List of wars involving Italy

This is a list of wars involving the Italian Republic and its predecessor states since the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861, but does not include wars fought by the historic states of Italy. The result of these conflicts follows this legend:

  Italian victory
  Italian defeat
  Another result (e.g., a treaty or peace without a clear result, status quo ante bellum, result unknown or indecisive)
  Ongoing conflict

Ancient Rome edit

Italian Wars of Unification edit

The Risorgimento movement emerged to unite Italy in the 19th century. Piedmont-Sardinia took the lead in a series of wars to liberate Italy from foreign control. Following three Wars of Italian Independence against the Habsburg Austrians in the north, the Expedition of the Thousand against the Spanish Bourbons in the south, and the Capture of Rome, the unification of the country was completed in 1871 when Rome was declared capital of Italy.

StartFinishName of conflictBelligerentsOutcome
Combatant 1Combatant 2
18481849First Italian War of Independence Kingdom of Sardinia

Supported by:

Austrian Empire
Lombardy–Venetia
French Republic

Kingdom of Two Sicilies
Papal States
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Austrian-French Victory
18531856Crimean War France
 Ottoman Empire  Britain[a]
Sardinia[b]
Supported by:
 Austrian Empire
Caucasus Imamate[c]
Circassia
Abkhazia[b]
Russian EmpireKurdish rebels
Greece[d]
Allied Victory
18591859Second Italian War of Independence French Empire
Kingdom of Sardinia
Support:
United Principalities
Austrian Empire
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
Italian Victory, Armistice of Villafranca (12 July 1859)
18601861Expedition of the Thousand Sardinia  Two Sicilies
Supported by
Papal States
France
Spain
Italian Victory:
  • Sicily, Southern Italy, Marche and Umbria annexed by Sardinia
  • Collapse of Two Sicilies
  • Foundation of the Kingdom of Italy
18611865Brigandage in Southern Italy  ItalySouthern Italian Briganti
Bourbon legitimists
Spanish partisans
Italian Victory
18661866Third Italian War of Independence  Italy  Austrian EmpireAustrian withdrawal after defeat in the northern front:[1]

Armistice of Cormons and Treaty of Vienna:

18661866The Seven and a Half Days Revolt  ItalyPalermitan RebelsItalian Victory, rebellion suppressed
18701870Capture of Rome  Italy  Papal StatesItalian Victory, Debellation of the Papal States.

Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) edit

StartFinishName of conflictBelligerentsOutcome
Combatant 1Combatant 2
18851895Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889[2]  Italy  Ethiopia
Mahdist Sudan
Italian Victory, establishment of Italian Eritrea.
18891920Pacification of Somalia[3]  ItalyVarious rebels
Dervish State
Italian Victory, consolidation of Italian Somaliland.
18901894Mahdist War  Italy Mahdist SudanItalian Victory
All Sudanese invasions repulsed
Italians take Kassala
18951896First Italo-Ethiopian War  Italy  EthiopiaInconclusive/Other OutcomeTreaty of Addis Ababa:
  • Ethiopia recognised as independent country by Italy.
  • Italy abrogates the Treaty of Wuchale with the establishment of a corridor between Eritrea and Italian Somaliland
18961925Bīmāl revolt  ItalyBimaal RebelsItalian Victory
  • Suppression of the Bimaal revolt
18971897Greco-Turkish War (1897) Greece  Ottoman EmpireTurkish Victory
18971898Cretan Revolt (1897–1898) (International Squadron (Cretan intervention, 1897–1898)) Cretan revolutionaries
Kingdom of Greece
 British Empire
 France
Italy
 Russian Empire
 Austria-Hungary (until April 12, 1898)
 German Empire (until March 16th, 1898)
 Ottoman EmpireItalian Victory
  • Establishment of the Cretan State.
  • Withdraw of Ottoman forces from Crete.
18991901Boxer Rebellion United Kingdom

 Japan
 Russia
France
 United States
 Germany
 Italy
 Austria-Hungary

Righteous Harmony Society

 Manchu-China

Italian Allied Victory, Boxer Protocol:
19001920Somaliland Campaign  Italy
 United Kingdom
Dervish movement
 Ethiopian Empire
Italian-British Victory
  • Collapse of the Dervish state
19021903Venezuelan naval blockade United Kingdom
Germany
Italy
VenezuelaInconclusive/Other Outcome
  • Venezuelan debt dispute resolved
19111912Italo-Turkish War  Italy  Ottoman EmpireItalian Victory:
19111917Italo-Senussi War  Italy Senussi Order
 Ottoman Empire
Italian Victory:
  • Extension of Italian control in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica
19121913First Balkan WarBalkan League:
 Bulgaria
 Serbia
 Greece
 Montenegro
Italian volunteers
 Russia
 Ottoman Empire
 Austria-Hungary
Balkan League Victory:
19141918World War IAllied Powers

 France
 British Empire

 Russia
 United States
 Italy
 Japan
 China
 Serbia
 Montenegro
 Romania
 Belgium
 Greece
 Portugal
 Brazil

Central Powers

 Germany
 Austria-Hungary
 Ottoman Empire
 Bulgaria

Italian Allied Victory:

Russia pulls out in 1917

  • Russian Civil War

Creation of League of Nations

19181920Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War

White Movement
 British Empire

 United States
France
 Italy
 Japan
 Czechoslovakia
 Greece
 Estonia
 Serbia
 Poland
 Romania
 China

 Russian SFSR
 Far Eastern Republic
Latvian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
Commune of Estonia
Mongolian Communists

Bolshevik Victory:
19181923Occupation of Constantinople  United Kingdom
 France
 Italy
 Ottoman EmpireTemporary occupation
19191923Turkish War of Independence  Ottoman Empire
 Soviet Russia
 Italy[8]
 United Kingdom
 France
 Greece
 Armenia
 Georgia
Italian Allied Victory
19201920Vlora War  Italy Principality of AlbaniaItalian withdrawal after Bersaglieri riots; Armistice
  • Italy withdraws from Albania except in Saseno Island
19201920Bloody Christmas  Italy Italian Regency of CarnaroItalian Victory:
19211921Anti-fascist uprising in Albona  Italy Labin RepublicItalian Victory:
  • Fall of the Labin Republic
  • Italian re-annexation of Labin
19231932Pacification of Libya  Italy Senussi OrderItalian Victory:
  • Stabilization of Italian rule in Libya.
  • Ethnic cleansing of the Cyrenaican indigenous population.
  • Mass deaths of Cyrenaican indigenous civilians.
19241927Pacification of Italian Somaliland  ItalySomali rebelsItalian Victory:
  • All-out defeat of Somali rebels
  • The independent Majeerteen Sultanate is brutally suppressed in 1927, finalizing the Italian occupation of Somalia.
19241940Italian conquest of the Horn of Africa  Italy Sultanate of Hobyo

Majeerteen Sultanate
 Ethiopian Empire
 Britain

Italian Victory:
  • Italian conquest of the Horn of Africa.
19351937Second Italo-Abyssinian War  Italy  Ethiopian EmpireItalian Victory:
19361939Spanish Civil War Nationalist

 Italy
 Germany
Portugal
Foreign volunteers

Republican

Foreign volunteers
 Soviet Union (1936–1938)
 Mexico

Italian Allied Victory
19391939Invasion of Albania  Italy AlbaniaItalian Victory, Italian occupation of Albania.
19391945World War IIAxis Powers

 Germany
 Japan
 Italy (until 1943)
 Italian Social Republic
(from 23 Sep. 1943)
 Hungary
 Romania (until 1944)
 Bulgaria (until 1944)
Serbia (until 1944)
 Slovakia
 Croatia
 Finland (until 1944)
Vichy France
 Thailand
 Manchukuo
 Mengjiang

Allied Powers

 United States
 Soviet Union
 United Kingdom
 China
France
Poland
 Canada
 Australia
 New Zealand
 India
 South Africa
 Yugoslavia
 Greece
 Denmark
 Norway
 Netherlands
 Belgium
 Luxembourg
 Czechoslovakia
 Brazil
 Mexico
 Ethiopia
 Italy (from 1943)
 Romania (from 1944)
 Bulgaria (from 1944)
 Finland (from 1944)

'United Nations' Allied victory:

Italian Republic (1946-present) edit

StartFinishName of ConflictBelligerentsOutcome
Combatant 1Combatant 2
19821984Multinational Force in Lebanon  Italy

 United States
 France
 United Kingdom

Islamic Jihad Organization
Iran
 Syria
Progressive Socialist Party
Amal Movement
Syrian Allied Victory
19911991Gulf War  Kuwait

 United States
 Saudi Arabia
 France
 Egypt
 Syria
 United Kingdom
 Italy
Other Allies

IraqItalian Allied Victory
  • Kuwait regains its independence
19921995Bosnian War Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Croatia
 Belgium
 Canada
 Denmark
 France
 Germany
 Italy
 Luxembourg
 Netherlands
 Norway
 Portugal
 Spain
 Turkey
 United Kingdom
 United States
 Republika SrpskaItalian Allied Victory
  • Dayton Accords
  • Internal partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the Dayton Accords
  • Deployment of NATO-led IFOR to oversee the peace agreement
  • Massive civilian casualties for the Bosniak ethnic group
19921995Somali Civil War  United States
 United Kingdom
 Italy
 Saudi Arabia
 Malaysia
 Pakistan
 Spain
 India
 Greece
 Germany
 France
 Canada
 Botswana
 Belgium
 Australia
Various Somali factionsUN withdrawal
  • UN withdrawal.
  • About 100,000 lives were saved by outside resistance.
  • Civil war is ongoing.
199719971997 Albanian civil unrest
(Operation Alba)
Government of Sali Berisha

(Operation Alba)

(Operation Libelle)

(Operation Silver Wake)

RebelsItalian Allied Victory

New Parliamentary Elections.

