List of proxy wars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A proxy war is defined as "a war fought between groups of smaller countries that each represent the interests of other larger powers, and may have help and support from these".
Pre-World War I proxy wars
| War | Dates | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Expedition | 415–413 BC | Spartan-Syracusan victory | ||
| Egyptian–Ottoman War | 1839–1841 | Ottoman victory[3]
| ||
| Uruguayan Civil War | 1839–1851 |
|
|
Colorado victory |
| First Samoan Civil War | 1886–1894 |
|
|
Stalemate
|
| Second Samoan Civil War | 1898–1899 | Allies: | Compromise;
| |
| Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903 | 1902–1903 |
|
|
Compromise:
|
| Somaliland campaign | 1896–1922 |
|
|
Dervish movement defeat |
| Mexican Revolution | 1910–1920 |
|
|
Revolutionary victory
Full results
|
| Mexican Border War | 1910–1919 | Status quo ante bellum[9]
|
Inter-war period proxy wars
Cold War proxy wars
| War | Dates | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Civil War | 1945–1949 |
Communist victory
| ||
| Iran crisis of 1946 | 1945–1946 |
|
|
Iranian victory
|
| Greek Civil War | 1946–1949 |
|
|
Kingdom of Greece victory |
| First Indochina War | 1946–1954 | DR Vietnamese victory[25][26][27][28]
| ||
| Paraguayan Civil War | 1947 |
|
Government/Military and Colorado Party victory
| |
| Malayan Emergency | 1948–1960 |
|
Commonwealth victory
| |
| Korean War | 1950–1953 |
|
Inconclusive
| |
| Mau Mau Uprising | 1952–1960 | British victory | ||
| Second Indochina War (Vietnam War) | 1955–1975 |
|
|
North Vietnamese victory
|
| First Taiwan Strait Crisis | 1954–1955 | Ceasefire; major escalation avoided
| ||
| First Sudanese Civil War | 1955–1972 |
|
Stalemate[50] | |
| Suez Crisis | 1956 | Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip until March 1957 | ||
| Second Taiwan Strait Crisis | 1958 | Status quo ante bellum
| ||
| 1958 Lebanon crisis | 1958 | Inconclusive
| ||
| 1959 Tibetan uprising | 1959 |
|
Uprising suppressed
| |
| Central American crisis | 1960–1996[51] |
|
||
| Congo Crisis | 1960–1965 |
1960–1963:
Supported by:
1963–1965: Supported by:
|
1960–1963:
Supported by:
1960–1962: Supported by: 1963–1965: Supported by: |
The Congo established as an independent unitary state under the authoritarian presidency of Mobutu Sese Seko. |
| Portuguese Colonial War | 1961–1974 |
Material support: |
Angola: Guinea: Mozambique: |
|
| First Iraqi–Kurdish War | 1961–1970 |
Before 1968:  Iraq Syria (1963)Supported by:  United States (from 1963)[86][87] Egypt (1965)[88]After 1968: Ba'athist Iraq |
|
Military stalemate[90]
|
| Eritrean War of Independence | 1961–1991 |  ELF (1961–1981)Supported by:  EPLF (since 1973) TPLF (since 1975) |
1961–1974 Ethiopian EmpireSupported by: 1974–1991  Derg (1974–1987) PDR Ethiopia (1987–1991)Supported by:
|
EPLF victory[117]
|
| North Yemen Civil War | 1962–1970 |  Kingdom of Yemen Saudi Arabia[118] |
Republican victory | |
| Dhofar Rebellion | 1963–1976 |
|
|
Omani government victory[119] |
| Sarawak Communist Insurgency | 1962–1990 |
|
|
|
| Aden Emergency | 1963–1967 |
|
Yemeni NLF victory
| |
| Rhodesian Bush War | 1964–1979 |
|
| |
| Dominican Civil War | 1965 |
|
 Loyalist faction United States |
Loyalist victory
|
| Chadian Civil War | 1965–1979 |
|
Rebel victory
| |
| Communist insurgency in Thailand | 1965–1983 |
Thai government victory
| ||
| Bolivian Campaign | 1966–1967 |
|
Bolivian government victory
| |
| Korean DMZ Conflict (1966–1969) | 1966–1969 |
South Korean victory | ||
| South African Border War | 1966–1990 |
Military advisers and pilots: |
Military stalemate[146]
| |
| Nigerian Civil War | 1967–1970 |
|
Nigerian victory
| |
| Years of Lead | 1968–1988 |
|
|
Government victory
|
| Communist insurgency in Malaysia | 1968–1989 | Communist forces: Malayan Communist Party[171]
|
|
Malaysian government victory
|
