major wars of 20th century

Years 1919 1920 Battle deaths 1,500 In 1918, as a result of defeat in World War I, the Austro Hungarian Monarchy collapsed. On October 31, 1918, the success of the Aster Revolution in Budapest brought the liberal count Mih

Years 1919 1920 Battle deaths 2,000 The Waziristan campaign 1919 1920 was a military campaign conducted in Waziristan by British and Indian forces against the fiercely independent tribesmen that inhabited this region. These operations were conducted in 1919 1920, following the unrest that arose in the aftermath of the Third Anglo Afghan War.The prelude to the 1919 1920 campaign was an incursion by the Mahsud Tribe in the summer of 1917 while British forces were otherwise engaged fighting in the First World War. The British Forces eventually restored calm, however, in 1919 the Waziris took advantage of unrest in Afghanistan following the Third Anglo Afghan War to launch more raids against British garrisons.The first attempt to subdue them began in November 1919, when Major General Sir Andrew Skeen launched a series of operations against the Tochi Wazirs. These operations were largely successful and terms were agreed, and in December Skeen turned his attention to Mahsuds. As the 43rd and 67th Brigades were grouped together as the Derajet Column and committed to the fighting, they met heavy resistance as the largely inexperienced Indian units came up against determined, well armed tribesmen.

The fighting continued for about twelve months in this vein, and the British had to resort to using aircraft on a number of occasions to suppress the tribesmen.The Mahsuds took heavy casualties during the fighting at Ahnai Tangi and it was these casualties, as well as the destruction of their villages a month later by bombers of the Royal Air Force, that temporarily subdued the Mahsuds. When the Wana Wazirs rose up in November 1920, they appealed for help from the Mahsuds, but still recovering from their earlier defeat, no support was forthcoming and the Wazir opposition faded away. On 22 December 1920, Wana was re occupied.Minor raids by the Wazirs and forays by British forces continued into 1921, however, following the 1919 20 campaign, the British decided upon a change of strategy in Waziristan. It was determined that a permanent garrison of regular troops would be maintained in the region to work in much more closely with the militia units that were being reconstituted following the troubles that occurred during the 1919 war with Afghanistan

Years 1919 1920 Battle deaths 100,000 After the First World War, Poland regained independence lost with the Third Partiton of Poland in 1795. After 123 years of annexation Second Polish Republic was proclaimed in 1918.Polish leader JOzef Pisudski envisioned a new federation (sometimes called Federation of Miedzymorze) which would be composed of Poland, Lithuania and western Ukraine (centered at Kyiv), forming a Polish led East European confederation as a counterweight to Russia. This new country was to have similar borders to the former Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth from 16th 18th century.
At the same time Russia was transforming into the Soviet Union, through the Russian Revolutions and Russian Civil War that begun in 1917.Lenin, leader of the new communist government of Russia, saw Poland as the bridge that would have to be crossed in order to help the communists fractions in Germany and Western Europe, according to the plan that would bring the worldwide domination of communism, as predicted by Karl Marx. When the German Revolution begun in 1918 Soviets decided it was time to start expanding their influence westwards.

Years 1919 1921 Battle deaths 40,000 The Turkish War of Independence is a part of the History of Turkey that spans from the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by the Allies in World War I to the declaration of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923.1916 The Sykes Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France is signed, dividing the Ottoman Empire between several states, both independent (e.g. Armenia and Kurdistan) and subject to such European nations as the UK, Italy, France, Imperial Russia and Greece. According to this treaty, a small territory around Ankara was all that was to be left for the Turks. This treaty is not recognized by the Ottoman state.1919 M

Years 1919 1922 Battle deaths 50,000 The Greco Turkish War of 1919 1922, also called the War in Asia Minor, and (in Turkey) a part of the Turkish War of Independence, was a war between Greece and Turkey fought in the wake of World War I. The war arose because the western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire if Greece entered the war on the Allied side. These included eastern Thrace, the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, and parts of western Anatolia around the city of Smyrna (current day yzmir), all of which had substantial Greek populations.

Years 1919 1925 Battle deaths 4,000 The First Saudi Hashemite War, also known as the First Nejd Hejaz War or the al Khurma dispute took place in 1918 1919 between Abdulaziz Ibn Saud of the Emirate of Nejd and the Hashemites of the Kingdom of Hejaz.The war came within the scope of the historic conflict between the Hashemites of Hejaz and the Saudis of Ryadh (Nejd) over supremacy in Arabia. It resulted in the defeat of the Hashemite forces and capture of al Khurma by the Saudis and his allied Ikhwan, but British intervention prevented immediate collapse of the Hashemite kingdom, establishing a sensitive cease fire that would last until 1924.Source Wikipedia, published under the GNU FDL.