19981999Kosovo War  United States

 France
 Canada
 Denmark
 Germany
 Italy
Kosovo Liberation Army

 YugoslaviaItalian Allied Victory
  • Kosovo occupied by Nato forces
  • Kosovo administered by UNMIK
200120012001 insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia National Liberation Army
 NATO
 Republic of Macedonia

Supported by:
 Ukraine[11][12][13](main arms supply)
 Bulgaria (arms supply)
FR Yugoslavia (arms supply)
 Russia (arm supply and Contractors)

Inconclusive/Other Outcome
  • Ohrid Agreement
  • Macedonian offensive stopped by NATO involvement
  • Ceasefire established
  • The majority of Albanian insurgents agree to disarm in exchange for greater ethnic rights
  • Low intensity resurgence since November 2001
20012021Afghanistan War  Afghanistan
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Italy
 Germany
 France
 Canada
 Australia
 New Zealand
 Georgia
 Poland
 Romania
 Turkey

Northern Alliance

Taliban
al-Qaeda
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
HI-Gulbuddin
Hezb-e Islami Khalis
Haqqani network
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Jaish-e-Mohammed
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Islamic Emirate of Waziristan
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Islamic Jihad Union

 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Defeat
20032006Iraq War  Iraq
 Iraqi Kurdistan

Multi-National Force – Iraq:
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Italy
 Australia
 New Zealand
 Spain
 Netherlands
 Poland
 South Korea
 Ukraine
 Georgia
Other Allies

Islamic State of Iraq
al-Qaeda
Various insurgents

 Ba'athist Iraq

Italian Allied Victory
20112011First Libyan Civil WarMany NATO members acting under UN mandate, including:

 United States
 France
 Denmark
 Italy
 Canada
and
Anti-Gaddafi forces
several Arab League states
Sweden

 LibyaItalian Allied Victory
2024OngoingYemen WarItaly

United StatesUnited Kingdom

Houthi MovementOngoing conflict

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ From 1854
  2. ^ a b From 1855
  3. ^ Until 1855
  4. ^ Until 1854

References edit

  1. ^ Milan Vego (23 November 2004). Naval Strategy and Operations in Narrow Seas. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 9781135777159.
  2. ^ Indro Montanelli, Storia d'Italia, vol. 6 1861 - 1919, RCS Libri S.p.A., 2006
  3. ^ Pacification of Somalia.
  4. ^ Kokkinos, P. (1965). Կոկինոս Պ., Հունահայ գաղութի պատմությունից (1918–1927) (in Armenian). Yerevan: National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. pp. 14, 208–209. ISBN 9789609952002. Cited in Vardanyan, Gevorg (12 November 2012). Հայ-հունական համագործակցության փորձերը Հայոց ցեղասպանության տարիներին (1915–1923 թթ.) [The attempts of the Greek-Armenian Co-operation during the Armenian Genocide (1915–1923)]]. akunq.net (in Armenian). Research Center on Western Armenian Studies. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  5. ^ Gyula Andrássy, Bismarck, Andrássy, and Their Successors, Houghton Mifflin, 1927, p. 273.
  6. ^ Mehmed'in kanı ile kazandığını, değişmez kaderimiz !-barış masasında yine kaybetmiştik..., Cemal Kutay, Etniki Eterya'dan Günümüze Ege'nin Türk Kalma Savaşı, Boğaziçi Yayınları, 1980, p. 141. (in Turkish)
  7. ^ Yunanistan'ın savaş meydanındaki yenilgisi ise Büyük Devletler sayesinde barış masasında zafere dönüşmüş, ilk defa Lozan müzakerelerinde aksi yaşanacak olan, Yunanistan'ın mağlubiyetlerle gelişme ve büyümesi bu savaş sonunda bir kez daha görülmüştür., M. Metin Hülagü, "1897 Osmanlı-Yunan Savaşı'nın Sosyal Siyasal ve Kültürel Sonuçları", in Güler Eren, Kemal Çiçek, Halil İnalcık, Cem Oğuz (ed.), Osmanlı, Cilt 2, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, 1999, ISBN 975-6782-05-6, pp. 315–316. (in Turkish)
  8. ^ Italy, who had occupied Constantinople and a part of southwestern Anatolia, protected Turkish civilians from Greek and Allied troops and accepted Turkish refugees who had to flee from the regions invaded by the Greek army. The Place of the Turkish Independence War in the American Press (1918-1923) by Bülent Bilmez
  9. ^ "Statement by Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes". 23 September 1982.
  10. ^ "The Collapse of Lebanon's Army: U.S. Said to Ignore Factionalism". The New York Times. 11 March 1984.
  11. ^ Zerkalo Nedeli (28 February 2002). "Paper critical of Western call on Ukraine to stop selling arms to Macedonia". Free Republic. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  12. ^ Carlotta Gall (23 July 2001). "Rebels Secure a Base in Macedonian Town". New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  13. ^ Taras Kuzio (31 October 2001). "UKRAINE FORGES MILITARY ALLIANCE WITH MACEDONIA". The Jamestown. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Sectarian divisions change Baghdad's image". NBC News. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  15. ^ "The JRTN Movement and Iraq's Next Insurgency | Combating Terrorism Center at West Point". Ctc.usma.edu. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  16. ^ "Al-Qaeda's Resurgence in Iraq: A Threat to U.S. Interests". U.S. Department of State. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2010.