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Military history of the peoples of the British Isles

The military history of the peoples of the British Isles is long and varied, extending from the prehistoric and ancient historic period, through the Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius, with the subsequent Roman occupation of most of the island; warfare in the Middle Ages, including the invasions of the Saxons and the Vikings in the Early Middle Ages, the Norman Conquest of England, wars between Scotland and England and between England and France; through the early modern period, wars against Spain and France, and the English Civil War, and the beginnings of the colonial British Empire in India and North America; and into the modern period with the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War and into the 20th century with the Boer War, World War I and World War II, the Cold War the Korean War; and, most recently, Northern Ireland, the Falklands War and military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

Prehistoric and Classical period

Roman conquest of Britain (43)

Boudica's uprising (61)

* Battle of Watling Street

Mediæval period

Battle of Aylesford (455) Anglo-Saxons, Romano-Britons

Battle of Ellandun

Viking invasions (793–1066)

* Raid on Lindisfarne (793)

* Campaign of Alfred the Great (871–899)

** Battle of Edington (878)

* Battle of Cannington (878)

* Battle of Ashingdon (1016)

* Battle of Fulford (1066)

* Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)

Norman Conquest of England (1066)

* The Battle of Hastings 1066

Rebellion of 1088 - civil war

The Anarchy (1135–1154) - civil war

Battle of Renfrew (1164)

Revolt of 1173-1174 - civil war

Third Crusade (1189-1192)

Richard I's war in France

Welsh uprising of 1211

Battle of Bouvines (1214) - loss of Normandy

First Barons' War (1215–1217) - civil war

Henry III's war in France

Battle of Largs

Second Barons' War (1264–1267) - civil war

Welsh Uprising (1282) - civil war

Edward I's war in France

The First War of Scottish Independence (1296–1328)

* Battle of Bannockburn (1314)

Edward II's war in France

The Second War of Scottish Independence (1332–1357)

Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) against France

* War of Edward III (1337 to 1360) - victory

* War of Charles the Wise (1369 to 1396) - defeat

* War of Henry V (1415 to 1422) - victory

* War of Charles the Victorious (1428 to 1453) - defeat

Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) - Richard III was the last English king to die in combat - civil war

Early Modern period

Italian Wars (1494 – 1559)

* War of the League of Cambrai (1511-1513)

* Italian War of 1521 (1521-1525)

* Italian War of 1542 (1542-1546)

* Italian War of 1551 (1557-1559)

Cornish Rebellion (1497)

Revolt of Silken Thomas (1534)

Anglo-Scottish Wars (1513; 1544-1551)

Third Cornish Uprising (1549)

Loss of Calais (1558) - then England's last continental possession

Desmond Wars (1569-1583)

Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604)

Nine Years War (1594–1603)

Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)

First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609–1613) - North America

Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622) - North America

Anglo-Spanish War (1625-1630) (As a small part of the Thirty Years' War)

Anglo-French War (1626-1629)

Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651) - civil war

* First Bishops' War (1639)

* Second Bishops' War (1640)

* Irish Rebellion (1641)

* The Confederate’s War (1642-1648)

* English Civil War (1642–1651)

** First English Civil War (1642–1646)

** civil war in Scotland (1644–1647)

** Second English Civil War (1648)

** Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-1653)

** Third English Civil War (1650–1651)

Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644) - North America

First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)

Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)

Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)

War of Devolution (1667–1668)

Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)

King Philip's War (1675–1676) - North America

Virginia Rebellion (1676)

Monmouth Rebellion (1685) - civil war

Nine Years War (1688–1697) - England, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Holland v France

*King William's War (1688–1697) - North America

Jacobite Rebellions (1689-91; 1715-16; 1719; 1745-46) - Civil War

* Williamite war in Ireland (1688–1691)

* Battle of the Boyne (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne

* Clifton Moor Skirmish, near Penrith (1745) - last battle on English soil

* Battle of Culloden (1746) - last battle in Great Britain

War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713) - England and Scotland/Great Britain, Germany, Portugal and Holland v France and Spain

* Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)

War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) - Great Britain, France, Austria and Holland v Italy and Spain

War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1742) - Great Britain v Spain

War of the Austrian Succession (1742–1748) - Great Britain, Austria and Holland v France and Germany

* King George's War (1744–1748)

Seven Years' War (1756–1763) - the first "world war"

* French and Indian War (1754–1763) - Great Britain and Germany v Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Portugal

