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Deadliest U.S. Wars

Name the American military conflicts that resulted in at least 1,800 American military deaths.
Not necessarily wars declared by Congress
Military deaths include KIA, deaths from disease, and other causes
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 6, 2021
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First submittedJune 27, 2012
Times taken128,802
Average score83.3%
Rating4.75
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Deaths
Years
War
23,800
1775–1783
Revolutionary War
15,000
1812–1815
War of 1812
13,283
1846–1848
Mexican–American War
655,000
1861–1865
Civil War
2,446
1898
Spanish-American War
4,200 +
1898–1913
Philippine–American War
Deaths
Years
War
116,708
1917–1918
World War I
407,300
1941–1945
World War II
54,246
1950–1953
Korean War
58,220
1955–1975
Vietnam War
2,420
2001–2021
Afghanistan
4,507
2003–2011
Iraq War
danse29
+12
Level 9
Jun 27, 2012
You might want to add the Gulf War.
COdad77
+3
Level 43
Apr 26, 2019
Ditto!
Tregog
+2
Level 33
Mar 22, 2022
Isn't that just another name for the Iraq war? Apologies if I'm wrong but that's been my interpretation lmao.
Ferbin
+4
Level 74
Apr 6, 2022
There were two Iraq wars. The one in the early 90's and the one in the early 00's.
FlyingPancake
+1
Level 47
May 26, 2023
Description says wars with more than 1800 deaths, US losses were around 200 in the first gulf war
LuckyPunk
+1
Level 73
Jun 27, 2012
Got them all with 29 seconds left!
TenderHeart
+1
Level 15
Jun 27, 2012
53 seconds left. I almost missed the war of 1812
Brickster
+3
Level 28
Jun 27, 2012
Everything but the Philippine war. Didn't learn that in school!
kenpo17
+2
Level 66
Sep 27, 2016
Same here.
kenpo17
+2
Level 66
May 9, 2018
And it wasn't in the encyclopedia my family had when I was a kid, either.
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 88
Sep 24, 2020
I bet the Philippine Insurrection was in the encyclopedia as it was formerly called...

I always love how people claim they didn't teach such and such when they were in school. Seeing as people don't score 100% on tests for material taught in school the previous week, we're supposed to believe they remember everything they were taught years and decades after the fact? You were definitely exposed to it in American schools. You just can't remember it.

KainenManas
+9
Level 87
Oct 9, 2020
No, we were legitimately not taught this.
Xenobiologista
+9
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
We were definitely not taught this. As someone who did well in history, and remembers it pretty easily, I know I didn't come across this as something longer than a sentence, if it were mentioned at all. Textbooks in schools tend to be outdated by several years, anyway.
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
I still guarantee somewhere along your 13 years in public school that American expansionism from the 1890s onward, McKinley's, Bryan's and T.R.'s input, yellow journalism, the War of 1898, Hawaiian annexation, Cuban independence, and the Philippine Insurrection were brought up in more than mere 7-second sentences.

I'm betting everything I've ever earned that you didn't remember absolutely everything in school and leave with a perfect score of 100 on every last single test. People forget quickly.

jmellor13
+7
Level 67
Oct 11, 2021
It seems the consensus is that most people don't remember learning about the Philippine War in school. It's one thing to claim one person doesn't remember everything he learned, but when the majority of people commenting agree they never learned about the war, it becomes more likely that they just never learned it. And I'd add myself to the chorus: I remember learning all of the other wars listed on this quiz. Not the Philippine War.
Pearl2270
+4
Level 76
Oct 11, 2021
Yeah. I was a very good student who loved history, and I can assure you I did NOT learn about the Philippine war until well after school. If I was "taught" about it, it must have been one sentence in a book or something. Probably in a chapter that was not assigned lol. I was for sure not made to understand it in any way, shape, or form. And it definitely didn't make it onto any test we took.
HollowYT
+1
Level 37
Oct 13, 2021
I live in the philippines and forgot about that war, ididnt remember it lasting until 1913 so I just that that it was a different war.
kevinj
+4
Level 44
Jun 27, 2012
tried variations on independance war with uk etc forgot it was called the revolutionary war
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 88
Sep 24, 2020
It is more appropriately called The War of Independence.
Xenobiologista
+1
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
Maybe, but we say Revolutionary because it truly was at the time. Neither Haiti nor France had had their revolutions yet, because this was a really different thing to happen.
rustwat
+2
Level 63
Oct 13, 2021
The Dutch had.
gravyfury
+4
Level 23
Jun 30, 2012
You should slip in the american drug war. I don't know what source to quote but that would stump people
kalbahamut
+7
Level 83
Feb 9, 2014
and don't forget the War on Christmas. Officially America's longest ongoing war. And one of the costliest.
kalbahamut
+9
Level 83
Nov 27, 2014
There are at least that many from Wal*Mart tramplings every Black Friday.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Sep 21, 2020
^someone previously commented that there weren't enough casualties to make the cut-off.
IsleAuHaulte
+5
Level 88
Sep 24, 2020
I think Randy from South Park alone was responsible for at least 18 of the 1,800 deaths cutoff.
Xenobiologista
+4
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
You know, the funny thing is early American settlers outlawed Christmas for similar reasons. At the time in Europe, Christmas meant mobs of people going around the streets and sometimes raiding rich people's houses.
ForgingIron
+9
Level 32
Jul 2, 2012
America just can't get along with anybody, can they?
Quizmaster
+24
Level ∞
Jul 3, 2012
Haha. You should see a list of British wars. Makes America look like pacifists!
plattitude
+9
Level 90
Oct 22, 2012
@slickRick66--looking at this page:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_wars, I count 121 British wars since 1700, or about 40 per century. Compared to the 12 listed above for the US (about 6 per century), I think the Quizmaster's statement stands.
thecoolestdude2
+5
Level 69
Mar 2, 2014
Especially since they would go to war over a man's ear or whoever got a certain country's throne.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Nov 23, 2014
@Erik: the USA has only lost one war in its history. The only way the British would fare better with percentages is if the sheer volume of wars they've engaged in diluted the number of losses. As you yourself pointed out most of these wars the British have engaged in barely count as skirmishes.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Nov 23, 2014
I'm not going to go through the whole list, but, just sampling 1700-1800 it doesn't look good for the Brits. Their record appears to be 15 wins 6 losses and 3 stalemates. That's only a 62.5% win percentage. The Americans have a 91.7% win percentage just going by these 12 wars on the quiz.
Algernon
+2
Level 71
Sep 26, 2016
@Kalbahamut, genuine question, which war do you consider the only one the US lost? Are you basing it on a military point of view or in terms of achieving your objectives?

