View source for Military history of the peoples of the British Islands

'''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 invasion of Britain|Roman invasions]] of [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Claudius]], with the subsequent [[Roman Britain|Roman occupation]] of most of the island; [[war]]fare in the [[Great Britain in the Middle Ages|Middle Ages]], including the invasions of the [[Saxon people|Saxons]] and the [[Viking]]s in the [[Early Middle Ages]], the [[Norman Conquest]] of England, [[Wars of Scottish Independence|wars between Scotland and England]] and between England and [[France]]; through the [[Early Modern Britain|early modern period]], wars against [[Spain]] and [[France]], and the [[English Civil War]], and the beginnings of the colonial [[British Empire]] in [[British Raj|India]] and [[British colonization of the Americas|North America]]; and into the modern period with the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[Crimean War]] and into the 20th century with the [[Second Boer War|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]].<!--This enormous run-on sentence needs breaking up.-->

==List of military encounters==
===Prehistoric and Classical period===
* [[Celtic conquest of Britain]]
* [[Roman conquest of Britain]] (43)
* [[Boudica#Boudica.27s uprising|Boudica's uprising]] (61)
** [[Battle of Watling Street]]

===Medieval period===
* [[Battle of Aylesford]] (455) Anglo-Saxons, Romano-Britons
* [[Battle of Ellandun]]
* [[Viking Britain|Viking invasions]] (793&ndash;1066)
** Raid on [[Lindisfarne]] (793)
** [[Alfred the Great#Public life|Campaign of Alfred the Great]] (871&ndash;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&ndash;1217) - civil war
* Henry III's war in France
* [[Battle of Largs]]
* [[Second Barons' War]] (1264&ndash;1267) - civil war
* [[Welsh Uprising (1282)|Welsh Uprising]] (1282) - civil war
* Edward I's war in France
* [[First War of Scottish Independence|The First War of Scottish Independence]] (1296&ndash;1328)
** [[Battle of Dunbar]] (1296)
** [[Battle of Stirling Bridge]] (1297)
** [[Battle of Roslin]] (1303)
** [[Battle of Methven]] (1306)
** [[Battle of Bannockburn]] (1314)
* Edward II's war in France
* [[Second War of Scottish Independence|The Second War of Scottish Independence]] (1332&ndash;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&ndash;1485) - [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] was the last English king to die in combat - civil war