| Operation Condor | 1975–1983 |
Political dissidents (including socialists, anarchists and communists) |
Concluded after the fall of the Argentinean military junta in 1983 | |
| Al-Wadiah War | 1969 |
|
Saudi victory | |
| Bangladesh Liberation War | 1971 |
|
Bangladeshi-Indian victory[185][186][187]
| |
| Yemenite War of 1972 | 1972 | |||
| Angolan Civil War[188] | 1975–2002 |
Military advisers and pilots:
|
|
MPLA victory
|
| Ethiopian Civil War | 1974–1991 |
|
|
|
| Lebanese Civil War | 1975–1990[Note 1] (15 years and 6 months) |
 Lebanese National Movement (1975–1982) Jammoul (1982–1990)
Islamic Unification Movement (from 1982) |
 Army of Free Lebanon (until 1977) SLA (from 1976) Israel (from 1978)
List
|
|
| Indonesian occupation of East Timor | 1975–2002 |
|
| |
| Shaba I | 1977 |
|
Supported by: |
Zairian victory
|
| Ogaden War | 1977–1978 |
Ethiopian victory
| ||
| Cambodian-Vietnamese War | 1978–1989 |
Post-invasion: |
Post-invasion: |
|
| Mozambican Civil War | 1977–1992 |
|
|
Stalemate |
| Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict | 1977–1997 | |||
| Shaba II | 1978 |
Zairian victory; mutual end of support for other nations' rebel groups | ||
| Uganda–Tanzania War | 1978–1979 |
 Tanzania Uganda National Liberation Front MozambiqueSupported by:  Zambia Angola Ethiopia Algeria |
|
Tanzanian victory
|
| NDF Rebellion | 1978–1982 |
|
|
Government victory |
| Chadian–Libyan War | 1978–1987 |
Pro-Libyan Palestinian and Lebanese groups[231] Supported by: |
|
Chadian and French victory
|
| Yemenite War of 1979 | 1979 |
South Yemeni victory | ||
| Soviet–Afghan War | 1979–1989 |
Afghan mujahideen victory[239] | ||
| Sino-Vietnamese War | 1979 |
Supported by: |
Status quo ante bellum or ceasefire | |
| Ethiopian–Somali Border War | 1982–1983 |
| ||
| Sri Lankan Civil War | 1983–2009 |
Sri Lankan government victory
| ||
| Thai–Laotian Border War | 1987–1988 |
| ||
| Afghan Civil War | 1989–1992 |
|
Independent Factions:
Foreign Mujahideen: Various factions also fought among each other Supported by:  Pakistan United States Saudi Arabia United Kingdom China Germany Iran |
|
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Modern proxy wars
Ongoing proxy wars
Notes
- The only party under Francisco Franco from 1937 onward, a merger of the other factions on the Nationalist side.
- 1936–1937, then merged into FET y de las JONS
- The POUM fought in the Spanish Civil War from 17 July 1936 until 16 June 1937, when the POUM was illegalized and suppressed by the Popular Front Republican government led by Prime Minister Juan Negrín, with the government suppression of the POUM supported by Joseph Stalin, the Comintern and the PCE.
- The Euzko Gudarostea fought in the Spanish Civil War from 17 July 1936 until it surrendered to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie in the Santoña Agreement on 24 August 1937.
- The name Kenya Land and Freedom Army is sometimes heard in connection with Mau Mau. KLFA was the name that Dedan Kimathi used for a coordinating body which he tried to set up for Mau Mau. It was also the name of another militant group that sprang up briefly in the spring of 1960; the group was broken up during a brief operation from 26 March to 30 April.[33]
- The secession of Katanga and South Kasai was also supported by South Africa, France, Portuguese Angola and the neighbouring Central African Federation.[66][67] However, neither was ever officially recognised by any state.[68]
- Portuguese forces assisted the Rhodesians in cross-border operations into Portuguese Mozambique. See Operation Flotilla and Operation Birch.
- later CNRT
- from 1986
- until 1986
- until 1998
- until 1986
- Formal dissolution on 1 January 2024
- Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) until 1991.
- Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Armenia) until 1990 (renamed Republic of Armenia)/1991 (declared independence).
