 | This article appears to be slanted towards recent events.(October 2022) |
| Part of a series on |
| War (outline) |
|---|
 |
A proxy war is defined as "a war fought between groups of smaller countries that each represent the interests of other larger powers, and may have help and support from these".
| War | Dates | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Expedition | 415–413 BC | Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) | Spartan-Syracusan victory | |
| Egyptian–Ottoman War | 1839–1841 | | Ottoman victory [3]
| |
| Uruguayan Civil War | 1839–1851 |
|
| Colorado victory |
| First Samoan Civil War | 1886–1894 | 1887–1889 1893–1894 | 1887–1889 1893–1894 | Stalemate
|
| Second Samoan Civil War | 1898–1899 | Allies: | Compromise;
| |
| Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903 | 1902–1903 |
|
| Compromise:
|
| Somaliland campaign | 1896–1922 |
 German Empire [6] |
| Dervish movement defeat |
| Mexican Revolution | 1910–1920 | 1911–1913: 1913–1914: 1914–1915: 1915–1920: | 1911–1913: 1913–1914: 1914–1915: 1915–1920
Supported by:
| Revolutionary victory Full results
|
| Mexican Border War | 1910–1919 | Supported by: | Status quo ante bellum [9]
|
| War | Dates | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Civil War | 1945–1949 |
|
| Communist victory
|
| Iran crisis of 1946 | 1945–1946 |
|
| Iranian victory
|
| Greek Civil War | 1946–1949 |
Supported by: |
Supported by: | Kingdom of Greece victory |
| First Indochina War | 1946–1954 |
| DR Vietnamese victory [25] [26] [27] [28]
| |
| Paraguayan Civil War | 1947 |
| | Government/Military and Colorado Party victory
|
| Malayan Emergency | 1948–1960 | Communist forces: | British Commonwealth forces:
| Commonwealth victory
|
| Korean War | 1950–1953 |
|
| Inconclusive
|
| Mau Mau Uprising | 1952–1960 | Mau Mau rebels [f] | British victory | |
| Second Indochina War (Vietnam War) | 1955–1975 |
|
| North Vietnamese victory
|
| First Taiwan Strait Crisis | 1954–1955 | Ceasefire; major escalation avoided
| ||
| First Sudanese Civil War | 1955–1972 | |
| Stalemate [50] |
| Suez Crisis | 1956 | Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip until March 1957 | ||
| Second Taiwan Strait Crisis | 1958 | Status quo ante bellum
| ||
| 1958 Lebanon crisis | 1958 | Supported by: | Supported by: | Inconclusive
|
| 1959 Tibetan uprising | 1959 |
Simultaneous rebellion in Kham and Amdo:
| Uprising suppressed
| |
| Central American crisis | 1960–1996 [51] | EGP [51]  FAR [51] ORPA  PGT [51]  URNG [51]  FSLN
Supported by |  Guatemala [51] ESA [51] White Hand [51] and other paramilitary groups [51] Contras (1981–90) Supported by  United States [51] [62]  Saudi Arabia  Honduras  Chile  Argentina  Panama  Israel [63]  Taiwan [64] | |
| Congo Crisis | 1960–1965 | 1960–1963: Supported by:
1963–1965:Supported by:
| 1960–1963:Supported by: 1960–1962:Supported by: 1963–1965:Supported by: | The Congo established as an independent unitary state under the authoritarian presidency of Mobutu Sese Seko. |
| Portuguese Colonial War | 1961–1974 | Material support:
| Angola:Guinea:Mozambique: |
|
| First Iraqi–Kurdish War | 1961–1970 | Before 1968:  Iraq  Syria (1963)Supported by: United States (from 1963) [86] [87]  Egypt (1965) [88] After 1968: Ba'athist Iraq |
| Military stalemate [90]
|
| Eritrean War of Independence | 1961–1991 |  ELF (1961–1981)Supported by:  EPLF (since 1973) TPLF (since 1975) | 1961–1974 Ethiopian Empire Supported by: 1974–1991  Derg (1974–1987) PDR Ethiopia (1987–1991)Supported by:
| EPLF victory [117]
|
| North Yemen Civil War | 1962–1970 |  Kingdom of Yemen  Saudi Arabia [118] | Republican victory | |
| Dhofar Rebellion | 1963–1976 |
Support: | Support: | Omani government victory [119] |
| Sarawak Communist Insurgency | 1962–1990 | Communist forces:
Supported by: | Anti-communist forces:
Supported by:
|
|
| Aden Emergency | 1963–1967 |
| Yemeni NLF victory
| |
| Rhodesian Bush War | 1964–1979 |
|
| |
| Dominican Civil War | 1965 |
|  Loyalist faction United States | Loyalist victory
|
| Chadian Civil War | 1965–1979 |
|  Chad
| Rebel victory
|
| Communist insurgency in Thailand | 1965–1983 |
| Thai government victory
| |
| Bolivian Campaign | 1966–1967 |
| Bolivian government victory
| |
| Korean DMZ Conflict (1966–1969) | 1966–1969 | South Korean victory | ||
| South African Border War | 1966–1990 | Military advisers and pilots: | Military stalemate [146]
| |
| Nigerian Civil War | 1967–1970 |
| Nigerian victory
| |
| Years of Lead | 1968–1988 | Supported by: | Supported by: Supported by:
| Government victory
|
| Communist insurgency in Malaysia | 1968–1989 | Communist forces: Malayan Communist Party [171]
|
| Malaysian government victory
|
| Operation Condor | 1975–1983 | Political dissidents (including socialists, anarchists and communists) | Concluded after the fall of the Argentinean military junta in 1983 | |
| Al-Wadiah War | 1969 |
| Saudi victory | |
| Bangladesh Liberation War | 1971 |
| Bangladeshi-Indian victory [185] [186] [187]
| |
| Yemenite War of 1972 | 1972 | |||
| Angolan Civil War | 1975–2002 |
Military advisers and pilots:
|
| MPLA victory
|
| Ethiopian Civil War | 1974–1991 |
|
|
|
| Lebanese Civil War | 1975–1990 [Note 1] (15 years and 6 months) |  Lebanese National Movement (1975–1982) Jammoul (1982–1990)
Islamic Unification Movement (from 1982) |
 Army of Free Lebanon (until 1977) SLA (from 1976) Israel (from 1978)
List
|
|
| Indonesian occupation of East Timor | 1975–2002 |
|
| |
| Shaba I | 1977 |
| Supported by: | Zairian victory
|
| Ogaden War | 1977–1978 | Ethiopian victory
| ||
| Cambodian-Vietnamese War | 1978–1989 | Post-invasion: |
Post-invasion: |
|
| Mozambican Civil War | 1977–1992 | |
| Stalemate |
| Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict | 1977–1997 | |||
| Shaba II | 1978 | Zairian victory; mutual end of support for other nations' rebel groups | ||
| Uganda–Tanzania War | 1978–1979 |  Tanzania  Uganda National Liberation Front  Mozambique Supported by:  Zambia  Angola Ethiopia  Algeria |
| Tanzanian victory
|
| NDF Rebellion | 1978–1982 | |
| Government victory |
| Chadian–Libyan War | 1978–1987 |
Pro-Libyan Palestinian and Lebanese groups [230]
Supported by: |
| Chadian and French victory
|
| Yemenite War of 1979 | 1979 | South Yemeni victory | ||
| Soviet–Afghan War | 1979–1989 | Afghan mujahideen victory [238] | ||
| Sino-Vietnamese War | 1979 | Supported by: | Status quo ante bellum or ceasefire | |
| Ethiopian–Somali Border War | 1982-1983 |
| ||
| Sri Lankan Civil War | 1983–2009 |
| Sri Lankan government victory
| |
| Thai–Laotian Border War | 1987–1988 |
| ||
| Afghan Civil War | 1989–1992 |
| Independent Factions:
Foreign Mujahideen: Various factions also fought among each other Supported by:  Pakistan United States Saudi Arabia  United Kingdom  China  Germany  Iran |
|
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Despite massive political, economic, and military aid to the fledgling Ba'thist government—including the provision of napalm weapons to assist the regime in what the Embassy regarded as a 'genocidal' counterinsurgency campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan—the first Ba'thist regime in Iraq proved 'not long for this world,' in the words of a rather gleeful British Ambassador. The Ba'th presided over a nine-month reign of terror, and the scale of the party's brutality shocked Iraqi sensibilities. Moreover, the Ba'th's association—in the public mind—with the American CIA only hastened its demise. In mid-November 1963, less than nine months after taking power, the Ba'th's rivals in the Iraqi Army deposed the Ba'th and rejoined Qasim's challenge to the IPC.
