List of battles 1901-2000

List of battles - List of battles 1400 BC-AD 600 - List of battles 601-1400 - List of battles 1401-1800 - List of battles 1801-1900 - List of battles 1901-2000 - List of battles 2001-2100

Major Battles of the Twentieth Century

Table of contents

1 Before 1939
2 1939-1945
3 After 1945

Before 1939

1904 Battle of Port Arthur February 8 - Japanese defeat Russians; start of Russo-Japanese War
1904 Battle of Mukden
1904 Battle of Yalu River May - Japanese defeat Russians (Russo-Japanese War)
1904 Battle of Dairen May 30 - Japanese defeat Russians (Russo-Japanese War)
1904 Battle of Liaoyang October - Japanese defeat Russians (Russo-Japanese War)
1905 Battle of Tsushima May 27 - 28 - Japanese win a decisive victory over Russian fleet in the Straits of Tshushima (Russo-Japanese War)
1908 Battle of Marakesh August 23 - Mulay Hafid successfully revolts against Morocco Sultan
First Balkan War1912-13
- 1912 Battle of Lemnos (Oct 8)- Greek Marines Occupy the Ottoman held port of Moudros on the Island of Lemnos
- 1912 Battle of Sarantaporo (Oct 9)- Greeks defeat Ottomans near Koritza
- 1912 Battle of Giannitsa (Oct 19)- Greeks defeat Ottoman Turks in Central Macedonia
- 1912 Battle of Kumanovo (Oct 23)- Serbians defeat Ottomans in N.Macedonia
- 1912 Battle of Kirk Kelesse (Oct 24)- Bulgarians defeat Ottomans in E.Thrace
- 1912 Battle of Pente Pigadia (Oct 24th-30th)- Greeks defeat Ottomans in seven day battle near Bizani
- 1912 Battle of Prelep (Oct 27)- Serbians defeat Ottomans
- 1912 Battle of Lule-Burgas (Oct 31-Nov 3)- Bulgarians compell Ottomans to full retreat toward the lines of Tchataldja, 30 Km from Constantinople and the last line of defense for the Ottoman Capital
- 1912 Battle of Vevi (Nov 2)- Successful Turkish counter offensive against Greek positions
- 1912 Battle of Monastir (Nov 16-19)- Decisive and final defeat in Macedonia of the Ottomans by the Serbians
- 1912 Naval Battle of Dardanelles (Dec 3)- Greek navy defeats Ottoman fleet & forces it to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles straits
- 1913 Naval Battle of Lemnos (Jan 1-18)- Greek navy defeats Ottoman fleet near the Island of Lemnos in final naval engagement of the war
- 1913 Battle of Bizani (Feb 20-21) Greeks defeat last operational Ottoman army in the Balkans and capture city of Ioanina
- 1912-1913 Adrianople (Mar 6)- Fall of the city to the combined forces of Bulgaria & Serbia and the capture of Turkish Gen Ghazi Shulkri Pasha
Second Balkan War1913
- 1913 Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas (Jun 19-21) Greeks defeat Bulgarians in the three day battle for Kilkis
- 1913 Battle of Kalimantsi (Jul 15-18)- Bulgarian defensive victory against the Serbs
- 1913 Battle of Kresna Gorge (29 July)- Inconclusive ten day Battle between Bulgaria and Greece
1913 Battle of Dul Madoba
1914 Battle of Vera Cruz April 21 - US occupies Mexican town
1914 Liège; August 4 - 17 - Germans invade Belgium; start of World War I
1914 Battle of the Frontiers August 7 - September 4 - Germans invade France:
- Battle of Mulhouse August 7
- Battle of Lorraine August 14
- Battle of the Ardennes August 21
- Battle of Charleroi August 21
- Battle of Mons August 23
1914 Battle of Stalluponen August 17 - First battle on the Eastern Front in World War I
1914 Battle of Gumbinnen August 19 - 20 - Russians defeat German Eighth Army, advance to river Vistula
1914 Tannenberg August 26 - Samsonov's Russian Second Army encircled and destroyed by the German Eighth Army
1914 Battle of Heligoland Bight August 28 - First major naval engagement of World War I - heavy German losses
1914 First Battle of the Marne September 5 - 9 - German invasion of France halted by Allies
1914 First Battle of the Masurian Lakes September 9 - 14 - German Eighth Army defeats Rennenkampf's Russian First Army
1914 Battle of Antwerp September 28
1914 First Ypres October 31 - November 22 - Early trench warfare; "Kindermord bei Ypern"
1914 Battle of Coronel November 1 - Admiral Graf Spee defeats Admiral Cradock
1914 Battle of Tanga November 3 - November 5, Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck defeats General Arthur Aitken in German East Africa
1914 Battle of Lodz November 11 - Russians take city, lose it on December 6