I guess what I mean is quite a few people would consider Vietnam to be a "loss" albeit the US. definitely wasn't beat militarily. More it was dragged into an attritional war and its will to fight was sapped. Given Vietnam ended up a communist country, is it then considered a defeat?

If so, are Afghanistan and Iraq 'victories'? Granted the US certainly won militarily, but I think most people would look at those wars and say the end result was, being diplomatic, a bit of a mess.

Again, not trolling or looking to start an argument, just genuinely intrigued on what war you consider the 'loss' and, I guess, on how you view the three wars I mentioned.

kalbahamut
+5
Level 83
Sep 26, 2016
The goal in Vietnam was to defeat the Communists in the North and unite the country under the government of Saigon. The US never even came close to achieving that goal. They were forced to abandon their objectives completely and withdraw. It was a total defeat.

The goal in Afghanistan was to topple the Taleban government in Kabul. A peripheral goal was to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Both of those goals were achieved. The war ended. The allied occupation of the country hasn't gone as well as the war. I consider the war over and the goals were achieved long ago.

The goal in Iraq was to topple Saddam Hussein and set up a democratic government instead. The country has gone to shit since then... but that has nothing to do with the war. All of the war-time objectives were met.

When else in history has a war been declared a failure if, afterwards, there were some other problems caused by it? That seems odd.

Algernon
+3
Level 71
Sep 27, 2016
Cheers for the reply, as I said, I wasn't trolling. I was just interested in what war you considered a deafeat.

I guess the key criteria is what exactly you define as the objectives of the war, and where you draw the line. I take your point on Iraq and Afghanistan.

tshalla
+11
Level 74
Sep 29, 2016
"The goal in Iraq was to topple Saddam Hussein and set up a democratic government instead. The country has gone to shit since then... but that has nothing to do with the war. All of the war-time objectives were met."

That's gold. Come on, tell us the truth: do work for the State Department or only aspire to?

3NRD
+1
Level 41
May 16, 2023
Forgive me for reading "cold" where tshalla typed " gold".
tshalla
+6
Level 74
Sep 29, 2016
And, by the way, a much more relevant and enlightening quiz would ask us to list the wars in which more than (insert whatever number you wish) people from targeted countries have died in U.S. wars.
drdavid
+4
Level 70
Sep 30, 2016
Cant we just accept nobody wins at war? (or am I just the uber-pacifist Brit (voted IN!))
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Sep 30, 2016
T'challa... I wish there were an ignore button on this site. I've seen you make about 100 comments now and I'm still waiting for the first relevant or sensible one.

Here's a nice visualization of the impact the United States, and the Pax Americana, ushered in since the end of WW2, has had on the world. On behalf of the State Department, you're welcome.

tshalla
+9
Level 74
Oct 1, 2016
There's good news for you, Kalbahamut: hegemonic discourse will always receive a ready audience. Don't worry about how endless cheering for the winning side will sound in posterity - you won't personally have to deal with that, right? In the meantime, I'll just have to just have to be satisfied with the slim rewards of a more critical historiography and look forward to your justification of use of napalm, the Chilean coup, or perhaps the brave thwarting of an international airport in Grenada as key moments in the progressive march of Pax Americana. Maybe I'll reread Voltaire's Candide while waiting.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 2, 2016
I'm not cheering on anyone. I am pro-fact. Anti-bigot. That's all.
Antofagasta
+1
Level 63
Oct 9, 2016
Look, I'm British and Kalbahamut has a point. Although we helped win the two World Wars we have had problems. Not many people know about this but look up about our retaliation after the Spanish armada. Yes, we defeated Napoleon but in the 100 years war, we finished it sixteen years late and still couldn't win. We like to make pointless mistakes as well, see the charge of the light brigade.
RedPenguinLol
+3
Level 74
Dec 21, 2016
@plattitude This is a little late, but I'd like to point out that taking the equivalent page for the U.S. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States), I counted 98 conflicts since 1800, which actually brings the U.S. to a higher average per century than Britain using this method.
markasol
+6
Level 75
Apr 29, 2017
America hasn't won a war since World War Two - and that was won more by the USSR. Of the above list only the Span-Am and Revolutionary Wars can be counted clear-cut American victories, while Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are clear-cut defeats.
Matthew07
+1
Level 45
Nov 7, 2017
How exactly was the war won by the Soviets?
RoadmanM
+5
Level 56
Dec 17, 2017
The soviets carried WW2 pretty heavily. If you go look at total casualties you can see the US, UK and France combines had about 1.500.000 casualties while Soviet had over 25 million.