===Early Modern period===
* [[Italian Wars]] (1494 &ndash; 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 of 1497|Cornish Rebellion]] (1497) 
* [[Silken Thomas|Revolt of Silken Thomas]] (1534)
* [[Anglo-Scottish Wars]] (1513; 1544-1551)
* [[Prayer Book Rebellion|Third Cornish Uprising]] (1549)
* [[Calais|Loss of Calais]] (1558) - then England's last continental possession
* [[Desmond Wars]] (1569-1583)
* [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585)|Anglo-Spanish War]] (1585-1604)
* [[Nine Years War (Ireland)|Nine Years War]] (1594&ndash;1603)
* [[Eighty Years' War#Overseas assistance|Eighty Years' War]] (1568&ndash;1648)
* [[First Anglo-Powhatan War]] (1609&ndash;1613) - North America
* [[Second Anglo-Powhatan War]] (1622) - North America
* [[Anglo-Spanish War (1625)|Anglo-Spanish War]] (1625-1630) (As a small part of the Thirty Years' War)
* [[Anglo-French War (1626)|Anglo-French War]] (1626-1629)
* [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] (1639&ndash;1651) - civil war
** [[Bishops Wars#First Bishops.27 War .281639.29|First Bishops' War]] (1639)
** [[Bishops Wars#Second Bishops.27 War .281640.29|Second Bishops' War]] (1640)
** [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Irish Rebellion]] (1641)
** [[Irish Confederate Wars#The Confederate.E2.80.99s war - 1642-48|The Confederate’s War ]] (1642-1648)
** [[English Civil War]] (1642&ndash;1651)
*** [[First English Civil War]] (1642&ndash;1646)
*** [[Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms|civil war in Scotland]] (1644&ndash;1647)
*** [[Second English Civil War]] (1648)
*** [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]] (1649-1653)
*** [[Third English Civil War]] (1650&ndash;1651)
* [[Third Anglo-Powhatan War]] (1644) - North America
* [[First Anglo-Dutch War]] (1652&ndash;1654)
* [[Anglo-Spanish War (1654)|Anglo-Spanish War]] (1654&ndash;1660)
* [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]] (1665&ndash;1667)
* [[War of Devolution]] (1667&ndash;1668)
* [[Third Anglo-Dutch War]] (1672&ndash;1674)
* [[King Philip's War]] (1675&ndash;1676) - North America
* [[Bacon's Rebellion|Virginia Rebellion]] (1676)
* [[Monmouth Rebellion]] (1685) - civil war
* [[Nine Years War]] (1688&ndash;1697) - England, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Holland v France
**[[King William's War]] (1688&ndash;1697) - North America
* [[Jacobitism|Jacobite Rebellions]] (1689-91; 1715-16; 1719; 1745-46) - Civil War
** [[Williamite war in Ireland]] (1688&ndash;1691)
** [[Battle of the Boyne]] (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne
** [[Clifton Moor Skirmish]], near Penrith (1745) - last battle on [[England|English]] soil
** [[Battle of Culloden]] (1746) - last battle in [[Great Britain]] 
* [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1702&ndash;1713) - England and Scotland/Great Britain, Germany, Portugal and Holland v France and Spain
** [[Queen Anne's War]] (1702&ndash;1713)
* [[War of the Quadruple Alliance]] (1718&ndash;1720) - Great Britain, France, Austria and Holland v Italy and Spain
* [[War of Jenkins' Ear]] (1739&ndash;1742) - Great Britain v Spain
* [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1742&ndash;1748) - Great Britain, Austria and Holland v France and Germany
** [[King George's War]] (1744&ndash;1748)
* [[Seven Years' War]] (1756&ndash;1763) - the first "world war"
** [[French and Indian War]] (1754&ndash;1763) - Great Britain and Germany v Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Portugal
** [[Anglo-Cherokee War]] (1759&ndash;1763) - North America
* [[Pontiac's Rebellion]] (1763&ndash;1766) - North America
* [[First Anglo-Mysore War]] (1766&ndash;1769) - India
* [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]] (1775&ndash;1783) - North America, civil war
* [[First Anglo-Maratha War]] (1775&ndash;1782) - India
* [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]] (1780&ndash;1784)
* [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]] (1780&ndash;1784) - India
* [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]] (1789&ndash;1792) - India

