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General Knowledge for SSC Exams (Important Battles of World History)

Battle	Period/Year	Countries Involved
Battle of Megiddo	608 BC	Necho of Egypt and Josiah of Judsh; Egyptians victorious
Battle of Marathon	490 BC	Athenians and Persians; King Darius of Persia defeated.
Battle of Thermopylae	480 BC	Spartans led by Leonidas and Persians by Xerxes; Spartans were defeated.
Battle of Salamis	480 BC	Athenian and Persian fleet in the Bay of Salamis; Persian fleet defeated
Battle of Platae	479BC	Greek and Persian forces; Persian forces defeated.
Battle of Mycale	479 BC	Greek and Persian forces; Persian fleet defeated.
Spartan War I	459 BC	Sparta and Athenes, also called ‘Pelponesian War’: it lasted for 30 years.
Spartan War II	431 – 421 BC	Sparta and Athenes; Spartans victorious
Battle of Arabia	331 BC	Greek and Persian forces; Greeks victorious.
Battle of Magnesia	190 BC	Syrian and Roman forces; Syrian forces defeated (north-west Lydia).
Hundred Year War	1337 – 1453	France and England
War of Roses	1455 – 1485	Civil War in England between the two rival royal houses of Lancaster and York; White and red rose were their respective symbols.
Anglo-Spanish War	1588	Spanish and English fleets fought in the English Channel; Defeat of the Spanish fleet.
Thirty Year War	1618 – 1648	Started as religious-cum-political war between (Conto) the Lutherans and Catholics in Germany and developed into an international war.
Civil War of England	1642 – 1649	Between Cavaliers (King Charles supporters) and forces of the Parliament led by Oliver Cromwell; King Charles I executed.
Battle of Gibraltar Bay	1607	The Dutch defeated the Spaniards and the Portuguese.
Seven Year War	1756 – 1763	Britain and France against Austria and Prussia; British alliance won.
Battle of Nile	1798	British and French fleets; Britain victorious.
Battle of Trafalgar	1805	British fleet defeated fleets of France and Spain; British fleets commanded by Admiral Nelson, who was killed in the battle.
Battle of Austerlitz	1805	Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia on one side and France on the other, French forces victorious.
Battle of Borodino	1812	France and Russia; the French forces were commanded by Napoleon who was defeated.
Battle of Leipzig	1813	Germany and combined forces of Austria, Prussia and Russia defeated Napolean (French forces).
Battle of Waterloo	1815	British forces led by Duke of Wellington defeated French forces led by Napolean Bonaparte; it was Napolean’s last battle; Napolean abdicated and was exiled to the island of St Helena in South Atlantic where he died in 1812.
First China War	1840	China and Britain; Chinese force yielded. It was a trade war and also known as the ‘Opium War’.
American Civil War	1861 -11865	Northern Vs Southern states of America for the abolition of slavery; Abraham Lincoln defeated the Southern states.
Russo – Japanese War	1904 – 1905	Russia and Japan in the Sea of Japan; Russia defeated; also called the ‘Battle of Port Arthur’ or ‘Battle of Yalu’.
Balkan War I	1912	Turkey and Balkan countries (Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece); Turkey defeated.
Balkan War II	1913	Invasion of Serbia and Greece by Bulgaria; Bulgaria defeated by combined forces of Serbia, Greece, Romania, Montenegro, which stripped Turkey for most of its European territories.
World War I	1914 – 1918	Germany (with Austria, Hungary and Turkey) against Britain (with France, US, Russia, Japan, Canada, Austria and Belgium); Germany and its allies were defeated.
Battle of Jutland	1916	During World War I – Naval battle between Germany and England in which Germany was defeated.
World War II	1939 – 45	Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) against the Allies (Britain, USSR, US, France and several countries); Axis powers were defeated.
Deseret War	1942	Italian Army from Libya invaded Egypt in order to attach British forces.
Korean War	1954	South Korea invaded by North Korea; North Korea was forced back by UN forces.
Isrel – Arab War	1967	Six-day war. Shortest war in history; Arab forces led by Egypt, Syria and Jordan were defeated.
Pakistan-Bangladesh War	1971	Mukti Bahini forces aided by India against the Pakistani forces stationed in Bangladesh (former East Pakistan); Pakistani forces surrendered and Bangladesh came into being.
Gulf War	1991	US led multinational forces attacked Iraq to oust Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
Kargil War	1999	India defeated Pakistani forces at Kargil.
US-Afghanistan War	2001	US led coalition forces attack Afghanistan to bring down the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in retaliation to the 11 September terrorist attach in the USA.
Gulf War II	2003	US led coalition forces dethroned the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Israel-Lebnon	2006	Hezbullah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills other three. Israel responds with massive air strikes and artillery fire on targes in Lebanon.