President Biden in the new Situation Room

This is an index of lists detailing military conflicts involving the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, organized by time period. Although the United States has formally declared war only 5 times and these declarations cover a total of 11 separate instances against specific nations, there are currently 137 military conflicts included in these lists, 5 of which are ongoing. Formal declarations of war include: the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

), the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

(

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

), the

Spanish-American War Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

). Since World War II, the U.S. has engaged in numerous military operations authorized by Congress or initiated by the executive branch without formal declarations of war; notable examples include the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

(

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

) and War on terror (the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

and the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

). 7 military engagements, encompassing 5 wars, all of which are interventions, currently involve the US: the Yemeni Civil War, the

Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War (; ) is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed ...

, the Syrian Civil War, the

Gaza War The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

and the Iran-Israel War.

Lists

Background and criteria

Criteria for inclusion on these lists

# Under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

holds the exclusive power to declare war. The United States has only officially declared war 5 times in the

, the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

, and

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. These declarations cover a total of 11 separate instances against specific nations. This would exclude the

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, the

American Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonization of the Americas, European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States o ...

Banana Wars The Banana Wars were a series of conflicts that consisted of military occupation, police action, and Interventionism (politics), intervention by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between the end of the Spanish–American W ...

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and

Iraq war The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

in addition to many other smaller conflicts out of these lists. To display a wider sense of the scope of U.S. involvement in "wars" this list focuses on any military conflicts involving the United States Military regardless of size. # There are several related articles that cover other forms of violence, such as

Attacks on the United States The United States has been attacked several times throughout its history, including attacks on List of states and territories of the United States, its states and territories, List of diplomatic missions of the United States, embassies and consul ...

, List of rebellions in the United States,

List of massacres in the United States This is a partial list of massacres in the United States; death tolls may be approximate. :*For single-perpetrator events and shooting sprees, see List of rampage killers in the United States, Mass shootings in the United States, :Spree shootin ...

, and list of Family feuds in the United States. Another related page, List of conflicts in the United States, covers any type of violent action in the U.S., ranging from isolated homicide, to wars that would meet the criteria for inclusion in this article series. These lists are useful, but are generally separate from the criteria to be focused on in these articles. # These lists do not focus on small-scale rebellions, single terror attacks, riots, assassinations, labor wars, state wars, feuds, range wars, or gang wars, as much as military conflicts involving the United States military ( U.S Army,

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

, U.S. Airforce, U.S. Coast Guard (when acting in a military capacity), U.S. Space Force, the

United States Intelligence Agencies The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...

(when acting in a military capacity or instance the Special Activities Center">Special_Activities_Center.html" ;"title="or instance the Special Activities Center">or instance the Special Activities Center, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, United States Merchant Marine, Merchant Marines, and U.S. Private military company, private military companies (PMCs). # These lists may include operations against piracy, if it involves the United States military, but generally should cover a whole operation and not a single action or battle, unless that particular operation was wide, but only consisted of one major battle. For example,

Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation All ...

included several conflicts such as the

Dai Hong Dan incident The ''Dai Hong Dan'' incident took place on 29October 2007, when the North Korean cargo vessel MV ''Dai Hong Dan'' () was attacked and temporarily seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean off Somalia. The following day, the crew of the ves ...

and the ''Maersk Alabama'' hijacking. Operation Ocean Shield can be included, because it is part of a wider conflict, but the

and the ''Maersk Alabama'' hijacking would not. Similarly, the Aegean Sea anti-piracy operations of the United States had several battles, but only one more thoroughly reported ( Battle of Doro Passage). These operations would be included, but not the Battle of Doro Passage. An exception to the rule of single battles is if a conflict is a punitive action or hostage rescue mission and marks a single operation that only involved one battle such as the

Battle of Ty-ho Bay The Battle of Ty-ho Bay was a significant naval engagement in 1855 involving the United Kingdom and United States against Chinese pirates. The action off Tai O, Hong Kong was to rescue captured merchant vessels, held by a fleet of armed war-j ...

