against Afghanistan, and dropped their most powerful non nuclear bomb on a remote ISIS cave. Trump attempted to make peace agreements, but the Taliban launched an attack that killed 12 innocent people, forcing Trump to call off any deal. They finally came to an agreement in February of 2020. The fourth president in power during this war president Joe Biden, ended the war once and for all, making a full U.S withdrawal. This allowed for the Taliban to quickly take Afghanistan over once again. Causing the Afghan government to collapse and thousands evacuating.

Unfortunately the Taliban ultimately won, despite all of the efforts made by the United States and other countries. It was one where there were little things that could have been to avoid it or win the war. It only caused a breeding ground for terrorism, as they had overpowered multiple nations. I think that the United States could have tried other strategies in order to prevent the Taliban from overtaking Afghanistan right away.