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This is a list of wars involving Germany from 962. It includes the Holy Roman Empire, Confederation of the Rhine, the German Confederation, the North German Confederation, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, the German Democratic Republic (DDR, "East Germany") and the present Federal Republic of Germany (BRD, until German reunification in 1990 known as "West Germany").
*e.g. result unknown or indecisive/inconclusive, result of internal conflict inside Germany, status quo ante bellum , or a treaty or peace without a clear result.
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result | Chancellor |
---|---|---|---|---|
Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) | ![]()
(after 18 January 1871) | ![]() | Victory
| Wilhelm I |
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result | Reichskanzler (Imperial chancellor) | German losses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nauruan Civil War (1878–1888) | Supporters of King Aweida ![]() | Anti-Aweida Rebels | Victory
| ? | |
First Samoan Civil War (1886–1894) | ![]() ![]() | ![]() | Compromise
| ||
Abushiri Revolt (1888–1889) | ![]() ![]() | Arab Rebels led by al-Harthi | Victory
| ? | |
Hehe Rebellion (1891–1898) | ![]() | Hehe | Victory
| ? | |
Bafut Wars (1891–1907) | ![]() | Fondom of Bafut | Victory
| ? | |
Battle of Adibo (1896) | ![]() | Dagbaŋ | Victory | ? | |
Cretan Revolt (1897–1898) | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() | Victory
| ? | |
Second Samoan Civil War (1898–1899) | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Compromise | ? | |
Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | Victory
| ? | |
Adamawa Wars (1899–1907) | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | Victory
| ? | |
Venezuelan Crisis (1902–1903) | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() | Compromise
| ? | |
Kavango Uprising [14] (1903) | ![]() | Kavango rebels | Victory
| ? | |
Herero Wars (1904–1908) | ![]() | Herero Namaqua | Victory | 1,541 dead [15] | |
Maji Maji Rebellion (1905–1908) | ![]() | Qadiriyya Brotherhood Matumbi Ngoni Yao | Victory
| 397 dead [16] | |
Sokehs Rebellion (1910–1911) | ![]() | Sokehs tribe | Victory
| 5 dead [17] | |
World War I (1914–1918) | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Defeat
| 2,198,420 to 2,800,720 dead [18] | |
Finnish Civil War |
| Victory
| 450–500 killed in action | ||
Ukrainian War of Independence | Victory (The Bolsheviks were forced out of Ukraine as long as Germany was stationed there) | ? |
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result | Reichskanzler | German losses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
German Revolution (1918–1919) | ![]() | ![]() | Government victory
| ? | |
Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) | ![]() | ![]() | Defeat
| ? | |
Lithuanian–Soviet War | Victory | ? | |||
First Silesian Uprising (1919) | ![]() | ![]() | Victory
| ? | |
Kapp Putsch | ![]()
| ![]() | Government victory
| ? | |
Ruhr Uprising (1920) | ![]() | ![]() | Government victory
| 1,600+ (Both combatants) | |
Second Silesian Uprising (1920) | ![]() | ![]() | League of Nations ceasefire
| ? | |
March Action | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | Government victory | 31 Police dead | |
Third Silesian Uprising (1921) | ![]() | ![]() | League of Nations ceasefire
| ? | |
Hamburg Uprising | ![]() | ![]() | Government victory | 17 dead, 61 civilians dead |
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result | Leadership of East Germany | German losses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
East German uprising of 1953 (1953) | Demonstrators | Victory | 5 police killed | ||
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result | Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) | German losses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gulf War | Coalition:
| ![]() | Victory | ? | |
Operation Deliberate Force (1995) | ![]()
| ![]() | Victory | None | |
Operation Allied Force (1999) | ![]() | ![]() | Victory
| None | |
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | Taliban victory
| 59 dead [24] | |
War on ISIL (2015–present) | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | Ongoing
| See below [lower-alpha 10] | |
Mali War (2017–2023) | ![]() ![]() | ![]() | Compromise
| 2 dead [25] |
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of conflicts fought between the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte (1804–1815) and a fluctuating array of European coalitions. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe. The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia.
Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military officer and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of successful campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815. He was the leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then of the French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814, and briefly again in 1815.
The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I and Karl von Schwarzenberg, decisively defeated the Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine. The battle was the culmination of the German Campaign of 1813 and involved 560,000 soldiers, 2,200 artillery pieces, the expenditure of 400,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, and 133,000 casualties, making it the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, and the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I.
The Battle of Borodino took place near the village of Borodino on 7 September [O.S. 26 August] 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army, but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon fought against General Mikhail Kutuzov, whom the Emperor Alexander I of Russia had appointed to replace Barclay de Tolly on 29 August [O.S. 17 August] 1812 after the Battle of Smolensk. After the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon remained on the battlefield with his army; the Imperial Russian forces retreated in an orderly fashion southwards. Because the Imperial Russian army had severely weakened the Grande Armée, they allowed the French occupation of Moscow, using the city as bait to trap Napoleon and his men. The failure of the Grande Armée to completely destroy the Imperial Russian army, in particular Napoleon's reluctance to deploy his Imperial Guard, has been widely criticised by historians as a huge blunder, as it allowed the Imperial Russian army to continue its retreat into territory increasingly hostile to the French.
