Wars & front lines
A growing world catalogue, not a complete list of every war or battlefield. Every war moves on the map: where a continuous front existed (the world wars, Spain, Korea) the line follows that front, with encirclements, pincer movements and army units. Older wars get a schematic limit of advance or control; the note with each conflict says what the line does and does not represent. Wars that turned on a single siege or on the sea show moving armies and fleets instead of a front; only the legendary Trojan War remains without.
Not sure which conflict to look for?Explore civil wars, sieges, naval battles and forgotten revolutions by era, or let chance surprise you.🎲 Discover & time travel53 of 53 conflicts and campaigns
Anatolia · Legendary tradition
Trojan War (legendary tradition)
1200 BCE – 1190 BCE
In Greek epic tradition, a wooden horse brings about Troy’s downfall, but this story is not an archaeologically established account of warfare. Beneath the mound of Hisarlık lie successive settlements destroyed at different times. The map therefore shows a story setting and a conventional time window, not a proven siege with known commanders, casualty figures or a reconstructed sequence of events.
1 locations · 3 equipment items
Greece and Anatolia · Animated schematic fronts
Greco-Persian Wars
499 BCE – 449 BCE
A Persian invasion brought the struggle between an empire and Greek city-states to Greece’s mountain passes and straits. As Athens was evacuated and destroyed, allies gathered their ships at Salamis to fight the larger Persian fleet. Subsequent Greek victories ended the invasion, but the participants did not form a united nation and remained rivals among themselves.
4 locations · 4 equipment items
Greece and Sicily · Schematic location timeline
Peloponnesian War
432 BCE – 404 BCE
Athens relied on its walls and fleet while Sparta invaded the surrounding countryside. An epidemic struck the crowded city, and the war spread to allies and distant expeditions, including the failed attack on Syracuse. The eventual defeat at Aegospotami made Athenian supply vulnerable; surrender ended the war, but left a Greek world changed by internal conflict and violence against civilians.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
Europe, Asia and Egypt · Animated schematic fronts
Campaigns of Alexander the Great
334 BCE – 323 BCE
After crossing into Anatolia, Alexander fought the army of the Achaemenid Empire and then advanced ever further east. Victories at Issus and Gaugamela dismantled Darius III’s power, but did not end resistance in the conquered territories. The campaigns reached the Punjab and created new political connections alongside destroyed cities, forced submission and enslavement.
4 locations · 3 equipment items
Sicily and the Mediterranean · Animated schematic fronts
First Punic War
264 BCE – 241 BCE
During the struggle for Sicily, Rome built a fleet so that it could also fight Carthage at sea. At Mylae, boarding bridges helped Roman soldiers board enemy ships, but later defeats and storms again destroyed large parts of the navy. Only victory at the Aegates Islands brought peace negotiations; Carthage had to cede Sicily and pay an indemnity after more than twenty years of war.
5 locations · 1 equipment items
Mediterranean · Animated schematic fronts
Second Punic War
218 BCE – 201 BCE
Hannibal led his army across the Alps and brought the war into Italy, where Rome suffered several severe defeats. Yet after Cannae, the Roman state refused to make peace and continued fighting in Italy, Iberia and eventually North Africa. Hannibal’s defeat at Zama ended the war and subjected Carthage to far-reaching Roman peace terms.
3 locations · 3 equipment items
North Africa · Schematic location timeline
Third Punic War
149 BCE – 146 BCE
Rome demanded that Carthage’s inhabitants abandon their city and settle further from the sea. They refused, and a siege followed that lasted three years despite Roman expectations. When the city fell in 146 BCE, most survivors were enslaved and Carthage was destroyed; the story that the Romans scattered salt over the ground is not a fact confirmed by ancient sources.
3 locations · 0 equipment items
Western Europe · Animated schematic fronts
Gallic Wars
58 BCE – 50 BCE
At Alesia, Roman siege works enclosed a Gallic army, while a second defensive line protected the besiegers against a relief force. This double encirclement became a decisive moment in Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, not the beginning of the fighting. His own account is an important but partisan source for wars accompanied by destruction, mass violence and the sale of prisoners into slavery.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
China · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Late Han and Three Kingdoms
184 – 280
On the Yangtze, a southern alliance at Red Cliffs halted Cao Cao’s advance. The victory did not bring reunification, but helped sustain the division of the former Han realm into rival power blocs. Later histories and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms made the struggle widely known; historical events must be distinguished from literary scenes and from the disputed precise location of the battlefield.