1914 Battle of Cracow November 16 - heavy casualties to Austria and Russia
1914 Battle of Lowicz November 30 - December 17 - Russians take city
1914 Battle of Kolubara December 3 - 6 - Serbians drive out Austrians
1914 Battle of Falkland Islands December 8 - British defeat Admiral Graf Spee
1915 Battle of Dogger Bank January 24 - Admiral Beatty drives off Vice-Admiral Hipper's raiding force, sinks Blucher
1915 Battle of Gallipoli February 19 to January 8 1916
- First Battle of Krithia April 28
- Second Battle of Krithia May 6 - 8
- Third Battle of Krithia June 4
- Battle of Gully Ravine June 28 - July 5
- Battle of Sari Bair August 6 - 29
1915 Battle of Afiun-Kara-Hissar - Turkish assimilation of Armenians
1915 Second Ypres April 22 - May 25 Germans use poison gas
1915 Battle of Loos September 25 - 28
1916 Battle of Verdun February 21 - December Five-month battle kills 700,000
1916 Battle of Jutland May 31 - last engagement of the German High Seas Fleet
1916 Brusilov offensive June - Russia nearly collapses Austria but losses are staggering
1916 Battle of Mouquet Farm
1916 Battle of the Somme July - Four month battle, bloodiest in history
1916 Battle of Romani August 3 - Turkish advance on Suez Canal defeated
1916 Battle of Magdhaba December 23 - Capture of Turkish garrison in the Sinai
1917 Battle of Rafa January 9 - Capture of Turkish garrison in the Sinai
1917 First Battle of Gaza March 26 - British fail to advance into Palestine
1917 Vimy Ridge April 9 - Canada's finest hour
1917 Second Battle of Gaza April 19 - Turkey repels British assault on Gaza-Beersheba line
1917 Passchendaele July 31 - also known as Third Battle of Ypres. Three-month battle costs Britain 400,000
1917 Battle of Caporetto October 24 - Also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo - Italians defeated by Central Powers, driven back to Venice
1917 Third Battle of Gaza October 31 - British break Turkish defensive line in southern Palestine
- Battle of Beersheba October 31 - Australian light horse capture Beersheba
1917 Battle of Cambrai November 20 - December 7 - First successful use of tanks
1918 Battle of Tampere March 8 - April 6 in Finnish Civil War
1918 Battle of Cantigny May 28 - US First Division wins in first independent action
1918 Battle of Belleau Wood June 25 - US Second Division Marines capture woods
1918 Second Battle of the Marne July 15 - 18 - Allies halt four month German drive
1918 Battle of Amiens August - British force Germans to Hindenburg line
1918 Megiddo September 19 - Allenby's British crush Ottoman army
1918 Battle of Meuse Argonne Forest, September 26-November 11 - Largest AEF action of war; Allied victory. (In it, October 8, Cpl. Alvin York, outnumbered 19:1, leads capture of German machine-gun nest)
1918 Battle of Vittoria Veneto
1918 Battle of Chateau Thierry
1919 Defence of Lwów - city besieged by the Ukrainian forces
1920 Battle of Zadwórze - Polish army defeated by the Red Army forces of Semyon Budennyi
1920 Battle of Warsaw - Poles defeat Red Army
1920 Battle of the Niemen river - Poles defeat the reserves of the Red Army
1921 Battles of Inonu - Turkish War of Independence
1921 Battle of Anual July 21 in Morocco, Spanish army loses to Rifi berbers of Abd el Krim.
1921 Battle of Sakarya - Farthest Greek advance in Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) ("Turkish War of Independence")
1922 Battle of Dumlupinar - Final battle of Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) ("Turkish War of Independence")
1936 Battle of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War
1937 Battle of Guadalajara in the Spanish Civil War
1937 Battle of Lugou Bridge July 7 - Japanese victory triggered outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War
1937 Battle of Nanjing early November to December 13 - Japanese victory after 2 months siege of the capital of Republic of China.
1938 Battle of Tai er zhuang March 27 - Chinese claim strategic and moral victory over Japanese
1938 Battle of the Ebro - Spanish Republicans launch attacks across the Ebro river. The purpose of the battle is to relieve pressure off of Valencia and Catalonia. Republican forces are initially successful. However, Nationalist forces, under superior air coverage, eventually beat them back. The battle lasts until November 1938.

