List of wars involving Germany

An aspect of German military history

This is a list of wars involving Germany from 1806. It includes the Confederation of the Rhine, the German Confederation, the North German Confederation, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, the German Democratic Republic (DDR, "East Germany") and the present Federal Republic of Germany (BRD, until German reunification in 1990 known as "West Germany").

Confederation of the Rhine (1806–1813)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Protector
War of the Fourth Coalition (1806-1807)	France Confederation of the Rhine Etruria Holland Napoleonic Italy Naples Saxony (from 11 Dec 1806) Polish Legions Swiss Confederation Spain	Prussia Russian Empire United Kingdom Saxony (until 11 Dec 1806) Sweden Sicily	French victory Treaties of Tilsit Treaty of Posen Franco Russian alliance Creation of the Continental System Hostilities resume later in 1807 with the commencement of the Peninsular War and expand and expand^{[clarification needed]} in 1809 with the formation of a Fifth Coalition against France	Napoleon I
Peninsular War (1808-1814)	France Napoleonic Spain Kingdom of Italy Confederation of the Rhine Duchy of Warsaw Denmark-Norway (Evacuation of La Romana's division)	Spain Portugal United Kingdom	Coalition victory Treaty of Paris Revolts break out in Spanish America Collapse of the First French Empire	Napoleon I
War of the Fifth Coalition (1809)	Fifth Coalition: Austria United Kingdom^[a] Portugal^[a] Spain^[a] Sardinia^[a] Sicily^[a] Rebel groups Black Brunswickers^[b] Tyrol^[c] Gottscheers^[d] Italian rebels^[e]	France Confederation of the Rhine Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Duchy of Warsaw Italy Naples Holland Russia	French victory Treaty of Schönbrunn Illyrian Provinces to France Salzburg to Bavaria Parts of Bohemia to Saxony West Galicia to Duchy of Warsaw East Galicia to Russia	Napoleon I
War of the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814)	Original coalition Russia Prussia Spain United Kingdom Hanover Mecklenburg-Schwerin Portugal Sardinia Sicily Sweden After the Armistice of Pläswitz Austria Bavaria After the Battle of Leipzig Baden Liechtenstein Saxony Württemberg After 20 November 1813 Netherlands After January 1814 Denmark	France Duchy of Warsaw^[f] Italy Naples Until January 1814 Confederation of the Rhine (many member states defected after Battle of Leipzig) Denmark–Norway Co-belligerent: United States (War of 1812 only)	Coalition victory Treaty of Kiel Treaty of Fontainebleau Treaty of Paris Confederation of the Rhine dissolved German states and Austria unite to form the German Confederation Netherlands gains independence Norway ceded to The King of Sweden	Napoleon I

German Confederation (1815–1866)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Head of the Presiding Power
War of the Seventh Coalition (1815)	United Kingdom Prussia Russia^[1] Netherlands Austria Bourbon Restoration Brunswick Denmark (no combat)^[2] Hanover Liechtenstein Nassau Sardinia^[1] Sicily^[1] Switzerland^[3] Tuscany Württemberg	France Naples	Coalition victory Second Treaty of Paris End of the Napoleonic Wars Second exile of Napoleon (to the island of Saint Helena) and second Bourbon Restoration Beginning of the Concert of Europe	Francis I
German revolutions of 1848–1849	German Confederation Kingdom of Saxony Kingdom of Prussia Austrian Empire	German Empire (1848–1849) German Revolutionaries	Rebellion riot struck down Establishment of German state and introduction of liberal constitution Dissolution of German Confederation	Ferdinand I Archduke John of Austria Frederick William IV
First Schleswig War (Part of the revolutions of 1848)	German Confederation Schleswig Holstein Prussia Kingdom of Saxony Kingdom of Hanover Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Denmark Supported by: Russian Empire United Kingdom Sweden-Norway France	Danish victory Denmark retains control of Schleswig-Holstein	Ferdinand I of Austria Franz Joseph I of Austria
Second Schleswig War	Kingdom of Prussia Austrian Empire	Kingdom of Denmark	Austro-Prussian victory Denmark losses Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg to Prussia and Austria	Otto von Bismarck
Austro-Prussian War (1866)	Austrian-led German Confederation states Austria Bavaria Saxony Hanover Württemberg Hesse-Kassel Baden Hesse-Darmstadt Nassau Saxe-Meiningen Reuss-Greiz Schaumburg-Lippe Frankfurt Liechtenstein	Prussian-led German states Prussia Saxe-Lauenburg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Brunswick Saxe-Coburg & Gotha Saxe-Altenburg Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Anhalt Schwarzburg Waldeck Lippe Lübeck Bremen Hamburg Italy Italy	Prussian-led German and Italian victory Dissolution of the German Confederation Formation of the North German Confederation, later the German Empire Formation of Austria-Hungary	Francis Joseph I