2 locations · 3 equipment items
Middle East, Africa and Iberia · Animated schematic fronts
Early Islamic conquests
632 – 750
At the Yarmouk and al-Qadisiyyah, the Byzantine and Sasanian empires lost important armies to the caliphate’s forces. The conquests changed the political government of much of the Middle East and later spread further. This did not mean the immediate conversion of all inhabitants: religious and linguistic changes varied by region and unfolded over longer periods than the military campaigns.
3 locations · 3 equipment items
British Isles · Animated schematic fronts
Norman Conquest of England
1066 – 1071
In 1066, Harold II had to confront invasions in both northern and southern England. After his death at Hastings, William took the crown, but victory did not yet give him complete control of the kingdom. Rebellions were violently suppressed, particularly during the devastation of the north; changes in landownership and government followed the military conquest.
2 locations · 4 equipment items
Anatolia and the Levant · Animated schematic fronts
First Crusade
1096 – 1099
A call for armed pilgrimage brought several armies from western Europe into Anatolia and the Levant. At Antioch, the besiegers themselves came under siege after capturing the city, before the campaign continued towards Jerusalem. The capture of that city in 1099 was followed by massacres of inhabitants; the establishment of Crusader states opened new regional power relationships and prolonged conflicts.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
Eurasia · Animated schematic fronts
Mongol conquests
1206 – 1279
Mongol armies combined campaigns across the Eurasian steppe with attacks on fortified cities. The capture of Baghdad in 1258 ended the Abbasid caliphate there and involved large-scale destruction and killing. Expansion also created new connections between regions, but did not unfold uniformly: at Ain Jalut, a Mongol force was checked by the Mamluks.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
Western Europe · Animated schematic fronts
Hundred Years’ War
1337 – 1453
The English and French royal houses did not fight continuously for a hundred years, but waged successive wars with long interruptions. Victories at Crécy and Agincourt gave English armies considerable influence, while sieges and raiding campaigns affected the French countryside. The breakthrough at Orléans and later French successes reversed the balance; Castillon helped end the English position in Gascony.
4 locations · 6 equipment items
Anatolia and the Balkans · Schematic location timeline
Ottoman conquest of Constantinople
1453 – 1453
In 1453, Constantinople faced pressure from both land and sea from Mehmed II’s army. The defenders held out behind the walls for weeks before Ottoman troops entered the city. Its fall ended the Byzantine Empire and was accompanied by looting and enslavement; the city subsequently became a capital of the Ottoman Empire.
1 locations · 3 equipment items
England · Schematic location timeline
Wars of the Roses
1455 – 1487
Henry VI was captured by his opponents at St Albans, but the struggle for the crown did not end there. Over the following decades, victories, kings and alliances changed, while noble prisoners were sometimes executed. Richard III’s death at Bosworth opened the way for Henry Tudor; the later Battle of Stoke Field showed that his position was still contested by force.
5 locations · 0 equipment items
Japan · Animated schematic fronts
Sengoku and the unification of Japan
1467 – 1615
Rival Japanese rulers fought over territory and government in a period of limited central authority. At Nagashino, Sekigahara and Osaka, the balance between major coalitions shifted until the Tokugawa consolidated their position. These well-known battles were only a selection from prolonged regional wars; the boundaries of the Sengoku period vary according to the historical periodisation adopted.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
Mesoamerica · Animated schematic fronts
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
1519 – 1521
Tenochtitlan stood in a lake and could not be captured without a prolonged struggle over access and supply. Spanish forces fought alongside large numbers of Indigenous allies, whose interests did not simply coincide with those of Cortés. The siege of 1521, hunger and epidemics brought down the Mexica capital; colonial rule followed, not the disappearance of the Indigenous population.
2 locations · 3 equipment items
Central Europe · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Ottoman expansion: Mohács and Vienna
1526 – 1533
At Mohács, the Hungarian king Louis II was killed as his army was defeated by the Ottomans. His death created not only a military crisis but also a succession struggle involving Habsburg and other claims. Three years later, an Ottoman army reached Vienna, but the siege was abandoned; the struggle for power in Hungary continued long afterwards.
2 locations · 4 equipment items
Malta · Schematic location timelineLesser known
Siege of Malta (1565)
1565 – 1565
Fort St Elmo guarded access to Malta’s harbours and became the Ottoman besiegers’ first major target. The fort fell after weeks of fighting, but the defenders of Birgu and Senglea continued to resist. A relief force from Sicily contributed to the Ottoman withdrawal; the result changed regional power relationships without ending the struggle between the participating powers in the Mediterranean.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
Low Countries · Animated schematic fronts
Eighty Years’ War
1568 – 1648
At Leiden, the breaching of dykes turned the surroundings of the besieged town into a flooded landscape. Its relief became a well-known moment in a revolt arising from conflicts over authority, religion and government within the Spanish monarchy. The war proceeded with interruptions and divided the Low Countries; the Peace of Münster confirmed the Republic’s independence in 1648.
