Totally unexpected wars

[Sharwood]

this discussion is going marvelous.

I think 90% of history threads descend into completely off-topic discussions nowadays. But, back on topic, I think I won the thread with that Armenia-Azerbaijan war. Yep, that'll keepp me from getting banned.

 

[carmen510]

Don't now if this even counts, but... Operation Barbarossa.
Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union caught Stalin totally by surprise.

Actually, I believe I read somewhere that Stalin believed he would be invaded, but he didn't think it would be in 1941. I believe he wished to go to war at 1943 or something.

As for my contribution, I can only think of the Falklands War.

 

[Sharwood]

Actually, I believe I read somewhere that Stalin believed he would be invaded, but he didn't think it would be in 1941. I believe he wished to go to war at 1943 or something.

As for my contribution, I can only think of the Falklands War.

You're right, it's pretty much established fact that Stalin was preparing for war, both to be attacked and to attack himself, whichever came first, but didn't expect it to be as soon as it was.

And I believe the Falklands were already mentioned. If not, they damn well should have been.

 

[Morten]

How about the Cod Wars? I mean, obviously both nations take their fishing very seriously, but I doubt many would have foreseen so much heavy ramming.

 

[silver 2039]

And Iceland's incredible victory is particularly amazing.

 

[Dumanios]

I'm sure that the Aztecs didn't expect to be invaded by Cortes and his Conquistadors because the aztecs thought he was there god.

 

[Zsilot]

True. The same could be said for the Incas and Mayans. The 2006 Isreali-Lebanon war could count as unexpected because Hezbollah had initiated the war before Lebanon's government knew what the hell was going on.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I'm sure that the Aztecs didn't expect to be invaded by Cortes and his Conquistadors because the aztecs thought he was there god.

Actually, the idea that the Aztecs thought Cortes was their god was something that probably originated after the conquest.

 

[Sharwood]

Actually, the idea that the Aztecs thought Cortes was their god was something that probably originated after the conquest.

It's likely the original idea was that these white-skinned folk coming from the sea must be Quetzalcoatl, but that would have changed as soon as the Mexicans got close enough to smell them.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

The 2006 Isreali-Lebanon war could count as unexpected because Hezbollah had initiated the war before Lebanon's government knew what the hell was going on.

No; Lebanon was not a belligerent, it was caught in the crossfire. Hezbollah and Israel saw a conflict coming; the question was what form it would take, who would start, it, and when it would begin.

 

[eastsidebagel]

The Lebanon-Israeli war in'06 came out of nowhere IMO. Though Israel knew they've been fortifying and supplying the means of assymetrical warfare all along, the kidnapping of 2 IDF soldiers was a total surprise for almost everyone. The nation was in state of war faster than everybody could see what was coming next. It began like a little non-routine combat for bringing them safe back home (or respectively their dead bodies) but it speedly evolved into a full-blown war when the massive of rockets on Israeli cities started.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

The Lebanon-Israeli war in'06 came out of nowhere IMO. Though Israel knew they've been fortifying and supplying the means of assymetrical warfare all along, the kidnapping of 2 IDF soldiers was a total surprise for almost everyone. The nation was in state of war faster than everybody could see what was coming next. It began like a little non-routine combat for bringing them safe back home (or respectively their dead bodies) but it speedly evolved into a full-blown war when the massive of rockets on Israeli cities started.

(In exasperation)

If in June 2006 I were to tell you that Hezbollah and Israel were to fight a war in July, would you be surprised? Would anyone be surprised?

No. Ergo, it's not "out of the blue."

 

[RedRalph]

Yeah true. Look at the example in the OP, thats how 'out of the blue' I'm tlakign about. Hizballah and Israel have a long history of antagonism towards eachother

 

[Masada]

Sharwood, your prayers have been answered.

 

[Sharwood]

Sharwood, your prayers have been answered.

Yeah, I've read that before, just obviously forgot that Montenegro and Japan had signed a peace treaty. Either that, or I read it before they did.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Well, there was no Montenegro between 1919 or 1920 and 2006, was there?

 

[Sharwood]

Well, there was no Montenegro between 1919 or 1920 and 2006, was there?

Not as an independant state, no. What's your point? They immediately became belligerents again when they regained independence.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

My point was that Montenegro was not a sovereign nation between 1919/20 and 2006.

No more, no less.

(I doubt that Yugoslavia signed a peace treaty with Japan during that time, anyways.)

 

[Brohz]

I find it hard to believe that any war (or any international or domestic incident) would just happen out of the blue. Unless the people involved lose their mind and say "Hey, I'm bored. Why don't we declare war on our neightbors?", there will always an underlying process.

 

[Sharwood]

Oh, there'll be an underlying process, but wars certainly do come out of the blue. Things can escalate from nothing to war for patently ridiculous reasons - Ems Dispatch - very quickly, and on other occasions nations can be invaded when there really isn't any logical reason to do so. For example, Holland never had any reason to expect invasion from Nazi Germany, they were trying their damnedest to remain neutral and there was no real reason to invade them. Certainly not at that time.