By historical standards, the most terrible wars in the history of mankind - both the First and the Second World War - were very fleeting. Despite the deaths of millions of people, they are in no way comparable in duration to many others, which lasted tens, or even hundreds of years. Today we will remember the five most protracted conflicts in human history.
None killed (335 years old)
The undoubted record holder for the duration is the war between the Netherlands and the Scilly archipelago, which lasted more than three centuries, namely 335 years. At the same time, neither the one nor the other side suffered losses in it.
The Scilly Archipelago - several dozen tiny islands (even today they are home to just over two thousand people) off the southern tip of England, 40 kilometers from the coast of Cornwall. During the Second Civil War in England, it was here that the main stronghold of the royalists (supporters of the king) in the west of the country was located. They were opposed by "roundheads" (supporters of parliament), led by Oliver Cromwell. After Cromwell took over all of mainland Cornwall, the Royalists moved to the Isles of Scilly, where their fleet was based.
Wilhelm von Kaulbach. “ Battle of Salamis. ” 1868 year
In 1648 the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, which formed an alliance with the "roundheads". However, the Royalist fleet began a war at sea against them, plundering and destroying Dutch ships. Three years later, a delegation from the Netherlands arrived on the islands, led by the famous admiral Martin Tromp. He demanded compensation from the royalists for the damage done to Dutch trade. However, he was refused. After that, the admiral declared war. And only the Scilly archipelago - by that time Cromwell had already captured all of England, and not to fight with the allies? However, almost immediately thereafter, the Roundheads forced the Royalist fleet to surrender. The Dutch did not manage to fire a single shot at the enemy. However, due to the political confusion of those years, peace with Scilly was never concluded. Over time, they simply forgot about it.
Only in 1985 historians of Scilly, studying the archives, found out that the archipelago, which is part of Britain with the rights of a fairly wide autonomy, is at war with Holland. Peace was made a year later. Thus, the war between the Scilly archipelago and Holland became the longest and bloodless in the history of mankind.
Promotional video:
Destroyed Carthage (118 years old)
The second longest conflict in human history can be considered the Punic Wars, which dragged on for 118 years. True, the actual hostilities lasted 43 years. The rest of the time the conflict went on in a more sluggish phase - with piracy, inciting hostile tribes against each other and constant attempts to take a piece of territory from the enemy.
Hoplites on a vase from the Greco-Persian Wars
It all began with the fact that Rome swung to dominion over the entire Mediterranean. Carthage, a powerful trading power, did not agree with this, of course. Both states had their own strengths. Rome has an army consisting mainly of free people (citizens and allies of the Eternal City, while mercenaries were the basis of the Carthaginian troops). But Carthage had a powerful fleet and a rich treasury. The shortest of the three Punic Wars, which were at first with varying success, was the Third (149-146 BC). In the course of it, Carthage was destroyed. In just 118 years of conflict, about a million people died on both sides (counting civilians), which, of course, is insanely many for the Ancient World.
And more than a century … (116 years)
This question is often asked in quizzes: How many years did the Hundred Years War last? It would seem a logical answer: 100 years will be wrong. Because it lasted with short interruptions (for example, to fight the plague epidemic) for 116 years, only slightly inferior in duration to the conflict between Rome and Carthage.
By 1337, huge contradictions had accumulated between England and France, and since both powers were regional leaders, had powerful armies and had a considerable number of allies, war between them was almost inevitable. But hardly any of the kings who started it thought that their descendants would have to finish all this. The scales tipped one side or the other, the warring sides concluded and dissolved alliances … As a result, England, more exhausted by the war, was forced to admit defeat. She lost almost all possessions (with the exception of the city of Calais) in France, which she had owned since the 12th century.
The Battle of Sleuis. From the Fraussar Chronicle. 1470 year
However, a peace treaty between the powers was not concluded even after 1453, when the war formally ended. The British did not lose hope of regaining possessions in France, but they never succeeded in doing so. Only in 1801 did the British monarchs renounce their claims to the French throne.
The exact death toll from more than a century of carnage is incalculable. The population of France alone has dropped by half, from 12 million to 6 million. True, not only the war is to blame, but also popular uprisings and devastating epidemics. But in the end, historians estimate the losses among the population of both sides at about 10 million people.
Greeks vs. Persians (50 years old)
Another military conflict of the ancient world - between the Greeks and the Persians - dragged on with short interruptions for 50 years - from 499 to 449 BC. Persia by that time was a powerful state that conquered many peoples. There was no single Greece as such. It seemed that the divided city-states (city-states) would not be able to resist the huge Persia. However, after local successes, the Persians unexpectedly suffered heavy defeats for everyone. And the inspired Greeks gathered a congress of policies, at which they agreed on joint actions against a common enemy.
Jules Leneveux. Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orleans. 1886-1890 years
In the war, the Greeks were helped by either unprecedented courage (suffice it to recall Tsar Leonidas and his 300 Spartans who died at Thermopylae), or the cunning of the leaders (in the battle of Salamis, the Athenian Themistocles provoked the Persians to attack the Greek fleet that was about to flee. The Greeks had no other choice but to engage in battle, in which they defeated a much stronger enemy), then the whim of nature (at Cape Artemisium, for example, a storm sank 200 Persian ships). Military luck was almost always on their side. As a result, Persia lost possessions on the coast of the Aegean and Black Seas and recognized the independence of the previously seized policies. And Greece was waiting for an unprecedented rise.
Although the war formally ended half a century after the start, the Greeks and Persians constantly interfered in each other's affairs. Everything finally ended only in 330 BC, when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire.
Guatemalan massacre (36 years old)
After a group of young officers staged a coup in this Latin American country with the support of the United States, civil war broke out there. Oppositionists (many of them were communists) were either killed, or fled the country, or became the head of the revolutionary forces. Numerous Maya Indians joined the rebels. After that, large landowners of European origin, as well as mestizos who supported the government, staged a real genocide for the indigenous population. Their villages were destroyed and communal lands were captured.
Guatemala Civil War
The authorities created a kind of "death squads" from among the local residents - they had the right to interrogate, torture and kill everyone who was suspected of helping the rebels. Despite this, the liberation movement expanded.
For example, in 1990, the rebels operated on 2/3 of the country's territory, in some places they captured cities and villages and created governing bodies.
Finally, the Guatemalan authorities have recognized that a military solution to the conflict is impossible. Through long negotiations, peace was concluded in 1996. During this long-term civil war in the country, about 200 thousand people died (most of them Maya), and about 150 thousand more went missing.
Source: "Secrets of the XX century"