3 locations · 5 equipment items
Korea and surrounding seas · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Imjin War: Japanese invasions of Korea
1592 – 1598
Japanese armies advanced rapidly through Korea in 1592, but control on land did not automatically secure supply by sea. Yi Sun-sin’s fleet and later Chinese support constrained the invasion, while Korean towns and farming areas were devastated. After a second invasion and Hideyoshi’s death, Japanese forces withdrew; massacres and the deportation of captives, including artisans, remained part of the consequences.
4 locations · 1 equipment items
Central Europe · Animated schematic fronts
Thirty Years’ War
1618 – 1648
A revolt in Bohemia developed into a series of wars in which religious divisions and dynastic interests overlapped. Armies from several European states crossed central Europe, where billeting, looting, hunger and disease severely affected the population. The peace settlements of 1648 ended important parts of the conflict, but did not simply end every war or religious tension in Europe.
4 locations · 4 equipment items
British Isles · Animated schematic fronts
English Civil Wars
1642 – 1651
In 1642, king and Parliament raised their own armies after their conflict over authority and government could no longer be resolved peacefully. Fighting became intertwined with Scottish and Irish wars and generated new military and political movements. War continued after Charles I’s execution; Charles II’s defeat at Worcester temporarily confirmed republican government, not a permanent end to the monarchy.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
North Sea and English coast · Schematic location timeline
Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652–1674)
1652 – 1674
In 1667, Dutch warships sailed up the Medway and took the English Royal Charles. The attack on ships close to the English naval base followed years of major naval battles between commercial and maritime rivals. These wars were not one continuous conflict: changing alliances and peace settlements separated the first three wars, shown here, from the later fourth war in the eighteenth century.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
Central Europe and the Balkans · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Great Turkish War
1683 – 1699
Outside Vienna in 1683, the arrival of a relief army reversed the course of the Ottoman siege. The war then continued along the Danube, where the Holy League captured Buda among other places. Victories and sieges eventually led to the Peace of Karlowitz, which confirmed major territorial losses for the Ottoman Empire without ending rivalry in south-eastern Europe.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
Europe, the Americas and Asia · Animated schematic fronts
Seven Years’ War
1756 – 1763
A war between European powers was fought simultaneously on German battlefields, in North America and around trading centres in India. At Plassey and Quebec, victories changed colonial power relationships, while Prussia fought several opponents in Europe. The peace settlements of 1763 shifted territories and commercial power, but the cost of the war also contributed to later political conflicts within the participating empires.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
North America · Animated schematic fronts
American Revolutionary War
1775 – 1783
At Lexington and Concord, a political crisis became open fighting between colonists and British troops. The revolt gained foreign support, and at Yorktown an American army and French land and naval forces trapped a British force. Independence brought a new republic, but not universal equality: slavery continued and Indigenous communities faced threats from further expansion.
3 locations · 5 equipment items
Saint-Domingue / Haiti · Schematic location timeline
Haitian Revolution
1791 – 1804
An uprising of enslaved people in Saint-Domingue began changing the government of the French colony in 1791. Abolition of slavery, shifting foreign interventions and a French expedition made the struggle increasingly complex. Victory at Vertières was followed by Haitian independence in 1804; the war and subsequent killings of many remaining French inhabitants show that independence did not mean the end of violence.
3 locations · 0 equipment items
Europe and beyond · Animated schematic fronts
Napoleonic Wars
1803 – 1815
At Austerlitz, Napoleon defeated two imperial armies, but his dominance on the European mainland did not mean control of the seas. New coalitions, the invasion of Russia and wars elsewhere exhausted France and its allies. After Leipzig and a first abdication, Napoleon returned, before Waterloo and the subsequent surrender ended his restored imperial rule.
6 locations · 8 equipment items
South America · Schematic location timeline
Spanish American wars of independence
1808 – 1826
Bolívar’s army reached New Granada after a difficult crossing of the Andes and opened the road to Bogotá at Boyacá. Further south, San Martín connected the independence struggle of the Río de la Plata with Chile and Peru. These campaigns formed part of several wars in which Americans also fought for the Royalists; victories ended Spanish rule without immediately bringing stable states or universal social equality.
