Dictionary of wars

Tai Lieu Chat Luong


Dictionary of

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WARS
Third Edition



Dictionary of

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WARS
Third Edition

GEORGE CHILDS KOHN
Editor


Dictionary of Wars, Third Edition
Copyright © 2007, 1999, 1986 by George Childs Kohn
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing
from the publisher. For information contact:
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An imprint of Infobase Publishing
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dictionary of wars / George Childs Kohn, editor. — 3rd ed.
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Includes indexes.
ISBN 0-8160-6577-2 (alk. paper)
1. Military history—Dictionaries. I. Kohn, George C.
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Preface to the Third Edition
vii
Preface to the First Edition
ix

Entries A–Z
1
Geographical Index
623
Index
661

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Contents


EDITOR

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George Childs Kohn

CONTRIBUTORS
Mary L. Allison
Judith W. Augusta
Elizabeth Cluggish
George Childs Kohn
Cynthia S. Pomerleau
Mary Ann Ryer
Ashwinee Sadanand

Suzanne Solensky
Howard G. Zettler


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Preface to
the Third Edition

innocent and defenseless civilians. They do not
respect the sanctity of each human life and are
not concerned with the ideals of liberty and the
values of democracy. Domestic terrorists have
incited much unrest and turmoil and committed mass murder and genocide in many places,
such as Chechnya, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda,
Somalia, Iraq, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, Sudan, Peru, and Sierra Leone. International terrorists have caused much bloodshed
in their attacks in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Spain, the
United States, Britain, and elsewhere, and their
numbers are rising. Perhaps we are now experiencing a worldwide tactical “war of terrorism”
that may last many decades until the terrorists (whether they be militant rebels, criminals,
or religious, ethnic, or ideological fanatics) are
crushed or pushed back, along with their special
tyranny.
Since the end of the cold war and the ultimate breakup of the Soviet Union and emergence of Russia as an independent state in late
1991, many of the conflicts and horrors around
the world have involved religion, in one way or
another. For instance, in the last 15 years, Muslims and Christians have killed each other sporadically in the Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria,

Sudan, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Hindu Tamils and Buddhist
Sinhalese have killed each other in Sri Lanka.
Protestants and Catholics have shot each other

The foremost purpose of the Dictionary of Wars,
first published in 1986 and in a revised edition
in 1999, is to provide a useful and convenient
one-volume reference source on the major conflicts throughout the world from ancient times
to the present. This third edition aims to do
the same, presenting clear, essential, and accurate historical information on major and minor
wars, revolts, revolutions, rebellions, uprisings,
invasions, and insurrections. Today, numerous
countries and regions are embroiled in conflicts
carried on by different belligerent factions, often
labeled as militant extremists or dissidents,
armed rebels or insurgents, guerrillas, jihadists,
fascists, separatists, or secessionists. In some
places, conflicts are also part of or connected to
fraternal battles between political, ethnic, sectarian, religious, or racial groups seeking influence
and power.
In modern times, warfare and military conditions are undergoing change, due in large part
to the increase in domestic and international
terrorism and violence. The goals of terrorists or
fanatical rebels or criminal gangs, whose leadership and cohesion are often split and who
often have large arsenals of weapons, are different from those of organized states and disciplined armies in war. Terrorists may seek only
to destabilize regions and want violence for its
own sake. Frequently young and fearless, they
may be seeking glory in inflicting death on

vii

viii Preface to the Third Edition
occasionally in Northern Ireland (Ulster). Muslim fanatics have periodically slain innocent
civilians and fellow Muslims in Egypt, Algeria,
Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Jews and Muslims have killed each other in Israel and Lebanon. Hindus, Muslims, and, occasionally, Sikhs
have killed one another in India, Pakistan, and
Kashmir. Why religion, which espouses love,
kindness, and brotherhood, is entwined in so
many hate-filled, bloody conflicts remains a baffling puzzle, as well as a contradiction. Religion,
however, has always separated people. Accounts
of religious-ethnic strife, persecution, and killing can be traced from ancient times to the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Wars of Religion and
other Reformation conflicts, the Thirty Years’
War, the Muslim jihads, the Taiping Rebellion,
the Russian pogroms, the Armenian massacres,
the Jewish Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge “killing
fields,” the Kashmiri bloodshed, and the Rwandan Tutsi genocide, among others.
Wars will always rage in places because some
human beings will always find a reason to shoot
and kill each other. Magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet will continue to report and
show graphically the carnage from war and killing. History lessons will not stop terrorism, war,
or genocide nor will time stop war and heal the
wounds. Fighting is rooted in human nature—“a
deep delight to the blood,” said the philosopher
George Santayana, who found barbarism, perversity, and evil in the human combative instinct.
In his essay “On War,” he also said, “It is war that
wastes a nation’s wealth, chokes its industries,

kills its flower, narrows its sympathies, condemns
it to be governed by adventurers, and leaves the

puny, deformed, and unmanly to breed the next
generation.” According to Santayana, humanity
needs to use right reason, along with true courage
and virtue, as antidotes to the wounds, dangers,
poisons, and evils brought on by warmongers or
terrorists. He also warned famously against forgetting history: “Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it.”
During the preparation of the third edition, I thoroughly reviewed the original text
and brought the book up to date. The accuracy
of the material was checked, and the contents
of existing entries that seemed inadequate were
expanded. A special effort was made to incorporate recent, important developments since the
publication of the revised edition. More than 50
of the some 1,850 main entries now in the book
were either extensively updated or newly added.
I would be unconscionably remiss not to give
many thanks to the contributors, whose help
facilitated greatly the long research and writing
required to complete the book. These special
contributors are listed on a preceding page. I
also appreciate very much the longtime interest
and support of my publisher, Facts On File, and
my good editor of late, Claudia Schaab, and her
assistant, Melissa Cullen-DuPont. Many thanks
are also extended to the libraries, big and small,
public and private, that have helped in some
way in the making of this book.
— George Childs Kohn

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Preface to
the First Edition

broadly, to mean an overt, armed conflict carried on between nations or states (international
war) or between parties, factions, or people in
the same state (civil war). There are multifarious reasons for war. International war usually
arises from territorial disputes, injustice against
people of one country by those of another, problems of race and prejudice, commercial and
economic competition and coercion, envy of
military might, or sheer cupidity for conquest.
Civil war generally results from rival claims for
sovereign power in a state or from struggles to
win political, civil, or religious liberties of some
sort. An organized effort to seize power, to overthrow a government, or to escape oppression
is frequently termed a rebellion, insurrection,
uprising, or revolt, which, if successful, becomes
known as a revolution. These kinds of conflicts,
as well as conquests, invasions, sieges, massacres, raids, and key mutinies, are included in
Dictionary of Wars. In addition, there are separate
entries for a number of exceptionally complex
and significant battles.
It is not the intention of this book to interpret conflicts; that is left to works of limited
geographical and historical breadth. Of prime
concern is the military information, although

political, social, and cultural influences are
often specified in order to gain a fuller, more
understandable picture of a conflict. Emphasis
is placed on gathering essential and pertinent