In the War of the Sixth Coalition, sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Great Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and a number of German States defeated France and drove Napoleon into exile on Elba. After the disastrous French invasion of Russia of 1812 in which they had been forced to support France, Prussia and Austria joined Russia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Portugal, and the rebels in Spain who were already at war with France.
The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in Central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Empire. The French were supported by their client states—the Kingdom of Italy, the Confederation of the Rhine and the Duchy of Warsaw. Austria was supported by the Fifth Coalition which included the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the Kingdoms of Sardinia and Sicily, although the latter two took no part in the fighting. By the start of 1809 much of the French army was committed to the Peninsular War against Britain, Spain and Portugal. After France withdrew 108,000 soldiers from Germany, Austria attacked France to seek the recovery of territories lost in the 1803–1806 War of the Third Coalition. The Austrians hoped Prussia would support them, having recently been defeated by France, but Prussia chose to remain neutral.
The Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle of the French invasion of Russia. It took place on 16–18 August 1812 and involved about 45,000 men of the Grande Armée under Emperor Napoleon I against about 30,000 Russian troops under General Barclay de Tolly. Napoleon occupied Smolensk by driving out Prince Pyotr Bagration's Second Army. The French artillery bombardment burned the city to the ground. Of 2,250 buildings, 84% were destroyed with only 350 surviving intact. Of the city's 15,000 inhabitants, about 1,000 were left at the end of the battle inside the smoking ruins. With over 15,000 casualties, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the invasion.
The Battle of (the) Berezina took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Wittgenstein and Admiral Chichagov. Napoleon was retreating toward Poland in chaos after the aborted occupation of Moscow and trying to cross the Berezina River at Borisov. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive as, despite heavy losses, Napoleon managed to cross the river and continue his retreat with the surviving remnants of his army.
The Battle of Krasnoi unfolded from 15 to 18 November 1812 marking a critical episode in Napoleon's arduous retreat from Moscow. Over the course of six skirmishes the Russian forces under field marshal Kutuzov inflicted significant blows upon the remnants of the Grande Armée, already severely weakened by attrition warfare. These confrontations, though not escalated into full-scale battles, led to substantial losses for the French due to their depleted weapons and horses.
During the French occupation of Moscow, a fire persisted from 14 to 18 September 1812 and all but destroyed the city. The Russian troops and most of the remaining civilians had abandoned the city on 14 September 1812 just ahead of French Emperor Napoleon's troops entering the city after the Battle of Borodino. The Moscow military governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, has often been considered responsible for organising the destruction of the sacred former capital to weaken the French army in the scorched city even more.
The Treaty of Stettin of 4 May 1653 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg's claims were based on the Treaty of Grimnitz (1529), while Sweden's claims were based on the Treaty of Stettin (1630). The parties had agreed on a partition of the Swedish-held duchy in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and with the Treaty of Stettin determined the actual border between the partitions. Western Pomerania became Swedish Pomerania, Farther Pomerania became Brandenburgian Pomerania.
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812, was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. Widely studied, Napoleon's incursion into Russia stands as a focal point in military history, recognized as among the most devastating military endeavors globally. In a span of fewer than six months, the campaign exacted a staggering toll, claiming the lives of nearly a million soldiers and civilians.
The Treaty of Pyritz settled claims of the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern regarding the legal status and succession in the Duchy of Pomerania on 26 and 28 March 1493. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg of the Hohenzollern renounced the Electorate of Brandenburg's claims to hold the Pomeranian duchy as a fief on 26 March in Pyritz. In turn, Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania acknowledged Brandenburgian succession in his duchy in case of the extinction of his dynasty on 28 March in Königsberg. The treaty was the most important achievement of Bogislaw X's foreign policy. It was confirmed and amended when a final settlement between the two houses was reached in the Treaty of Grimnitz in 1529.
The Treaty of Grimnitz was the final settlement of a long-standing dispute between the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern regarding the legal status and succession in the Duchy of Pomerania. It renewed and amended the Treaty of Pyritz of 1493.
The Treaty of Ried of 8 October 1813 was a treaty that was signed between the Kingdom of Bavaria and Austrian Empire. By this treaty, Bavaria left the Confederation of the Rhine which was allied with Napoleon, and agreed to join the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in exchange for a guarantee of her continued sovereign and independent status. On 14 October, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France. The treaty was passionately backed by the Crown Prince Louis and by Marshal von Wrede.
The German campaign was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany against the French Emperor Napoleon, his marshals, and the armies of the Confederation of the Rhine - an alliance of most of the other German states - which ended the domination of the First French Empire.