War’s ability to cause death and destruction ranks among humanity’s worst characteristics. We are all aware of the terrible human cost of the two World Wars and other devastating conflicts. However, not all battles in history have been violent. Here are 5 unexpected conflicts in which no one died. We present you with 5 wars where nobody died.
5 wars where nobody died
1- Whisky War
The Whisky War was a dispute between Canada and Denmark that began in 1973 and ended in 2022. Yes, these two sophisticated, progressive nations were at war throughout your lifetime, and you had no idea! The conflict has been labeled a “pseudo-conflict.” It revolves around Hans Island, a tiny, resourceless muffin-shaped Arctic island. It has been desolate for 680 miles (1,094 km) south of the North Pole since the Inuits stopped using it as a hunting area. So, what’s the problem?
In 1973, Canada and Denmark established a border halfway between Greenland (part of Denmark) and Canada, but they couldn’t agree on who should own Hans Island, so they postponed the decision. In the decades thereafter, both countries have engaged in flag-raising spectacles and even pushed their cause through Google advertisements. That is not to imply that the military was not involved; in 2002, the Danish military flew its flag on the island, and Canada’s defence minister visited in 2005.
So, what’s the story behind the spirited moniker? However, it appears that the name was inspired by a bottle of Danish brandy left on the island by a minister, which was followed by a bottle of Canadian whisky. A series of tit-for-tat exchanges continued throughout the decades until 2022 when both parties agreed to split the island peacefully.
2- Turbot War
Canada was likewise at odds with Spain in 1995. This time, their radicalism was spurred by a more commonplace issue than a border dispute: fishing rights. Overfishing became a major threat in the second part of the twentieth century as fishing equipment advanced, such as larger nets and refrigerated holding. To conserve key food sources, measures such as the North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation establishing quotas on permitted catches were required. The Spanish and Portuguese were accused by the Canadians of breaching these quotas, notably when fishing for turbot off the coast of Newfoundland.
Surprisingly, this war was more violent than the Whisky War. On March 9, 1995, the Canadian Coast Guard opened fire and detained a Spanish trawler, an act denounced by the EU Fisheries Commissioner as “organized piracy.” Although no one was injured, the Canadians then cut the nets from a Portuguese ship and two additional Spanish vessels in the same vicinity. As the fighting intensified, a Spanish cruiser was dispatched to protect the country’s fishermen. Fortunately, just a few weeks later, on April 16, the EU, Canada, and Spain reached a deal, effectively ending the dispute.
3- Lobster War
The Turbot War was hardly the first instance of seafood rivalry. Brazil got into an odd debate with France in the 1960s over the finer points of spiny lobsters, of all things. The Geneva Convention allowed governments the right to all resources, including animals, that are in direct physical contact with the continental shelf. This refers to the country’s land that can stretch beneath the sea. It stretches around 200 miles (322 km) out to sea in Brazil, where French fishermen had been harvesting lobsters. Brazilians said the French were breaking the law because lobsters creep. The French, on the other hand, claimed that lobsters also swim.
Brazilian officials said the French were undermining their profitable export sector and despatched a squadron of six destroyers and patrol boats to sweep all foreign lobster boats from their waters. They took three French ships. The French deployed their own warship, which was intercepted and taken away by the Brazilian troops. Despite initial diplomatic trepidation, no guns were fired. The majority of the fighting took place in 1963, however, the conflict is widely seen as having begun in 1961. On December 10, 1964, an agreement was reached.
4- Dodge City War
The Dodge City War of 1883, sometimes known as the Saloon War, featured all the elements of a classic cowboy film, with one essential difference: no one was wounded. Local elections in Dodge City in 1881 and 1883 drew in lawmen seeking to depose the “Gang,” a group of businesspeople and lawmen who specialized in saloons, prostitution, and gambling. The majority of the group fled the city, but one businessman, Luke Short, had different plans.
He expanded his operations by purchasing the Long Branch bar and employing prostitutes to amuse the guys inside. Local officials soon detained the ladies, and Short was enraged because similar establishments that supported the new lawmen were let alone. Short and his companions were thrown out of town after exchanging fire with a city clerk. Neither was harmed. To combat the municipal leaders, Short formed the “Dodge City Peace Commission,” a group of famous and powerful gunslingers. Fearing for their lives, the authorities agreed to a settlement that allowed Short to collect some of the lost money from his municipal interests while leaving town without any bloodshed.
5- Aroostook War
The ludicrous Aroostook War, also known as the “Pork and Beans” War, featured fistfights and a battle stopped by a bear. From 1838 to 1839, it was fought between the United States state of Maine and the British Canadian province of New Brunswick over a border dispute following the end of the American Civil War. Both Americans and Canadians flocked to the contested territory, which is noted for its timber. John Baker was one among many who successfully relocated there. Baker captured British-claimed territory, declared it an American republic, and attempted to establish a government there. People who voted were arrested by New Brunswick officials, thus the state of Maine instead elected to recognize the territory as one of its towns.
Tensions peaked in 1838, at the so-called Battle of Caribou, when Americans clashed with Canadian lumberjacks who were chopping trees on American land. Guns were drawn, tempers flew, then a black bear rushed the Canadians, who shot it and ran. Following a succession of tit-for-tat arrests of officials, the newspapers began to talk about war. Things were so bad that the US sent 50,000 troops to the area. Diplomats on both sides were able to reach an agreement before any lives were lost in the war.