The compilation of the Dictionary of Wars was
an endeavor to fill a large gap on the reference
book shelf. The real need for a single-volume reference work that deals exclusively and concisely
with the world’s military conflicts, from classical
antiquity to the present, became more obvious
as the task of researching and writing progressed.
I hope the final product meets the needs of both
the general reader and the student, providing a
quick, convenient, authoritative, and comprehensive source of information on the major
wars, revolutions, revolts, and rebellions that
have for so long been a part of history.
No one-volume reference work like this can
possibly include every war. Space limitations
preclude total comprehensiveness. Furthermore,
dealing with a subject of so wide a range of time
and territory—wars in all parts of the world
from 2000 B.C.E. to the present—compels a certain subjectivity in choosing what to include
and what to exclude. But I have still covered the
entire sweep of the globe in selecting entries,
and I feel that the presentation gives the reader a
clear idea of the amazingly diverse conflicts that
have plagued humankind.
War has a long and intriguing history and
has been a prominent feature of human existence
ever since the day when rival men—or women—

decided to settle their differences by use of force.
In many instances, the history of a people is
the history of its wars. I have defined war fairly

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Preface to the First Edition

facts into a reasonably smooth narrative. Each
entry gives the name(s) of the conflict, the dates
it spanned, how it began, the opposing sides
involved, a concise description or summary of
events, and the outcome or significance. In addition, kings, emperors, generals, rebels, and so
forth, when mentioned, are followed by their
birth and death dates (or active dates).
Throughout, conflicts are listed in alphabetical order under their most accessible or commonly familiar names, some of which are widely
recognized (for example, Napoleonic Wars,
Crimean War, the Crusades), others of which
are less familiar (Barons’ War, Taiping Rebellion,
Chaco War), and still others quite unfamiliar
(Holy Roman Empire–Papacy War of 1081–84,
Burmese-Laotian War of 1558, Hukbalahap Rebellion). Numerous conflicts are known by two or
more names, and the dictionary alleviates the
problem of looking up these conflicts by crossreferring to the main entry in a see reference. Thus,
when looking up Dutch War of Independence,
the reader is directed to EIGHTY YEARS’ WAR. Con-

flicts having the same name but different dates
are listed in chronological order, despite the fact
that the dates may not follow alphabetically (for
instance, Janissaries’ Revolt of 1730 precedes
Janissaries’ Revolt of 1807–08, which precedes
Janissaries’ Revolt of 1826); this time frame helps
the reader pursue the general military history in
some lands. The reader may want to check the
cross-references set in small capital letters within
many entries to attain a wider perspective on a
particular conflict. Finally, the names of the wars,
revolts, and conflicts are listed in the Geographical Index, in which wars are arranged chronologically under the country or polity (state, empire,
and so on) connected with them. Such larger
land areas as Africa, Arabia, Asia Minor, Central
America, and the Caribbean are also listed in the
index to make it easier to look up their conflicts.
We have also included an Index of Names in
order to aid readers who need information about
particular battles, treaties, monarchs, and military
and political leaders.
—George Childs Kohn

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Entries A–Z

Abd el-Kader’s Muslim rebels, chiefly rifle-armed cavalry, battled invading French troops on the Algerian coast in the 1830s.


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Abbasid Revolution of 747–750 C.E. (Abu
Muslim’s Revolt) The Abbasids, Muslim Arabs

A

of Tafna was signed, giving Abd el-Kader control of most of the interior of Algeria; France
retained only a few ports. With his territorial
acquisitions, Abd el-Kader organized a true Muslim state, using religious sentiment to unify
the Algerians. Third War of Abd el-Kader
(1840–47). In December 1840, France sent Marshal Thomas R. Bugeaud (1784–1849) to Algeria to begin a concerted military campaign to
conquer Abd el-Kader’s Algerians. The French
drove Abd el-Kader into Morocco in 1841, where
he enlisted the Moroccans as allies in his war
against the French. Abd el-Kader used his riflearmed cavalry effectively, conducting incessant
raids against French troops and then retreating.
Finally, however, the French army under Bugeaud attacked Abd el-Kader’s 45,000-man army at
the Isly River on August 14, 1844, and decisively
defeated it. After the Battle of Isly, Abd el-Kader
took refuge in Morocco again in 1846 and, with
a small band, fought small skirmishes against
the French. Having lost the support of the sultan
of Morocco and with few men left, Abd el-Kader

surrendered to French general Christophe Lamoricière (1806–65) in 1847.

who claimed descent from Abbas (d. 653), uncle
of the prophet Muhammad (570–632), opposed
the ruling Umayyad family. Led by Abu Muslim (728?–755), the Abbasids openly revolted in
747, seizing Merv in the province of Khorasan in
northeastern Persia. Marwan II (d. 750), the last
Umayyad caliph, attempted to crush the Abbasids, but his forces lost battles at Nishapur, Jurjan, Nehawand, and Kerbela. The revolt spread
to other provinces in the Muslim Empire. When
the Abbasids decisively defeated the Umayyads at
the Great Zab River in 750, Marwan fled to Egypt,
where he was soon murdered. Abu al-Abbas asSaffan (722–754), a close friend of Abu Muslim,
proclaimed himself the first Abbasid caliph at
Kufa, a Mesopotamian city near the Euphrates
River. See also MUSLIM CIVIL WAR OF 743–747 C.E.

Abd el-Kader, First War of (1832–34) Abd
el-Kader (1808–83), Muslim leader and emir of
Mascara, led Algerians in a war of harassment
against invading French troops in Oran and
Mostaganem. He was successful, forcing the
French to sign the Desmichels Treaty of 1834,
which recognized Abd el-Kader as the dey (governor) of Mascara and gave him control of the
interior of Oran. France signed the treaty with
the hope that Abd el-Kader could be used as a
French agent in Algeria. Second War of Abd
el-Kader (1835–37). French troops continued to oppose Abd el-Kader’s united Algerian
tribes but lost many battles. In 1837, the Treaty

Abd el-Krim’s Revolt See RIF WAR OF 1919–26.

Abnaki War, First (1675–78) The Abnaki
(Abenaki) Indians lived in what is now Maine,
New Hampshire, and Vermont, and, as allies of
the French, they carried on a campaign against
the English settlers in the area for 50 years. When
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Abu Muslim’s Revolt

the Wampanoag under King Philip (Metacomet)
(d. 1676) rose up against the English colonists
in New England in 1675 (see KING PHILIP’S WAR),
they were joined by many of the eastern Indian
tribes, including the Abnaki. For about three
years the Abnaki fought the English along the
Maine frontier, pushing back the white settlers.
Indian raids on scattered farmhouses and small
settlements were continuous and devastating,
eventually resulting in a peace treaty in 1678. The
English colonists promised to pay an annual tribute to the Abnaki. Second Abnaki War (1702–
12). Shortly after the outbreak of QUEEN ANNE’S
WAR in 1702, the Abnaki Indians and French
forces attacked English settlements on Maine’s
frontier. About 300 settlers were killed in towns
from Wells to Casco. The Indians continued to
make raids for 10 years and ceased only when the
English and French made peace with the Treaty

of Utrecht. Without the support of the French,
the Abnaki were unable to defeat the English
and were forced to sue for peace in 1712. Third
Abnaki War (1722–25). Further encroachment
by English settlers in Maine angered the Abnaki,
who were incited to hold their ground by the
French Jesuit missionary Sebastien Rasles (1657?–
1724). When the English tried to seize Rasles,
the Abnaki raided the settlements at Brunswick,
Arrowsick, and Merry-Meeting Bay. The Massachusetts government then declared war on the
“eastern Indians,” meaning primarily the Abnaki
and their allies. Bloody battles took place at Norridgewock (1724), where Rasles was slain, and at
Fryeburg on the upper Sacco River (1725). Peace
conferences at Boston and Casco Bay brought an
end to the war. See also LOVEWELL’S “WAR.”