Also, while US/England/France were effective at freeing the occupied territories, Soviet was the one putting in all the final blows to Nazi Germany; for example being the ones to take over Berlin.

Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Dec 17, 2017
Obviously the Soviets were instrumental in winning WWII. But number of casualties taken is not a good measure of overall contribution. As George Patton said, "No dumb ** ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb ** die for his".
RPHXX
+1
Level 69
Jan 23, 2018
Because the US wars take so much longer. There's no time for 100 wars !
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Jan 26, 2018
Floyd: well there aren't any WMDs in Iraq now, are there? (feel weird putting a smiley face here but am tempted to)
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Sep 29, 2019
Feeling that it is "endless cheering" to point out the fact that the goal of toppling Saddam Hussein in Iraq was achieved and that US presence in Iraq after that is best characterized as an occupation is sort of like inferring that to acknowledge the British Empire won the Opium Wars against China is equivalent to being in favor of forced drug addiction.
Asterlan
+1
Level 57
Nov 22, 2020
Ah yes, calling someone stupid, the best way to ignore them.
3NRD
+1
Level 41
May 16, 2023
. . . sort of like inferring that to acknowledge the British Empire won the Opium Wars against China - ignores the boxer rebellion.

- And if Empire really won the first war it would be Opium War Not Opium Wars.

- And it was forced drug addiction.

- And the United States Civil War continued, some say continues.

- And the winner of WWI was decided in WWII.

- And the Calphate is patient.

- And it is too soon to see whose "way of life" will prevail, beyond a declaration of "we won".

