The World’s Weirdest Wars

 

War is not normally an amusing subject. Most commonly wars occur as a result of disputes over territory or religion, with death and injury the inevitable consequences. In what follows, I do not intend to make light of the seriousness of the subject, but there are occasions in history where wars broke out for the oddest of reasons, or were fought in the strangest of ways. Below are examples of some of the world’s weirdest wars.

 

Where to begin? Well, let’s go back in time to 1325 and have a look at The War of The Bucket. Yes, that’s right, a war began over a bucket! Two city states, Bologna and Modena, in modern day Italy, were not exactly ideal neighbours. One came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire, while the other remained loyal to the Papacy. Nevertheless, peace reigned. Until, that is, a few soldiers from Modena popped over to Bologna and pinched the bucket from the well.

 

Bologna immediately declared war on Modena. At 32,000 strong, the army raised by Bologna heavily outnumbered the 7,000 men put up by the shocked Modenese. The armies met in November 1325 at Zappolino, in Bolognese territory. Despite their numerical advantage, and regardless of the fact that they were on home soil, the Bolognese were heavily defeated and forced to flee the battlefield. In all about 4,000 men died in a conflict ostensibly fought over a bucket!

 

So, what became of the bucket? Well, it remains on display to this day in the city of Modena. Surely beyond the pale (pail). Sorry!

 

The Bucket in Question

 

Moving forward in time, to 1859 in fact, to the San Juan islands on the Canadian/American border, we are just in time for The Pig War. The British, always keen to claim new territory, had set up a colony on the islands to farm sheep, but the Americans, deciding the land was theirs, sent 25 of their own people to settle there. For a time, the British and American settlers seemed to rub along together in relative harmony.

 

However, on 15th June 1859, an American by the name of Lyman Cutlar spotted a pig rifling through his vegetable patch. Not one to take such things lightly, Cutlar exercised his right to bear arms, and shot the pig dead, mid potato. Unfortunately for Anglo-American relations, the owner of the pig was one Charles Griffin, an Irishman residing on the British side of the islands. Needless to say, Griffin was singularly unimpressed that his pig had been cut down in its prime. He rejected Cutlar’s offer of $10 by way of  compensation, instead demanding $100 for the slain animal.

 

Things escalated alarmingly from her on in. The British tried to arrest Cutlar, who by this time had requested assistance from the United States. The Americans, for some reason, felt it necessary to send 66 soldiers to his defence. The British took umbrage at this and deployed 2 warships to the islands. By August 10th things had got even worse. There were now 5 warships and over 2,000 men on the scene for the British. The Americans had around 460 soldiers with 14 cannons, presumably all pointing towards the British vessels.

 

The result of all this was something of a Mexican standoff, although it took a full 12 years before tensions finally subsided. In the end, the only casualty of The Pig War was the hapless pig, although the cost to both sides must have exceeded even Griffin’s exaggerated valuation by a factor of thousands!

 

The Pig War

 

In the early part of the twentieth century, Greece and Bulgaria were like a couple of neighbours arguing over where to put the fence. The border region of Petrich was hotly disputed, although prior to 22nd October 1925, an uneasy peace endured. On that fateful day, however, an unnamed Greek soldier was seen to be chasing a dog. The dog crossed the border into Bulgaria, and the unwitting soldier followed it. The Bulgarian guard on duty at the time did not mess about. He shot and killed the soldier.

 

The following day Greece invaded Petrich in response. The Bulgarians were unprepared, and the Greeks made significant inroads. After 10 days of fighting the League of Nations intervened, and demanded an immediate ceasefire. In total, around 100 people lost their lives in The War of The Stray Dog. The fate of the dog remains unknown.

 

Border Collie?

 

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country of Moldova was in crisis. The majority of the population wanted a closer association with Romania, whilst the remainder preferred an alliance with Russia. The result was that, in 1992, The Moldovan-Transdniestrian War broke out. Nothing particularly weird about that, I agree. What makes this war unusual is the way in which it was fought.

 

By day, soldiers of the opposing armies fought each other in traditional fashion, each trying to kill the other. By night, however, the fighting would stop and the protagonists would meet up for a drink! It turned out that they actually got along like a house on fire. So well, in fact, that they decided to stop trying to shoot each other during the day. After four months of ever diminishing animosity, peace broke out. It is unfortunate that both sides suffered several hundred casualties, before the thing basically petered out of its own accord. Technically, hostilities concluded with a ceasefire, but most combatants had ceased firing well before it officially ended.

 

In 1883, King Alfonso XII of Spain was on an official state visit to Paris. For some reason, best known to the French, a few Parisians elected to hurl insults at the monarch, and a number even tried to assault him. As a result of this heinous insult, the mayor of Lijar, a small town in Southern Spain, became almost apoplectic. He immediately declared war on France, and most of the 300 residents of the town were, apparently, right behind him. So began The Lijar-French War.

 

In 1977, King Juan-Carlos of Spain, no  doubt aware of his predecessor’s Gallic welcome, nevertheless chanced his arm, and visited France himself. To his undoubted relief nothing untoward occurred, and his visit  passed off peacefully. In 1981, the good people of Lijar met, and decided that, owing to the dignified manner in which their reigning monarch had been treated by the French, they would end hostilities forthwith. In the 98 years of conflict, not a single shot was fired, and there were no casualties. Now that’s my kind of war!

 

King Alfonso XII of Spain

 

Source:

unrealfacts.com/stupidest-wars-history-ever/