5 locations · 0 equipment items
Greece · Animated schematic fronts
Greek War of Independence
1821 – 1832
After a prolonged siege, defenders and inhabitants of Missolonghi tried to break through the Ottoman–Egyptian lines in 1826. The failed breakout and the treatment of survivors attracted widespread attention beyond Greece. The war also involved massacres by Greek insurgents and internal fighting; foreign intervention at Navarino and later diplomacy contributed to an independent state, not the fulfilment of every territorial claim.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
China · Animated schematic fronts
Taiping Rebellion
1850 – 1864
On the basis of his religious beliefs, Hong Xiuquan proclaimed a rival Heavenly Kingdom against the Qing dynasty. After capturing Nanjing, the Taiping movement governed large territories while regional Qing armies organised counterattacks. Fighting brought famine, displacement and massacres on both sides; deaths are estimated in the millions, but precise totals are disputed and include more than battlefield casualties alone.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
Black Sea and Crimea · Schematic location timeline
Crimean War
1853 – 1856
Outside Sevastopol, allied armies tried to capture a Russian naval base while their own supply and medical care proved inadequate. The Light Brigade’s charge at Balaclava became well known, but disease caused more deaths than many individual engagements. The war linked the siege to wider rivalry over the Ottoman Empire and the Black Sea; peace changed power relationships and prompted debates about reform.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
North America · Animated schematic fronts
American Civil War
1861 – 1865
At Antietam, a Confederate invasion of Maryland ended, after which Lincoln announced the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The war over secession and the continuation of slavery moved between battlefields, besieged cities and places where civilians and enslaved people sought to make their own choices. Union victory ended the Confederacy, but peace did not end racist violence or the struggle for civil rights.
3 locations · 9 equipment items
Northern Europe · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
German unification: Second Schleswig War
1864 – 1864
At Dybbøl, Prussian troops stormed the Danish defences after weeks of bombardment. The struggle over Schleswig and Holstein involved both national claims and the duchies’ complex position within the Danish monarchy. Denmark lost the territories to Prussia and Austria; joint administration by the victors then became a new source of rivalry on the path towards German unification.
2 locations · 3 equipment items
Paraguay and the Río de la Plata region · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Paraguayan War
1864 – 1870
Paraguay entered a war against an alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and, after years of fighting, lost almost all room for military manoeuvre. River battles and sieges around Humaitá gave way to a retreat into the interior. When Francisco Solano López was killed at Cerro Corá, the country was devastated; mortality from fighting, disease and hunger was very high, but precise population losses remain disputed.
5 locations · 0 equipment items
Central Europe · Animated schematic fronts
German unification: Austro-Prussian War
1866 – 1866
At Königgrätz, large Austrian and Prussian armies met in a war lasting only a few weeks. There was also an Italian front, where Austria won at Custoza without being able to reverse the outcome in Germany. Prussia’s victory ended the old German Confederation and excluded Austria from the new Prussian-led political structure in northern Germany.
2 locations · 3 equipment items
Alps · Schematic location timelineLesser known
Liechtenstein: deployment of the contingent (1866)
1866 – 1866
In 1866, Liechtenstein sent a contingent of eighty soldiers to a border sector in the Alps, but they saw no combat. The familiar story that eighty-one men returned has differing explanations and is treated here as tradition. This journey was a deployment within the Austro-Prussian War, not a separate Liechtenstein war; the map therefore shows guard locations and a return, not battles.
2 locations · 0 equipment items
Japan · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Boshin War
1868 – 1869
At Toba–Fushimi, forces of the Tokugawa shogunate were defeated by a coalition acting in the emperor’s name. Fighting then moved from Kyoto and Edo to northern domains and finally Hokkaido. The surrender at Hakodate ended the main organised resistance; this did not complete the Meiji Restoration, but enabled the new government to press ahead with political and administrative reforms.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
Western Europe · Animated schematic fronts
German unification: Franco-Prussian War
1870 – 1871
At Sedan, Napoleon III was captured with his army, but the French surrender there did not end the war. A republican government continued fighting while Paris was besieged and other armies were formed in the provinces. During the conflict, the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles; after peace, France lost territory and was required to pay a heavy indemnity.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
Southern Africa · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Anglo-Zulu War
1879 – 1879
A British invasion of the Zulu Kingdom ended at Isandlwana in the defeat of an army column. The defence of Rorke’s Drift attracted considerable attention, but did not change the circumstances in which the war had begun. Reinforced British forces resumed the invasion and defeated the Zulu army at Ulundi; the royal capital was destroyed and the kingdom subsequently divided.