Achaean War (146 B.C.E.) The Achaeans, a
people of ancient south-central Greece, formed
a confederation of Peloponnesian city-states, the
Achaean League, for mutual protection against
enemies. The Achaeans attempted to force
Sparta, which was under Roman protection, to
join. In 146, a Roman army under Lucius Mummius Achaicus (fl. mid-100s) invaded Greece and
defeated the Achaean army, which consisted
mainly of poorly trained slaves, near Corinth.
Afterward the Romans sacked Corinth and
burned it to the ground. They then dissolved the
Achaean League and subjugated all of Greece.
Achinese Rebellion of 1953–59 Muslim
Achinese (Achenese) rebels in northern Sumatra

protested against the annexation of the state of
Aceh (or Acheh, Achin, Atjeh) to the republic of
Indonesia, formed in 1950. On September 20,
1953, Tengku Daud Beureuh, military governor
of Aceh before its annexation, led an open armed
rebellion against the Indonesian government of
President Sukarno (1901–70). Achinese attacked
police and army posts, attempting to obtain
more arms for a full-scale rebellion. Scattered
guerrilla fighting continued until a cease-fire
was arranged in March 1957, with Aceh declared
a separate province. Native revolts broke out
on other Indonesian islands that sought more
autonomy. The Achinese rebels renewed fighting, which resulted in Sukarno declaring Aceh a
special district with autonomy in matters of religion and local law.
Achinese Rebellion of 2000– See INDONESIAN
WAR IN ACEH.

Abu Muslim’s Revolt See ABBASID REVOLUTION
OF

747–750 C.E.

Abyssinian-Italian Wars See ITALO-ETHIOPIAN
WARS.

Achaean-Spartan Wars
WARS.

See SPARTAN-ACHAEAN

Achinese War (1873–1907) After the British
recognized Dutch influence in Achin, or Acheh
(now Atjeh), a Muslim state in northern Sumatra,
the Dutch sent two expeditions to conquer the
rebellious Achinese people in 1873. The Achinese palace in the capital, Kutaradja, was seized.
In 1903, the sultan of Achin, Muhammad Daud,
concluded a treaty with the Dutch, recognizing

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B.C.E.

vassal kings received his help in border conflicts
with the Welsh (743). For the most part, Aethelbald was a powerful ruler, seeking peace and
earning the title “king of Britain.” Only once in
war was he defeated—a police action in the Wessex area of Boergfeord (Burford) failed—but the
loss did not affect Mercia’s hegemony over Wessex. Though his reign was glorious, his end was
not: Aethelbald was murdered by his bodyguard
in 757. His cousin Offa succeeded him. See also
OFFA’S WARS; OSWALD’S WARS.

Aegospotami, Battle of (405 B.C.E.) Hoping
to cut the Athenian grain supply route through
the Hellespont (Dardanelles) during the Second
or Great PELOPONNESIAN WAR, Lysander (d. 395),
the Spartan commander, led a naval force that

besieged and captured Lampsacus, a city on the
Hellespont allied with Athens at the time (405).
With every ship they could gather, the Athenians under Admiral Conon (d. c. 390) sailed to
confront the aggressors but were unable to lure
them into battle. After a five-day standoff, the
Athenians, ignoring a warning by Alcibiades (c.
405–404), moored their vessels in a bad position
off the Gallipoli peninsula (western Turkey) near
the mouth of the Aegospotami River and went
ashore in large numbers. Lysander’s fleet surprised the Athenian fleet, attacking and seizing
about 180 enemy ships (Conon with 20 vessels
managed to escape); about 4,000 captured Athenians were murdered. Its fleet gone, its grain
route closed, its allies (save Samos) in revolt, and
its port besieged by Lysander’s forces, Athens was
in a perilous state after Aegospotami.

Aethelfrith’s Wars (593–616 C.E.) Major
internecine strife among the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy began with Aethelfrith (fl. 593–616),
ruler of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia. He
had united his kingdom with another Anglian
state, Deira, by marrying its princess and exiling its male heir, Edwin (585–632). To protect
his borders, he fought (603) and defeated the
Scot (Irish) king of Dal Riata and the Britons of
Strathclyde at Degasaston (Dawson Rig, Liddesdale?), making Anglians dominant from east to
west below the Firth of Forth. Now king of Northumbria (a union of Bernicia and Deira), Aethelfrith, in 616, battled at Chester against 1,250
monks from Bangor, Wales, slaughtering 1,200
and gaining control over an area separating the
Scottish Welsh from Wales proper. Edwin, meanwhile, had secured aid from the king of East
Anglia; he attacked and killed Aethelfrith near
modern Nottingham in 616; he then dominated

Northumbria until he lost his life in a battle with
the Welsh of Gwynedd (632). See also OSWALD’S
WARS; SAXON RAIDS OF C. 550–577 C.E.

Aethelbald’s Wars (733–750 C . E .)

Afghan Civil War of 1928–29 Amanullah

Dutch sovereignty over the area and relinquishing his throne. However, many Achinese refused
to accept Dutch rule and continued to wage war.
Slowly, using a “castle strategy” (establishing
fortresses for Dutch troops throughout the area),
the Dutch were able to pacify the Achinese by
the end of 1907.

Actian War

See ROMAN CIVIL WAR OF 43–31

The
supremacy of the kingdom of Mercia in AngloSaxon England was assured in the eighth century by two great kings, Aethelbald (fl. 716–757)
and Offa (fl. 757–796). Aethelbald enlarged
Mercia by conquering and occupying (733) the
Somerset district of British Dumnonia, reducing British holdings in the south to Devon and
Cornwall. In 749, he broke a 60-year peace with
Northumbria by devastating large areas. Several

Khan (1892–1960), emir (sovereign) of Afghanistan, had been attempting to modernize his
country when opponents to his internal reforms
caused a large-scale revolt in November 1928. In

mid-January 1929, Amanullah abdicated in favor
of his weak older brother, but an outlaw leader
led a strong band to capture the Afghan capital of
Kabul and proclaimed himself emir as Habibullah Ghazi (d. 1929). At Kandahar, Amanullah

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Afghan Civil War of 1928–29


4

Afghan Civil War of 1979–2001

assembled an army and began a march on Kabul
to retake the throne in the spring of 1929; he
was defeated en route and fled from the country. Other claimants to the throne were also
unsuccessful. General Muhammad Nadir Khan
(1880–1933), an Afghan officer and Amanullah’s
cousin, organized an army after returning from
Europe and marched against Habibullah, defeating him and taking Kabul in October 1929.
Habibullah was captured and executed, and his
victorious foe took the throne, renaming himself Nadir Shah. With British assistance, he instituted reforms, restored order and placated the
loyal followers of Amanullah. In 1932, he established a constitutional government.