===19th Century===
* [[French Revolutionary Wars]] (1793&ndash;1802) - Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, Germany v France
** [[French Revolutionary Wars#War of the First Coalition|War of the First Coalition]] (1793&ndash;1797)
** [[French Revolutionary Wars#War of the Second Coalition|War of the Second Coalition]] (1798&ndash;1801)
* [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]] (1798&ndash;1799) - India
* [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|Irish Rebellion]] (1798)
* [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1803&ndash;1815) - United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Spain and Russia v France
** [[British invasions of the Río de la Plata]] (1806&ndash;1807)
** [[Anglo-Turkish war 1807-1809|Anglo-Turkish War]] (1807&ndash;1809)
** [[Anglo-Russian War 1807-1812|Anglo-Russian War]] (1807&ndash;1812)
** [[Gunboat War]] (1807&ndash;1814)
** [[Peninsular War]] (1808&ndash;1814)
** [[Hundred Days]] (1815)
* [[Kandian Wars|First Kandian War]] (1803&ndash;1804) - Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
* [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]] (1803&ndash;1805) - India
* [[Vellore Mutiny]] (1806) - India
* [[Anglo-Dutch Java War]] (1810&ndash;1811)
* [[War of 1812]] (1812&ndash;1815)
* [[The Gurkha War|Anglo-Nepalese War]] (1814&ndash;1816)
* [[Kandian Wars|Second Kandian War]] (1815) - Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
* [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] (1817&ndash;1818) - India
* [[First Burmese War|First Anglo-Burmese War ]] (1823&ndash;1826)
* [[Upper Canada Rebellion]] (1837) 
* [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] (1837)
* [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] (1839&ndash;1842)
**[[Battle of Ghazni]]
* [[First Opium War]] (1839&ndash;1842) - United Kingdom v China
* [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] (1845&ndash;1846) - India
* [[New Zealand land wars|New Zealand Wars]] (1845&ndash;1872)
* [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] (1848&ndash;1849) - India
* [[Second Burmese War|Second Anglo-Burmese War ]] (1852)
* [[Crimean War]] (1854&ndash;1856) - United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and Piedmont-Sardinia v Russia
* [[Second Opium War]] (1856&ndash;1860) - United Kingdom and France v China
* [[Anglo-Persian War|Anglo-Persian War (1856&ndash;1857)]] - United Kingdom and Persia
* [[Indian rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]] (1857)
* [[Pig War]] (1859) - United Kingdom v USA
* [[Anglo-Bhutanese War]] (1865)
* [[European influence in Afghanistan#The Second Anglo-Afghan War|Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878-1880)
* [[Anglo-Zulu War]] (1879)
* [[First Boer War]] (1880&ndash;1881)
* [[Gun War]] (1880&ndash;1881)
* [[Mahdist War]] (1881&ndash;1899)
* [[Third Burmese War|Third Anglo-Burmese War]] (1885&ndash;1887)
* [[Anglo-Zanzibar War]] (1896)
* [[Second Boer War]] (1899&ndash;1902)

===20th Century===
* [[Boxer Rebellion]] (1900) - United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, USA v China 
* [[Anglo-Aro war]] (1901-1902) - Nigeria
* [[World War I]] (1914&ndash;1918) - United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, Russia, United States v Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey
* [[Easter Rising]] (1916) - Ireland
* [[Russian Civil War]] (1918&ndash;1922)
* [[European influence in Afghanistan#Third Anglo-Afghan War and Independence|Third Anglo-Afghan War]] (1919)
* [[Irish War of Independence]] (1919&ndash;1921)
* [[World War II]] (1939&ndash;1945)
** [[Pacific War|The Pacific War]] (1937&ndash;1945) United Kingdom, USA and China v Japan
** [[Anglo-Iraqi War]] (1941)
* [[Greek Civil War]] (1941&ndash;1949)
* [[Malayan Emergency]] (1948&ndash;1960)
* [[Korean War]] (1950&ndash;1953)
* [[Mau Mau Uprising]] (1952&ndash;1960)
* [[Modern history of Cyprus#Proposed Union with Greece|Cyprus Emergency]] (1955&ndash;1959)
* [[Suez Crisis]] (1956)
* [[Brunei Revolt]] (1962)
* [[Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation]] (1962&ndash;1966)
* [[Troubles|Northern Ireland Troubles]] (1969-2007)
* [[Cod War|Cod War Confrontation]] (1975&ndash;1976)
* [[Falklands War]] (1982)
* [[Gulf War|The First Gulf War]] (1990&ndash;1991)
* [[Bosnian War|The Bosnian War]] (1995&ndash;1996)
* [[Kosovo War|The Kosovo War]] (1999)
* [[Iraqi no-fly zones]]  (1991-2003)
* [[Operation Palliser|Sierra Leone Civil War]] (2000)