As the IPC moved in opposition to Qasim, Israeli and Iranian covert assistance began to pour into Iraqi Kurdistan... Kurdish representatives reached out to the US embassy for the same... Available documentation does not prove conclusively that the United States provided covert assistance to the Kurds in the fall of 1962, but the documents that have been declassified are certainly suggestive—especially in light of the general US policy orientation toward Iraq during this period.
Due to Qasim's distrust of the Iraqi army, he refused to properly arm it, leading to a military stalemate with the Kurds.
China assisted the ELF with weapons and military training until 1972, when Ethiopian recognition of Beijing as the legitimate Chinese government led to China's abandonment of the Eritrean struggle.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)In 1991 the EPLF's victory over the Dergue's troops won Eritrea's independence.
The initial neutrality of the USSR's Western rivals, including Britain and the United States in particular, I gather, provided an opening for the Soviets to send MiG fighters and technical assistance to the Nigerians, thereby including the region in the cold war theater.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The Soviets provided direction, heavy lift and training staffs, the East Germans technical specialists ranging from helicopter pilots to medical personnel, and the Cubans a mass of soldiery...The next pattern was one of mixed Angolan and Cuban ground units, supported by East German-manned helicopters...[conditions dictated] the withdrawal of Cuban units to garrison roles, the actual ground fighting being left to Angolan units (now equipped with some very recent Soviet weaponry), very closely supported by East German and Russian training logistic cadres.
Besides arms and aircraft, large numbers of Russians, East Germans, and Cubans were brought into the country to bolster the Angolan armed forces...Although a number of locals were beginning to undertake combat sorties, most of the sorties were flown either by Cuban or East German pilots and crew.
Soviet advisers fulfilled a number of roles, although the majority were involved in training and headquarters duties. Others flew combat missions in the MiGs and helicopters.
According to General Nawroz, the Afghan-Soviet War was a rare confrontation in history as it helped trigger the collapse of the greatest empire of modern times. Lessons learned from this conflict were gathered by both sides. Whatever else these lessons may show, the most fundamental of them is that no army, however sophisticated, well trained, materially rich, numerically overwhelming and ruthless, can succeed on the battlefield if it is not psychologically fit and motivated for the fight.
Today, the victory of the anti-Soviet mujahideen seems preordained as part of the West's ultimate triumph in the Cold War.
After a decade of war, the Soviet army was forced to withdraw in 1989. The mujahideen's victory against a superpower was a great morale booster for Muslims throughout the world.
The war in Afghanistan brought about a deep crisis in Moscow's Middle Eastern policy. Having failed to suppress militarily the armed opposition supported from abroad, the Soviet Union was forced to withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989. The political and military defeat of the Soviet Union, which had failed to protect a client regime in a neighboring country for the first time since 1945, accelerated the erosion and, ultimately, the disintegration of the Soviet presence in the region from Damascus to Aden.
But the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan on 15 February 1989, although a military defeat, did not mean the overthrown of the local socialist government. Against all predictions of its demise, the regime of Mohamed Najibullah survived the departure of Soviet troops. Only after the new Russian Federation withdrew its assistance in 1992 was the unfortunate Najibullah overthrown and murdered.
For the Muslims, the Afghan Mujahideen victory over the Red army was, with probably a few exceptions, a military victory for the Islam – the first one for some centuries.
He turned his attention directly toward continuing the jihad that had been initiated in Afghanistan. The mujahideen's victory over the Soviets was a major boost to the development of the al-Qaeda phenomenon, as figures such as bin Laden viewed their victory as one of Muslims against non-Muslim forces. For bin Laden, the mujahideen—a vanguard army of true Muslims fighting for the construction of a legitimate Islamic State—had prevailed against a much stronger non-Muslim power presaged the Islamic revolution. Motivated by the mujahideen's success, bin Laden believed that the Muslim-wide revolution could start, and Afghanistan would be the base from which the Muslim-wide revolution could start, and Afghanistan would be the base from which this new war could be waged.
The United States reportedly invested some three billion dollars in the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan. Then, after the Soviet defeat and withdrawal in 1989, the United States simply abandoned Afghanistan by walking away.
Al Qaeda was formed in Afghanistan after the Soviet defeat in 1989 by the various Mujahideen groups who were emboldened by their victory over a superpower and, hence, sought to carry their war to other arenas.
After the Soviet defeat and withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, Azzam argued that the Islamic victory was in fact "the prelude to the liberation of Palestine" and other "lost" territories.
