“[…] War is like a grotesque party, during the day we kill our enemy, during the night we drink with them. What a bizarre thing war is.”
This is what a soldier fighting in the Moldovan-Transdniestrian War recorded in one of his journal entries. You might think that we are trying to ruminate on the excesses of war by quoting the the philosophical musings of a soldier. You are right, except, not with this example. The soldier’s account was rather literal.
The Moldovan-Transdniestrian War began shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Almost two-thirds of the country were in favour of closer ties with Romania, but the remaining preferred being close to Russia. Soldiers would fight during the day and often congregate in the no man’s land at night to mingle and drink.
Terrorists attacked an Indian Army base camp recently in Kashmir. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. The Kashmir issue and mounting tensions along the Indo-Pak border has embittered the relationship between the two countries substantially. The possibility of a war being declared is inches closer to reality. The Quint thought of bringing a list of five wars fought in human history over little, or nothing.
World War I
World War I or the First World War was perhaps, at the same time, the defining and the most devastating moment of the twentieth century. The war witnessed all the world’s economic great powers organise in two opposing alliances – the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the British Empire, France and the Russian Empire) versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Although Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary, it did not join the Central Powers. Later Italy, Japan and the United States joined the Allies, while the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers.
But what led to the beginning of this catastrophe was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. A diplomatic crisis was triggered when Austria-Hungary gave the Kingdom of Serbia an ultimatum, putting in place the international alliances it forged through the previous decades.
The Football War
Variously known as the Football War, the Soccer War or the 100 Hour War, a brief war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 is perhaps one of the most curious ones in world history.
Economic relationships between the two states were strife, especially involving immigration from Honduras to El Salvador. This strife escalated during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier, as riots broke out.
The war began on 14 July 1969, when the Salvadoran military attacked Honduras. The Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated a ceasefire on the night of 18 July (hence “100 Hour War”), which took full effect on 20 July.
The Six-Day War
Arab-Israel relations were never eased after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Tensions escalated dangerously for a period, till June 1969. News of the mobilisation of Egyptian forces along the Israeli border in the Sinai Peninsula made Israel launch a series of preemptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields.
The Six-Day War also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between 5 and 10 June 1967 by Israel and its neighbours – Egypt (the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria.
The Pastry War
In 1828, angry mobs destroyed large parts of Mexico City during a military coup. One of the victims of the rioting was an expatriate French pastry chef named Remontel, whose small café was ransacked by looters.
Mexican officials ignored his complaints, so Remontel petitioned the French government for compensation. His request sat unnoticed for 10 years.
King Louis-Philippe was already cross with Mexico for failing to repay millions in loans when Remontel’s appeal came to his notice. He asked Mexico to pay 600,000 pesos to compensate Remontel. When the Mexicans refused to pay the staggering amount, Louis-Philippe started a war.
The War of the Stray Dog
It wasn’t definitely dog days in either Greece or Bulgaria. It was in fact, autumn, the October of 1925. Hostilities between Greece and Bulgaria since the Second Balkan War in the 1910s were finally boiling over. One day, a Greek soldier allegedly crossed the border into Bulgaria, chasing after his runaway dog. He was shot dead.
The Greeks soon invaded Bulgaria, occupying several villages. An international committee later negotiated a ceasefire between the two nations.
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