Alternate wars caused by diplomatic incidents

Taunay

Taunay

There are many diplomatic incidents that had a non-zero chance of resulting in war (Even if in a small scale), some of whom I can name are:
  • Nootka Crisis - Envolves an indigenous tribe, the Spanish Empire, Great Britain and the US. Would probably be a minor war, with a status quo result.
  • Fashoda Incident - Could escalate into an African conflict between France and the UK
  • Falklands Crisis of 1770 - One of the most interesting of all, had it resulted in a war, it would've pitted France and Spain against the British and could've butterflied away (or at least delay) the American Revolution
  • Oregon boundary dispute - If one of the sides had been unwilling to compromise, we could've seen a war between Britain and the US, possibly happening at the same time as the Mexican-American War
Do you know of any other diplomatic/military incidents that could've resulted in a war? If so, please do tell in this thread
 

Canuck Wingnut

The Aroostook War- an undeclared conflict between Maine and New Brunswick over the international boundary (including some local violence between logging companies) that could have escalated into a war between Britain and the US

Technically speaking the infamous Pig War and the Trent Incident were both diplomatic incidents risking war between Britain and the US as well.

The Venezuela boundary crisis of 1895 also fits (fun fact: Rudyard Kipling wrote a hilariously overwrought poem praising Canada for minimally supporting Britain's position on the issue)

If you're interested in post-1900 border crises, the Chile-Argentine border crisis in 1978 was only prevented from becoming a full-scale war by Pope John Paul II's intervention- the Argentine's planned Operation Soberania was on the verge of being launched. Of course, that crisis was only a recapitulation of earlier Chilean-Argentine border disputes, with several serious incidents between 1881 and 1902 while the exact location of the border was in dispute.
 
Taunay

Taunay

Canuck Wingnut said:
The Aroostook War- an undeclared conflict between Maine and New Brunswick over the international boundary (including some local violence between logging companies) that could have escalated into a war between Britain and the US

Technically speaking the infamous Pig War and the Trent Incident were both diplomatic incidents risking war between Britain and the US as well.

The Venezuela boundary crisis of 1895 also fits (fun fact: Rudyard Kipling wrote a hilariously overwrought poem praising Canada for minimally supporting Britain's position on the issue)

If you're interested in post-1900 border crises, the Chile-Argentine border crisis in 1978 was only prevented from becoming a full-scale war by Pope John Paul II's intervention- the Argentine's planned Operation Soberania was on the verge of being launched. Of course, that crisis was only a recapitulation of earlier Chilean-Argentine border disputes, with several serious incidents between 1881 and 1902 while the exact location of the border was in dispute.
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Thank you! Of these you mentioned, the only ones I've heard of are the Pig War and the 1978 Chile-Argentine crisis, I didn't know about any of these others, so thanks!
 
Grimbald

Grimbald

Monthly Donor
Would it be possible to delay the Oregon Settlement until 1853 and make a conflict simultaneous with the Crimean War?
 
Taunay

Taunay

Grimbald said:
Would it be possible to delay the Oregon Settlement until 1853 and make a conflict simultaneous with the Crimean War?
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That's a great idea, with the British army overstretched over fighting in both North America and Europe, we could see an American victory in this Oregon War
 
Neal Caffrey

Neal Caffrey

So back in the 1830s in New Granada (Colombia+Panama for those who don't know) just after the disolution of the Gran Colombia there nearly was a war with Britain and France for the stupidest reasons, the one with France was because a french family had been killed by their slaves and then when their bodies were sent to Cartagena where the local mayor tasked with taking their bodies there getting drunk fighting the french consul who got thrown into jail, this had the obvious french reaction and they threatened war, at the same time the British were also threatening war because the consul in Panama killed a guy and then got his property taken away and himself jailed, which made the british send a squadron to blocade the New Granada, both crisis were barely defused but they could have escalated had cooler heads not prevaled.
 
Taunay

Taunay

Neal Caffrey said:
So back in the 1830s in New Granada (Colombia+Panama for those who don't know) just after the disolution of the Gran Colombia there nearly was a war with Britain and France for the stupidest reasons, the one with France was because a french family had been killed by their slaves and then when their bodies were sent to Cartagena where the local mayor tasked with taking their bodies there getting drunk fighting the french consul who got thrown into jail, this had the obvious french reaction and they threatened war, at the same time the British were also threatening war because the consul in Panama killed a guy and then got his property taken away and himself jailed, which made the british send a squadron to blocade the New Granada, both crisis were barely defused but they could have escalated had cooler heads not prevaled.
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Granada would've been crushed had those crises escalated
 
Taunay

Taunay

  • First Moroccan Crisis - Had it escalated, a colonial conflict between Germany and a Franco-British alliance seems plausible
Another example which, had it escalated too much, could've escalated into a possible WW1
 
Taunay

Taunay

There is another one that's really cool
  • Paulet affair - It involves Great Britain and the US fighting over influence in Hawaii, it came very close to sparking a war and it was accompanied by tensions over the Oregon border
 
Taunay

Taunay

Just one more:
  • Chiquitos affair (1825) - Almost resulted in a war between Gran Colombia and Brazil, with possible participation of Argentina, as the affair took place during the Cisplatine War, which could either result in Brazil being defeated and losing territory to both Argentina and Gran Colombia, or Brazil winning and gaining extra territory in the South and in the Amazon Region
 

Nivek

unnaturalmilk said:
Just one more:
  • Chiquitos affair (1825) - Almost resulted in a war between Gran Colombia and Brazil, with possible participation of Argentina, as the affair took place during the Cisplatine War, which could either result in Brazil being defeated and losing territory to both Argentina and Gran Colombia, or Brazil winning and gaining extra territory in the South and in the Amazon Region
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If that happens the war with Perú goes different too
 
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