Xenobiologista
+1
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
@tshalla you been living out More's Utopia lately? Nobody has even come close to being perfect. It's just that the presence of US military has helped stopped wars from breaking out so often. No one is saying you have to pretend they're angels. Frankly, you should be more worried about China's current human rights abuses than old ones from the US, and I don't think the lack of an airport counts there.
FlickerP
+2
Level 70
Oct 12, 2021
@Kal A few years on and it looks like the goal in Afghanistan wasn't achieved after all
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 13, 2021
But it was, and it always will be. No other war in history has been marked a failure if, after one side won totally, 20 years later some other bad things happened. Like I wrote before, this would be akin to saying that Persia lost the Battle of Thermopylae because 150 years later Alexander conquered the Persian Empire. Or asserting that Japan was on the winning side of WW2 because 7 years after the war was over, the Allied occupation of Japan ended and the country once again was fully independent. Or claiming that the Confederacy won the Civil War because many Confederate leaders returned to normal life, some entered politics, and eventually Reconstruction ended. The way that people talk about the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan being continuous ongoing wars is truly baffling and bizarre and I've found no other parallel in history. The Taleban were destroyed and pushed out of Kabul, AQaeda dispersed, a new government set up. Nothing in 2021, 2050, or 2100 changes that.
milk
+1
Level 37
Oct 5, 2012
major wars seem to come in 2's for America... Revolution + 1812... (mexican and civil are the exceptions)... Spanish + Philippine... WWI + WWII... Korea + Vietnam... Afghanistan + Iraq...
hardforgeography
+1
Level 41
Nov 13, 2012
Could you not accept 'War of Independence' and then just 'Spain' or 'Spanish'. I felt I deserved those two
Ozchris
+1
Level 33
Jan 1, 2013
Oh my gosh... this is exactly what I was going to say. That's certainly how I've always heard them being referred.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Oct 6, 2014
War of Independence and Spanish will work now
buck1017
+1
Level 77
Jun 19, 2013
I can't believe i got the philippine american war. I was thinking "Who was president then?" I knew Roosevelt was the president in 1901 and didn't run for a second term so he could fight overseas somewhere in the Pacific. I got lucky with which country i picked.
Bobcat108
+1
Level 71
Nov 23, 2014
TR was president in 1901 as a result of McKinley's assassination, but he (TR) did run for president in 1904 & was elected. He ran again in 1912 under the Bull Moose Party line. Unless I'm remembering my history very incorrectly, TR never fought anywhere in the Pacific himself, only in the Spanish-American War.
kenpo17
+1
Level 66
May 9, 2018
I think you're thinking of when Teddy was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, then resigned in 1898 to fight in the Spanish-American War. That was before he became McKinley's Vice President, which led to his becoming President when McKinley was assassinated.
colby123
+1
Level 37
Aug 18, 2013
was guessing random countries when i got philippine- american war 12/12
Bob12
+1
Level 37
Aug 19, 2013
Got 11 out of 12. Missed the phillipine-american war answer.
Rachel24601
+1
Level 46
Mar 29, 2014
Never learned about the Phillipine-American War in school. You'd think that something that significant would be covered. Then again, I didn't learn about Japanese internment in WWII until high school, so...
frognbuff
+1
Level 84
Apr 23, 2017
While it's important to know that it happened, I'm not too sure that it was all that important of a war. Less than 30,000 people died between both sides and the Philippines got their independence anyways, eventually.
SouthwestChief
+1
Level 69
Feb 1, 2018
My school doesn't teach the Civil War until 11th Grade.
kenpo17
+1
Level 66
May 9, 2018
What DO they teach in younger grades, if not that?
SouthwestChief
+1
Level 69
Sep 25, 2019
I'm trying to remember. 4th grade was US geography (states, capitals, etc.), and for some reason I can't quite remember, the Chinese Civil War. 5th grade was US history up to and including the Revolution. 6th grade was world geography. 7th, 9th, and 10th were all world history (APWH optional in 10th). 8th was US history between the American Revolution and the Civil War. It was 11th when you either did US from the Civil War to present day (or APUSH if you wanted).
Xenobiologista
+1
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
I learned all of them in simplistic terms, and then again, and again, and again...not very efficient.
AlmostAGenius
+1
Level 76
Dec 7, 2022
My school certainly wasn't that bad, but I'll tell you, we spent so dang much time on Texas history (specifically the Texas Revolution), you'd think we still were out own country. Teachers reminding us to "Remember the Alamo" every year. As if we could ever forget it :\
WickedPoet
+1
Level 27
May 2, 2014
Needs first persian gulf war
joeythelemur
+3
Level 85
Nov 24, 2014
Needs to read the instructions again.
Jerry928
+2
Level 75
Jun 29, 2014
In Vietnam, the Vietnam War is known as the American War
divantilya
+1
Level 37
Nov 4, 2017
But why? - Though the war ran from 1955 to 1975, the USA was not in from the beginning. Didn't our involvement actually begin when JFK sent in the Advisors in 1961/1962? Was it not until 1965 that Johnson sent in the first fighting troops? Also, why call it the American war when the French were there first?
DasCreamy109
+8
Level 48
Nov 4, 2017
Well, think of it this way: the Vietnamese were perfectly fine the way they were, and being the U.S., we decided to come in and destroy everything because we were afraid of communism.
DasCreamy109
+3
Level 48
Nov 4, 2017
And on top of that, they had just finished a war against the French, so they probably weren't very happy.
dmck92
+2
Level 72
May 15, 2023
I have been to the war museum in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon and still referred to as such by most Vietnamese, at least coloquially) and can confirm. They actually call it "Freedom War against America", not sure if there might be something lost in translation there but that's what's on all the signs. Very interesting, if not pretty myopic, view of the conflict. There were a lot of American veterans there
john1955
+7
Level 48
Oct 21, 2014
don't forget the wars against native americans
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Nov 23, 2014
You're probably right but it's hard to figure out how to count these as the many different battles skirmishes, campaigns, raids and so on are usually not counted as a single war but rather hundreds of different unrelated conflicts. Over 21,000 Americans (including indigenous people) were killed in the Indian Wars west of the Mississippi from 1850-1890. Some estimates put the total number of dead for all similar conflicts over 75,000. If you count the smallpox epidemics that were in part a result of germ warfare then casualty figures jump much much higher.
partdavid
+1
Level 68
May 14, 2023
The exposure to and devastation resulting from exposure to smallpox is a tragic part of a policy of cultural genocide and American expansion... but Americans did not deliberately infect indigenous people with smallpox. The famous incident (and the historical record records only this one incident) of providing smallpox-infected blankets to natives was carried out by an English general.
Xenobiologista
+1
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
Not to mention the occasional massacre...
dasubergeek
+2
Level 71
Nov 23, 2014
Just gonna point out that in a large chunk of these here Unahted States, the recent unpleasantness in 1861 or thereabouts is referred to as the "War Between The States". Go ahead and say "Civil War" in a bar in Waycross, Georgia, Ah dare you.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Nov 23, 2014
Not the "War of Northern Aggression?" ::chuckle::
jmellor13
+7
Level 67
Sep 25, 2019
If the South wins the next one, we'll call it what they want.
KrishPatel
+1
Level 62
May 6, 2022
Very well said 😂
Sifhraven
+2
Level 66
Apr 4, 2020
Civil war is a peculiar term anyway. Wars are not known to be very civil.
Xenobiologista
+2
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
Maybe it was civil because civilians were attacking each other? Like, think of how northerners and southerners were actively working against each other through the 1850s, in order to protect or capture escaped slaves. Or maybe civil war refers to the civilian (the politicians) government declaring war on each other.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
The South is extremely proud of their silver medal finish.
Rozzi
+1
Level 59
Nov 23, 2014
I put Napoleonic for the 1812 war - I've never heard of that before - for us on the other side of the Atlantic, could you accept Napoleonic please?
kalbahamut
+5
Level 83
Nov 25, 2014
But this is talking about US wars and from the American perspective the War of 1812 was more contained than the Napoleonic Wars. The United States was not fighting against or with Napoleon. It wouldn't make much sense to call it that there, even if Britain's conflict with France was part of the reason the war began.
Xenobiologista
+3
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
It was only one war with the British over the right to maritime trade in international waters.
RyanSem
+1
Level 38
Nov 23, 2014
Great quiz. Forgot the war of 1812 though... that felt stupid.
david7835
+1
Level 44
Nov 23, 2014
100% WOOHOO!!
OfTheMountain
+1
Level 63
Nov 24, 2014
Why is Gulf War 1 not included?
kalbahamut
+5
Level 83
Nov 24, 2014
Because even though there were 100,000 Iraqi casualties, the Americans had less than 150 soldiers KIA. The same number of accidental deaths they had in the same time period. They took over most of the country in about 3 hours.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Sep 26, 2016
yeah that made a huge difference.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 11, 2018
^someone above had said the taking of Iraq took (slightly) longer than that. The comment seems to have been deleted.
zimbabwe12
+1
Level 51
Nov 24, 2014
I feel inclined to point out the "Philippine-American War" was not as much a war between two nations as it was a war for independence. Perhaps instead of naming it "Philippine-American War" it could be simply "Philippine Revolution"?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Nov 24, 2014
I don't think anyone really sees it that way, though. The Philippines declared their independence from Spain. The Americans didn't recognize it and were granted the Philippines by Spain by treaty at the end of the Spanish-American War. At that point, the independent state of the Philippines was fighting against the American occupiers who came after the Spanish had left. and then if you agree that the war ended on the date given, after that point the Americans had officially won and made the Philippines a U.S. territory... though resistance continued, mostly by Muslim groups in the South, all the way through the Japanese occupation in the 40s.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
It was called The Philippine Insurrection when it happened and up until not that long ago.
Tragic
+3
Level 69
Nov 25, 2014
No records for the Australian-American war...seems like a cover up...
bridog8456
+1
Level 48
Sep 10, 2015
I'm kind of surprised the Gulf War didn't have over 1800 causalities. I guess it didn't last long enough.
wrestlemania
+1
Level 56
Mar 1, 2016
Where is the first Iraq war?
Hdny42
+1
Level 59
Mar 16, 2016
It is now believed - the death toll revised by the professor I was lucky enough to study under, J. David Hacker - that almost 750,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and it has become the new accepted statistic.