Afghan Civil War of 1979–2001 The Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979
dramatized a momentous failure in Soviet
foreign policy. When Afghanistan became a
republic in 1973, the Soviet Union increased

its efforts to make the country an economically dependent buffer state against Pakistan,
which had Chinese connections, by supporting
radical political parties like the Khalq (People’s
Democratic) Party. The Soviets, however, forgot
that the introduction of modern ideas, whether
Western or marxist, had always met the resistance of conservative Afghan Muslim tribes;
successive Afghan governments had attempted
reforms without much success. In 1978, Khalq
militants overthrew and assassinated Afghanistan’s first president; a Khalq leader became
president but was ousted by his prime minister
(September 1979), who himself was overthrown
(December 27, 1979) by another leftist, Babrak
Karmal (1929–96), who was backed by the Soviets. When Karmal’s attempt to impose Russianization met with armed resistance, he asked for
and received Soviet aid to crush the opposition.
Despite having modern equipment, more than
100,000 Soviet troops found it difficult to defeat
the Afghan rebels, whose guerrilla tactics and
sabotage confused the invaders. Ancient tribal
antagonisms and linguistic differences prevented
the development of a unified strategy by the rebels to defeat the Soviets and the official Afghani-

stan army, the latter so riddled by defections
that in 1984 the Kabul government was forcibly
drafting 14-year-olds. The civil war, labeled by
some as the Soviets’ “Vietnam,” embarrassed
the Soviet Union internationally. In 1986 Karmal resigned, supposedly in ill health, and was
replaced as president by former police leader
Muhammad Najibullah (1947–96). After the
Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, as required under a United Nations–mediated peace accord (April 1988), competing
moderate and fundamentalist Muslim factions

began fighting the government and each other
for control. Among numerous ethnic war rivals
were Hezb-i-Islami and Hezb-i-Wahadat (two
strong fundamentalist groups), both of which
allied themselves at times with other groups
to gain military superiority. In 1992, Najibullah was forced from office by rebels, who established a moderate Islamic regime at Kabul, the
capital. But rival Muslim militias soon opposed
the government, whose military forces were led
by Ahmad Shah Masoud (1952–2001). Another
powerful faction, the Taliban, which advocated a
harsh form of Islamic rule, condemned the other
factions as corrupt, gained much military success
(1994), and rejected a UN peace proposal (1995).
Taliban forces seized Kabul from Masoud’s
forces in early October 1996, executed Najibullah, and squashed allied opposition groups by
1997. With the capture of the city of Mazar-iSharif (where 2,000 were killed) in August 1998,
the Taliban controlled more than two-thirds
of Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance was left
seeking support from other ethnic factions.
Later that month, in retaliation for Osama bin
Laden’s role in the bombings of U.S. embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania, the United States began
air strikes on his training camps near the Pakistan border. The United Nations imposed sanctions against the Taliban for failing to turn in
bin Laden (1957– ), ordered their foreign assets
frozen, and banned their aircraft from taking off
or landing. In mid-March 1999, UN-mediated
peace talks between the Taliban and Masoud’s
representatives were held in Turkmenistan. The
UN agreed to reopen its Kabul office if the Taliban guaranteed security, allowed in human

]


rights monitors, and maintained watch over bin
Laden. On December 19, 2000, Taliban offices
were shut down, senior Taliban officials barred
from trips abroad, and an arms embargo introduced. Fighting between Masoud’s forces and
the Taliban continued through 2000 and 2001,
with the latter dominating. Thousands of civilians were displaced and fled to refugee camps
near the border and in Pakistan. In mid-2001,
troops loyal to Ismael Khan and General Dostum launched separate guerrilla attacks against
the Taliban. On September 9, 2001, Masoud was
killed by suicide bombers believed to be affiliated with bin Laden. Weeks after the September
11, 2001, attacks in the United States, America
attacked Afghanistan, destroying the Taliban in
the process (see AFGHANISTAN, U.S. INVASION OF).
Since 1979, the war had claimed more than 2
million lives, wounded just as many, and displaced nearly 5 million people. See also AFGHAN
CIVIL WAR OF 1928–29.

Afghanistan, U.S. Invasion of (2001– ) On
October 7, 2001, the United States and its allies
began precision air strikes against Afghanistan’s
Taliban regime (see AFGHAN CIVIL WAR OF 1979–
2001), seeking to destroy it and al-Qaeda’s terrorist infrastructure and to capture Osama bin
Laden (1957– ), the alleged mastermind behind
the terrorist attacks of September 11 who ran
al-Qaeda’s operations from his mountain hide
out in eastern Afghanistan (see IRAQ, U.S. INVASION OF). The attacks were launched after the
Taliban, which controlled more than 80 percent

of Afghanistan, rejected the UN Security Council’s demand that they turn in bin Laden, whom
they described as “a guest.” The Northern Alliance, an opposition group (consisting mainly of
Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras), became a partner
in the U.S. war (Operation Enduring Freedom)
against the Taliban (mainly a Pashtun group).
The United States had wanted to open up a second front in the south and east of the country
and had sought Pashtun support. However, the
Pashtuns had viewed the Northern Alliance
as an enemy and were wary of siding with the
United States, which was simultaneously bomb-

5

ing their strongholds in Kandahar and Jalalabad.
Also, late in October, the Taliban had executed
Commander Abdul Haq, one of the best-known
Pashtun anti-Taliban leaders. The Taliban had
also been able to entice many Pakistani Pashtuns
to join in its efforts. The Allied forces (consisting
of troops/representation from 68 nations at one
time) captured Kabul in November. On November 25, there was a deadly standoff between
Taliban prisoners and their captors from the
Northern Alliance at a prison in Kunduz, near
Mazar-i-Sharif. Five hundred soldiers led by General Dostum, with support from U.S. commando
units and air power, surrounded the prison,
where most of the prisoners were killed in the
ensuing battle. That same day, several hundred
U.S. marines landed near Kandahar to bolster
efforts to remove the Taliban from their last
remaining stronghold. By early December, the

