Nations that love going to war with each other.

Denmark and Sweden is with a fair distance the two nations that have declared war on each other the most times.

Denmark and assorted North germanic duchies also had quite a few wars.
 

raharris1973

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Basically, every country with its neighbours.

This is fundamentally the answer.

The exceptions are actually more interesting than those areas following the trend.


Despite examples providing by Democracy101, East Asia is actually exceptional in having longer periods of peace between neighbors than almost any other region-

Japan and Korea, only three wars in 1,000 years

China and Vietnam, only 3 wars in 1,000 years.

China and Japan, only 3 wars in a 1,000 years.

Despite modern nationalistic antagonisms suggesting frequent war, these East Asian states fought each other less often than most countries in close proximity to each other. They just remember it harder.
 
This is fundamentally the answer.

The exceptions are actually more interesting than those areas following the trend.


Despite examples providing by Democracy101, East Asia is actually exceptional in having longer periods of peace between neighbors than almost any other region-

Japan and Korea, only three wars in 1,000 years

China and Vietnam, only 3 wars in 1,000 years.

China and Japan, only 3 wars in a 1,000 years.

Despite modern nationalistic antagonisms suggesting frequent war, these East Asian states fought each other less often than most countries in close proximity to each other. They just remember it harder.

Maybe they remember it more becasue they are so rare? I mean, if your continent has a war every few years then it's hard to remember them all or even separate them after a while. :p
 
Basically, every country with its neighbours.

This is true to a certain extent, although the opposite is also frequently true because endless wars eventually exhaust both states' capabilities.

Denmark and Sweden is with a fair distance the two nations that have declared war on each other the most times.

This is debatable because it depends on exactly how you define a "country" and a "war." There is no definitive answer.

This is fundamentally the answer.

The exceptions are actually more interesting than those areas following the trend.


Despite examples providing by Democracy101, East Asia is actually exceptional in having longer periods of peace between neighbors than almost any other region-

Maybe, but the comparisons are somewhat flawed because they're comparing entirely different time periods.

Japan and Korea, only three wars in 1,000 years

China and Vietnam, only 3 wars in 1,000 years.

China and Japan, only 3 wars in a 1,000 years.

Despite modern nationalistic antagonisms suggesting frequent war, these East Asian states fought each other less often than most countries in close proximity to each other. They just remember it harder.

According to this logic, China and Korea only fought 3-4 wars within a thousand years as well, but that's only after ignoring the 15+ conflicts for 1000+ years before then.

Specifically, Japan arguably wasn't fully consolidated until the 8th century or so, soon after the Taihō Code was enacted in 703. The Battle of Baekgang (which, as the name implies, was technically a "battle" that was merely one of many in the extensive conflicts between Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla against the Tang) illustrated the severe unpreparedness of Japanese troops in a direct conflict with its neighbors. In particular, the battle was arguably more of a restoration movement led by Baekje aristocrats, while the Japanese side's severe lack of logistical knowledge eventually resulted in a catastrophic defeat despite Japanese ships outnumbering those of the Silla-Tang alliance by almost five to one. As a result, neither Japan nor its neighbors generally bothered to initiate war for more than a millennia, as pressing issues were generally resolved through tribute.

(Chinese invasions into Japan would also have had to require "conquering" Korea for logistical support, of which the latter never really occurred for numerous reasons.)

Goryeo under the Mongol invasions of Japan technically don't count either because the peninsula was under duress from the Yuan, not to mention that Korea covertly sent aid to Japan shortly before the invasions for geopolitical reasons. This only leaves the Imjin War, which in itself was an extremely devastating invasion because it was the first and only time that the peninsula had been invaded from the south, resulting in lax preparations despite a largely capable army stationed in the north against the Jurchen at the time.

On the other hand, while Vietnam occasionally revolted against China beforehand, it was not until 939 that it finally became independent, after which both were generally much more concerned with regional affairs (Vietnam against Champa/Cambodia and China against Central Asia) than to declare war on each other. Hence why the Yuan and Qing only invaded after most of (Eastern) Central Asia and East Asia was unified under one government, while the Ming did so after pushing out the Yuan. While Vietnam continued to remain culturally East Asian, its geopolitics were much more closely aligned to Southeast Asia, so it's natural that it generally refrained from conflicts with China for ~1000 years.

Geopolitically, China before the 13th century or so was much more analogous to Europe. You rarely see countries like Spain or France at war with Hungary or Poland (wars within China), let alone England or Portugal with Russia or Turkey (China and its neighbors). Going further back, conflicts with Rome and Persia were more severe than with Germania.

Maybe they remember it more becasue they are so rare? I mean, if your continent has a war every few years then it's hard to remember them all or even separate them after a while. :p

Not really. Of the three "wars" fought between Korea and Japan, only the Imjin War tends to be notable because the entire peninsula was devastated, while 1-2 million (out of around 7-8 million) died and tens of thousands were forcibly carried away to Japan as hostages. In comparison, the Sui-Tang's seven collective campaigns into Goguryeo are arguably studied more within Korea because of their widespread devastation and the resulting social changes, despite the fact that it was merely one "conflict" out of many.

Strangely, however, the Mongol invasions are less discussed (in Korea), despite the fact that they were arguably the most devastating (population dropped from 8-10 million to 4-5 million), but this is probably because the level of devastation was such that countless records were destroyed, making it difficult to assess the level of chaos in the aftermath.

On the other hand, Vietnam has framed its wars against China in the context of retaining independence after almost a thousand years of continuous Chinese domination, while China takes a different approach by highlighting the various atrocities that Japan had committed, most from 1937-45, including human experimentation and comfort women.
 
