Armed conflicts

Intense armed conflictClockwise from top-left:Ancient warfare: Stele of the Vultures, c. 2500 BCEMedieval warfare: Battle of Hastings, 1066Early modern warfare: Retreat from Moscow, 1812Industrial age warfare: Battle of the Somme, 1916Modern warfare: Normandy landings, 1944Nuclear warfare: Atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 1945War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organized groups. It is generally characterized by widespread violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregularmilitary forces. War aims typically involve the pursuit of political, economic, or territorial objectives. Warfare refers to the common activities and characteristics of types of war, or of wars in general. Total war is warfare that is not restricted to purely legitimate military targets, and can result in massive civilian or other non-combatant suffering and casualties. War has changed in numerous ways over the course of history. Since 1945, great power wars, territorial conquests and war declarations have declin