List of battles - List of battles before AD 601 - 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

Contents

1 Before 1914 2 1914-1919 - WWI 3 1920-1938 4 1939-1945 5 After World War II

Before 1914

• Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905
  • 1904 Battle of Port Arthur February 8-January 2 - Protracted Japanese siege of the Russian fortress; start of Russo-Japanese War
  • 1904 Battle of Yalu River May 2 - First Japanese land victory against the Russians
  • 1904 Battle of Nanshan May 25th-26th - Japanese defeat Russians in a pitched battle outside of Port Arthur
  • 1904 Battle of Dairen May 30 - Japanese defeat Russians
  • 1904 Battle of Te-li-Ssu June 14th-15th - Russian attempt to relieve Port Arthur smashed by the Japanese
  • 1904 Battle of the Yellow Sea August 10 - Russian naval breakout attempt from Port Arthur defeated by Japanese fleet
  • 1904 Battle of Liaoyang August 26-September 3 - Japanese defeat Russians in the first major battle of the Russo-Japanese War
  • 1904 Battle of Sha-Ho October 11th-15th - Russian counteroffensive in Manchuria is checked with heavy losses by the Japanese
  • 1905 Battle of San-de-pu January 25th-29th - Another failed Russian counteroffensive in Manchuria
  • 1905 Battle of Mukden February 23-March 7 Largest battle of all time when fought, a glorious Japanese victory
  • 1905 Battle of Tsushima May 27 - 28 - Admiral Togo's decisive victory over Russian Baltic fleet in the Straits of Tshushima
• 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 compel 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

1914-1919 - WWI

• 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 Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes February 7-22 Initial German attack is highly successful but further attacks are repulsed
• 1915 Battle of Gallipoli February 19 to January 8 1916 The Allied powers attempt a failed frontal assault on the Ottoman Empire
• 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 the first World War
• 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 Battle of Hamel July 4 - Australian success with departure from massed frontal assaults
• 1918 Second Battle of the Marne July 15 - 18 - Allies halt four month German drive
• 1918 Battle of Chateau Thierry July 18
• 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 the Sambre November 4
• 1918 Battle of Vittoria Veneto
• 1919 Defence of Lwów - city besieged by the Ukrainian forces

1920-1938

• 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. It is soon to become the descisive battle of the war, and a Republican defeat.

1939-1945

Second World War

• 1938 Battle of Lake Khasan
• 1939 Battle of Halhin Gol
• 1939 Poland September 1 - October 6 - 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- 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 Greece April 6 - April 24 - Germany takes the Balkan 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 Singapore 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 losses.
• 1942 Battle of Bataan January 1 - April 9 USAFFE forces make gallant stand, forced on Bataan Death March .
• 1942 Battle of Corregidor May 5 - May 6 - General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders last American bastion in Asia
• 1942 Battle of Nanos April 18 - 800 Italian soldiers lay siege to 50 Slovene partisans.
• 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 Sevastopol 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 approx.
• 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 "Black Thursday."
• 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 315 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, appalling loses 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 Raid at Cabanatuan January 30 - US Army Rangers rescue Bataan and Corregidor POWs from Japanese prison camp.
• 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 World War II

• 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 Suez Crisis - Britain, France, Israel attempt to retake Suez Canal after recent Egyptian nationalization.
• 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion - A failed U.S.-backed attempt to capture Cuba and a major blow to U.S. pride and reputation.
• 1962 Battle of Namka Chun - Chinese-Indian War
• 1966 Battle of Long Tan August 18 - 19 - First major action of Australian forces in Vietnam
• 1967 Six Day War June 5 - 10 - Israel defeats Egypt, Jordan and Syria, occupies Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula
• 1967 USS Liberty incident June 8 Israeli forces attack US naval ship
• 1968 USS Pueblo (AGER-2) capture January 23 North Korea seizes US ship
• 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 - Desperate defense by the U.S. Marines to hold strategically important fire base against huge NVA numbers
• 1969 Football War July 14 - Between El Salvador and Honduras
• 1971 Battle of Longewala December 5 - Bangladesh Liberation War.Decisive Indian Victory.
• 1972 Battle of Mirbat July 19 - British SAS forces defeat Communist rebels during an attempted coup of Oman.
• 1973 Yom Kippur War October 6 - Deadlock between Israel and Egypt (loss of the east bank of the Suez, and loss of the Barlev defense line, the best in known history) and defeat of Syria in Golan. 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
• 1988 Operation Praying Mantis April 18 - One day US-Iranian naval action
• 1988 Iran Air Flight 655 incident July 3
• 1989 Gulf of Sidra incident January 4
• 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