Clay_Allison
Staff Sergeant
- 1,154
- Dec 24, 2008
Hundred years war?
The Longest War
- Thread starter magnocain
- Start date
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BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
The 'Hundred Years War' is a piece of lazy historiography. It was not continuous - for example, there were 26 years of peace between the end of the Caroline War in 1389 and the start of the Lancastrian war in 1415. Most lengthy medieval and early modern wars were like this - other examples include the Napoleonic Wars, the War of the Roses, the English Civil Wars and the Eighty Years War. The Thirty Years War was more or less continuous though, so must surely rank as one of the longest 
Clay_Allison
Staff Sergeant
- 1,154
- Dec 24, 2008
The thirty years war must be the most horribly devastating. Nearly one third of Germany's population was killed by famine and disease.The 'Hundred Years War' is a piece of lazy historiography. It was not continuous - for example, there were 26 years of peace between the end of the Caroline War in 1389 and the start of the Lancastrian war in 1415. Most lengthy medieval and early modern wars were like this - other examples include the Napoleonic Wars, the War of the Roses, the English Civil Wars and the Eighty Years War. The Thirty Years War was more or less continuous though, so must surely rank as one of the longest
BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
It's not a conflict that I have studied in any depth, but it was centuries ahead of its time in terms of the fanaticism of the combatants and the carnage they inflicted on civilian populations. The Eighty Years War was also particularly savage - again, the division between Protestant and Catholic played a large part in the bloodshed. It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same...
Clay_Allison
Staff Sergeant
- 1,154
- Dec 24, 2008
Great time to be a mercenary though.
BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
Indeed. Plenty of action, and plenty of ale and wenches for those who survived! 
BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
You sure you haven't made a typo there Z? That last veteran would have to have been at least 160-165 when he died, by your reckoning 
You sure you haven't made a typo there Z? That last veteran would have to have been at least 160-165 when he died, by your reckoning
No its not a typo. The last veteran was a tortoise who served as a ships mascot
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imalko
Chief Master Sergeant
Maybe you will find this interesting. When Russia went to war with Japan in 1905, small state of Montenegro in the Balkans becouse of great slavic affection declared war on Japan too and some of their volunteers acutually fought in this conflict. Now I'm not sure about this but I think that I have read somewhere that Montenegro and Japan never officially signed peace, so officially this two countries are still at war?! Or maybe there was just armistice between them, I'm not sure. Weird, isn't it?
Does this qualifies as one of the longest wars in history?
Does this qualifies as one of the longest wars in history?
Clay_Allison
Staff Sergeant
- 1,154
- Dec 24, 2008
I never thought Geronimo's Comancheros really counted as anything but bandits.
BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
Out of curiosity, were the Indian wars ever 'declared' formally, or did they just occur out of frontier clashes?
The Indians of the Great Plains and the Southwest who used horses tended to be very good light cavalry and were not easy to defeat conventionally. It took years to get them all rounded up on the reservations. I think you would be surprised on the tactical genious of some of them.
There was never a formal declaration of war that I know about because the tribes were not connected to each other and were basically numerous nations much like in Europe. The wars lasted from the 1600's until the 1890's with the last clash being in 1976 with the Wounded Knee uprising on the Pine Ridge reservation. From 1850 to 1890 the death toll between whites and Indians was around 19,000 and 45,000 respectively.
There was several treaties between Indian nations and the U.S. though.
Clay_Allison
Staff Sergeant
- 1,154
- Dec 24, 2008
Oh, I agree with their skills. I question their tribal Bona Fides, especially where it concerns the Apache. I read about his band as a bunch of half breeds and renegades.
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Don't forget The 100 Year War between England and France....
Clay_Allison
Staff Sergeant
- 1,154
- Dec 24, 2008
Been covered already in this thread.
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
True CA, was more thinking in terms of the longest wars..
BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
The crux of this question is how you define a 'war'. I personally think of a sustained and continuous military conflict between two factions which is decisively concluded by military victory - a bit of a windy definition I know, but the best I can think of right now The Hundred Years War falls outside this definition because over the long century in question, there were three separate but related conflicts between Britain and France, with periods of up to 25 years peace in between. The Eighty Years War between the Spanish Netherlands and Spain was similarly disjointed. I must admit though, I'm not entirely sure what the longest war is by my own definition 
The Hundred Years War falls outside this definition because over the long century in question, there were three separate but related conflicts between Britain and France, with periods of up to 25 years peace in between. The Eighty Years War between the Spanish Netherlands and Spain was similarly disjointed. I must admit though, I'm not entirely sure what the longest war is by my own definition Users who are viewing this thread
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