The history of mankind knows many conflicts that ended in bloodshed and loss of life. A variety of things served as a reason for unleashing wars: disputes over borders, interracial disagreements … But we want to tell you about 9 battles, the reason for which was the strangest and most unexpected things. So, from the goat genocide to the Italian battle for a bucket from a well - the funniest conflicts in human history.
Goat genocide
For several centuries one small people of Ecuador terrorized the most "dangerous" of the existing animals - goats.
Galapagos is a group of islands that make up Ecuador. This is where Charles Darwin once studied natural selection. But by 1990, the species he was studying were threatened with extinction. But not goats. 250 thousand individuals liked the island. The problem was that they were destroying the natural environment. In the end, the Ecuadorian government decided to get rid of the goats.
Trained snipers went on missions in helicopters with the goal of killing every goat. In one year alone, 90% of them were exterminated. But then another problem arose: the remaining 10% turned out to be reasonable. They remembered that the sound of an approaching helicopter foreshadowed death and began to hide from him. This extended the war for years.
The solution came with the advent of modern technology. The military captured several goats and implanted tracking devices into them. After that, they simply followed the bug until it led to a group of goats. This tactic proved to be extremely successful, and soon Ecuador officially announced its victory over the "formidable" enemy.
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The Pig War
In the mid-19th century, there was confusion over where the border between the United States and British Columbia was. Not a single official document indicated the border, but no one wanted to cede the territory either. As a result, areas emerged where British and American society overlapped. One such area was the San Juan Islands, which both sides claimed. In 1859, an American farmer living on the island found a wild pig eating his crop and shot it. It turned out that the pig belonged to a British citizen who was claiming $ 100 in compensation.
Soon, a simple verbal skirmish escalated into conflict. When British authorities tried to arrest the farmer, American soldiers came to the islands to protect their citizen. Fortunately, no one died in this war, as neither side wanted to kill or die because of the pig. And yet it took several months for the "pig war" to end.
Jenkins' ear war
In 1731, Spanish authorities arrested a merchant ship leaving the Caribbean on suspicion of smugglers on board. During the boarding, the ship's captain, Robert Jenkins, was tied to the mast and his left ear cut off. The only problem was that he was not a smuggler.
Jenkins soon returned to England. He assumed that the British government would find his story unconvincing, but nobody seemed to care. However, after 7 years, the situation has changed. Many in Britain now craved an excuse to declare war on Spain.
Suddenly, his run-of-the-mill tavern bike became valuable. Jenkins was invited to speak before Parliament and talk about how he lost his ear. This was the pretext they were waiting for, and in 1739 Britain went to war with Spain. Over 9 years of the conflict, hundreds of ships were destroyed, thousands of soldiers were killed. This confrontation went down in history as the "War for Jenkins' ear" - one of the most dismissive and bizarre wars in human history.
Austria vs Austria
Two centuries ago, Austria was at war with itself … At that time, Austria was already at war with the Ottomans, two great empires fought each other for land.
One night, an Austrian reconnaissance group was sent in search of the enemy. But instead of the Ottomans, they found a gang of gypsies who sold them alcohol. After a while, another group of Austrian soldiers stumbled upon drunken scouts. Somehow, the two Austrian squads began firing at each other. In the confusion, the scouts decided to return to the main camp. The second group followed them without stopping firing.
Then things got really bad. The officers in the camp thought they were Ottoman troops attacking the camp and opened fire. Artillery hit them, and now the whole camp was sure that they were attacked. After a while, everyone who was shooting was forced to retreat. According to some reports, Austria lost 10% of its army that night. According to other sources, no one was killed. Anyway, something very strange happened that night. And all because of alcohol …
Battle of the frogs
Due to the lack of documented records, the true nature of this conflict remains a mystery. But in history it will be remembered as the "battle of the frogs."
In 1758, something very strange happened in the small town of Windham, Connecticut. One June night, the townspeople slept peacefully in their homes. Suddenly they were awakened by a loud sound near the city border. Panic quickly set in. Some even thought that the end of the world had begun. The townspeople grabbed their weapons and ran out to meet the approaching noise. In the confusion, they were never able to determine what caused the concern. Only in the morning it became clear what had happened: hundreds of dead frogs lay outside the city, as if two armies had entered a large-scale war with each other.
When word of this "battle" leaked outside the city limits, the people of Windham became a laughing stock. But what seemed like cowardice to the rest of the world has become an important part of local history for a small town. A frog is still depicted on the city coat of arms.
War for the golden stool
The Ashanti people once lived on the territory of modern Ghana. The independent kingdom is known for its resistance to European rule. But the British eventually managed to incorporate him into their empire. Frederick Hodgson was appointed governor and he immediately made a huge mistake.
The Ashanti people had one stool. This was their throne, on which the monarch sat. But the golden stool was more than a throne - it was a symbol of legality. Whoever owned it could claim power. For the Ashanti people, the stool personified everything they were proud of, it was even on their flag. Once Hodgson demanded that this stool be given to him.
He clearly did not realize the full importance of this subject. The Ashanti people weren't about to let this random European sit on their sacred symbol. When British troops came to take this piece of furniture by force, they were violently attacked and forced to flee to a nearby fort. This became the starting point of the uprising, and 12 thousand Ashanti soldiers laid siege to the fortress.
The war ended only three months later, when reinforcements arrived at the British. But despite this victory, Ashanti never lost their golden stool …
War after an ordinary dog walk
At the beginning of the 19th century, Greece and Bulgaria were independent states. They were united only by a common border, disputes over which caused high tension. This excessive militarization has led to one of the strangest conflicts in history.
In 1925, a Greek soldier had a pet dog. Once, while on patrol, a dog crossed the border without warning. The owner instinctively ran after her to the Bulgarian soil, where he was shot by Bulgarian border guards. Soldiers on both sides began a firefight.
When the Greek government received news of this, Greece invaded Bulgaria, seizing control of the border town of Petrich. Part of the country was occupied by a foreign army, all thanks to a dog running across their border. The international community soon forced Greece to leave Bulgaria. Despite the casualties of the shootout, no one knows what happened to the dog itself.
Fish Wars
Since 1958 Great Britain and Iceland have fought 3 times. And every time some fish served as an occasion.
Iceland's waters are rich in cod, which has long attracted British fishing boats. In 1958, the country passed legislation expanding its “privileged” fishing zone. The only thing is that, since the Middle Ages (when there were a lot of Vikings here), no one is afraid of Iceland. Therefore, British fishing vessels simply ignored Icelandic law and continued to act, provoking the first of three wars.
In the end, the issue was resolved through diplomacy. But in the next few years, Iceland will double the zone again, causing a new war each time.
Battle for the bucket
14th-century Italy was home to various city-states competing with each other for dominance. In 1325, these two city-states fought over a bucket.
One day, soldiers from Modena made their way to Bologna, where they stole a bucket from a central well. The theft of this item has become too much of an insult for the Bolognese. Therefore, they declared war.
Deciding to return the bucket at any cost, Bologna gathered an army of 32 thousand people to destroy 7 thousand of Modena's soldiers. But somehow the warriors of Modena won and retained control of the unfortunate bucket. It is said to be still in the Modena Cathedral.
Vera Frolova