Taliban lost Kandahar. Then, on December 5, at
a UN-sponsored conference in Bonn (Germany),
representatives from four Afghan factions agreed
to establish a broad-based interim government
with Pashtun royalist and U.S.-favorite Hamid
Karzai (1957– ) as its head (he was inaugurated on December 22) and to hold elections in
2004. Also, in December, after several rounds of
talks in which as many as 16 countries (Britain,
France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, Jordan, and Malaysia,
among them) participated, the NATO-assisted
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
was dispatched to help the Afghan Transitional
Authority and the UN and to maintain security in and around Kabul. Meanwhile, the U.S.
air force continued its bombing missions over
Tora-Bora (where bin Laden was thought to be
hiding) and Kandahar. In June 2002, the loya
jirga (Grand Council) officially elected Karzai
as interim head of state while a second loya
jirga, meeting in January 2004, approved a new
constitution. Although the Taliban were overthrown by November 2001, their leader Mullah
Muhammad Omar was never captured. Since
then, however, the insurgents and warlords have
resurfaced, attacking coalition forces and election officials. Many aid workers have been killed,
and kidnapping of foreigners has become fairly

]

Afghanistan, U.S. Invasion of

6

Afghan-Maratha War of 1758–61

routine. By July 2004, some 3,485 Afghan civilians and 8,587 Afghan soldiers had been killed
and more than 30,000 Afghans injured. The
actual number of casualties is estimated to be
much higher. The upsurge of violence forced the
postponement of elections until October 2004
and a change in U.S. strategy from a narrow military focus to more emphasis on counter-insurgency and reconstruction efforts. During the
middle of the voting, all 15 opposition candidates declared a boycott, alleging massive fraud.
They were persuaded to rescind their decision,
pending the outcome of an independent commission’s report on any irregularities. Karzai won
an easy victory. Currently, there are 16,700 U.S.
soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, with 8,000
NATO troops and an Afghan army with 26,000
U.S.-trained soldiers (expected to increase to
70,000 by 2007). On May 23, 2005, the United
States and Afghanistan signed a Memorandum
of Agreement (preapproved by the loya jirga)
during President Karzai’s visit to Washington.
Its primary goal was “to strengthen U.S.-Afghan
ties to help ensure Afghanistan’s long-term security, democracy and prosperity.” Parliamentary
elections on September 18, 2005, resulted in a
legislature over 50 percent pro-Karzai, and opposition remained strong in Afghanistan’s lower
house (the 249-member House of the People)
into 2006. Antiforeign riots occurred in Kabul as
anger grew over civilian deaths in the U.S.-led
war against the insurgents (2006).

Afghan-Maratha War of 1758–61 The
death of Nadir Shah (1688–1747) caused his Persian empire to break up (see PERSIAN CIVIL WAR
OF 1747–60). Afghanistan became independent
under Ahmad Shah Durrani (1722?–73), who
wanted control of western Hindustan (the Punjab and upper Ganges area); two invasions (1748
and 1751) enabled him to annex the Punjab;
during a 1756–57 invasion, he sacked Delhi,
retained the Maratha puppet Alamgir II (fl.
1754–59), and returned to Kabul to quiet opposition there. Ordered by the Delhi vizier to eject
the Afghans from the Punjab, the Marathas, then
at the zenith of their power under Balaji Rao (fl.

1740–61) and believing they had a call to take
over the area, went to war. At first, they were
stunningly victorious: 1758 saw the occupation
of Lahore and the defeat of Sirhind. But Ahmad
returned in a fourth invasion (1759), retook
Lahore, occupied Delhi, witnessed the murder of
Alamgir II (killed lest he support the Afghans),
and refused the Mogul throne. Instead, he made
Shah Alam II (1728–1806) the Mogul emperor.
In Poona, Balaji Rao sent toward Delhi the largest Maratha army ever assembled, estimated at
300,000 men. Ahmad preached a jihad (Islamic
holy war) and assembled a smaller but better equipped army. In 1761, the armies met at
Panipat; in a one-day battle (January 14), about
75,000 Marathas were killed, along with their
leaders; 30,000 were captured and ransomed.
Ahmad’s victorious army, however, forced
him to return to Kabul. Although Shah Alam

retained his throne, British and Maratha forces,
with noble Muslim and Hindu families, divided
the Mogul Empire among themselves; the British destroyed the Marathas gradually during the
three MARATHA WARS.

Afghan-Persian Wars

See PERSIAN-AFGHAN

WARS.

Afghan Rebellions of 1709–26 Much of present-day Afghanistan was ruled by the Safavid Persians in the 17th century. Taking advantage of
Safavid weakness in 1709, Ghilzai Afghans rose in
rebellion at Kandahar, ousted their Persian governor, and set up an independent Afghan state.
In 1711, a large Persian army besieged Kandahar
but was driven back because of Afghan sorties.
Other attempts by the Persians failed. The Abdali
Afghans rebelled at Herat in 1717 and seized the
city, joining with the Uzbeks to ravage the surrounding area. In an effort to retake Herat in 1719,
a 30,000-man Persian army became confused in
battle and was defeated. In 1721–22, a large army
of Ghilzai Afghans invaded Persia, captured Kerman and Shiraz, and continued on to the Persian
capital, Isfahan. Persian forces failed to halt the
Afghans, who afterward besieged Isfahan for six

]


7

months and forced its surrender in October 1722,
when the inhabitants were starving. Safavid
weakness also attracted the Russians (see RUSSOPERSIAN WAR OF 1722–23) and the Ottoman Turks,
who occupied parts of western Persia. The PERSIAN CIVIL WAR OF 1725–30 created further chaos.
The Afghans, after capturing Tehran in 1725 and
defeating both the Russians and Ottomans in
separate battles in 1726, seemed supreme, but the
sudden rise of Nadir Khan (1688–1747) as Persia’s
military leader postponed Afghan liberation until
Nadir’s assassination (see PERSIAN-AFGHAN WAR OF
1726–38).

Muhammad’s grandson, who supported British
interests and established a strong central government in Afghanistan. Third Afghan War
(1919). When Amanullah Khan (1892–1960)
became emir in 1919, he resolved to transform
Afghanistan into a modern state free of foreign
domination. His proclamation of independence
threatened India, provoking renewed hostilities
with Great Britain. This brief struggle was terminated by the Treaty of Rawalpindi, which recognized the independence of Afghanistan in both
internal and foreign affairs. See also PERSIANAFGHAN WAR OF 1836–38.

Afghan Revolt of 699–701 C.E.

Afghan War between Ghur and Ghazna
(1148–52) After the death of Mahmud of

See MUSLIM

REVOLT OF 699–701 C.E.

Afghan War, First (1839–42) Fearing the
growth of Russian influence over Dost Muhammad (1793–1863), emir of Afghanistan, the British attempted to replace him with a former emir
more sympathetic to their desire to protect the
northern approaches to India. In 1839, Dost
Muhammad was deposed by the British army and
imprisoned. Escaping, he made a futile attempt
to reestablish his regime and was deported to
India. But the combination of harsh winters and
intractable Afghan opposition forced the British
to evacuate in January 1842. Retreating troops
were set upon by Afghan tribesmen and almost
completely annihilated. The following year Dost
Muhammad was restored to leadership. Second
Afghan War (1878–80). Sher Ali (1825–79),
who succeeded his father, Dost Muhammad, as
emir, alarmed the British by negotiating with the
Russians and declining to receive a British mission. In November 1878, British forces invaded
Afghanistan. Sher Ali sought aid from the Russians, who advised him to make peace. Upon
his death in 1879, his son, Yakub Khan (1849–
1923), concluded a treaty ceding the Khyber
Pass and other strategic areas to the British. But
when the British envoy was murdered, British
troops once again occupied Kabul, forcing Yakub
to flee. The conflict ended with the accession
of Abd Ar-Rahman Khan (1844?–1901), Dost

Ghazna (971–1030), his kingdom of Ghazna
(Ghazni) in present-day Afghanistan and Iran
declined in power, and Ghur (Ghowr), a subordinate Afghan hill state, rose against its master.

