British military history - Definition and Overview

British military history is a long and varied topic, extending from the prehistoric and ancient historic period, through the Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius and subsequent Roman occupation; warfare in the Mediaeval period, including the invasions of the Saxons and the Vikings in the Dark Ages, the Norman Conquest, and wars against France; through the Early Modern period, wars against Spain and France, and the English Civil War, and the beginnings of the colonial British Empire in India, the USA and Canada; and into the Modern period with the wars of Marlborough and against Napoleon, the Crimean War and into the 20th century with the Boer War, World War I and World War II, the Korean War; and, most recently, the Falklands War and military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

Prehistoric and ancient period

• Prehistoric / ancient
• Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius
• Boudiccan revolt
• Hadrian's Wall
• Shore forts
• Saxons

Mediaeval period

• Vikings
• Alfred the Great
• Harold
• Norman Conquest
• Hundred Years' War
• Wars of the Roses

Early Modern period

• Spanish Armada
• Anglo-Dutch Wars
• English Civil War

Modern Period

• British Empire - India, USA, Canada
• Marlborough
• Napoleonic Wars
• Crimean War

20th century

• Boer War
• World War I and World War II
• Korean War
• Falklands War

21st century

• military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

List of British military encounters

• Roman Invasion (43)
  • Manduessedum (61)
  • Battle of Mons Graupius (83)
• Viking invasions (793–1066)
  • Raid on Lindisfarne (793)
  • Campaign of Alfred the Great (871–899)
    • Battle of Edington (878)
  • Battle of Cannington (878)
  • Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)
• Norman Conquest (1066)
  • Battle of Hastings (1066) - last successful invasion of the British Isles by a foreign force
• Rebellion of 1088
• Revolt of 1173-1174
• Third Crusade (1189)
• Welsh Uprising of 1211
• Battle of Bouvines (1214) - loss of Normandy
• First Barons' War (1215–1217)
• Second Barons' War (1264–1267)
• Welsh Uprising of 1282
• Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1333)
• Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453)
  • Battle of Agincourt (1415)
• Wars of the Roses (1455–1485)
  • Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) - Richard III was the last British king to die in combat
• Italian Wars (1494 – 1559)
• Loss of Calais (1558) - then England's last continental possession
• Eighty Years' War (1598–1648)
  • Spanish Armada (1588)
• Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651)
  • Bishops' Wars (1639–1640)
  • English Civil War (1642–1651)
• First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)
• Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)
• Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)
• War of Devolution (1667–1668)
• Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)
• King Philip's War (1675–1676)
• Monmouth Rebellion (1685)
  • Battle of Sedgemoor (1685)
• War of the Grand Alliance (or King William's War) (1688–1697)
• Jacobite Rebellions (1689–1746)
  • Battle of Preston (1715)
  • Clifton Moor, near Penrith (1745) - last battle on English soil
  • Battle of Culloden (1746) - last battle on the British mainland
• Battle of the Boyne (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne
• War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713)
  • Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)
• War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1742)
• War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)
• Seven Years' War (1756–1763) - the first "world war"
• Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)
• American War of Independence (1775 to 1783)
• Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)
  • Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
  • Peninsular War (1808–1814)
• British-American War (1812)
• Anglo-Gurkha War (1814-1816)
• Peterloo massacre (1819)
• First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)
• First Opium War (1839–1842)
• Crimean War (1854–1856)
  • Charge of the Light Brigade
• Second Opium War (or The Arrow War) (1856–1860)
• Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880)
• Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
• Boer War ( 1880–1881 and 1899–1902)
  • Siege of Mafeking (1899–1900)
• Anglo-Irish War (1919–1921)
• Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)
• Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923)
• World War I (1914–1918)
• The Pacific War (1937-1945)
• World War II (1939–1945)
  • British military history of World War II
    • British Commandos
    • Bletchley Park
• Cold War (1945–1991)
• Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)
• Korean War (1950–1953)
• Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960)
• Cyprus Emergency (1955–1959)
• Suez Crisis (1956)
• Brunei Uprising (1962)
• Konfrontasi (1962–1966)
• Aden Emergency (1963–1967)
• Icelandic Cod War (1975–1976)
• Falklands War (1982)
• Gulf War (1990–1991)
• Bosnian War (IFOR) (1995–1996)
• Kosovo War (1999)
• Sierra Leone Civil War (2000)
• 2001 Afghanistan War (2001–2002)
• 2003 invasion of Iraq (2003)

List of fortifications in Britain

Roman & ancient

• Hadrian's Wall AD 122
• Antonine Wall AD 142

Mediaeval

• Castles in the UK
  • List of Castles in England
  • List of Castles in Northern Ireland
  • List of Castles in Scotland
  • List of Castles in Wales

Georgian & Victorian

• Martello towers

World War II Stop Lines

• Avon Stop Line
• Colchester Stop Line
• GHQ Line
• Outer London Defence Ring
• Ringwood West Line
• Salisbury West Stop Line
• Taunton Stop Line

List of British military institutions

• Royal Navy
• Royal Scottish Navy (until 1707)
• British Army
  • New Model Army (1645)
  • Territorial Army (1907)
  • Kitchener's Army (1914)
  • Auxiliary Units (1940s)
  • Home Guard (1940s)
• Royal Air Force
• Royal Ordnance

• National Service (1949 - 1960)
  • Joint Services School for Linguists

List of British military alliances

Scottish military alliances

• Auld Alliance (1165-1560)

English military alliances

• Anglo-Portuguese alliance (1386-)
• Holy League (1510 to 1513)
• Triple Alliance (1668)
• Grand Alliance (1689 - ?)

British military alliances

• Anglo-Portuguese alliance (1704-)
• Triple Alliance (1717)
• Triple Alliance (1788)
• Entente Cordiale (1904)
• Triple Entente (1908)
• NATO (1949-)
• Western European Union (1954-)
• Five Power Defence Arrangement (1971-)

See also

• Pax Britannica

• History of Britain
  • History of the United Kingdom
  • British Empire
• UK topics
  • Military of the United Kingdom
  • The United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction

• List of battles (geographic)
• List of wars

• British military rank insignia