2 Unrelated Points: The Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 are NOT really linked. There was over 20-years in between, and part of that time - during Washington's 2nd Term and during the Adams Administration - the US nearly went to war with France. The War of 1812 was based on a dumb decision by James Madison.

And World War I and World War II are not the same war, as while there WAS fighting in many places around the world during WWI, the fighting was mostly limited to Europe. WWII had an entire Pacific Theater that WWI did not have. Hitler and the Nazis came to power playing off the anger over losing WWI, but Japan did not invade China or attack us in Pearl Harbor and the Philippines because of WWI. Germany's actions can be looked at through a WWI lens, but Japan's can't.

IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 88
Sep 24, 2020
Saying the World Wars aren't closely related is pretty ridiculous. Same for 1812. The English were continually kidnapping Americans to put in their navy as they viewed the U.S. as still their territory no matter what piece of paper had been signed.
Hdny42
+1
Level 59
Mar 16, 2016
Correction on my previous post: there were nearly 30-years between the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 and the start of the War of 1812.

Americans in 1812 felt residual anger towards the British that was intensified by Britain's contempt for Americans, but the British were still battling Napoleon and didn't care about events in North America, and there was no real reason to fight them. In fact, Madison's war was so unpopular in New England that the states there considered secession.

The fight was between Americans and Canadians in the North, and against Native American tribes allied with Britain and Spain in the south and west. Americans naively expected the Canadians to join the American union, and were shocked when they faced resistance...the American troops captured and burned the Canadian capital of York (today Toronto), and the Red Coats later burned DC; the war wound up a stalemate and its main importance historically is that it launched the career of Andrew Jackson.

TrueWolf
+1
Level 48
Apr 6, 2016
I kept typing in "Gulf War" and "Perisan Gulf War", but I never looked at the year. It was Vietnam....
NCsupercade
+1
Level 56
Sep 26, 2016
What about the first Gulf War, aka Desert Storm?
joeythelemur
+2
Level 85
Sep 26, 2016
Read the quiz directions: only includes wars with over 1800 US KIA. Desert Storm had far fewer than that.
snix
+2
Level 54
Sep 26, 2016
Lotta foreign policy experts on Jetpunk. Who knew?
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Sep 24, 2020
Lotta foreign policy experts in government. Who knew?
Henceforth516
+1
Level 82
Sep 26, 2016
So your quiz inspired me to do some reading...turns out the Philippine-American war was only officially from 1899-1902, and had at least 4000 American casualties as listed in your quiz. However, the Moro Rebellion is what lasted until 1913 as your quiz shows, but had much fewer American casualties.
RegalTheBegal
+1
Level 26
Sep 26, 2016
got them all with 2 min left...
greeksoccer8
+1
Level 34
Sep 26, 2016
Damn my laziness, I put Afghan and when it didn't work I didn't bother typing out the whole word.
Elan
+1
Level 65
Sep 26, 2016
I tried the Filipino War...D'oh! That was the only one I missed
ander217
+2
Level 76
Oct 2, 2016
Wondering why the War on Terror isn't included. Too general?
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Oct 3, 2016
not a real war. More of a slogan.
SpencerGT
+1
Level 59
Oct 11, 2021
Only America would have a slogan to market our wars on TV. :)
Deathsunglasses
+1
Level 46
Mar 6, 2017
American Indian War?

Although I guess it could be argued that it was many conflicts over a few centuries.