Under the Shansabanis dynasty, the Ghurids
attacked the capital city of Ghazna in 1151,
laid siege, and ultimately sacked it in 1152. All
Ghaznavids were driven into India. The city of
Ghazna was not entirely destroyed, for in 1175,
before the Indian conquests of Muhammad
of Ghur (d. 1206) began, it was made a subsidiary Ghurid capital after its seizure permitted
the expulsion of its then-ruling Oguz Turkmen
nomads. See also MAHMUD OF GHAZNA, CONQUESTS OF; MUHAMMAD OF GHUR, CONQUESTS OF.

Agathocles’ Massacre (317 B.C.E.) Agathocles (360?–289), a Sicilian, was twice exiled from
Syracuse because of his constant grasping for
power. In 317, he returned with an army drawn
from cities unhappily controlled by Syracuse
and established himself forcibly as strategos autocrator, becoming tyrant in all but name. He also
appropriated the title “general plenipotentiary,”
one accorded in the past only to Dionysius the
Elder (c. 430–367). To ensure his control, he
eliminated his political opposition and members of the Council of Six Hundred, who governed Syracusans, an estimated 10,000 persons
in all. Secure, he was then free to continue the

]

Agathocles’ Massacre


8

Agathocles’ War against Carthage

struggle against Carthage. See also AGATHOCLES’
WAR AGAINST CARTHAGE.

Agathocles’ War against Carthage (311–
306 B.C.E.) Tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles
(360?–289) had shown early military ability
under Timoleon (d. 337). Emulating the demagoguery of Dionysius the Elder (c. 430–367),
he decided to attack Carthage on its home territory and invaded the shores of Africa in 311.
The Carthaginians, aided by Syracusan oligarchs
opposed to Agathocles, swiftly defeated the Syracusans at Licata and separately laid siege to Syracuse. Agathocles fled, returning to Africa in 310
with an army that defeated the Carthaginians
so thoroughly that he could return to Sicily in
308 to achieve the collapse of the Carthaginian
blockade. In his absence, however, his remaining African force was defeated in 307 by the
Carthaginians. Forced by a variety of reasons,
he made peace with Carthage, reestablishing the
western Sicilian boundary set after the third of
the DIONYSIUS WARS. Carthage remained at peace
for almost 30 years until its war against Pyrrhus
of Epirus. See also CARTHAGINIAN WAR AGAINST
PYRRHUS OF EPIRUS; TIMOLEON’S WAR.

Agincourt, Battle of (1415)

The 1412 Normandy-Bordeaux raid by the English and the
1413 crowning of King Henry V (1387–1422)
renewed England’s interest in France, now weakened by the ARMAGNAC-BURGUNDIAN CIVIL WAR
and the CABOCHIEN REVOLT, and reopened the
HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR. Henry took Harfleur in
1415 and marched toward Calais with about

9,000 men, only to be stopped by more than
30,000 French soldiers at Agincourt on October
25, 1415. The French faced rain-wet ploughed
fields. Henry waited for them to charge and bog
down in the mud. English archers cut down two
French advances; Henry’s men then attacked
from the rear. The French broke and fled. This
bloody but remarkable battle, where perhaps
5,000 Frenchmen died, preceded Normandy’s
recapture by the English and forced the humiliating 1420 Treaty of Troyes.

Albanian Rebellion of 1997

Europe’s poorest country, Albania disintegrated into anarchy
and armed revolt soon after pyramid investment
schemes failed in January 1997. The schemes
(actually fronts for laundering money and dealing in weapons) could no longer make payments
once the number of investors grew to include
the vast majority of Albanians, who had been
lured by get-rich-quick promises. Beginning in
February thousands of citizens gathered daily,
demanding reimbursement by the government, which they suspected of profiting from
the schemes. By March 1997, the protests had
turned violent in the south, especially around
the port city Vlore (Vlora), where numerous residents armed themselves with weapons looted
from army barracks. On March 2 President Sali
Berisha (1944– ) declared a state of emergency,
but rioting and destruction spread throughout
the country, gripping the capital, Tirana, for two
weeks. Although the government quelled revolts

in the north, in mid-March rebels still controlled
towns in the south. Fearing the spread of unrest
outside Albania’s borders—and alarmed at the
third wave of refugees from the country in a
decade—the United Nations on March 28 authorized a force of 7,000 to direct relief efforts and to
restore order. In elections in June and July 1997,
Berisha and his party were voted out of power,
and all UN forces left Albania by August 11.

Albanian-Turkish Wars of 1443–78

George
Castriota, better known as Skanderbeg (1405–
68), son of an Albanian prince, was taken at a
young age as a hostage to the court of Ottoman
sultan Murad II (1403?–51), where he became a
favorite, received the name Iskander (“Alexander”) and the honorific bey (“lord”), converted
to Islam, and was put in charge of an army. He
could have become lost in the luxury of the
Ottoman court had he not remembered his heritage. When Albania was in danger of attack by
Turkish armies, Skanderbeg escaped (1443) to his
homeland, formed a league of otherwise quarrelsome Albanian nobles, reconverted to Christianity, seized the supposedly impregnable fortress of
Krujë to begin a struggle against Turkish domina-

]


tion (1443), and successfully repulsed 13 Turkish
invasions between 1444 and 1466. In 1450, his
defeat of a siege of Krujë by Murad’s forces made

him a hero in the western world and the recipient of aid from Venice, Naples, Hungary, and
the papacy. His troops, who often used guerrilla
tactics, were almost always successful. A major
victory in 1461 enabled him to force a 10-year
truce on the Porte (Ottoman government), only
to break it himself in response to a papal request
for a new crusade (1463). His men raided Macedonia (1463) and defeated the Turks in 1464
and 1465; the last, a heavy siege of Krujë by Sultan Muhammad II “the Conqueror” (1429–81),
devastated the country and cost Skanderbeg his
allies, who deserted him. After his death, the
Albanian nobles resumed their quarrels but continued a desultory warfare against the Ottomans,
who regained control of Albania by 1478.

Albanian Uprising of 1910

The Albanians
had assisted the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire because of a promise that Albania
would have autonomy and relief from repressive
Turkish taxation. However, once in power, the
Young Turks reneged and, instead, levied new
taxes on the Albanians. About 8,000 Albanians
in the northern part of the country rebelled in
March 1910. The uprising soon spread to Korỗở
in southeastern Albania and into western Macedonia. The Albanian leaders met in Montenegro,
adopted a memorandum demanding self-government for Albania, and sent it to the Turkish government, which rejected it. A large Turkish army
brutally crushed the uprising in June 1910.