The war was fought in four different strategic phrases: the Soviet offensive operation in support of the regime change; a symmetrical expansion of the war leading to a strategic stalemate following the failure of the Soviet forces to win militarily; the Soviets' combined political-military struggle aimed at a political solution in support of a responsible exit strategy; the Soviet military defeat and its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Yet Siyaad surprised friends and foes alike by turning both events to advantage. His army vigorously repulsed the invaders...
Sporadic clashes became frequent by the first months of 1991, with an ever-increasing organization of paramilitary forces on the Armenian side, whereas Azerbaijan still relied on the support of Moscow. [...] In response to this development, a joint Soviet and Azerbaijani military and police operation directed from Moscow was initiated in these areas during the Spring and Summer of 1991.
... units of the 4th army stationed in Azerbaijan and Azeri OMONs were used in "Operation Ring", to empty a number of Armenian villages in Nagorno-Karabakh in April 1991.
... Operation 'Ring' as a combined Soviet-Azerbaijan operation to weaken Armenian resistance in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Armenia has said that Turkey was directly involved in the fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, and that a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down an Armenian jet. Turkey denied those accusations.
Turkey's support for Azerbaijan has been vital, and Azerbaijan's superior weaponry and battlefield advances have reduced its incentive to reach a lasting peace deal. Ankara denies its troops are involved in fighting but Aliyev has acknowledged some Turkish F-16 fighter jets remained in Azerbaijan after a military drill this summer, and there are reports of Russian and Turkish drones being used by both sides.
When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 [...] the Karabakh conflict escalated further, from guerrilla warfare to full-scale conventional combat.
As low-intensity fighting continues...
Low-intensity skirmishes since 1994...
The real war, which began on September 27th,...
The past two weeks have provided one of the starkest examples of the consequences of this: the re-eruption of full-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Overlaying what is fundamentally a territorial dispute are the consequences of the 1991–94 war: a decisive Armenian military victory resulting in Armenian control of Nagorny Karabakh and the further occupation of seven districts surrounding it.
The 1994 cease-fire [...] ended in political stalemate.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in a cold war since the cessation of large-scale conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh during 1988–94...[ permanent dead link ]
...as cold war between Armenia and Azerbaijan deepens.
As characterized by Karabagh's defence minister, the current post-war situation in the region is 'a cold war between Azerbaijan and Karabagh'.
The unresolved secessionist conflict between Armenia (position 3) and Azerbaijan (position 10) over the Nagorno-Karabakh region continues to keep militarisation in the South Caucasus at a very high level.
The so-called Line of Contact between the two sides became the most militarised zone in the wider Europe, bristling with tanks and heavy artillery.
On 12 May 2021, troops from Azerbaijan temporarily entered the territory of Armenia, which amounts to a violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and of international law
The offensive was seen as a major victory for Azerbaijan, which won a 2020 war with Armenia and has since sought to repopulate Karabakh.
Under the agreement, confirmed by both sides and effective from 1 pm (0900 GMT) on Wednesday, separatist forces will disband and disarm and talks on the future of the region and the ethnic Armenians who live there will start on Thursday.
Armenia is de facto united with Nagorno-Karabakh, an unrecognized state, in a single entity.
The mostly Armenian population of the disputed region now lives under the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a micronation that is supported by Armenia and is effectively part of that country.
Following the war, the territories that fell under Armenian control, in particular Mountainous Karabakh itself, were slowly integrated into Armenia. Officially, Karabakh and Armenia remain separate political entities, but for most practical matters the two entities are unified."
This response was too much for the commander of the 14th Army General Yuri Netkachev, who ordered Russian troops to drive out the Moldovan forces. The 14th Army had always supported the separatists since the very beginning, but this direct support was the first open participation in combat. ... The participation of the 14th Army was indispensable for the victory of the separatists, ... Moldovan forces were concentrated in a forest near Bender, and Lebed decided to stop their advance by relying on his powerful artillery. At 0300 on 3 July massive barrages rained down on the unsuspecting Moldovans ...
Neither side had a proper military force. The intervention of the Russian Fourteenth Army and its commander General Alexander Lebed on behalf of the Transdniestrians was decisive.
Fearing a continuity of Soviet-era policies, Iran supported the Islamic and nationalist opposition during the civil war.
