The most meaningless conflict

[Mount Suribachi]

OK, so I just finished reading the excellent The Thirty Years War by C.V.Wedgewood.

Even before I got to the concluding chapter it was pretty obvious to me that this was a war of pointlessly unceasing suffering for the masses, a war that was started and continued almost entirely through the vanity, selfishness, pride and ambition of just a handful of men.

"The war solved no problems. Its effects, both immediate and indirect, were either negative or disastrous. Morally subversive, economically destructive, socially degrading, confused in its causes, devious in its course, futile in its result, it is the outstanding example in European history of meaningless conflict."

Couldn't have said it better myself luv

[PanzerJaeger]

The war of 1812 is another good example of a meaningless conflict. It was basically a grudge match between the British and the recently revolted British.

There was no way Britain was going to take back the colonies and there was no way America could control the impressment and other naval harrassment that the British did to them, as the conflict and its aftermath demonstrated.

[IrishMike]

The Allied Force sent into Russia to support the fight against Communist overthrow was pretty meaningless. Infact its so meaningless most people don't even know about it. They took a few port cities and that was it, then eventually left. Nothing was gained, nothing was stopped.

[cunctator]

Not as desatrous as the 30year war but still meaningless. The 1969 soccer war between Honduras and El Salvador. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_War

[Byzantine Prince]

World War 1. A pointless disaster like no other. Basically a bunch of royals sending everyone to their deaths because of stupid alliances with eachother. Germany invading France JUST because they were allied to the Russians. Austrians attacking Serbia just because of some monkey that did something stupid. Russia attacking Prussia and Austria-Hungary because Serbians were their allies and so on. Deep down I know these people wanted to attack eachother anyways, and were just waiting for excuse, but what they did is unforgivable.

[The Wizard]

Not as desatrous as the 30year war but still meaningless. The 1969 soccer war between Honduras and El Salvador. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_War

Yes, I lived there from '98 to 2000 and I must say it's a deep-running memory.

BP, the Great War was fought out just as much over power, chauvinism and hatred between nations just as much as it was fought out over who had alliances with who. It was a conflict which had been waiting to happen ever since the 1870s.

Another nice and pointless war was the civil war at the death of Andronicus III in the Byzantine Empire, from 1341 to 1347. It was obvious John Cantacuzenus did not want to claim the throne for himself, but political and personal enemies plotted and intrigued against him so that he was forced to take the throne to protect his position and the Empire itself. Empress Anne, one of the great bitches of history as I like to say, pawned the imperial crown jewels to the Venetians for a loan (a loan, goddammit!) of 30000 ducats! To top it all off, it never arrived! And all that while the Byzantines' enemies were closing in around them, most notably amongst them Stefan Dushan, King of Serbia, who expanded his empire while playing the different Byzantine factions off against each other.

The war greatly weakened the position of the empire, which had been strengthened under Andronicus III, lost the Byzantines their crown jewels, and set the stage for the Ottoman invasion of the 1360s and onwards. Nothing was achieved, for John V Palaeologus remained co-Emperor and John VI Cantacuzenus his regent en effet.



~Wiz

[Meneldil]

World War 1. A pointless disaster like no other. Basically a bunch of royals sending everyone to their deaths because of stupid alliances with eachother. Germany invading France JUST because they were allied to the Russians. Austrians attacking Serbia just because of some monkey that did something stupid. Russia attacking Prussia and Austria-Hungary because Serbians were their allies and so on. Deep down I know these people wanted to attack eachother anyways, and were just waiting for excuse, but what they did is unforgivable.

Actually, Germany invaded France just because they wanted to. The war between France and Germany would have happened anyway, since the Germans wanted to bash the French so they couldn't be a threat anymore, and since the French wanted to take back the lands they lost in 1870.

In french schools, young boys were taught that they would have to defend their patry someday, and that Alsace-Lorraine was to be owned by France, and not by Germany.

