Random Longest Wars In History (19 items)

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  (#8) Montenegro Vs. Japan (101 Years)

  A diplomatic irregularity of the Russo-Japanese War, the “conflict” between Montenegro and Japan existed on paper only, with virtually no military effort expended on either side. Montenegro declared war on Japan in support of Russia, but provided only a few volunteers to fight, having no navy or standing army. When the conflict ended in 1905, Montenegro was rudely left out of the peace treaty. However, this was only an issue for 14 years, since Montenegro was absorbed by Serbia in 1919 and stopped being a country.

  In 2006, Montenegro again established itself as an autonomous country, and when a Japanese envoy arrived in the country, he also carried a letter from the Japanese prime minister declaring the century-long war finally over.
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  (#1) Punic Wars

  Three brutal wars between Rome and Carthage between 264 BC and 146 BC ended with Carthage destroyed and conquered, and the city itself sacked and burned. That would seem to be the end of it, except for the fact that due to the destroying, sacking, and burning, Carthage never actually signed a peace treaty that ended the war with Rome.

  This wasn’t rectified until 1985, when the mayor of Rome and the mayor of modern Carthage (now a suburb of Tunis) signed a ceremonial peace treaty as a sign the past had been put to bed.

  While it makes for a good story, most historical scholars don’t accept this diplomatic irregularity, and have the Punic Wars lasting about 45 years - still an extremely long time for two nations to be slaying each other.
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  (#11) North Korea vs. South Korea (62 Years And Counting)

  The state of war that’s existed between the two Koreas since the 1950s might have lessed in intensity after the end of the Korean War in 1953, but it’s never officially ended. North and South have clashed repeatedly in the last six decades, and the North has announced on six different occasions that it wouldn’t abide by the terms of the armistice that both nations signed, though little happened in the wake of these declarations.

  Both sides keep substantial military forces in the Demilitarized Zone, and there have been dozens of violent incursions, incidents, and shootouts between North Korean forces and South Korean and UN troops. The risk of the two Koreas going back to a full-scale war is still high.
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  (#9) Kashmir Conflict (67 Years And Counting)

  India and Pakistan have fought three violent wars in their dispute over who has possession of the Kashmir territory. As soon as British rule of India ended in 1947, Pakistan attempted to annex Kashmir, which had a predominately Muslim population. The maharaja of the region didn’t want to join either country, but in 1947 he chose to join India.

  The first war lasted about a year from 1947 to 1948 and the second ended after just a few weeks in 1965. Both conflicts were bloody and caused high casualties on both sides, and the conflict has remained at various intensities. Still no real solution has been found to the problem.
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  (#18) Banana Wars (36 Years)

  A long-running series of conflicts in a variety of Latin American countries, the so-called “Banana Wars” began in 1898 with US intervention in Cuba as part of the Spanish-American War, and only ended in 1934 with President Roosevelt pulling troops out of Haiti.

  In between, US forces (primarily the Marines) fought a number of counterinsurgencies and police actions to protect US interests in Cuba, Honduras, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. Most of the conflicts took place to protect American commercial and economic interests - particularly fruit exports.
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  (#13) Greco-Persian Wars

  • Anatolia

  Traditionally lasting from 492-449 BC, the Greco-Persian Wars began with a Persian-backed revolt in the Greek islands, involved two Persian invasions against the unified Greek city-states, and finally saw the Greeks go on a counterattack that beat the Persians and conquered their capitol of Byzantium. The war continued when Sparta left the Greek alliance, and the Delian League of Athens and her allies fought Persia up and down Asia Minor.

  Athens finally beat Persia again and gobbled up most of her territory. The war ended with the mythical Peace of Callias.

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