1939-1945

Second World War

1939 Battle of Halhin Gol
1939 Poland September 1 - October 5 - Start of World War II in Europe (see: Polish September Campaign for details)
- Battle of the Bzura River
- Battle of Tomaszow Lubelski
- Battle of Kock
- Battle of Warsaw (1939)
1939 Battle of the River Plate December 13 - Admiral Graf Spee chased into Montevideo harbour and scuttled
1939 Battle of Suomussalmi December 8 - January 7 1940 - Winter War
1939 Battle of Tolvajärvi December 12 - Winter War
1940 - 1945 Battle of the Atlantic (1940)- the name given to the conflicts in the Atlantic Ocean throughout World War II.
1940 Battle of Honkaniemi February 26 - Only tank action of the Winter War.
1940 Battle of Narvik April 9 - June 10 - A minor Allied victory in the arctic.
1940 Battle at the Afsluitdijk May 10 - May 14
1940 Battle of France May 9 - May 15 - Germany take France, Expeditionary Force and French Army Defeated
1940 Battle of Dunkirk May 27 - June 5 - Escape of defeated British Expeditonary Force
1940 Battle of Britain July 9 - October 31 Germans try to bomb Britain into submission - RAF answers with fighters
1940 Battle of Taranto November 11-November 12 - British carrier based planes destroy Italian fleet in Taranto Harbor.
1940 Battle of Hundred Regiments - Major engagement of the Red Army against the Japanese Imperial Army in August and September.
1941 Battle of Cape Matapan March 28 - British fleet defeats Italian fleet.
1941 Battle of Denmark Strait May 23 - Bismarck sinks HMS Hood
1941 Battle of Grece April 6 - April 24 - Germany takes the Balcanic Peninsula after Italian Stalemate.
1941 Battle of Crete May 20 - June 1 - Paratroops capture Crete, suffer many casualties.
1941 Operation Barbarossa June 22 - German invasion of the Soviet Union
1941-1942 Battle of Moscow Soviet defenders drive back German Army Group Centre
1941 Battle of Pearl Harbor December 7 - Japanese destroy US Fleet in surprise attack
1941 Battle of Singapure December 10 - Japanese torpedo craft sunk HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.
1942 Battle of Macassar Strait January - US and Dutch forces attack Japanese convoy
1942 Dražgoše; January 9 - First frontal engagement on Slovenian soil with the German occupier
1942 Battle of the Java Sea February 4 - March 1 Japanese wipe out Allied naval squadron
1942 Japanese Raids into Indian Ocean March 31 - Japanese Raids against the British Eastern Fleet. Heavy British Looses.
1942 Battle of Corregidor April 9 - General Wainwright's troops surrender, forced on Bataan Death March
1942 Battle of Nanos April 18 - 800 Italian soldiers lay siege to 50 Slovene partisans. Partisans break through, nine were killed and eleven were captured
1942 Battle of the Coral Sea May 4 - US loses USS Lexington; Japanese win tactically but lose strategically.
1942 Battle of Midway June 3 - US loses USS Yorktown; Japanese lose four aircraft carriers
1942 Convoy PQ-17 - 27 ships leave Iceland on June 17 for Murmansk – on July 5 10 ships reach Murmansk
1942 First Battle of El Alamein July 1 - British Eighth Army stops Rommel's Axis forces invading Egypt
1942 Battle of Sevastapol July 2 - Captured by Germans after eight month siege
1942 Battle of Changsha - Chinese claim victory over Japanese
1942 Battle of Guadalcanal August 8 - Beginning of Allied action in Solomon Islands
1942 Battle of Savo Island August 9 - Japanese sink four US cruisers
1942 Battle of Dieppe August 19 - "Operation Jubilee" was an Allied attack on the German occupied port of Dieppe in France. Allied Failure ,Information used for D-Day.
1942 Battle of Stalingrad August 22 - February 2 1943 - City besieged by Paulus' German Sixth Army; from November 23 the Sixth Army is surrounded and destroyed by Soviets; bloodiest battle in history, 1.8 millions dead aprox.
1942 Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 24 - Japanese aircraft carrier Ryuho sunk
1942 Battle of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea August 25
1942 Battle of Bloody Ridge September 12
1942 Battle of Cape Esperance October 11 - near Guadalcanal