3 locations · 3 equipment items
East Asia · Animated schematic frontsLesser known
Russo-Japanese War
1904 – 1905
A Russian fleet sailed from the Baltic to East Asia and was largely destroyed at Tsushima. On land, Japanese troops had already captured Port Arthur and pushed back the Russian army at Mukden. The war concerned rival influence in Korea and Manchuria; the Peace of Portsmouth strengthened Japan’s position, while the defeats deepened Russia’s political crisis.
3 locations · 4 equipment items
Mexico · Animated schematic fronts
Mexican Revolution
1910 – 1920
The capture of Ciudad Juárez in 1911 helped force Porfirio Díaz to resign, but did not end the revolution. Opponents of his rule later fell into conflict over land, government and the distribution of power. Villa and Obregón fought each other at Celaya after previously opposing the same government; prolonged warfare, executions and food shortages affected civilians as a new constitution was drafted.
4 locations · 0 equipment items
Worldwide · Animated schematic fronts
First World War
1914 – 1918
At the Marne in 1914, the German advance in France was halted, after which the western front largely settled into trenches. The war was not confined to those lines: armies, navies and colonial troops fought across several continents. Industrial weapons, blockades and prolonged mobilisation affected soldiers and civilians alike; the armistice of 1918 left political and social conflicts unresolved.
6 locations · 20 equipment items
Former Russian Empire · Animated schematic fronts
Russian Civil War
1917 – 1922
After the revolutions of 1917, unified government did not immediately emerge across the former Russian Empire. Red and White armies fought alongside independence movements, peasant armies and foreign intervention forces, with changing aims and alliances. Bolshevik victory was achieved amid terror, antisemitic pogroms, epidemics and famine; the military outcome therefore does not by itself explain people’s experiences or the new state borders.
4 locations · 2 equipment items
Spain · Animated schematic fronts
Spanish Civil War
1936 – 1939
A military uprising in July 1936 divided Spain because the rebels could not seize power everywhere. Madrid held out for a long time, while foreign aircraft, weapons and troops further internationalised the war. Nationalist victory in 1939 brought Franco’s dictatorship; killings behind both fronts and continued repression after the war make civilian experiences indispensable to understanding the conflict.
23 locations · 6 equipment items
Western Europe · Animated schematic fronts
Second World War – Western Europe
1939 – 1945
In 1940, German troops reached the Channel coast and forced the allies to evacuate from Dunkirk. Four years later, allied armies landed in Normandy to reopen a front in occupied western Europe. Liberation involved heavy fighting and civilian losses; Nazi occupation had meanwhile brought deportations, persecution and mass murder, including the Holocaust.
4 locations · 35 equipment items
Eastern Europe · Animated schematic fronts
Second World War – Eastern Front
1941 – 1945
The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 turned an immense border zone into a theatre of war. The advance was halted outside Moscow, and at Stalingrad the Red Army later encircled a large German force. Fighting was bound up with Nazi policies of annihilation, the Holocaust, mass deaths among prisoners of war and devastated residential areas; military turning points therefore tell only part of this history.
10 locations · 27 equipment items
Pacific and East Asia · Animated schematic fronts
Second World War – Pacific
1941 – 1945
At Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japan attacked the American fleet while war in Asia had already been underway for years. Fighting then shifted between aircraft carriers, island bases and long supply lines across the Pacific. Occupation, forced labour and bombing caused extensive civilian suffering; this selection begins in 1941 and does not fully represent the war in China or elsewhere in Asia.
4 locations · 18 equipment items
East Asia · Animated schematic fronts
Korean War
1950 – 1953
The North Korean invasion of 1950 drove South Korean and UN forces back to a limited perimeter around Busan. A landing at Incheon reversed the advance, before Chinese intervention changed the balance again. The war devastated cities and killed large numbers of civilians; the armistice of 1953 established a ceasefire line, but brought neither a peace treaty nor Korean reunification.
2 locations · 11 equipment items
Southeast Asia · Animated schematic fronts
Vietnam War
1955 – 1975
During the Tet Offensive of 1968, cities and bases across South Vietnam were attacked despite earlier expectations of weakening resistance. The war linked Vietnamese political struggles with extensive American and other foreign involvement. Bombing, forced displacement and violence against civilians had lasting consequences; the fall of Saigon in 1975 ended the South Vietnamese state, not every conflict in the region.
3 locations · 8 equipment items
Middle East · Animated schematic fronts
Gulf War
1990 – 1991
Iraq occupied Kuwait in August 1990, setting off an international crisis. After a prolonged military build-up, a coalition began air bombardment and then a ground offensive that drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. The brief ground campaign did not mean brief consequences: destroyed infrastructure, oil pollution and subsequent sanctions continued to affect the population and the region.
2 locations · 10 equipment items