OTL conflicts that could’ve turned into war?

Some of the Taiwan Strait standoffs in the 1950s.

The whole Pueblo incident with North Korea.

The North Korean nuclear crisis in 1994, we have a thread about that going on.

The Munich crisis of course.
 
Last edited:
The Cuban Missile Crisis is the most prominent example. The US and Britain could have gone to war in 1895 over Venezuela. Then there's the Iran-Hostage Crisis, the 1948 Berlin Blockade and the 1961 Berlin Crisis.
 
The US and Britain could have gone to war in 1895 over Venezuela.
I dunno. The only reason it went as far as it did was because Britain misjudged how important the US found it. They weren't willing to go to war on the topic. And the US wasn't really interested in containing the British (since they gave them almost the entire territory anyway). It was less a grounds on which the two would actually fight and more the US expanding the Monroe Doctrine, which Britain had always enforced anyway.
 
Some Pre World War One crises
The Moroccan Crises - the Tangler Crisis (1905-1906) and Agadir Crisis (1911)
Bosnian Annexation Crisis
Italo-Turkish War and the Balkan Wars (Both threaten to turn into World War One style conflicts because of the same obligations that lead to WW1)
 
The fact that 9/11 didn’t turn into a bigger war is still somewhat shocking. The fact that America didn’t immediately declare war - or police action - on any country that so much as had bin Laden over for lunch showed a lot of restraint (the fact that America directed that aggression at Iraq was ridiculous but neither here nor there.) For that matter, the continued onslaught of Islamic extremism that led to everything from embassy bombings to the Paris attacks not turning into the Western Powers getting together and collectively saying “fuck this shit, let’s put a stop to this once and for all” and collectively kicking the everloving shit out of any Islamic country that even hinted at Sharia Law and rebuilding them into secular republics a la postwar Germany and Japan is a bit surprising, to say the least.
 
The fact that 9/11 didn’t turn into a bigger war is still somewhat shocking. The fact that America didn’t immediately declare war - or police action - on any country that so much as had bin Laden over for lunch showed a lot of restraint (the fact that America directed that aggression at Iraq was ridiculous but neither here nor there.) For that matter, the continued onslaught of Islamic extremism that led to everything from embassy bombings to the Paris attacks not turning into the Western Powers getting together and collectively saying “fuck this shit, let’s put a stop to this once and for all” and collectively kicking the everloving shit out of any Islamic country that even hinted at Sharia Law and rebuilding them into secular republics a la postwar Germany and Japan is a bit surprising, to say the least.

Assuming that "kicking the everloving shit out of" means declaring war on, and "Sharia Law" means some degree of Islamic influence over government, you'd pretty much be having to attack every country in the Muslim world.

And even shifting the transgression over to something like "supporting terrorism" is still gonna put you at odds with about half a dozen countries that I can think of just off the top of my head, some of which would be a MAJOR headache to attack.
 

Deleted member 94680

The fact that 9/11 didn’t turn into a bigger war is still somewhat shocking. The fact that America didn’t immediately declare war - or police action - on any country that so much as had bin Laden over for lunch showed a lot of restraint (the fact that America directed that aggression at Iraq was ridiculous but neither here nor there.) For that matter, the continued onslaught of Islamic extremism that led to everything from embassy bombings to the Paris attacks not turning into the Western Powers getting together and collectively saying “fuck this shit, let’s put a stop to this once and for all” and collectively kicking the everloving shit out of any Islamic country that even hinted at Sharia Law and rebuilding them into secular republics a la postwar Germany and Japan is a bit surprising, to say the least.

This is sarcasm, right?
 
I would also add the Korean DMZ Conflict from 1966-69. Then there's the USS Pueblo incident in 1968 which happened concurrently.
 
There is also the Sudatenland Crisis of 1938 that would've turned into a War between Germany, Czechoslovakia, France, England, and maybe the USSR
 
The Beagle Conflict, especifically Operation Soberanía in 1978. Argentina's dictatorship was quickly losing support and stability (and I understand Chile too) so if the Pope didn't visit and mediate between the two countries it could have very well turned into war. Both juntas were itching for a war and a quick victory to rally up support.

An Argentine victory could have given more legs to the dictatorship, and perhaps butterflied away the South Atlantic Conflict.
 
Assuming that "kicking the everloving shit out of" means declaring war on, and "Sharia Law" means some degree of Islamic influence over government, you'd pretty much be having to attack every country in the Muslim world.

And even shifting the transgression over to something like "supporting terrorism" is still gonna put you at odds with about half a dozen countries that I can think of just off the top of my head, some of which would be a MAJOR headache to attack.

Not necessarily every one of them, but a number of them that could turn into a massive pain in the ass. Saudi Arabia comes to mind. And with Iran, kicking out the Ayatollah and working with the already existent Republic seems like a better idea than, say, bringing back anyone close to being the Shah. And at this point, the bigger issue would be less “takenout terrorists” and more “make sure new ones don’t pop up every other week.”

This is sarcasm, right?

Mmmm, sort of. It’s more a reflection of just how insane things were after 9/11 and how it felt like just about any crazy scenario was possible.
 
Top