Military history of the peoples of the British Islands
British military history is a long and varied topic, extending from the prehistoric and ancient historic period, through the Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius and subsequent Roman occupation; warfare in the Mediaeval period, including the invasions of the Saxons and the Vikings in the Dark Ages, the Norman Conquest, and wars against 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, the USA and Canada; and into the Modern period with the wars of Marlborough and against Napoleon, the Crimean War and into the 20th century with the Boer War, World War I and World War II, the Korean War; and, most recently, the Falklands War and military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.
Prehistoric and ancient period
- Prehistoric / ancient
- Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius
- Boudiccan revolt
- Hadrian's Wall
- Shore forts
- Saxons
Mediaeval period
Early Modern period
Modern Period
20th century
21st century
- military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.
List of British military encounters
- Roman Invasion (43)
- Manduessedum (61)
- Battle of Mons Graupius (83)
- 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 Stamford Bridge (1066)
- Norman Conquest (1066)
- Battle of Hastings (1066) - last successful invasion of the British Isles by a foreign force
- Rebellion of 1088
- Revolt of 1173-1174
- Third Crusade (1189)
- Welsh Uprising of 1211
- Battle of Bouvines (1214) - loss of Normandy
- First Barons' War (1215–1217)
- Second Barons' War (1264–1267)
- Welsh Uprising of 1282
- Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1333)
- Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453)
- Battle of Agincourt (1415)
- Wars of the Roses (1455–1485)
- Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) - Richard III was the last British king to die in combat
- Italian Wars (1494 – 1559)
- Loss of Calais (1558) - then England's last continental possession
- Eighty Years' War (1598–1648)
- Spanish Armada (1588)
- Bishops' Wars (1639–1640)
- British Civil War (1642–1649)
- 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)
- Monmouth Rebellion (1685)
- Battle of Sedgemoor (1685)
- War of the Grand Alliance (or King William's War) (1688–1697)
- Jacobite Rebellions (1689–1746)
- Battle of Preston (1715)
- Clifton Moor, near Penrith (1745) - last battle on English soil
- Battle of Culloden (1746) - last battle on the British mainland
- Battle of the Boyne (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne
- War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713)
- Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)
- War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1742)
- War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)
- Seven Years' War (1756–1763) - the first "world war"
- Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)
- American War of Independence (1775 to 1783)
- Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)
- Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
- Peninsular War (1808–1814)
- British-American War (1812)
- Anglo-Gurkha War (1814-1816)
- Peterloo massacre (1819)
- First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)
- First Opium War (1839–1842)
- Crimean War (1854–1856)
- Second Opium War (or The Arrow War) (1856–1860)
- Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
- Boer War ( 1880–1881 and 1899–1902)
- Siege of Mafeking (1899–1900)
- Anglo-Irish War (1919–1921)
- Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923)
- World War I (1914–1918)
- The Pacific War (1937-1945)
- World War II (1939–1945)
- Cold War (1945–1991)
- Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)
- Korean War (1950–1953)
- Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960)
- Cyprus Emergency (1955–1959)
- Suez Crisis (1956)
- Brunei Uprising (1962)
- Konfrontasi (1962–1966)
- Aden Emergency (1963–1967)
- Icelandic Cod War (1975–1976)
- Falklands War (1982)
- Gulf War (1990–1991)
- Bosnian War (IFOR) (1995–1996)
- Kosovo War (1999)
- Sierra Leone (2000)
- 2001 Afghanistan War (2001–2002)
- 2003 invasion of Iraq (2003)
List of fortifications in Britain
Roman & ancient
- Hadrian's Wall AD 122
- Antonine Wall AD 142
Mediaeval
- Castles in the UK
Georgian & Victorian
World War II Stop Lines
- Avon Stop Line
- Colchester Stop Line
- GHQ Line
- Outer London Defence Ring
- Ringwood West Line
- Salisbury West Stop Line
- Taunton Stop Line
List of British military institutions
- Royal Navy
- British Army
- New Model Army (1645)
- Territorial Army (1907)
- Kitchener's Army (1914)
- Auxiliary Units (1940s)
- Home Guard (1940s)
- Royal Air Force
- Royal Ordnance
- National Service (1949 - 1960)
List of British military alliances
Scottish military alliances
English military alliances
- Anglo-Portuguese alliance (1386-)
- Holy League (1510 to 1513)
- Triple Alliance (1668)
- Grand Alliance (1689 - ?)
British military alliances
- Anglo-Portuguese alliance (1704-)
- Triple Alliance (1717)
- Triple Alliance (1788)
- Entente Cordiale (1904)
- Triple Entente (1908)
- NATO (1949-)
- Western European Union (1954-)
- Five Power Defence Arrangement (1971-)