. #

List of Colonial American Wars from the 17th century This List of Colonial American Wars includes military conflicts involving the Thirteen Colonies and their predecessor colonies from 1609 till 1700. It covers the colonies that joined them prior to their Independence in 1776 (for example the Plym ...

and List of Colonial American Wars from the 18th century both serve as a historical prequel, in that it focuses on the colonies and territories that would later make up the United States. As such the criteria will be similar and different in several respects.

Examples for criteria that are not included

Assassinations Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

or assassination attempts:

Assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

, or the

Attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, then a former president of the United States and presumptive nominee of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in the 2024 United States presidential election, 2024 presidential election, surv ...

. * Coup d'état attempts: The

Business plot The Business Plot, also called the Wall Street Putsch and the White House Putsch, was a political conspiracy in 1933 in the United States to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as dictator. But ...

or the

Newburgh Conspiracy The Newburgh Conspiracy was a failed apparent threat by leaders of the Continental Army in March 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War. The Army's commander, George Washington, successfully calmed the soldiers and helped secure back ...

. * Cyber Wars: A form of military conflicts that takes place in cyberspace with cyber weapons. The

Operation Olympic Games Operation Olympic Games was an black operation, unacknowledged campaign of sabotage by means of cyber disruption, directed at Iranian Nuclear program of Iran, nuclear facilities by the United States and Israel. As reported, it is one of the first ...

or the Operation Ababil. *

Feuds A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because ...

: The Hatfield's and McCoy feud or the

Earp Vendetta Ride The Earp Vendetta Ride was a deadly search by a federal posse led by Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp for a loose confederation of outlaw "Cowboys" they believed had ambushed his brothers Virgil and Morgan Earp, maiming the former and killing th ...

. * Filibuster Wars: The

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

, actions of the Ever Victorious Army, the William Walker Wars, or the Fenian raids. * Gang Wars: The Dead Rabbits riot, or the

Castellammarese War The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano that took place in New York City from February 26, 1930, until April 15, 1931. The feu ...

. * Isolated terrorist attacks: The Black Tom Bombing or the Beirut barracks bombings. * Labor Wars: The Great Railroad Strike or the Coal Wars. * Peacekeeping Missions: The

International Force East Timor The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...

, the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force and military of Kosovo. KFOR is the third security responder, after the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law (European ...

or the

Multinational Force and Observers The Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) is an international peacekeeping force overseeing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The MFO generally operates in and around the Sinai peninsula, ensuring free navigation through ...

. * Range Wars: The

Johnson County War The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range war in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting alleged Cattle raiding ...

or the Castaic Range War. *

Rebellions Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

: The

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

or the Ruby Ridge Siege, as well as

Slave rebellions A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

. *

Riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

: The L.A. Riots or the

Battle of Liberty Place The Battle of Liberty Place, or Battle of Canal Street, was an attempted insurrection by the Crescent City White League against the Reconstruction Era Louisiana Republican state government on September 14, 1874, in New Orleans, which was the ...

. * State or local wars: The

Toledo War The Toledo War (1835–1836), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or Ohio–Michigan War, was a boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo Strip. Control of th ...

or the Battle of Athens. *

Trade Wars A trade war is an economic conflict often resulting from extreme protectionism, in which Sovereign state, states raise or implement tariffs or other trade barriers against each other as part of their Commercial policy, commercial policies, in re ...

China–United States trade war An economic conflict between China and the United States has been ongoing since January 2018, when U.S. president Donald Trump began Tariffs in the first Trump administration, imposing tariffs and other trade barriers on China with the aim of fo ...

or United States trade war with Canada and Mexico.

Notes

References

{{World topic, List of wars involving, noredlinks=yes Anti-piracy battles involving the United States Battles by U.S. state Battles involving the United States

Organized crime conflicts in the United States

Wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

Operations involving American special forces