* Anglo-Cherokee War (1759–1763) - North America

Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–1766) - North America

First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769) - India

American War of Independence (1775–1783) - North America, civil war

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) - India

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)

Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784) - India

Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–1792) - India

19th Century

French Revolutionary Wars (1793–1802) - Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, Germany v France

* War of the First Coalition (1793–1797)

* War of the Second Coalition (1798–1801)

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–1799) - India

Irish Rebellion (1798)

Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) - United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Spain and Russia v France

* British invasions of the Río de la Plata (1806–1807)

* Anglo-Turkish War (1807–1809)

* Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812)

* Gunboat War (1807–1814)

* Peninsular War (1808–1814)

* Hundred Days (1815)

First Kandian War (1803–1804) - Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) - India

Vellore Mutiny (1806) - India

Anglo-Dutch Java War (1810–1811)

War of 1812 (1812–1815)

Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816)

Second Kandian War (1815) - Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818) - India

First Anglo-Burmese War (1823–1826)

Upper Canada Rebellion (1837)

Lower Canada Rebellion (1837)

First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)

*Battle of Ghazni

First Opium War (1839–1842) - United Kingdom v China

First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846) - India

New Zealand Wars (1845–1872)

Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849) - India

Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852)

Crimean War (1854–1856) - United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and Piedmont-Sardinia v Russia

Second Opium War (1856–1860) - United Kingdom and France v China

Anglo-Persian War (1856–1857) - United Kingdom and Persia

Indian Rebellion (1857)

Pig War (1859) - United Kingdom v USA

Anglo-Bhutanese War (1865)

Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880)

Anglo-Zulu War (1879)

First Boer War (1880–1881)

Gun War (1880–1881)

Mahdist War (1881–1899)

Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885–1887)

Anglo-Zanzibar War (1896)

Second Boer War (1899–1902)

20th Century

Boxer Rebellion (1900) - United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, USA, and China

Anglo-Aro war (1901-1902) - Nigeria

World War I (1914–1918) - United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, Russia, United States, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey

Easter Rising (1916) - Ireland

Russian Civil War (1918–1922)

Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)

Anglo-Irish War (1919–1921)

World War II (1939–1945)

* The Pacific War (1937–1945) United Kingdom, USA and China v Japan

* Anglo-Iraqi War (1941)

Greek Civil War (1941–1949)

Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)

Korean War (1950–1953)

Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960)

Cyprus Emergency (1955–1959)

Suez Crisis (1956)

Brunei Revolt (1962)

Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation (1962–1966)

Aden Emergency (1963–1967)

Northern Ireland Troubles (1969-1998)

Cod War Confrontation (1975–1976)

Falklands War (1982)

The First Gulf War (1990–1991)

The Bosnian War (1995–1996)

The Kosovo War (1999)

Sierra Leone Civil War (2000)

21st century

The Global War on Terror (2001)

The Afghanistan War (2001–Present)

Iraq War and Iraqi insurgency (2003–Present)

List of Civil Wars

Rebellion of 1088 - in England and Normandy

The Anarchy (1135–1154) - in England

Revolt of 1173-1174 - in England, Normandy, and Anjou

First Barons' War (1215–1217) - in England

Second Barons' War (1264–1267) - in England

Welsh Uprising (1282) - in England and Wales

Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) - in England and Wales; Richard III was the last English king to die in combat

Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651) - in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland

* First Bishops' War (1639)

* Second Bishops' War (1640)

* Irish Rebellion (1641)

* First English Civil War (1642–1646)

* The Confederate’s War (1642-1648)

* Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1644–1647)

* Second English Civil War (1648)

* Third English Civil War (1650–1651)

* Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649)

Monmouth Rebellion (1685) - in England

Jacobite Rebellions (1689-91; 1715-16; 1719; 1745-46) - in England, Scotland and Ireland

* Williamite war in Ireland (1688–1691)

* Battle of the Boyne (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne

* Clifton Moor, near Penrith (1745) - last land battle on English soil

* Battle of Culloden (1746) - last land battle in Great Britain

American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) - Effectively Civil War with Loyalists fighting Revolutionaries

Roman & ancient

Black Pig's Dyke AD 0–100

Hadrian's Wall AD 122

Antonine Wall AD 142

Mediæval

Castles in the UK

* Castles in England

* Castles in Northern Ireland

* Castles in Scotland

* Castles in Wales

* Castles in Britain

* Home Guard (1940s)

Royal Air Force

* Royal Auxiliary Air Force (1924)

* Royal Observer Corps (1925 - 1995)

