Wars involving France

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

war between North and South Korea, 1950–1953

war principally fought in Central Europe from 1618 to 1648

The Syrian Civil War was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war even though clashes have continued into 2026.

The Gulf War was an armed conflict between Iraq and a 42-country coalition led by the United States. The coalition's efforts were in two phases: Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991; and Operation Desert Storm, from the bombing campaign against Iraq on 17 January until the American-led liberation of Kuwait on 28 February.

military conflict fought between October 1853 – March 1856

1870–1871 military conflict of the Second French Empire versus Prussia and its allies

On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran targeting military and government sites and assassinating several Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The surprise attacks were launched during negotiations between Iran and the US regarding Iran's nuclear program. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes against Israel, US bases, and US-allied Arab countries in the Middle East, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade.

2011 armed conflict in the North African country of Libya

revolutionary city council of Paris in 1871

armed conflict between NATO countries and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021

1812 conflict during the Napoleonic Wars

anti-imperialist uprising which took place in China 1899-1901

military campaign started after September 11 attacks

war between France and the Algerian independence movement from 1954 to 1962

Greek rebellion against the Ottoman Empire (1821–1829)

Qing Dynasty era rebellion (1851–1864)

war fought between the Turkish National Movement and the Entente and their proxies

1807–1814 conflict during the Napoleonic Wars

1946–1954 French colonial war in Vietnam

July 1830 revolution in France

1791 slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue

eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front

ongoing civil war in the state of Yemen

1805–1806 conflict during the Napoleonic Wars

1806–1807 conflict during the Napoleonic Wars

armed conflicts that started from January 2012

1828–1829 part of the Russo-Turkish wars

eastern European military conflict (1917–1921)

limited conflict (1881–1885) between France and China

1921–1926 war between Spain and Berber tribes of Morocco

invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1861, by the Second French Empire

war between Thailand and Vichy France (1940-1941)

The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

war between France and Mexico

civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840

North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession

conflict between the government of the Central African Republic and rebels

1920 war in the Middle East

1978–1987 series of military campaigns

1839-1851 civil war in Uruguay

conflict

1957–1958 armed conflicts in Spanish West Africa

civil war

war lasting from 1918 to 1921 during the Turkish War of Independence

conflict between rebels in Sahara and Morocco between 1975 and 1991. It began again in 2020

2009–present phase of the Somali Civil War

Incident between France and Siam

historical period marked by terrorist violence in the spanish region of Basque Country

1828-1834 civil war in Portugal

Sunni Islamic terrorism in the Maghreb

dispute over spiny lobsters from 1961 to 1963 between Brazil and France

1940s rebellion in Madagascar

Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, making Protestantism illegal. The Camisards operated throughout the mainly Protestant Cévennes and Vaunage regions including parts of the Camargue around Aigues Mortes. The revolt broke out in 1702, with the worst of the fighting continuing until 1704, then skirmishes until 1710 and a final peace by 1715. The Edict of Tolerance

war

1991–1994 civil war in Djibouti

Franco-Moroccan conflict

1881 French military operation

1866 military campaign