Most Forgotten or Over Looked Wars in History

[Polski Dude]

prut campaign (ottomans can defeat russia maybe forever .After that ottomans never win against them) 1711
battle of carrae keep romans out of persia
sure cold war
battle of talas(turks meet arabic cultere and islam )

Sorry Dark Khan, Prut and Talas are very well known. (In Turkey)

 

[das]

Well I suspect that some of Russia's earlier wars against Turkey are being rather overlooked outside of Russia, and maybe Turkey, Ukraine and Romania. I don't meant the Crimean War or the Russo-Turkish War, but rather those of late 18th century, and indeed the other campaigns of Suvorov, such as the one in Switzerland.

 

[Atlas14]

The Tripolitan War between U.S. and the Barbary States is definately an overlooked war. I wonder why it is because it was America's first war against terror and first war on foreign soil. Although it did not initially end the series of attacks on U.S. merchant vessels and seizure of ships/crew, the Tripolitan War essentially wore the pirates down and made them much less of a threat. Also important leaders such as Decatur, Bainbridge, Oliver H. Perry fought in this war. The Swedish fleet would have contributed to the American blockade of Tripoli but they made peace with the Barbary States instead. Many people forget this war because it was essentially a series of mini-wars from 1803-1815, the main fighting occuring from 1803-1805, and so few people died.

 

[Dreadnought]

The battles in Ethiopia during WW2 are also overlooked by some.

 

[das]

I somehow don't see how its a "war on terror", though. Strikes me as more of a war on piracy.

 

[Atlas14]

I somehow don't see how its a "war on terror", though. Strikes me as more of a war on piracy.

Piracy in the form of capturing non-military vessels, seizing the crew and killing them is also terrorism. There was a lot of pure piracy, but also terrorism.

 

[das]

Terrorism is offensive guerrila warfare. Piracy is just that - piracy. Its also called "commerce raiding".

 

[REDY]

What do you think is the most overlooked, forgotten or underappreciated war in the recorded history? I believe it to be the Soviet-Polish War of 1920-21. Had the Poles lost this war, the Soviets would have been free to march almost unchallenged through Germany, because teh Germans were so crippled by the Treaty of Versailles. They may also have been able to continue on thru France because the Maginot Line, I believe, was not even in the works at this time, and also theirs and the British army were in bad shape after WW1.

He? Soviet army fighting againist monarchists and Poland want more territory. Pilsudski was master

 

[Sir Bugsy]

Some of these have been mentioned already.

For Americans (we are really ignorant of our own history):
Barbary War
War of 1812
Mexican War

For the rest of the world perhaps:

1st Russo-Japanese War (except naval historians will remember the battle of Tsushima Strait)
2nd Russo-Japanese War
Philippine War of Independence
Just about any war fought in the southern hemishere except the Falkland Islands.

 

[Dann]

Philippine War of Independence

Yeah.

The Filipinos fought against the Spanish, then hand-in-hand with the Americans against the Spanish, and finally against the Americans when they realized the Americans were not really altruistic but merely wanted to replace the Spanish.

We lost and became a US colony. And then half a century later opted for independence instead of statehood. Big mistake in hindsight. We could have been another Hawaii... or at least Puerto Rico...

 

[Rob Lindsey]

I've spent ten minutes reading this thread and no one has mentioned one of the most destructive wars in world history!

Has anyone heard of the Taiping Rebellion? Fought between forces of the pseudo-Christian Emperor of Heaven, Hung Hsiu-ch'üan, and the Chinese Ch'ing dynasty from 1851 to 1864, it killed up to 25 million people. At its height, it truly was a war involving equal hostile states (as opposed to a 'mere' civil war), with the 'Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping' centred around Nanjing, its capital until 1864.

It's probably forgotten because it didn't really involve the Western powers, and the Chinese speak little about it since the Communists have traditionally preferred drawing comparisons with the Boxer rebels of 1900.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Dreadnought]

Some of these have been mentioned already.

For Americans (we are really ignorant of our own history):
Barbary War
War of 1812
Mexican War

For the rest of the world perhaps:

1st Russo-Japanese War (except naval historians will remember the battle of Tsushima Strait)
2nd Russo-Japanese War
Philippine War of Independence
Just about any war fought in the southern hemishere except the Falkland Islands.

I think we can Rule out Mexican War, and anyone who knowns WW2 would propably know the 2nd Russo-Japenese War.The Boer War, the Zulu Wars, The Chaco War, Paraguayan War, and War of the Pacific, are a few below the Equador

 

[Dann]

...Has anyone heard of the Taiping Rebellion? Fought between forces of the pseudo-Christian Emperor of Heaven, Hung Hsiu-ch'üan, and the Chinese Ch'ing dynasty from 1851 to 1864, it killed up to 25 million people. At its height, it truly was a war involving equal hostile states (as opposed to a 'mere' civil war), with the 'Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping' centred around Nanjing, its capital until 1864.

It's probably forgotten because it didn't really involve the Western powers, and the Chinese speak little about it since the Communists have traditionally preferred drawing comparisons with the Boxer rebels of 1900...

Yes. At its height, the 'Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping' was already an independenty kingdom occupying several Chinese provinces, occupying an area the size of several largish European countries. It was the event that pushed the Qing down the irreversible slope of decline.

Some Western powers were involved, sort of. The British and the French I think sent some units to help the Qing government forces. But the bulk of the supression was done by local armies raised by officials in the field, and not banner armies sent from Beijing.

The CCP was never fond of the Boxers, regarding them as superstitious fools and 'useful idiots' for the empress dowager. It was the Taipings who they hold in higher esteem, because it is claimed that they practiced a primitive form of communism in their earlier years. This inspite of the fact that these guiys were just as superstitious a bunch. Go figure.

 

[Rob Lindsey]

Some Western powers were involved, sort of. The British and the French I think sent some units to help the Qing government forces. But the bulk of the supression was done by local armies raised by officials in the field, and not banner armies sent from Beijing.

Yup, the British and the French actively supported the Ch'ing, for their status as privileged trading partners was established with the government in power. The military contribution was minimal, but did establish the reputation of the British General Gordon (who was henceforth known as 'Chinese Gordon') who led a British contingent during the war.

The CCP was never fond of the Boxers, regarding them as superstitious fools and 'useful idiots' for the empress dowager. It was the Taipings who they hold in higher esteem, because it is claimed that they practiced a primitive form of communism in their earlier years. This inspite of the fact that these guiys were just as superstitious a bunch. Go figure.

True, though apparently, depictions of the Boxers were generally more common in Chinese schools since 1949. A large part of the CCP's history curriculum was devoted to tracing the history of resistance to Western influences (read 'capitalism') in China. The Taipings practiced (or at least promised) a form of government resembling communism, but the Boxers were actively fighting against the encroachments of the Western Powers. In this sense, the Chinese of the later twentieth century could still relate to the Boxers more closely than the Taiping rebels.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Dell19]

The Tripple Alliance War was not a turning point in history, but I think that its amazing brutality and fanatism make it worthy of more attention.
It was the war with the largest percentage of deaths in history, IIRC(in the paraguayan side, of course).

That war has been mentioned a few times before I think.

 

[DAv2003]

An overlooked part of one of the most famous wars is the Iberian Peninsula theatre of the Napoleon wars. With huge British aid the 'Spanish ulcer' was eventually a major factor in Napoleon's downfall.