1942 Second Battle of El Alamein October 23 - November 4 - Montgomery's Eighth Army forces Rommel out of Egypt
1942 Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands October 25 - near Guadalcanal, USS Hornet sunk, but Japanese withdraw victorious
1942 Operation Torch November 17 - Allied landings in North Africa
1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal November 12 - US defeats Japan. Turning Point
1942 Battle of Tassafaronga November 30 - off Guadalcanal
1943 Battle of Osankarica January 8 - Over 200 Germans massacred all 69 men and women of the Pohorje battalion. Germans lost 19 men and had 31 wounded
1943 Battle of Rennell Island January 29-30 - Japanese bombers sink a cruiser
1943 Battle of Guadalcanal February 8 - Allies take the island
1943 Battle of the Kasserine Pass February 14 - 25 - Battle between US and German armored forces in Tunisia
1943 Battle of Bismarck Sea March 2 - US sinks Japanese transports
1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising April 18 - 5000 Jews and 5000 Germans die, Jews confined
1943 Battle of Castle Turjak September 19 - Slovene partisans took the castle guarded by the Slovene village sentries
1943 Battle of Kursk July - Germans attack Kursk salient at Orel and Belgorod; Russians drive them back; arguably the largest tank battle ever fought. Heavy Looses
1943 Raid on Schweinfurt October 14- The greatest Air battle among the Luftwaffe and the USAF. The famous Air Battle known as the Black Thurday.
1944 Battle of Cisterna January 29- Part of Operation Shingle- the 1st, 3rd, and 4th US Army Ranger battalions attempted to capture the town of Cisterna.
1944 Battle of Monte Cassino May 11 - 18
1944 Battle of Normandy June 6 - August 25 - Allies invade northern France across the Normandy beaches (Operation Overlord); hard fighting from Cherbourg to Caen; Germans surrounded and destroyed at Falaise
1944 Battle of Philippine Sea June 19 - Major carrier battle; US lose 123 planes and destroy 402 Japanese planes
1944 Marianas Campaign - US invasions of Saipan, June 15, Guam July 21, and Tinian July 24
1944 Operation Bagration June 22 - Eastern Front - Soviet offensive destroys German Army Group Center.
1944 Battle of Fontenay June 25
1944 Battle of Tali-Ihantala June 25 - July 10 - Finnish stop Soviet offensive
1944 Warsaw Uprising August 1 - October 5 - 20.000 armed Poles against 55.000 Wehrmacht and SS. City destroyed in 90%, more than 250.000 casualties.
1944 Operation Dragoon (a.k.a. Operation Anvil) August 15 - Allied invasion of Southern France
1944 Battle of Peleliu September 17 - A fight to capture an airstrip on a speck of coral in the western Pacific.
1944 Battle of Arnhem September 17 - 26 - The major battle of Operation Market Garden; Allies reach but fail to cross the Rhine; British First Airborne Division destroyed
1944 Hürtgen Forest; October 6 - Stubborn German defence, moderate looses to US army
1944 Battle of Aachen- October. Aachen was the first major German city to face invasion during WW II.
1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf October 23 - 26 - The largest air-sea battle in history.
1944 Operation Queen November 16
1944 Battle of Monte Castello November 25 - February 12 1945 - Brazilian troops fight Germans in Italy
1944 Battle of the Bulge December 16 - January 27 1945 - German counterattack in Ardennes; General McAuliffe says "NUTS" at Bastogne
1945 Operation Elephant January 26 - Allied offensive in Netherlands
1945 Battle of Mindanao March 10 - US invasion of the Philippines
1945 Battle of Iwo Jima March 26 - After a month, US takes the island
1945 Operation Varsity March 17 - 134 Allied gliders land troops in Weisel
1945 Battle of Berlin April 26 - May 2 - Soviet forces encircle and capture German capital; Hitler commits suicide
1945 Battle of Triest April 30 - May 2 - British army and Yugoslav capture the city
1945 Battle of Poljana - Last battle of World War II in Europe
1945 Battle of Okinawa June 21 - US takes Japanese Island in the Ryukyus; many casualties to both sides.