Royal Ordnance Factory

National Service (1949 - 1960)

* Joint Services School for Linguists

Scottish military alliances

Auld Alliance (1295-1560)

The Auld Alliance refers to a treaty of mutual defence concluded between France and Scotland in October 1295. It was renewed in 1326 in the Treaty of Corbeil and at several points thereafter. It provides for assistance if either of the parties to the treaty is attacked by a third nation. Though no third party nation is named, the treaty was most often invoked against England. In the early 1330s the French king Philip VI offered active military support to his ally during the Second War of Scottish Independence, amongst other things providing a refuge for the infant David II. In 1346 David, who had returned home in 1341, invaded England to take the pressure off the French, recently defeated at the Battle of Crécy, only to be defeated himself at the Battle of Neville's Cross. In 1421, at the Battle of Baugé, French and Scots forces defeated an English army, their first such reverse in open battle during the Hundred Years War. In 1429 Scots came to the aid of Joan of Arc in the relief of Orléans; many went on to form the Garde Écossaise, the bodyguard of the French monarchy. Many Scottish soldiers chose to settle in France, although they continued to consider themselves Scots. In 1513 Louis XII, under threat from Henry VIII, asked James IV to launch a diversionary attack on northern England. James complied, only to meet defeat and death at the Battle of Flodden. The alliance was finally ended by the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. By this time the Scots saw the Catholic French as a greater threat to their liberty than their fellow Protestants in England.

English military alliances

Anglo-Portuguese alliance (1386-)

The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance between England (succeeded by the United Kingdom) and Portugal, signed in 1373, is the oldest alliance in the world which is still in force. Many times in history, this alliance has served England (and later Britain). This treaty largely influenced the British involvement in the Iberian Peninsular War. The last time that this treaty affected British history was during the 1982 Falklands War, when the facilities of the Azores were again offered to the British Royal Navy.

Holy League (1510 to 1513)

The War of the League of Cambrai (1508–16), sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars. The Kingdom of England participated in the alliance of the Holy League against France (1511–13). The Kingdom Scotland briefly took part in the war as an ally of France.

Triple Alliance (1668)

The Triple Alliance of 1668 consisted of England, Sweden, and the Republic of the United Provinces (the Netherlands). It was formed to halt the expansion of Louis XIV's France in the War of Devolution.

Grand Alliance (1689 - 1697)
The Grand Alliance (known, prior to 1689, as the League of Augsburg) was a European coalition, consisting (at various times) of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Republic of the United Provinces (the Netherlands), the Palatinate of the Rhine, Portugal, Saxony, Spain and Sweden. The league was named the 'Grand Alliance' after England had joined it. The primary reason for the League's creation was to defend the Palatinate from France. This organization fought the War of the Grand Alliance against France from 1688 to 1697.

British military alliances

Triple Alliance (1717)
The Triple Alliance was an agreement between United Kingdom, France and the Republic of the United Provinces (the Netherlands), against Spain.

Triple Alliance (1788)
The Triple Alliance of 1788 was an alliance between Great Britain, Prussia and the Republic of the United Provinces (the Netherlands) against France.

Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902-1923)
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was signed in London on 30 January 1902 by Lord Lansdowne (British Foreign Secretary) and Hayashi Tadasu (Japanese minister in London). The alliance was renewed and extended twice, in 1905 and 1911 before its demise in 1921. It officially terminated on 17 August 1923. This alliance helped the British contain Russia and helped the United Kingdom's navy by providing coaling stations and repair facilities.

Entente Cordiale (1904-)
The Entente Cordiale (French for "friendly understanding") is a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904, between the United Kingdom and France. It resolved differences concerning influence and control in various countries including Egypt, Morocco, Madagascar, Newfoundland, Siam (Thailand), West and Central Africa. The agreement also acknowledged the right of free passage through the Suez Canal. The year after its signing, the UK's sympathetic attitude toward France's position in Morocco helped to ward off a challenge from Germany to the status quo in the North African kingdom (the Tangier Crisis). The agreement also paved the way for the diplomatic and military cooperation that preceded World War I.

Triple Entente (1908)
The Triple Entente was the alliance formed in 1907 between the United Kingdom, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente. France and the UK had already signed the Entente Cordiale in 1904, and France had signed the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894.

NATO (1949-)

Western European Union (1954-)

Five Power Defence Arrangement (1971-)

References

Royal Engineers Museum - Royal Engineers History

Imperial War Museum

Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library

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