- "Throughout the Soviet period, Moscow supported the Azerbaijani authorities against Armenian secessionists. "Until the dissolution of the USSR, the Soviet authorities sided, in general, with Azerbaijan. [...] Soviet troops sent to the conflict area [...] on numerous occasions, took the side of the Azerbaijani forces to 'punish' the Armenians for raising the NK issue." "Soviet troops have been in Nagorno-Karabakh for 2 1/2 years [...] The troops support armed Azerbaijani militias who have imposed a blockade of the region..."[255] Soviet troops directly intervened during Operation Ring in April–May 1991 on the Azerbaijani side.[256][257] It was essentially a "combined Soviet-Azerbaijan operation."[258]
- Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova until 23 May 1991. Constituent republic of the Soviet Union until 27 August 1991.
- Georgians who fought for the Soviet army in Afghanistan
- Many Mai-Mai militias in eastern Zaire initially allied themselves with Rwanda and the AFDL against Hutu militants and refugees.[321] As soon as most Hutu were driven away, however, many Mai-Mai groups turned against Rwanda and the AFDL.[322] Despite this, some anti-Hutu Mai-Mai remained allied with Rwanda and the AFDL.[323]
- Known as the National Redemption Front prior to 2011.
- Signed the Doha Darfur Peace Agreement in 2011.[347]
- The 1949–1956 Palestinian fedayeen insurgency culminated in the 1956 Suez Crisis.
- The Palestinian Authority was created by and is ultimately accountable to the PLO (see Palestinian Authority#Government and politics). Under the administration of Mahmoud Abbas (2005–present), the PA has coordinated security with Israel and worked to suppress anti-Israel militants.[534]
- During the First Intifada.
- The government of Myanmar refers to all insurgent groups as "ethnic armed organisations", including groups like the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and Communist Party of Burma, which do not fight for a specific ethnic group's interests.[535]
- Large-scale demonstrations in Syria began in 15 March 2011 and were subsequently suppressed by force by the Assad regime,[658] it eventually led to an all-out civil war.[659][660] In July 2011, defectors from Assad's regime formed an organized militia called the Free Syrian Army to protect protesters and strike back at Assad.[659] The International Committee of the Red Cross said the violence in Syria had become so widespread that it was in a state of civil war in July 2012.[661]
- With the Ba'athist regime prevailing, the hostilities were mostly put on hold between 6 March 2020 and 27 November 2024, when the Syrian opposition launched a campaign of quick successful military offensives in Northwestern Syria, toppling the Assad regime on 8 December. Further fate of the ongoing conflict remains uncertain.[662][663][664][665]
- Disbanded by police.
- Disbanded by members due to increasing police pressure. Most already joined the Red Brigades; others focused on politics.
- Dismantled by police. Members merged into the Red Brigades and Partisan Action Groups.
- Dismantled by police.
- Disbanded due to internal feuds. Some members merged into the Red Brigades whilst others formed Prima Linea.
- Disbanded due to internal disagreements. Some members merged into the group Autonomous Worker.
- Banned, some joined Ordine Nero.
- Banned. Its members joined Ordine Nero.
- Dismantled.
- Dissolved by police. Used by NAR as a cover name later on.
- The last battle took place from 2–6 July 1991 between the Lebanese government and the Palestine Liberation Organization due to the latter's refusal to accept the Taif Agreement.
- Irritated by UNITA cross-border raids, the Namibian Defence Force retaliated by sending units into southern Angola and destroying a UNITA training camp at Licua in late January 2001.[194] The Namibian troops were not withdrawn from Angola until May 2002.[194]
- The North Korean Military Mission in Angola had about 1,500 personnel attached to FAPLA in 1986, most likely advisers, although their exact duties are uncertain.[199] Their presence in Angola may have been indirectly subsidised by the Soviet Union.[200] Up to 3,000 North Korean military personnel served in Angola throughout the 1980s.[201]
- Until 2018, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) was unofficially referred to as the "Shining Path remnants" (Remanentes de Sendero Luminoso) or as the "Shining Path in the VRAEM" (Sendero Luminoso en el VRAEM). The Peruvian government continues to refer to the MPCP as the direct successor to the Shining Path.[625]
- These autonomous units have been organised by the Armed Forces since 1982, taking the name of "Self-Defence Committees" (CAD) since 1991.[632] Since its establishment in 2006, most rondas have been organised under the Sole National Central of Peasant Rounds of Peru (CUNARC-P).[633]