After 1945

1948 Israeli War of Independence - State of Israel established on May 14; war with Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, Egypt and Iraq; many Arab refugees
1950 Battle of Inchon September 14 - UN retakes South Korea, reaches Seoul in 12 days
1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir November 27
1951 Battle of Kapyong Chinese offensive halted April 23
1951 Battle of Heartbreak Ridge September 23 - After 37 days, heights fall to UN
1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu - France loses Indochina when besieged here, from 1953 (First Indochina War)
1956 Battle of Suez - Britain, France, Israel attempt to retake canal, Ike says No
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion - US-backed attempt to capture Cuba
1962 Battle of Namka Chun - Chinese-Indian War
1967 Six Day War June 5 - 10 - Israel defeats Egypt, Jordan and Syria, occupies Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula
1968 Tet Offensive January 30 - North Vietnam loses militarily but turns the tide of US opinion against the war
1968 Battle of Khe Sanh February 5
1969 Football War July 14 - Between El Salvador and Honduras
1971 Battle of Longewala December 5 - Bangladesh Liberation War.Decisive Indian Victory.
1973 Yom Kippur War October 6 - Israel, taken by surprise on Holy Day, defeats Egypt and Syria. See also Battle of Latakia
1975 Indonesia invades East Timor December 7
1982 Falklands War April 2 - June 14 - Britain recaptures Falkland Islands from Argentina
- Battle of Goose Green
- Battle of Mount Harriet June 11
- Battle of Two Sisters June 11
- Battle of Mount Longdon June 11
- Battle of Wireless Ridge June 13
- Battle of Mount Tumbledown June 13
1982 Operation Peace for Galilee - Israeli invasion of Lebanon June 6
1983 Operation Urgent Fury October 25 - US invasion of Grenada
1989 Operation Just Cause December 20 - US invasion of Panama
1991 Operation Desert Storm February - Coalition forces eject Iraq from Kuwait
1993 Battle of Mogadishu October 3 - Policing mission gone wrong, US soldiers trapped against militia in a populated city
First Chechen War 1994 - May 27, 1996
1994 Afghanistan's Islamic State of Afghanistan (United Front) ousted by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban).
1995 The fall of Manerplaw in the war between the Burma Army and the KNU
Second Chechen War started in 1999, ongoing
Balkan Crisis War in Yugoslavia