North German Confederation (1867–1870/71)


Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	President
Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)	North German Confederation Kingdom of Prussia Kingdom of Saxony Grand Duchy of Baden Kingdom of Bavaria Kingdom of Wuttemberg Grand Duchy of Hesse German Empire (after 18 January 1871)	French Third Republic (Government of National Defense) Foreign Volunteers	German victory Treaty of Frankfurt Fall of the Second French Empire Formation of the French Third Republic Beginning of Franco-German enmity Paris Commune uprising Unification of Germany completed Proclamation of the German Empire German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine	Wilhelm I

Post-unification (1871–present)

German Empire (1871–1918)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Reichskanzler (Imperial chancellor)	German losses
Nauruan Civil War (1878–1888)	Supporters of King Aweida Germany	Anti-Aweida Rebels	Victory Nauru is annexed as part of German New Guinea	Otto von Bismarck	?
First Samoan Civil War (1886–1894)	Supporters of Laupepa Germany	Supporters of Mata'afa	Compromise Malietoa Laupepa restored to power		16 dead^[4]^{[full citation needed]}
Abushiri Revolt (1888–1889)	Germany United Kingdom	Arab Rebels led by al-Harthi	Victory Rebellion put down		?
Hehe Rebellion (1891–1898)	Germany	Hehe	Victory Rebellion put down	Leo von Caprivi	?
Bafut Wars (1891–1907)	Germany	Fondom of Bafut	Victory Exile of the Fon of Bafut	Leo von Caprivi	?
Cretan Revolt (1897–1898)	Cretan revolutionaries Kingdom of Greece British Empire France Italy Russian Empire Austria-Hungary (until April 12, 1898) German Empire (until March 16, 1898)	Ottoman Empire	Victory Establishment of the Cretan State. Withdraw of Ottoman forces from Crete.	Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingfürst	?
Second Samoan Civil War (1898–1899)	Supporters of Mata'afa Germany	Supporters of Tanumafili I United States United Kingdom	Compromise Tripartite Convention		?
Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901)	Russia Japan United Kingdom France United States Germany Austria-Hungary Italy	Yihetuan Movement China	Victory Signing of the Boxer Protocol Provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing		?
Adamawa Wars (1899–1907)	Germany United Kingdom	Sokoto Caliphate Mahdist rebels	Victory German rule in Kamerun solidified	Bernhard von Bülow	?
Venezuelan Crisis (1902–1903)	United Kingdom Germany Italy	Venezuela	Compromise Venezuelan debt dispute resolved		?
Kavango Uprising^[5] (1903)	German Empire	Kavango rebels	Victory Uprising suppressed		?
Herero Wars (1904–1908)	Germany	Herero Namaqua	Victory Herero and Namaqua genocide		1,541 dead^[6]
Maji Maji Rebellion (1905–1908)	Germany	Qadiriyya Brotherhood Matumbi Ngoni Yao	Victory Rebellion put down		397 dead^[7]
Sokehs Rebellion (1910–1911)	Germany	Sokehs tribe	Victory Rebellion put down	Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg	5 dead^[8]
World War I (1914–1918)	Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria	France United Kingdom Russia (withdrew) United States Italy Canada Australia New Zealand India South Africa Serbia Montenegro Belgium Romania Greece Portugal Brazil Nepal Japan China Siam Hejaz	Defeat Victory of Germany and its allies on the Eastern Front, leading to an armistice between Russia and the Central Powers and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Armistice of 11 November 1918, Paris Peace Conference Communist Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, formation of the Soviet Union in 1922 Establishment of the Weimar Republic Rise of the United States Transfer of German colonies and territories to other countries, partition of the Ottoman Empire, dissolution of Austria-Hungary Turkish War of Independence Creation of the League of Nations	Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg	2,198,420 to 2,800,720 dead^[9]

