| Date | War | Principal Combatants |
| 431-404 BC | Peloponnesian War | Sparta v Athens |
| 264-146 BC | Punic Wars | Rome v Carthage |
| 1095-1291 | Crusades | Christians v Muslims |
| 1337-1543 | Hundred Years War | England v France |
| 1455-85 | Wars of the Roses | York v Lancaster |
| 1618-48 | Thirty Years War | Catholic v Protestant forces in Europe |
| 1642-51 | English Civil War | Crown v Parliament |
| 1701-14 | War of the Spanish Succession | France v Grand Alliance (of other European countries) |
| 1740-48 | War of the Austrian Succession | France, Spain, Bavaria, Prussia v Britain, Netherlands, Savoy |
| 1756-63 | Seven Years War | Austria, Russia, France, Sweden, Poland v Prussia, Britain, Portugal |
| 1775-83 | American War of Independence | America v Britain |
| 1792-1815 | Napoleonic Wars | Britain, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Naples v France |
| 1812-15 | War of 1812 | USA v Britain |
| 1846-48 | Mexico-American War | Mexico v USA |
| 1853-56 | Crimean War | Russia v Turkey, Britain, France, Sardinia |
| 1861-65 | American Civil War | North v Confederate (Southern) states |
| 1870-71 | Franco-Prussian War | France v Germany |
| 1894-95 | Chinese-Japanese War | China v Japan |
| 1898 | Spanish-American War | Spain v USA |
| 1899-1902 | Boer War | Boers (South Africa) v Britain |
| 1904-05 | Russo-Japanese War | Russia v Japan |
| 1914-18 | World War I | Allies v Germany and others |
| 1931-33 | Chinese-Japanese War | China v Japan |
| 1936-39 | Spanish Civil War | Nationalists v Republicans |
| 1937-45 | Chinese-Japanese War | China v Japan |
| 1939-45 | World War II | Allies v Germany and others (Axis powers) |
| 1950-53 | Korean War | North Korea (with Chinese aid) v South Korea (supported by USA) |
| 1957-75 | Vietnam War | North Vietnam v South Vietnam (with US aid) |
| 1982 | Falklands War | Argentina v Britain |
| 1991 | Gulf War | Iraq v Allied forces |
| 2001- | War on Terror | USA and allies v al-Qaeda, Taliban in Afghanistan |
| 2003 | Iraq War | USA and allies v Iraq |