Albanian Uprisings of 1932, 1935, and
1937 Albania’s King Zog I (1895–1961) faced
insurrections in 1932, 1935, and 1937 from

groups of liberal reformers and marxist-oriented
Muslim radicals (the majority of the country’s
population were and are Muslims). A dictator
who ruled autocratically to preserve Albania’s
feudal society, Zog put down these relatively
small and poorly planned uprisings easily. Surprisingly, his punishment was lenient: only a

9

few ringleaders were executed; minor social and
administrative reforms were undertaken. Zog’s
rule ended on April 7, 1939, when Italy, Albania’s
sole foreign support, simultaneously declared
the kingdom a protectorate and invaded (Italian
Fascist forces shelled towns and occupied Albania, which was annexed by Italy), forcing Zog
to flee into exile. See also WORLD WAR II IN THE
BALKANS.

Albigensian Crusade (1208–29)

The Albigenses, a sect of religious reformers in southern France, were called heretics by the Roman
Catholic Church, and in 1208 Pope Innocent
III (1161–1216) proclaimed a crusade against
them. Northern French forces under Simon IV
de Montfort (1160?–1218) turned the crusade
into a political war, ending the independence
of the southern French nobles. Montfort’s
troops crushed the nobles and the Albigenses
at the Battle of Muret on September 12, 1213.
However, the heresies persisted, and the war

continued. Albigensian leader Raymond VI
(1156–1222), who had been defeated at Muret,
withstood a siege at Toulouse by Montfort in
1218 and regained territory lost to the crusaders.
In 1226, French forces of King Louis VIII (1187–
1226) captured most of Languedoc, a region in
southern France, and suppressed the Albigenses.
Under the Treaty of Meaux in 1229, the county
of Toulouse was put under French Capetian rule.
See also ARAGONESE-FRENCH WAR OF 1209–13.

Alexander’s Asiatic Campaign (329–327
B.C.E.) Departing from Ecbatana in Media
(ancient country in present-day northwestern
Iran), Alexander the Great (356–323) and his
troops began a difficult easterly march (see ALEXANDER THE GREAT, CONQUESTS OF). Supplies were
so low that he actually paid some of his men to
return home. Finding his respected foe Darius
III (d. 330) stabbed to death had given Alexander an additional motive for the campaign: to
capture Bessus (d. 329), Darius’s murderer. Alexander subdued northern Parthia and Sogdiana
(two ancient Persian countries), caught Bessus,

]

Alexander’s Asiatic Campaign


10

Alexander’s Invasion of India

and then threatened to punish the Dailamites
severely for kidnapping his beloved war horse
Bucephalus, which was returned to him. Turning south, then northeast toward modern Kabul,
Afghanistan, he subdued Bactria (an ancient
Persian satrapy that became a Greek kingdom),
marrying Roxana (d. 311), a Bactrian princess, in
327. His troops reconquered Sogdiana and took
Gandhara in present-day northwestern Pakistan. Bactria and Sogdiana then rebelled, requiring long campaigns to keep order. Overcoming
a plot to kill him, Alexander marched his men
into India in late 327 (see ALEXANDER’S INVASION
OF INDIA).

Alexander’s Invasion of India (327–325
B.C.E.) About 90,000 troops led by Alexander the Great (356–323) wintered in the Hindu
Kush (high mountain range on the present-day
Afghanistan-Pakistan border) and then advanced
southeast toward the Indus River, reaching its
tributaries by the summer of 327 (see ALEXANDER THE GREAT, CONQUESTS OF). Once the troops
left Bactria, they had to adapt to strange conditions; unknown climates, alternately hostile and
friendly natives, and elephants—all of which
Alexander somehow had to overcome. The Khyber Pass near the Indus saw a difficult siege at
AORNOS; the plains of the Punjab presented a
hostile raja (Hindu chief), who, however, became
Alexander’s friend after the Battle of the HYDASPES RIVER in 326. Alexander continued toward
the Beas tributary of the Indus and would have
continued, despite the monsoon season, but his
men longed for home. In 326, they began backtracking along the old Indus riverbed, stopping
near what is modern Karachi in 325 and pausing
along the way west to conquer the Malli, despite

the wounding of Alexander.

Alexander the Great, Conquests of (334–
323 B.C.E.) After the murder of his father
Philip II (382–336), Alexander (356–323) found
himself king of Macedonia, at age 20, and controller of Greece. Military actions, including
a savage destruction of Thebes in 336, secured

that control; Alexander was ready to fulfill his
father’s plan to punish Persia for the GRECO-PERSIAN WARS and its later dominance (see CORINTHIAN WAR; SOCIAL WAR OF 357–355 B.C.E.). His
minor motive was to replenish Macedonia’s bare
coffers. Alexander’s army of some 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry crossed the Dardanelles in
334, briefly detoured for Alexander to pray in
Troy at Achilles’ tomb, and that year defeated
the Persians under Darius III (d. 330) at the
Granicus River (see GRANICUS, BATTLE OF). Taking
Phrygian cities to injure the Persian fleet, Alexander entered northern Syria and defeated Darius at the Battle of ISSUS in 333. To disable the
Persian fleet completely, he next entered Phoenicia, easily taking some cities and besieging
TYRE, then conquering Syria. In 332, he liberated
Egypt and in 330 was declared a son of Amon
(Egypt’s supreme deity). Alexander returned
to Syria in 331, defeated Darius at the Battle of
GAUGAMELA, seized Babylon and Susa, sacked
Persepolis, and pursued Darius to Ecbatana in
330. Since 331, Alexander had begun to show
signs of orientalization; he called himself “King
of Kings” (a Persian title) and wore Persian dress.
Some troops objected to his change and rebelled,
but he quelled them by executing their leaders.
Discovering his foe Darius dead, murdered by a

cousin, Bessus (who was captured and crucified
in 329), Alexander covered Darius’s corpse with
his own robe before a royal funeral. Wintering in
330 near the Hindu Kush, Alexander launched
in 329 his Asiatic campaign (see ALEXANDER’S
ASIATIC CAMPAIGN). Capturing by 327 the area
around Bactria (Afghanistan) and establishing
the easternmost of his many Alexandrias (cities), he traveled southeast to start his invasion of
India (see ALEXANDER’S INVASION OF INDIA), where
he staged his remarkable siege of AORNOS in 327
and fought his most problem-ridden battle at
the HYDASPES RIVER in 326. Continuous reinforcement made his army now number 120,000 men,
who, upon reaching the Beas River in India—
11,000 miles from Macedonia—refused to go on.
Alexander conceded, had a fleet built in 325 at
another Alexandria, and divided his army. Some
men went with him through the Makran desert,
suffering many disasters and deaths. In 324, his

]


armies were reunited at Susa, where, to realize
his dream of Asians and Greeks living in harmony, he ordered intermarriages, himself marrying Darius’s daughter Barsine (one of Alexander’s
several wives), who was later murdered in 309.
In addition, Alexander eliminated inept and
corrupt officials, Greek and Persian, sent his soldiers home, issued a proclamation calling Greek
exiles home, and ordered that he be considered
a god. He crushed a final army mutiny, traveled
to Babylon in 323, and, while preparing an Arabian campaign, caught a fever and soon died. See

also DIADOCHI, WARS OF THE.