===21st century===
* [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|The Afghanistan War]] (2001&ndash;Present)
* [[Iraq War]] and [[Iraqi insurgency]] (2003&ndash;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&ndash;1217) - in [[England]]
# [[Second Barons' War]] (1264&ndash;1267) - in [[England]]
# [[Welsh Uprising (1282)|Welsh Uprising]] (1282) - in [[England]] and [[Wales]]
# [[Wars of the Roses]] (1455&ndash;1485) - in [[England]] and [[Wales]]; [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] was the last English king to die in combat
# [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] (1639&ndash;1651) - in  [[England]], [[Wales]], [[Scotland]] and [[Ireland]]
#* [[Bishops Wars#First Bishops.27 War .281639.29|First Bishops' War]] (1639)
#* [[Bishops Wars#Second Bishops.27 War .281640.29|Second Bishops' War]] (1640)
#* [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Irish Rebellion]] (1641-42)
#* [[First English Civil War]] (1642&ndash;1646)
#* [[Irish Confederate Wars#The Confederate.E2.80.99s war - 1642-48|The Confederate’s War ]] (1642-1648)
#* [[Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] (1644&ndash;1647)
#* [[Second English Civil War]] (1648)
#* [[Third English Civil War]] (1650&ndash;1651)
#* [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]] (1649)
# [[Monmouth Rebellion]] (1685) - in [[England]]
# [[Jacobitism|Jacobite Rebellions]] (1689-91; 1715-16; 1719; 1745-46) - in [[England]], [[Scotland]] and [[Ireland]]
#* [[Williamite war in Ireland]] (1688&ndash;1691)
#* [[Battle of the Boyne]] (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne
#* [[Clifton Moor]], near Penrith (1745) - last land battle on [[England|English]] soil
#* [[Battle of Culloden]] (1746) - last land battle in [[Great Britain]]
#  [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783) - Effectively Civil War with Loyalists fighting Revolutionaries

==List of fortifications in the British Isles==
===Roman & ancient===
* [[Black Pig's Dyke]] AD 0&ndash;100
* [[Hadrian's Wall]] AD 122
* [[Antonine Wall]] AD 142

===Medieval===
* Castles in the UK
** [[Castles in England]]
** [[Castles in Northern Ireland]]
** [[Castles in Scotland]]
** [[Castles in Wales]]
** [[Castles in Britain]]

===1600s===
*[[Royal Citadel, Plymouth|The Royal Citadel]]
*[[Charlemont Fort]] in Ulster

===Georgian & Victorian===
*[[Fort Bovisand]]
*[[Crownhill Fort]]
*[[Martello tower]]s
*[[Picklecombe Fort]]
*[[Fort George, Highland|Fort George]]
* [[Eastbourne Redoubt]]

===World War II Stop Lines===
* [[Avon Stop Line]]
* [[Colchester Stop Line]]
* [[Coquet Stop Line]]
* [[GHQ Line]]
* [[Outer London Defence Ring]]
* [[Ringwood West Line]]
* [[Salisbury West Stop Line]]
* [[Taunton Stop Line]]

==List of British military institutions==
{{main|British Armed Forces}}

* [[Royal Navy]]
** [[Royal Marines]]
** [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]]
* [[British Army]]
** [[New Model Army]] (1645)
** [[Territorial Army]] (1907)
** [[Kitchener's Army]] (1914)
** [[Auxiliary Units]] (1940s)
** [[British Home Guard|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]]

==List of British military alliances==
===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 of France|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 of England|Henry VIII]], asked [[James IV of Scotland|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 Peninsula|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.

* [[Catholic League (Italian)|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)|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 (island)|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-)

==See also==
* [[Pax Britannica]]
* [[History of British Isles]]
* [[History of the United Kingdom]]
* [[United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction]]
* [[History of the British Army]]
* [[History of the Royal Navy]]
* [[List of battles (geographic)]]
* [[List of wars]]
* [[British military rank insignia]]
* [[United Kingdom casualties of war]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_history.htm Royal Engineers Museum] - Royal Engineers History
*[http://www.iwm.org.uk/ Imperial War Museum]
*[http://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/collections/askb/ Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library]

[[Category:Military history of the United Kingdom| ]]
[[Category:Military history of Ireland| ]]