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Well there's quite a record of France against almost all Europe.
France was quite the juggernaut in Europe from 1600 to 1810, and it took several other countries to defeat it.
Do you consider the Napoleonic Wars like a single war? The 116 years wars weren't one single war either, as there were truces and treaties.
 
Well there's quite a record of France against almost all Europe.
France was quite the juggernaut in Europe from 1600 to 1810, and it took several other countries to defeat it.
Do you consider the Napoleonic Wars like a single war? The 116 years wars weren't one single war either, as there were truces and treaties.

So France vs. Everybody?
 
Well Everybody? no, only Europe.
I don't think France has a history of warring the USA... although they did support the CSA, they never came to war with the US.
 
The Chinese north and the Chinese south. Ever since the attempted Zhou conquest of Chu to the Taiping Rebellion. The south generally on the losing end.
The same thing can be said about east and west of China, from Qin v. The Six States to Feng Yuxiang v. Generalissimo Chiang :D

Since there are only four directions, each time the country fragments, there would be fightings along either North-South or East-West Axis. In fact, in the two cases you gave, the Region of Chu (good ol' south) which Zhou wanted to conquer was exactly where Qing's most trusted Xiang Army (evil northerners) came from. A bit far-fetched to say there is a "love" going to war with each other.

It only shows how hard is it to define "north and south".

China and Mongolia.
True.

China and Vietnam.
True to a certain extent, but reexplained and exaggerated by modern nationalists. Far more frequently were the wars between Vietnam and Champa.

I'd add China and Japan, as well as the Han Chinese and the Miao.

China and Japan fought seven wars, namely Battle of Baekgang (663), Mongol Invasion of Japan using Song prisoners (1274), Japanese Pirate raids (early Ming), Imjin War (1592), Jiawu War (1894), the Boxer War (1900), and The 14 Years War (1931).

The wars between the Miao and various Chinese Dynasties were often obviously more intense than any other conflicts China involves in the same era. Seemingly a constant, non-stop haemorrhage, they could devour up far more resources in their days than concurrent wars against the Mongols raiding bands or Wokou, and yet today we seemed to ignore them entirely.
 
Vietnam and Champa. The fact that Champa survived for a thousand years after the rise of Vietnam was nothing short of a miracle.

Russia and Turkey. Someone please fix the numbering system of Russo-Turkish wars.

Burmese and Siamese. Let's have another elephant duel:D

Romans and Persians. All before Mohammad.

Persians and Ottomans. God doesn't want the Persians to be too complacent.

Bulgarians and Greeks, extending all the way from Byzantine era to WWII.
 
Despite examples providing by Democracy101, East Asia is actually exceptional in having longer periods of peace between neighbors than almost any other region-

Japan and Korea, only three wars in 1,000 years

China and Vietnam, only 3 wars in 1,000 years.

China and Japan, only 3 wars in a 1,000 years.

Despite modern nationalistic antagonisms suggesting frequent war, these East Asian states fought each other less often than most countries in close proximity to each other. They just remember it harder.

I forgot to address this more thoroughly earlier. Japanese pirates frequently raided the Korean and Chinese coasts for centuries, specifically from the 1st to 6th centuries (limited to the Korean peninsula) and later from the 13rd to 16th centuries (lasting five and three centuries). The former occurred because various Japanese statelets needed to raid the peninsula for resources, while Baekje and Gaya also infrequently allied with them in order to attack Silla and Goguryeo, and these conflicts can technically be viewed as "wars." Additionally, Silla pirates later raided the Japanese coastline in the late 9th century as the dynasty began to slowly disintegrate, although they were much more limited in scope.

On the other hand, the latter phase occurred (529 recorded incidents in Goryeo and 312 in Joseon) because the shogunates at the time were relatively decentralized, resulting in severe political upheavals. Although the later conflicts technically did not occur between governments, they did force China and Korea to mobilize large navies for defense, as hundreds of ships attacked at a time, and severely devastated the respective coastlines, becoming a major factor in the eventual fall of Goryeo and the Ming. This was also one of the reasons why Hideyoshi's demands were not taken seriously by the Joseon court, as the Japanese soldiers were initially viewed as a disorganized mob without a specific objective. In addition, Chinese pirates became more active after the 15th-16th century or so, although it is uncertain whether they also significantly raided Korea and Japan.

In other words, even after ignoring the fact that conflicts within what is now China, along with Central Asia (with more conflicts between immediately neighboring entities), were comparable in scale with those within Europe for well over a millennia, as I had indicated earlier, East Asia was no more peaceful than any other region at any point in time.

(By extension, the above would also make the Viking raids against various entities within Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries as an extended period of frequent conflicts.)

China and Japan fought seven wars, namely Battle of Baekgang (663), Mongol Invasion of Japan using Song prisoners (1274), Japanese Pirate raids (early Ming), Imjin War (1592), Jiawu War (1894), the Boxer War (1900), and The 14 Years War (1931).

This too.

The wars between the Miao and various Chinese Dynasties were often obviously more intense than any other conflicts China involves in the same era. Seemingly a constant, non-stop haemorrhage, they could devour up far more resources in their days than concurrent wars against the Mongols raiding bands or Wokou, and yet today we seemed to ignore them entirely.

Interesting. They're probably ignored because the Mongols and Japanese are viewed as "foreigners," while the Miao are viewed as part of the greater "Chinese" nationality.

Historically, this was not true, but grouping the 55 ethnic minorities under an overarching classification would better suit the current political narrative.
 
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