At the end of 1992, Tajikistan entered into a bloody civil war. Tehran gave refuge and support to the leaders of the Democratic-Islamic coalition of the Tajik opposition, and was therefore considered to be a pro-Islamic actor. However, it also contributed a critical role in helping peace discussions: Tehran hosted several rounds of the Tajik peace negotiations in 1994, 1995, and 1997, bringing both sides to the discussion table. President Rahmon paid an official visit to Tehran in 1995 and opened an embassy there. But seen from Dushanbe, Moscow was a more reliable ally than Tehran, and any kind of pan-Persian nationalism was rapidly shut down by the authorities.
Tajikistan has accused Iran of having played a subversive role in the country's civil war in the 1990s by sending terrorists to the Central Asian republic, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries.
In 1996, President Mobutu of Zaire requested that mercenaries be sent from Chad to help defend his government from rebel forces led by Lauren Desiré Kabila. ... When a number of the troops were ambushed by Kabila and killed in defense of Mobutu's government, Mobutu paid Déby a fee in honor of their service.
Guerrillas of Angola's former rebel movement UNITA, long supported by Mobutu in an unsuccessful war against Angola's government, also fought for Mobutu against Kabila's forces.
Kabila's forces – which are indeed backed by Rwanda, Angola, Uganda and Burundi, diplomats say – are slowly advancing toward the capital from the eastern half of the country, where they have captured all the regions that produce Zaire's diamonds, gold, copper and cobalt.
In that first struggle in the Congo, Rwanda, allied with Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Burundi, had brought Laurent Désiré Kabila to power in Kinshasa
On the other side of the Congo River, the end of the civil war and the repossession of power by Sassou-Nguesso forced the FDC to dismantle its bases in Congo-Brazzaville, which meant losing the support of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS)'s militias of Pascal Lissouba. The FLEC-R, who had previously engaged with UNITA alongside the UPADS troops, was also summoned to leave the country.
Angola came to his aid with 2,500 troops in August 1997. Sassou also received help from Chad, Gabon, France, and Elf-Congo ... as well as Serbian mercenaries, the former Rwandan government forces, Rwandan Interahamwe militia and elements of Mobutu's Zairian army
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)The Warshefana tribal militia, Gaddafi loyalists who controlled some of the area around Tripoli, were routed last month by rival forces from Zintan
Maoists, in turn, are said to be providing explosives (ammonium nitrate) and funds to the northeast groups.
The Turkish establishment considered the Kurds' demand for the recognition of their identity a threat to the territorial integrity of the state, the more so because the PKK was supported by countries hostile to Turkey: Soviet Union, Greece, Cyprus, Iran and especially Syria. Syria hosted the organization and its leader for twenty years, and it provided training facilities in the Beka'a Valley of Syrian-controlled northern Lebanon.
The PKK was originally established as a Marxist party, with ties to the Soviet Union
The PKK was originally established as a Marxist party, with ties to the Soviet Union
With the explicit supports of some Arab countries for the PKK such as Syria...
PKK has had substantial operations in northern Iraq, with the support of Iran and Syria.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) trained the PKK in Lebanon's Beka'a Valley. Iran supported the PKK despite Turkey's strict neutrality during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988).
Other groups that have received Libyan support include the Turkish PKK...
Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons
n July 9, Prince Turki bin Faisal, former Saudi intelligence head, unprecedentedly attended a rally for the notorious Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK) and called for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
An Iraqi militia has claimed responsibility for two suicide drones fired at Riyadh earlier this week — and vowed to do it again. The new group suggested Saudis should be sleeping with one eye open from now on.
At the same time, Saraya al Ashtar reaffirmed its loyalty to the Islamic Republic of Iran. "We believe that the commander and ruler of the Islamic religion is the line of the two imams, Khomeini and Khamenei, which is in the original Muhammad approach in confronting the oppressors and fighting back against the tyrants," the group's statement reads.
During the Syrian civil war, the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah escalated due to the Saudi-Iranian rivalry.
The Muslim Brotherhood may not be the only extremist Sunni group in Egypt supported by IRGC.
Nigeria's government has taken the controversial decision to ban a pro-Iranian Shia group, accusing it of unleashing violence and being an "enemy of the state".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And the concerns in some circles that this is really developing into a proxy war with Iran and Hezbollah, rather than actually trying to deal with the situation internally within Syria? :PATRICK COCKBURN: Yeah, it already has turned into a proxy war. You can see that with—Hezbollah and Iran were involved, but also the U.S. was—had already combined with Qatar to send weapons. Qatar has sent up to $3 billion to the rebels, 70 loads of flights of weapons, organized by—with the CIA.
North Korea's military support for Houthi rebels in Yemen is the latest manifestation of its support for anti-American forces.