But yeah, the war fought by the europeans against the soviets in 1918 was pretty meaningless. Russia was then ruled by a lot of different factions (Europeans, White Russians, Communists, Royalists, Chineses, Japanases. I heard that a german whose father was member of the Teutonic Order even tried to hire an army of mongols, chineses and russians to invade russia, as he though he was the descendant of Genghis Khan)

[caesar44]

the question is - meaningless to whom ? to the winner ? to the looser ?
to the attacker ? to the defender ? to the world ?

[Tribesman]

The Irish Civil War , completely wasted most of the gains from the war of independance and future potential for the country and managed to kill off the few remaining decent leaders leaving a bunch of muppets behind to run the country into the ground . And the divisions from that episode still rear their ugly head in modern politics every now and again .

[Ash]

The Crimean war.

Probably the worst-fought war in history. And probably the most meaningless war in history. Probably the least satisfying outcome for every side of the conflict.
I daresay the war easily outshines WWI in senseless slaughter and meaninglesness

[CrayolaCrayon]

Judging from what i've read around this site, the most meaningless conflict - Mikeus Caesar v. Clayton Ballentine

[Franconicus]

Actually, Germany invaded France just because they wanted to. The war between France and Germany would have happened anyway, since the Germans wanted to bash the French so they couldn't be a threat anymore, and since the French wanted to take back the lands they lost in 1870.

I do not agree. Germany excpected the French to attack and did not want to come between Russia and France. And there were some people in France who wanted war with Germany.

[CBR]

Hm I definitely dont agree with the original post about the the Thirty Years War being meaningless. Just because England wasnt involved doesnt make the war meaningless

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_years_war

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia



CBR

[Templar Knight]

The Crimean War - An interesting war nonetheless, my fave too, It was however pointless and led Europe on the long road to WW1.

[mercian billman]

I'll nominate the Falklands war as being a pointless waste of life.

The war was fought because the Argentinian Junta wanted to rally political support around them, and ended up getting 655 Argentinians and 236 Brits killed. Not as pointless as WW1, but still resulted in unescesary (sp) loss of life over a few small islands inhabited by less than 2000 people.

[Marquis of Roland]

I thought the point of the Crimean War was to test out all those nifty weapons that were invented over the prior 30 years or so, no?

Actually, the most pointless war is still going on right now, in Iraq. I still don't know why Bush went to war with IRAQ. If anything, Saddam held the insurgents down, taking him out was tantamount to opening a pandora's box. No weapons of mass destruction were found, something the UN weapons inspectors have been trying to tell the U.S. for about a decade already. I can't believe Bush got reelected (I voted for Kerry, damnit ), it really scares me that the average American these days are so stupid and apathetic that large reason for why people voted for Bush was because "we know how bad he is, we don't know how much worse Kerry could be". Unless it be those ultranationalistic "red states" in which people say that he is the president and the president can do no wrong (which is why Americans are so compatible to live in a fascist dictatorship, we hardly vote to influence governmental decisions anyway).

[IrishMike]

I knew it would get political, only a matter of time. ^

[Marquis of Roland]

woops, my bad

[Kagemusha]

The Crimean War - An interesting war nonetheless, my fave too, It was however pointless and led Europe on the long road to WW1.

There was one significant outcome from Crimean War.Florence Nightingale=Red Cross.

[Templar Knight]

There was one significant outcome from Crimean War.Florence Nightingale=Red Cross.

yes, the war did raise awareness of the suffering of the soldiers and the lack of good health care.

[Big_John]

this has to be one of the more pointless ones: 19-years atop the siachen glacier.

http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/as...achen.kashmir/

[Kagemusha]

this has to be one of the more pointless ones: 19-years atop the siachen glacier.

http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/as...achen.kashmir/

I agree the whole stand of in Kashmir.Seems to me as an waist both of time and resources.One could think that UN could do something to that problem,but nobody seems to care

[Tribesman]

There was one significant outcome from Crimean War.Florence Nightingale=Red Cross.
Henry Dunant=Red Cross . Franco-Austrian war .

Mary Seacole did more work for the soldiers in the Crimea than Florence Nightingale , but the newspapers gave Nightingale more publicity as she was an upstanding white British woman , not a talented dedicated mixed race colonial .