A bloodless war is generally a small conflict, crisis, or dispute between rival groups that is resolved without human death or injury, though the threat of violence may seem likely at the time. Intentional property damage, however, may still occur. Such events may be referred to as
war
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of 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 between such organi ...
s, though the term "war" generally implies violence. Therefore, the term "bloodless war" is somewhat of an
oxymoron
An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that Juxtaposition, juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction (disambiguation), self-contradiction. As a rhetorical de ...
.
Bloodless wars
The following is a list of bloodless wars:
Incorrectly categorized wars
The following wars are often labelled incorrectly as bloodless wars:
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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 ...
: unknown number of killed
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Cod Wars
The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...
: one man killed, one man wounded
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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 ...
: one man wounded
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Battle of Athens (1946): several wounded
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Conquest of New Netherland
The conquest of New Netherland occurred in 1664 as an English expedition led by Richard Nicolls that arrived in New York Harbor effected a peaceful capture of New Amsterdam and Fort Amsterdam, and the Articles of Surrender of New Netherland wer ...
: three killed
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Invasion of the Gambia
The ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia or the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (abbreviated ECOMIG) – initially code-named Operation Restore Democracy – is an ongoing military intervention in The Gambia by several member states of the E ...
: initial invasion was bloodless, first casualties were reported during the occupation and stabilization period
See also
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Non-violent revolution
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Frozen conflict
In international relations, a frozen conflict is a situation in which active armed conflict has been brought to an end, but no peace treaty or other political framework resolves the conflict to the satisfaction of the combatants. Therefore, ...
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Cod Wars
The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...
References
Notes
Sources
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* {{cite journal, last1=Krauthammer, first1=Charles, title=The Short, Unhappy Life of Humanitarian War, jstor=42897194, journal=The National Interest, pages=5–8, date=1999, issue=57
Wars by type
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bloodless