List of wars involving France
This is a list of wars involving the French Republic and its predecessor states. It is an incomplete list of French and proto-French wars and battles from the foundation of Francia by Clovis I, the Merovingian king who united all the Frankish tribes and northern Gallo-Romans in the 5th century, to the current Fifth Republic.
Frankish Kingdom and Carolingian Empire
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High and Late Middle Ages
Ancien Régime
Revolutionary France
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Napoleonic France
French colonial empire
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Results |
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French conquest of Senegal (1659–1895) Location: Senegal |
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Waalo Kingdom Kingdom of Cayor Jolof Empire Baol Kingdom of Sine Saloum |
French victory
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Siamese revolution of 1688 (1688) Location: Siam |
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French defeat
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King William's War (1688–1697) Location: North America
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![]() ![]() Wabanaki Confederacy |
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Status quo ante bellum
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French and Iroquois Wars (17th century) Location: Great Lakes region |
Huron, Erie, Neutral, Odawa, Ojibwe, Mississaugas, Potawatomi, Algonquin, Shawnee, Wenro, Mahican, Innu, Abenaki, Miami, Illinois Confederation, other nations allied with France Supported by: ![]() |
Haudenosaunee Supported by: ![]() ![]() |
Military stalemate
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Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) Location: North America |
![]() Wabanaki Confederacy |
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French defeat
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Chickasaw Wars (1721–1763) Location: Mississippi River |
![]() Choctaw Illini |
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Chickasaw victory |
Carnatic Wars (1744–1763) Location: Carnatic region, South India |
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French defeat |
King George's War (1744–1748) Location: North America
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Status quo ante bellum |
Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) Location: Acadia and Nova Scotia |
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French defeat |
Seven Years' War (1756–1763)
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![]() Iroquois Confederacy |
French defeat |
Larache expedition (1765) |
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French defeat |
Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) Location: Saint-Domingue ![]() Collage of the Haitian Revolution |
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Haitian victory
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Siege of Santo Domingo (1805) Location: Santo Domingo, Saint-Domingue |
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French victory
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Franco-Trarzan War of 1825 (1825) Location: Waalo, West Africa |
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Trarza | French victory |
French conquest of Algeria (1827–1830–1857) Location: Regency of Algiers |
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French victory |
First Franco-Mexican War (1838–1839) Location: Mexico |
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French victory
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First Franco-Moroccan War (1844) Location: Morocco |
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French victory |
Franco-Tahitian War (1844–1847) Location: Tahiti |
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French victory |
Bombardment of Tourane (1847) Location: Off Tourane (Da Nang), South Central Coast of Vietnam |
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Nguyễn dynasty | French victory |
Taiping Rebellion (1850–1871) Location: China |
Later stages: |
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | Qing victory
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Bombardment of Salé (1851) Location: Morocco |
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French military victory French political failure |
Siege of Medina Fort (1857) Location: Médine, Mali |
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Toucouleur Empire | French victory |
Cochinchina Campaign (1858–1862) Location: Vietnam |
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Nguyễn Dynasty | Franco-Spanish victory
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Second Franco-Mexican War (1862–1867) Location: Mexico |
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French Defeat
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Shimonoseki Campaign (1863–1864) |
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Allied victory |
French campaign against Korea (1866) Location: Korea |
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French defeat
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French conquest of Tunisia (1881) Location: Tunisia |
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French victory
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Mandingo Wars (1883–1898) Location: West Africa |
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French victory |
First Madagascar expedition (1883–1885) Location: Madagascar |
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French victory |
Sino-French War (1884–1885) Location: Southeast mainland China, Taiwan, northern Vietnam |
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![]() Black Flag Army Nguyễn dynasty |
Both sides declared victory
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Tonkin Campaign (1883–1886) Location: Northern Vietnam |
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French victory |
First Franco-Dahomean War (1890) Location: Ouémé Department of modern Benin |
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French victory
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Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894) Location: Ouémé Department and Zou Department of modern Benin |
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French victory
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Franco-Siamese War (1893) Location: French Indochina, Siam |
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French victory
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Second Madagascar expedition (1894–1895) Location: Madagascar |
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French victory |
1904–1905 uprising in Madagascar (1904–1905) Location: Madagascar |
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Rebels | French victory
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Ouaddai War (1909–1911) Location: Ouaddai Empire |
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Ouaddai Empire | French victory
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French conquest of Morocco (1911–1934) Location: North Africa |
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Zaian Confederation Varying other Berber tribes |
French victory |
Zaian War (1914–1921) Location: French protectorate of Morocco |
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Zaian Confederation Varying other Berber tribes Supported during the First World War by the Central Powers |
French victory |