I'd still count it though

gzx5
+2
Level 70
Mar 23, 2017
@tswalla You're username suggests you're Muslim which would explain your slanted view. I'm not denying the US government may have been involved in some unethical things but Muslims love to blame their problems on others instead of taking responsibility constantly playing the victim card. This despite the fact that long before the US and Israel existed tribal hostilities existed in Arab and Muslim culture and today is no exception. The Muslim invasion of India where you sold off their women and enslaved those who didn't convert, the Arab slave trade in Africa spanning at least 800 years where you castrated the men and used the women as sex slaves, the Barbary pirates, the Taliban who turned on the US who formed from the US aided Mujahideen in their fight against communism, all the dictatorships in Muslim countries, and many more. I could go on but you get the idea, you don't exactly have a great track record or reputation and you're a hypocrite for talking about wars and violence.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Apr 23, 2017
I thought he was just a Black Panther fan.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Apr 23, 2017
I wouldn't put Iraq or Afghanistan on this list.

I know this isn't the popular conception. But the popular conception frankly makes no sense and is unprecedented in history.

The Iraq War lasted from March 2003 to April 2003. That's how long it took for the Americans to conquer Baghdad and the government of Saddam Hussein to fall. The Iraqi military was disbanded shortly thereafter. After this point, the war was finished and the occupation of Iraq began. Total casualties during the war were about 200.

The war in Afghanistan lasted from October through December 2001, when the Taleban lost control of Kandahar their final stronghold. During this period, there were 7 US casualties. After December the war was over and the occupation of Afghanistan began.

kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Sep 25, 2019
To further drive this point home... The USA along with its allies occupied Germany and Japan after WW2. The US still controlled some parts of Japan up through the 1970s. If some soldiers died in Germany or Japan during this lengthy post-war period, I'm confident that their deaths would not be counted along with the casualties of WW2. The different standard applied to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are completely baffling.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Sep 24, 2020
And the people in Iraq fought back just as the people in Vietnam did. Battles between the North Vietnamese Army and the United States did not account for the majority of daily combat in the war. Non-government combatants largely defeated Napoleon in Spain and the U.S. in the Philippine-American War. Controlling the capital doesn't always mean winning the war.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
And by this reasoning the U.S. fully occupied South VietNam immediately. They really never controlled it worth a damn though. That's what all the fighting was about. So can we say the U.S. won the VietNam War in 1964 with almost no deaths, but then lost 58,000 to occupation?

The land forces never tried to take North VietNam at all. It was fought in the American-occuped South. (...and secretly Cambodia and Laos, which they never won either)

As for Iraq, much of the military continued fighting, they just didn't use uniforms anymore.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 11, 2020
Winning the war means winning the war. The war objectives in Vietnam were never achieved. The war was ongoing until the United States withdrew, and it ended in defeat. The objectives in both Iraq and Afghanistan were swiftly achieved. After that the war was concluded and the occupation of these countries began. This should not be hard to understand. They're not even remotely similar. The USA was fighting the army of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. That army was disbanded in April, 2003. They were no longer fighting a war at that point. The enemy had been completely and totally defeated. In Vietnam the US never even came remotely close to disbanded the North Vietnamese army, or their allies the VietCong. They were locked in ongoing conflict with both for the duration of the war.

Characterizing Iraqi insurgents attacking American troops as part of the Iraq War would be like saying the Civil War didn't end in 1865, because a federal troop got killed in Jackson during Reconstruction.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 11, 2020
Do Baathists still control the government in Baghdad? Does the Taleban still control Afghanistan? Nobody has made an argument here against my point that wasn't completely absurd. I mean the Emperor of Japan got to retain his title and position after World War 2, a lot more than can be said for Saddam Hussein. But nobody says the war against Japan is still ongoing because an American serviceman got killed in Tokyo in 1968. I'd love to hear a valid reason for considering the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as ongoing for so long that wasn't completely arbitrary or driven by politics, but there aren't any.
JWatson24
+2
Level 71
Apr 15, 2021
@Kal, you say that the War in Afghanistan ended long ago because one of the main US objectives was to kick out the Taliban. While that was true for a while, the Taliban has gained control over massive chunks of Afghanistan again and is acting like a quasi-state and not just a terrorist group. Also, with everything going on now (especially the US withdrawal), a lot of intelligence experts think that the Taliban will either become a major power player in Afghani politics after a peace deal is signed or take over the country military if the government doesn't "cooperate" with their demands.

I'm just wondering, what's your take on this? Do you still think it's valid to say that we "won" in Afghanistan if one of the main objectives stops being true? Or does it not matter because, regardless of whether or not the Taliban takes over, Afghanistan has gone through a lot in the past 20 years and is a very different country than it was in 2001?

kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Apr 23, 2021
The Taleban currently in Afghanistan is more like a movement than an organization. Several different bands of Islamists call themselves the Taleban. The group that was in control of Kabul was swiftly defeated, kicked out, jailed, killed, or dispersed. I don't think the objective can be achieved and then stop being achieved 20 years later. That would sort of be like saying Greeks won the Battle of Thermopylae because later on Alexander would go on to conquer the Persian Empire. And since "the Taleban" has ceased being a functioning government of a sovereign entity I feel that they don't exist anymore in the same form. But tribal and Islamist groups that oppose the US occupation and wish to return to a Taleban-style form of government have picked up and adopted the name and banner. If Neo-Nazis ever come to power in Germany in the future we wouldn't say that the Allies lost World War 2.
TravelingMama
+1
Level 73
Aug 28, 2021
Looks like they're back now, though :(
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 11, 2021
But like I said: not really the same group. The Taleban in control of Kabul 20 years ago was destroyed and dispersed. After this, the US-led Allied occupation of Afghanistan began, and a new government was set up. Various elements opposed to that new government eventually coalesced in various places in and outside of Afghanistan, some of which chose to pick up the Taleban banner. None of these elements had much success at gaining or holding territory until the last presidential administration negotiated a nearly unconditional surrender to them, completely undercutting the Afghan government of 2001-2021, and secured the release of many former members and leaders of the old Taleban. When the current administration made good on the promise to withdraw from the occupation, this new Taleban took over the whole country with barely a shot fired; because the war was long over - the occupation simply ended.
bridog8456
+1
Level 48
May 21, 2017
I think for Afghanistan, War on Terror(ism) should be accepted.
DasCreamy109
+1
Level 48
Nov 4, 2017
Good idea, but the War on Terror hasn't ended. And probably won't end in any ideal situation.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Oct 11, 2020
The War on Terror was a political slogan that was supposed to encompass Afghanistan, Iraq, and all US counter-terrorism efforts around the entire world. Not the same thing. And besides it was mostly used as a PR tool to try and get Americans to somehow think of Iraq and Afghanistan as related and both somehow connected to 9/11, to gin up support for the Bush invasion of Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with Afghanistan or 9/11.
Elan
+2
Level 65
Oct 25, 2017
The Gulf War wasn't even on this quiz because it was too easy.
Archer1212
+1
Level 62
Nov 1, 2017
what about the Gulf War? French and Indian War?
EvanAviator
+1
Level 58
May 14, 2023
the gulf war only resulted in 292 us coalition deaths
DanAlberto
+1
Level 57
Nov 1, 2017
Americans killing each other - more American casualties in the US Civil War than in WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghanistan and Iraq COMBINED.
kalbahamut
+4
Level 83
Jan 26, 2018
It's hard to kick ass without also getting your ass kicked when you're fighting on both sides of the same war.
joshxgarrett
+1
Level 63
Nov 11, 2017
The war in the Philippines was really part of the Spanish American War.
Tomtrific
+1
Level 81
Nov 22, 2017
America's costliest war, in terms of human lives, was against itself. But I'm sure someone has already mentioned this fact.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Jan 26, 2018
That's often what happens in civil wars.
canadry
+2
Level 67
Jul 8, 2020
Only if you don't consider lives outside of the US to be human. If you do, then the Vietnam war alone killed multiple times the number of people.
kalbahamut
+4
Level 83
Oct 11, 2020
Or if you do consider people outside of the US to be human, and are just looking at these wars in terms of what they cost the US.
divantilya
+2
Level 37
Dec 13, 2017
Strange fact: Invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan with the ancillary objective of capturing Osama Bin Laden, but finally getting him in Pakistan without so much as a skirmish. Who says that the CIA

doesn't eventually get its man! - Perseverance, perseverance, perseverance!!!

priamos
+1
Level 63
Jan 26, 2018
Hmm. I entered "Mr. Madison's War" which I thought was a correct answer. Apparently not?
PatoPotato
+1
Level 49
Sep 30, 2018
How did I miss Afghanistan?
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
It's the big graveyard right in the middle of the map of Asia.
TjizzleDizzle
+1
Level 66
Mar 3, 2019
Fun quiz, but kinda odd that if you add mexico it accepts it as 'mexican-american war', but spain is not accepted as spanish-american war.
LincolnIsTheBestOne
+2
Level 64
Mar 17, 2019
Got them all with 2:15 remaining at 11:13:07 AM on March 17, 2019. I am now at 1057 points. Easy quiz!
divantilya
+1
Level 37
May 19, 2019
Would have gotten the Philippine-American war, but wrote

"Filipino-American" instead.

jmellor13
+3
Level 67
Sep 25, 2019
What about the Cola Wars? We lost a lot of good men out there.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Sep 26, 2019
agent orange has got nothing on high fructose corn syrup.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
The Sunkist-Crush War, however, was a proxy to the Cola Wars.
SouthwestChief
+1
Level 69
Sep 25, 2019
How do we have such an accurate death count for the Mexican-American war but not the, later, Civil War.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
The Mexican-American War was fought by the regular army. The Civil War was a revolving door of deserters, assumed names and underage kids getting kicked out. The South lost many of its records in the destruction, men were pressed into service along the way and civilian deaths are simple guesses.
FatSpartanJediLlama
+1
Level 64
Sep 26, 2019
All of them, but I think I missed a couple when I took this quiz a year ago or something :/
FadKrashmor
+3
Level 68
Feb 19, 2020
I have to say here, and I am not alone that I find certain aspects of the American government's behaviour over the years to have been pretty appalling. It would be very easy for American nationalists to wave their flag. There are many many military interventions made by American forces that have been fiascos, and you nationalists content yourselves with saying, well other people did worse 200 years ago.

This is not good enough.

SpencerGT
+1
Level 59
Oct 11, 2021
I mean, 12 wars in 200 years isn't terrible.

It's not great, but it could be worse...