The 1924 campaign came within the scope of the historic conflict between the Hashemites of Hejaz and the Saudis of Ryadh (Nejd), which had already sparked the First Saudi Hashemite War in 1919.The pretext for renewed hostilities between Nejd and Hejaz came when the pilgrims from Nejd were denied access to the holy places in Hejaz. On August 29, 1924, Ibn Saoud began his military campaign against Hejaz by advancing towards Taif, which surrendered without a major struggle. Following the fall of Taif, the Saudi forces and the allied Ikhwan tribesmen moved on Mecca. Sharif Husseins request for British assistance was denied to him on the pretext of non intervention in religious disputes. King Hussein bin Ali had meanwhile fled from Mecca to Jeddah, after the assistance request from King Abdullah of Transjordan was denied as well. The city of Mecca fell without struggle on October 13, 1924. The Islamic Conference, held in Riyadh on the 29th October 1924, brought a wide Islamic recognition of Ibn Sauds jurisdiction over Mecca.With the advancement of the Saudi forces and blockade imposed on Jeddah, Hejazi army began disintegrating. The city of Medina surrendered on December 12, 1925, and Yanbu fell 12 days later. Jeddah was handed to Sultan Abdulaziz of Najd and Saudi forces on December 1925, with the Saudi forces entering its gates on January 8, 1926, after capitulation and safe passage was negotiated between King bin Ali, Sultan Abdulaziz, and the British Counsul by the citys ruler Sheikh Abdullah Alireza.

Years 1920 1920 Battle deaths 3,500 The Battle of Maysalun, also called The Battle of Maysalun Pass, took place between Syrian and French forces some 12 miles west of Damascus on July 23, 1920. The battle occurred when the French moved to topple the newly proclaimed nationalist government of Hashim al Atassi under King Faisal. An independent Kingdom of Syria had recently been proclaimed after an Arab army led by British colonel T. E. Lawrence defeated the Ottomans and captured Damascus. However, as a result of negotiations between the western powers at the San Remo conference, and the secret Sykes Picot Agreement between Britain and France, the French were given a mandate over Syria by the League of Nations, which Faisal and his government refused to recognize. Faisal also refused to recognize Lebanese independence from Greater Syria. The French had set up the republic on the remnants of a former Ottoman Christian majority autonomous province. The French forces advanced out of Beirut and were led by General Gouraud. Some Maronite Lebanese reportedly fought on the French side, unwilling to join a Muslim dominated Kingdom of Syria. General Yusuf Al Azmah (36 years old), who was killed in the battle, led the Syrian forces. The French forces easily defeated the newly formed Syrian army and the King was exiled. There were open Maronite celebrations at the French victory. The battle ushered in the new era of French colonialism and led to more revolts in North Syria and Damascus.

Years 1920 1921 Battle deaths 9,540 During World War I, British forces invaded Mesopotamia in 1917 and occupied Baghdad. Before they succeeded, they suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Turkish army, the siege and surrender of Kut. At the end of the war, the Ottoman empire collapsed and an armistice was signed with Turkey in 1918.Iraq was carved out of the old Ottoman Empire by direction of the UK government on January 10, 1919, and on November 11, 1920 it became a League of Nations mandate under British control with the name State of Iraq.At the end of the war, ownership of and access to Iraqs petroleum was split five ways 23.75% each to the UK, France, The Netherlands and the USA, with the remaining 5% going to a private oil corporation headed by Calouste Gulbenkian. The Iraqi government got none of the nations oil. This remained the situation until the revolution of 1958.

The British government laid out the institutional framework for Iraqi government and politics; the Iraqi political system suffered from a severe legitimacy crisis; Britain imposed a Hashemite monarchy, defined the territorial limits of Iraq with little correspondence to natural frontiers or traditional tribal and ethnic settlements, and influenced the writing of a constitution and the structure of parliament. Britain also had to put down a major revolt ( also known as the Arab revolt) against foreign rule between 1920 and 1922, resorting to aerial bombardment of Iraqi villages before control was established. These operations, in which it is alleged poison gas was used, were led by the future prime minister W.Churchill.

Years 1920 1921 Battle deaths 4,000 Following the Russian Revolution of October 1917, China regained its claims to Outer Mongolia aiming at its conversion into a common Chinese province. In late 1919, the Chinese general Xu Shuzheng occupied Urga and forced the Bogd Khaan and the leading nobles to sign a document renouncing Mongolias independence. Leaders of Mongolias national independence movement, such as Magsarjav or Damdinsuren (died in the prison under brutal torture) were arrested and imprisoned. The Chinese had tighted their control of Mongolia by this time.Russian White Guard troops led by Baron R.F. von Ungern Sternberg (Baron Ungern von Sternberg), who had been defeated in the Civil War in Transbaikalian Siberia, invaded Mongolia in October 1920. In October November 1920, Ungerns troops assaulted the capital, Niislel Khuree, known to Europeans under the name Urga (now Ulaanbaatar), several times but were repelled with heavy losses. Ungern entered contacts with Mongolian nobles and lamas and received Bogd Khaans edict to regain independence. On 2 5 February 1921, after fighting a huge battle, he drove the Chinese forces out of Mongolian capital.

Years 1920 1921 Battle deaths 6,700 The Green armies, Green Army were armed peasant groups which fought against all governments in the Russian Civil War. They fought to protect their communities from requisitions or reprisals by either side. At times associated with the Socialist Revolutionary Party, by far the largest grouping of the Russian Constituent Assembly, the Green Armies had at least tacit support throughout much of Russia. However, the Green Armiesprimary base, the peasantry, were largely reluctant to wage an active campaign during the Russian Civil War.