First World War (1914–1918) Location: Europe, Africa, Asia, Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and coast of North and South America |
Allied Powers
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Central Powers |
Allied victory
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Volta-Bani War (1915–1917) Location: Burkino Faso, Mali |
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Marka, Bwa, Lela, Nuni, and Bobo people | French victory |
Kaocen revolt (1916–1917) Location: Northern Niger |
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Tuareg guerrillas | French victory |
Thái Nguyên uprising (1917–1918) Location: Northern Vietnam |
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French victory
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Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918–1920) |
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Allied withdrawal
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Franco-Syrian War (1920) Location: Syria
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French victory
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Rif War (1920–1927) Location: Morocco |
![]() ![]() Jebala tribes |
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Franco-Spanish victory
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Great Syrian Revolt (1925–1927) Location: French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon ![]() Damascus in flames as the result of the French air raid on October 18, 1925. |
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Syrian rebels | French victory |
Kongo-Wara rebellion (1928–1931) Location: French Equatorial Africa, French Cameroon |
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Gbaya people and clans
Co-belligerents: |
French victory |
Yên Bái mutiny (1930) Location: Vietnam |
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French victory
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Second World War (1939–1945) Location: Europe, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Middle East, Mediterranean, North Africa, Oceania, North and South America |
Allied Powers
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Axis Powers
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Allied victory
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Franco-Thai War (1940–1941) Location: French Indochina |
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Indecisive
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War in Vietnam (1945–1946) Location: Vietnam |
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Operational success
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First Indochina War (1946–1954) Location: French Indochina
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Supported by: |
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Supported by: |
French defeat
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Malagasy Uprising (1947–1948) Location: Madagascar |
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French victory
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Korean War (1950–1953) Location: Korea |
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Ceasefire
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Algerian War (1954–1962) Location: Algeria |
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Military stalemate
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Ifni War (1957–1958) Location: Spanish Sahara, Ifni, Morocco |
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Franco-Spanish victory |
Bizerte crisis (1961) |
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French victory |
Modern period
![](../I/m/French_wars_since_1958.png)
Excluding colonial wars (the last being the Algerian War of 1954–1962), which are listed in the above section.
21st century
Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Results |
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Basque conflict (1959–2011) Location: Basque country |
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Neo-fascist paramilitaries:
Basque National Liberation Movement:
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Victory |
Corsican conflict (1976–2011) Location: Corsica |
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Corsican nationalist paramilitaries
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Victory |
War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) Location: Afghanistan |
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Victory
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First Ivorian Civil War (2002–2007) Location: Ivory Coast A Forces nouvelles's member caught by the French Foreign Legion in 2004 after a plundering. |
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Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire | Victory |
Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) |
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Ongoing |
Haitian coup d'état (2004) Location: Haiti |
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Victory |
Chadian Civil War (2005–2010) Location: Chad |
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Rebels![]() Alleged support: ![]() |
Victory |
War in Somalia (2009–present) Location: Somalia |
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Ongoing |
Boko Haram insurgency (2009–present) Location: Northeast Nigeria |
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Ongoing |
Second Ivorian Civil War (2010–2011) Location: Ivory Coast |
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Victory |
Libyan Civil War (2011) Location: Libya ![]() Part of a group of six, Italian-built, Palmaria self-propelled howitzers of the Gaddafi regime's forces, destroyed by French Rafale airplanes at the west-southern outskirts of Benghazi, Libya, in Opération Harmattan on March 19, 2011. |
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Victory
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Northern Mali Conflict (2012–present) Location: Northern Mali
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Ongoing |
Central African Republic Civil War (2012–present) Location: Central African Republic ![]() French soldiers as part of Operation Sangaris, authorized in late 2013.
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![]() ![]() MISCA (2013–2014) MICOPAX (2013) |
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Ongoing |
Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) Location: Iraq
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Ongoing |
Opération Chammal (2014–present) ![]() French Dassault Rafale of Squadron 11F prepares to land on USS Carl Vinson. Carl Vinson is deployed as part of maritime security operations and strike operations in Iraq and Syria. |
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Ongoing
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See also
- List of battles involving France
- Anglo-French War
- Franco-Spanish War
- Military history of France
- ISIL-related terror attacks in France
Notes
- The Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups (GAL) was supported by some officials of the Spanish government, most notably José Barrionuevo.
References
- Brown 1976, p. 239.
- Brown 1976, p. 240.
- Robert Ryal Miller (1961). "The American Legion of Honor in Mexico". Pacific Historical Review. Berkeley, California, United States: University of California Press. 30 (3). ISSN 0030-8684. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- Rettig, pp. 316–317.
- Radvanyi, Janos (1980). "Vietnam War Diplomacy: Reflections of a Former Iron Curtain Official" (PDF). Paramaters: Journal of the US Army War College. Carlise Barracks, Pennsylvania. 10 (3): 8–15.