ElectricFlame22
+1
Level 26
Mar 1, 2020
Shouldn't the French and Indian war be on here?
Xenobiologista
+2
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
That was 1754-1763 and part of the 7 years' war. It was before the American Revolution, but helped lead to it from British taxes and tighter control on the colonies.
jbow7606
+1
Level 46
Mar 25, 2020
during jefferson’s presidency, there was one war, where the US, declared war on somalian priates, because they had taken over a good portion of somalia and acted as a country, so they were considered a country
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Apr 21, 2020
The first Barbary War resulted in 35 casualties on the American side and about 800 among the "Barbary States" on the North African coast.
M1
+1
Level 18
Sep 24, 2020
I only no civil war
EvanAviator
+1
Level 58
Oct 12, 2021
u also dont no how to spell
JonOfKent
+2
Level 55
Nov 23, 2020
"War of 1812"? That's the least helpful name for a war I've ever heard.
Xenobiologista
+3
Level 60
Jan 22, 2021
Not the 100 years war? It was 116 years long...
syphus590
+1
Level 29
Feb 15, 2021
1:56

5/12

EcceHomo
+4
Level 76
Mar 3, 2021
Lots of googled 'facts' in this thread. And plenty of nationalist pride. You can include me out.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Apr 23, 2021
Your input will be sorely missed. And the facts that you divine through some method other than looking them up.
EcceHomo
+4
Level 76
Sep 7, 2021
Ooh, a nibble.
GeoBro1
+2
Level 55
Mar 23, 2021
Accept "Afghan" for Afghanistan maybe?
jack40forte
+3
Level 52
Aug 17, 2021
I think it's time to update this quiz
Drewster
+1
Level 55
Oct 6, 2021
Time to update! Afghanistan War is over.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Oct 11, 2021
Since the Philippines was a U.S. territory at the time (according to the Americans), maybe we should count all of the casualties on the Filipino side of the war, too? The same way that you count both Union and Confederate casualties for the Civil War. That would put the total number significantly higher. At least 3x as much if not way more than that if you count non-combat deaths on the Filipino side.
SpencerGT
+1
Level 59
Oct 11, 2021
That is a fair point.

Although, the Philippines were never incorporated as states, so idk if that changes things...

FedericoGuzman
+2
Level 71
Oct 11, 2021
But it was de facto a colony.
Nachtschicht
+2
Level 57
Oct 11, 2021
I was sure there was a second war against Britain but it wouldn't show up...

In the end I missed it because I didn't know it was also called the "war of 1812", wich I looked up because I had no idea about it.

Maybe "British" war could also be accepted for this one?

IsleAuHaulte
+5
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
Now you've learned. That's my takeaway from this site, not to take quizzes where I automatically fill in all the answers.
SaorAlba
+4
Level 64
Oct 11, 2021
Will you be making a quiz that counts civilian deaths caused by the US?
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 88
Oct 11, 2021
That 1,800 cutoff for every involvement is quite low.
jkabq
+1
Level 60
May 14, 2023
if you feel its important, make it yourself.
dogmeat
+1
Level 66
Oct 11, 2021
What about the Indian Wars? Would be 4th on the list in terms of direct casualties.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Oct 11, 2021
I think the answer you're looking for is hiding in your own question. It's the "s" that comes after "War"
dogmeat
+1
Level 66
Oct 12, 2021
I think that's nomenclature. The 100 years war wasn't really one war, but OK.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Oct 13, 2021
Could be. But in this case calling all of the many Indian Wars and related conflicts a single war would be the mistake, not the other way around.
ObaiAhmed
+1
Level 65
Nov 23, 2021
I said Philippines and it didn’t go through.
MikeyDonut
+2
Level 55
Feb 15, 2022
Could you please accept "American War for Independence", or just "War for Independence", since that's that proper name for the war.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Mar 11, 2022
No, it's not.
Uzbekiman
+1
Level 40
Jan 6, 2023
can the Gulf war be accepted for Iraq
EvanAviator
+1
Level 58
May 14, 2023
no, because the gulf war is a completely different war that only resulted in 292 allied deaths, many of which not being american
VaultAgentMoez
+1
Level 62
May 14, 2023
Bruh I got everything but the American Revolution
rabble
+1
Level 61
May 14, 2023
The return rates are interesting. So much won from the cost of the Revolutionary War, and Mexican.

Humanity has been pretty lucky to have a government as generous as the USA as the sole superpower for the last .. 80+ years. It's denialism to say anything else, when the alternative is the USSR/Russia, or China.

God bless the USA as they say. Hopefully they focus more on exceeding, and less on being weighed down by the muck of the ROW in the coming century. I want to see men on Mars.

Bonzo65
+1
Level 67
May 14, 2023
Lots of commentary that 'The War on Terror' is just a political slogan.

A 2021 report from the Costs of War project at Brown University revealed that 20 years of post-9/11 wars have cost the U.S. an estimated $8 trillion and have killed more than 900,000 people, though only around 15,000 - 20,000 were American casualties.

That should still give this 'slogan' sufficient credibility to appear on this list.

Frankthetriviaman
+1
Level 37
May 14, 2023
I have heard of the Philippine conflict actually; but this is the first I have heard of it be referred to it as the Philippine American War; I had heard that it was called the Philippine Insurrection
veenvss
+1
Level 34
May 14, 2023
9/12. i missed the war of 1812, and the mexican and spanish wars.
miningaway
+1
Level 68
May 14, 2023
wow barely anyone knows about the philippine-american war but I do, so yeah

i guess the reason why so few people got the philippine-american war is because history teachers don't give a $h1T about it

jkabq
+1
Level 60
May 14, 2023
I know i don't.
TheRavenMocker
+1
Level 28
May 16, 2023
WW1 started in 1916, not 1917 and WW2 started in 1939. You added when Pearl harbor was bombed and when the U.S.A joined the war. It really started when Germany Invaded Poland.
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