Alexandrian Massacre (215 C.E.) After a
punitive expedition against invading Goths in
the lower Danube area, Roman Emperor Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) (188–217 C.E.)
planned a military campaign against the Parthians, stopping in 215 C.E. at Alexandria, Egypt,
to visit before proceeding to Parthia (northeast
Iran). Some Alexandrians made reference to his
past heinous crimes (he had killed his wife and
his brother Geta and many of Geta’s loyal followers) and the villainy of his Syrian mother,
Julia Domna. In response, Caracalla ordered the
execution of thousands of inhabitants, notably
military-age young men; many, especially Christians, managed to escape the bloodshed. Two
years later, the cruel Caracalla was assassinated by
some of his officers at Carrhae in Mesopotamia—
at the start of another foray against Parthia.
Alexandrian Succession, War of the

See

DIADOCHI, WARS OF THE.

Algerian Civil War of 1992–99

Divisions
between Islamic fundamentalists and secular
and moderately religious Algerians erupted into
an unprecedented reign of terror beginning in
1992. In January, the country’s military-backed
government dissolved the national legislature

and called off parliamentary elections that the
Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) was set to win. The
ISF had garnered support, not only because it

11

took a conservative religious stance (it aimed
to govern by sharia, or Koranic law), but also
because it promised to end economic hardship
and authoritarian military rule. After the canceled elections, the ISF split into a moderate
wing and a number of armed extremist factions;
the latter groups were thought to have carried
out many of the village massacres that characterized the war. In nearly seven years of fierce
fighting, at least 100,000 civilians were butchered in surprise raids throughout the country,
especially in places where the militants believed
that members of the civil defense groups were
located more than that number were forced to
flee their homes. Among the dead were also foreigners, several dozen journalists, government
soldiers, and prominent officials—President
Mohammed Boudaif (b. 1919), put in power in
January 1992, was assassinated in June of that
year. Not all the killings could be attributed to
the rebels; in early 2005, the government admitted that its own forces were responsible for the
disappearances of more than 6,000 civilians.
Western nations remained mostly silent in the
first few years of the conflict, including France,
Algeria’s colonial master until 1962 (when independence was achieved after the bloody ALGERIAN WAR OF 1954–62). Acute French fears of
Algerian terrorism spreading to France were confirmed by bombings in Paris in 1995 and 1996.
In November 1996, Algeria’s president Liamine
Zeroual (1941– ), who had been elected the

year before, adopted a repressive constitution,
partly in an effort to destroy the ISF, but in the
face of more and more killings, multiparty elections were held in June 1997. The government
won with a huge majority, as most Algerians
had become disillusioned with the religious fundamentalists. The next presidential election, in
April 1999—considered flawed because opposition parties refused to participate, citing a lack of
guarantees against fraud—was won by Abdelaziz
Bouteflika (1937– ). After making peace with
the rebels, Bouteflika held a national referendum
in September 1999, in which Algerians approved
his amnesty plan. Violence then declined significantly: Most militants turned in their weapons,
and the Islamic Salvation Army, a branch of the

]

Algerian Civil War of 1992–99


12

Algerian-French Wars of 1832–47

ISF, disbanded in January 2000. The country’s
greater stability was evident in Bouteflika’s reelection, with more than 80 percent of the vote, in
April 2004—although some armed rebels continued sporadic attacks on civilians and government
targets. Algerians approved (October 2005) the
Charter on Peace and National Reconciliation,
sponsored by Bouteflika, which granted amnesty
to all Islamists and military officials involved in
the bloody civil war. But the reconciliation efforts

to stop all terrorist activities became the subject
of intense debate, which raged into 2006.

Algerian-French Wars of 1832–47 See ABD
EL-KADER,

WARS OF.

Algerian-Moroccan War of 1963–64 The
separation of Algeria from France (see ALGERIAN
WAR OF 1954–62) pleased neither Algeria nor
Morocco (to which France relinquished its rights
in 1956), for their shared boundary had been
established by the French without consulting
either former possession. Demands for adjustment from Algeria’s President Ahmed Ben Bella
(1918– ) were ignored, and, in October 1963,
Algerian and Moroccan forces began a border
war in which many lives were lost. The fledgling
Organization of African Unity (OAU), led by Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (1891–1975) and
Mali’s President Modibo Keita (1915–77), intervened and was able to arrange a cease-fire (February 20, 1964). But relations between Algeria and
Morocco remained strained. The border clashes
resumed in 1967; later, in 1976, when the former
Spanish Sahara became independent and was
renamed Western Sahara, Algeria and Morocco
began a low-keyed military dispute over ownership of that region (see SPANISH-SAHARAN WAR).
Algerian War of 1954–62 Algerian Muslims
of the Front de Libération National (FLN), or
the National Liberation Front, began open warfare against French rule in Algeria in 1954. They
raided French army installations and European
holdings. In 1957, the Paris government refused

to grant Algeria independence, and thousands
of French troops were sent to crush the Algerian
rebels. After taking office as French president in
1958, Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) offered a
plan of self-determination for Algeria and later
sought an honorable cease-fire with Algerian
rebel leaders in 1960. Raoul Salan (1899–1984),
a French military officer, helped stage an unsuccessful French army insurrection in Algiers in
April 1961, trying to thwart Algerian independence from France. French and Algerian rebel
leaders signed a cease-fire agreement in March
1962, but Salan led the illegal Algerian Secret
Army Organization (OAS) in revolt against it.
French forces seized Salan, but the French-OAS
war continued. On July 1, 1962, Algerians, voting in a national referendum, approved independence, and two days later France recognized
Algeria’s sovereignty.

Algerine War (1815)

Early in 1815, an outbreak of piracy off the Barbary Coast of North
Africa renewed a centuries-old threat to American trade in the Mediterranean. The United
States, its attention no longer diverted by the
WAR OF 1812, sent Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779–1820) to the area in command of a
large naval force. Quickly capturing the Algerian flagship Machuda off Cape de Gat, Spain,
Decatur sailed into the harbor of Algiers and
secured a treaty that provided for an end to tributes, release of all American captives, and a large
indemnity, thus ensuring the safety of American
commerce. See also TRIPOLITAN WAR.

Algonquian-Dutch War (1641–45)

The
Algonquian Indians were angered by Dutch
settlers taking over Indian lands on what are
now Staten Island and in Hackensack, N.J.
When Dutch colonial administrator Willem
Kieft (1597–1647) demanded a tribute from the
Algonquian, the Indians attacked the settlers on
Staten Island and Manhattan in the summer of
1641. Bloody fighting continued until a truce
was arranged the next year. In February 1643,
Mohawk Indian warriors, armed by the settlers,

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