Weimar Republic (1918–1933)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Reichskanzler	German losses
German Revolution (1918–1919)	Germany	Revolutionaries	Government victory Establishment of the Weimar Republic	Friedrich Ebert	?
Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919)	Germany	POW	Defeat Poland gains Greater Poland	Friedrich Ebert	?
Lithuanian–Soviet War	Weimar Republic Lithuania	Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia	Lithuanian victory	Friedrich Ebert (1918–1919) Philipp Scheidemann (1919) Gustav Bauer (1919)
First Silesian Uprising (1919)	Germany	POW-GS	Victory German forces crush uprising	Gustav Bauer	?
Ruhr Uprising (1920)	Germany	Ruhr Red Army	Government victory Uprising crushed	Gustav Bauer	1,600+ (Both combatants)
Second Silesian Uprising (1920)	Germany	POW-GS	League of Nations ceasefire Order restored by Allied intervention	Constantin Fehrenbach	?
Third Silesian Uprising (1921)	Germany	POW-GS	League of Nations ceasefire Parts of Upper Silesia ceded to Poland	Joseph Wirth	?

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Führer	German losses
German involvement in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)	Spanish Nationalists Italy Germany Portugal	Spanish Republicans International Brigades	Victory End of the Second Spanish Republic	Adolf Hitler	~300 killed^[10]
Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1939)	Germany Hungary Poland	Czechoslovakia	Victory German occupation of Czechoslovakia		21 killed and wounded^[11]
World War II (1939–1945)	Germany Japan Italy Hungary Romania Bulgaria Slovakia Croatia Finland Thailand	Soviet Union United States United Kingdom China France Poland Canada Australia New Zealand India South Africa Yugoslavia Greece Denmark Norway Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg Ethiopia Brazil Mexico Colombia Cuba Nepal Philippines Mongolia	Defeat Collapse of Nazi Germany and its allies. Allied occupation of Germany and Japan as well as Austria and Korea. Germany loses its pre-war and wartime territorial gains, as well as the eastern territories. Remaining German territory is placed under Allied occupation until 1949, when West and East Germany are established. Economy and facility of Europe suffers heavy loss Creation of the United Nations and rise of internationalism Rise of pan-Europeanism Beginning of the Cold War, emergence of the United States and Soviet Union as two superpowers Decline of British and French power Wave of decolonization in most Western overseas territories, especially after France's military defeat in French Indochina		6,900,000 to 7,400,000 dead^[12]

East Germany (1949–1990)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Leadership of East Germany	German losses
East German uprising of 1953 (1953)	East Germany Soviet Union	Demonstrators	Victory	Walter Ulbricht	5 police killed

Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor)	German losses
Operation Deliberate Force (1995)	NATO Belgium Canada Denmark France Germany Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States United Nations Protection Force	Republika Srpska	Victory Dayton Accords	Helmut Kohl	None
Operation Allied Force (1999)	NATO Belgium Canada Denmark France Germany Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States	FR Yugoslavia	Victory Kumanovo Treaty Yugoslav security forces pull out of Kosovo United Nations Resolution 1244	Gerhard Schröder	None
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)	Afghanistan ISAF United States United Kingdom Canada Australia New Zealand Germany France Italy Czech Republic Netherlands Turkey Romania Georgia South Korea Poland Denmark Sweden Norway Others	Taliban al-Qaeda	Taliban victory Fall of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2001 Establishment of new Afghan government Fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, reestablishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 16 August 2021 War in North-West Pakistan	Gerhard Schröder (2001–2005) Angela Merkel (2005–2021)	59 dead^[13]
War on ISIL (2015–present)	Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan Syrian Kurdistan CJTF–OIR United States United Kingdom Canada France Germany Turkey Saudi Arabia Qatar Jordan Bahrain United Arab Emirates Morocco Australia Netherlands Belgium Denmark Norway	ISIL al-Qaeda	Ongoing Airstrikes on ISIL and al-Qaeda affiliates positions in Iraq and Syria Islamic terrorism in Europe	Angela Merkel (2015–2021) Olaf Scholz (2021–)	See below^[g]
Mali War (2017–2023)	Mali MINUSMA France ECOWAS Chad Germany Netherlands Sweden	al-Qaeda	Compromise The Foreign Minister of Mali requested that the United Nations terminate MINUSMA due to what he called its "failure" to stabilize the situation there on 16 June 2023 MINUSMA was officially terminated on 30 June 2023. Dissolution of United Nations peacekeeping mission on 31 December 2023 Withdrewal of all contributing MINUSMA nations and retreat of their troops within 6 months	Angela Merkel (2015–2021) Olaf Scholz (2021–)	2 dead^[14]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Mikaberidze 2020, p. 309 states that the contributions of coalition members aside from Austria were "rather nominal". Englund 2004, p. 345 writes that "the only real coalition to be mounted in this nominal fifth war of that name was the coalition France created against unhappy Austria; it included the key German States and Italy."
^ in rebellion against the Confederation of the Rhine
^ in rebellion against Bavaria
^ in rebellion against France in Illyria
^ in rebellion against the Kingdom of Italy
^ Duchy of Warsaw as a state was in effect fully occupied by Russian and Prussian forces by May 1813, although most Poles remained loyal to Napoleon.
^ No German soldiers have been killed by ISIS, however, many German civilians have been killed in terror attacks claimed by ISIS. For details, see Islamic terrorism in Europe

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Chandler 1981, p. 181.
^ Hofschroer 2006, pp. 82, 83.
^ Hervé de Weck: Franche-Comté expedition in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 8 May 2007.
^ Hempestall & Mochida, p. 54
^ "Uprisings against the German/South African Colonial Power". klausdierks.com.
^ Bridgman, Jon M. (1966) Revolt of the Hereros University of California Press. p. 164 (KIA: 676, MIA:76, WIA: 907, died from disease: 689, civilians: 100)
^ Gellately, Robert; Ben Kiernan (2003). The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective. Published by Cambridge University Press. p. 161. ISBN 0-521-52750-3.
^ van der Vat, Dan. Gentlemen of War, The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1984, p. 19
^ See World War I casualties
^ Thomas, Hugh (2003) [1961, 1987, 2001]. The Spanish Civil War. London: Penguin. p. 634. ISBN 0-14-101161-0. OCLC 248799351.
^ Boje o československé hranice v roce 1939
^ See World War II casualties
^ "Germany honors soldiers who fought in Afghanistan mission". dw.com. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
^ "German military helicopter crashes in Mali, two peacekeepers killed". Reuters. 26 July 2017 – via www.reuters.com.

Sources

Chandler, David (1981) [1980]. Waterloo: The Hundred Days. Osprey Publishing.
Croxton, Derek (2013). The Last Christian Peace: The Congress of Westphalia as A Baroque Event. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-33332-2.
Englund, Steven (2004). Napoleon : a Political Life. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-87142-4. OCLC 1085212315.
Heitz, Gerhard; Rischer, Henning (1995). Geschichte in Daten. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; History in data; Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (in German). Koehler&Amelang. ISBN 3-7338-0195-4.
Hofschroer, Peter (2006). 1815 The Waterloo Campaign: Wellington, his German allies and the Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras. Vol. 1. Greenhill Books.
Mikaberidze, Alexander (2020). The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-995106-2.
Tuchman, Barbara W. (1978). A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous 14th Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-345-28394-5.