British military history

British military history is a long and varied topic, extending from the prehistoric and ancient historic period, through the Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius and subsequent Roman occupation; warfare in the Mediaeval period, including the invasions of the Saxons and the Vikings in the Dark Ages, the Norman Conquest, and wars against France; through the Early Modern period, wars against Spain and France, and the English Civil War, and the beginnings of the colonial British Empire in India, the USA and Canada; and into the Modern period with the wars of Marlborough and against Napoleon, the Crimean War and into the 20th century with the Boer War, World War I and World War II, the Korean War; and, most recently, the Falklands War and military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

Prehistoric and ancient period

Prehistoric / ancient
Roman invasions of Julius Caesar and Claudius
Boudiccan revolt
Hadrian's Wall
Shore forts
Saxons

Mediaeval period

Early Modern period

Modern Period

20th century

21st century

military operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

List of British military encounters

Roman Invasion (43)
- Manduessedum (61)
- Battle of Mons Graupius (83)
Viking invasions (793–1066)
- Raid on Lindisfarne (793)
- Campaign of Alfred the Great (871–899)
  - Battle of Edington (878)
- Battle of Cannington (878)
- Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)
Norman Conquest (1066)
- Battle of Hastings (1066) - last successful invasion of the British Isles by a foreign force
Rebellion of 1088
Revolt of 1173-1174
Third Crusade (1189)
Welsh Uprising of 1211
Battle of Bouvines (1214) - loss of Normandy
First Barons' War (1215–1217)
Second Barons' War (1264–1267)
Welsh Uprising of 1282
Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1333)
Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453)
- Battle of Agincourt (1415)
Wars of the Roses (1455–1485)
- Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) - Richard III was the last British king to die in combat
Italian Wars (1494 – 1559)
Loss of Calais (1558) - then England's last continental possession
Eighty Years' War (1598–1648)
- Spanish Armada (1588)
Bishops' Wars (1639–1640)
British Civil War (1642–1649)
First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)
Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)
Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)
War of Devolution (1667–1668)
Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)
King Philip's War (1675–1676)
Monmouth Rebellion (1685)
- Battle of Sedgemoor (1685)
War of the Grand Alliance (or King William's War) (1688–1697)
Jacobite Rebellions (1689–1746)
- Battle of Preston (1715)
- Clifton Moor, near Penrith (1745) - last battle on English soil
- Battle of Culloden (1746) - last battle on the British mainland
Battle of the Boyne (1690) - last battle between two rival claimants for the throne
War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713)
- Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)
War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1742)
War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)
Seven Years' War (1756–1763) - the first "world war"
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)
American War of Independence (1775 to 1783)
Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)
- Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
- Peninsular War (1808–1814)
British-American War (1812)
Peterloo massacre (1819)
First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)
First Opium War (1839–1842)
Crimean War (1854–1856)
- Charge of the Light Brigade
Second Opium War (or The Arrow War) (1856–1860)
Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
Boer War ( 1880–1881 and 1899–1902)
- Siege of Mafeking (1899–1900)
Anglo-Irish War (1919–1921)
World War I (1914–1918)
World War II (1939–1945)
- British military history of World War II
  - British Commandos
  - Bletchley Park
Cold War (1945–1991)
Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)
Korean War (1950–1953)
Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960)
Cyprus Emergency (1955–1959)
Suez Crisis (1956)
Brunei Uprising (1962)
Konfrontasi (1962–1966)
Aden Emergency (1963–1967)
Icelandic Cod War (1975–1976)
Falklands War (1982)
Gulf War (1990–1991)
Bosnian War (IFOR) (1995–1996)
Kosovo War (1999)
Sierra Leone (2000)
2001 Afghanistan War (2001–2002)
2003 invasion of Iraq (2003)

List of fortifications in Britain

Roman & ancient

Hadrian's Wall AD 122
Antonine Wall AD 142

Mediaeval

Castles in the UK
- List of Castles in England
- List of Castles in Northern Ireland
- List of Castles in Scotland
- List of Castles in Wales

Georgian & Victorian

Martello towers

World War II Stop Lines

Avon Stop Line
Colchester Stop Line
GHQ Line
Outer London Defence Ring
Ringwood West Line
Salisbury West Stop Line
Taunton Stop Line

List of British military institutions

Royal Navy
British Army
- New Model Army (1645)
- Territorial Army (1907)
- Kitchener's Army (1914)
- Auxiliary Units (1940s)
- Home Guard (1940s)
Royal Air Force
Royal Ordnance