What are the least justifiable wars in history?

历史上最无正当理由的战争有哪些?

Adler Homero Fonseca de Castro Researcher
阿德勒·奥梅罗·丰塞卡·德·卡斯特罗 研究员

Originally Answered: What was the least justified war in history?
This is almost unknown outside Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Uruguay and outside Uruguay it is known only to historians, but there was the 1735–1737 non-declared war between Portugal and Spain. In 1735 some servants of the Portuguese ambassador in Madrid freed a man that was escorted by Spanish soldiers and brought him to the ambassador home. The Spanish sent soldiers that invaded the ambassador home and arrested everyone they found, but not the diplomat. In reprisal, Portuguese soldiers surrounded the home of the Spanish ambassador in Lisbon, arresting 12 servants. These acts generated a great tension and a mobilization in Europe, but no hostilities. However, in South America, the Spanish governor of Buenos Aires laid siege to the Portuguese city of Colônia do Sacramento, in Uruguay, during two years, with a lot of combats in land and sea. No war was ever declared nor a peace signed, nevertheless there were hostilities. The real reason of the war was the presence of the Portuguese city in Uruguay, but the “official” motive was the arrest of the servants.
It is a similar case to the war of Jenkins Ear, when the real reason was obscured by other excuses.

这场战争在葡萄牙、西班牙、巴西和乌拉圭之外几乎无人知晓,且除乌拉圭外仅有历史学家了解,它便是1735年至1737年葡萄牙与西班牙之间的未宣战战争。1735年,葡萄牙驻马德里大使的几名仆人解救了一名被西班牙士兵护送的男子,并将其带回大使官邸。西班牙方面随即派遣士兵侵入大使官邸,逮捕了所有在场人员,但未抓捕这名外交官。作为报复,葡萄牙士兵包围了西班牙驻里斯本大使的官邸,逮捕了12名仆人。这些行为引发了欧洲的高度紧张局势和军事动员,却未爆发敌对行动。然而在南美洲,布宜诺斯艾利斯的西班牙总督对乌拉圭境内的葡萄牙城市萨克拉门托殖民地展开了长达两年的围攻,陆战和海战频发。双方既未宣战,也未签署和平协议,但敌对冲突确实存在。这场战争的真正原因是葡萄牙在乌拉圭拥有这座城市,而“官方”借口则是仆人被捕事件。
这与詹金斯耳朵战争的情况类似,其真实原因都被其他借口所掩盖。

Grant Mitchell Spork Director UAV Drone Surveys at Self-Employment
格兰特·米切尔·斯波克 自主就业 无人机勘测总监

The least justified wars are those which are often undocumented in history, the wars against native peoples. Today we can see this in the Amazon where traditional owners are having their native forests destroyed with their way of life. Thousands of hectares of jungle and habitat destroyed for cattle grazing and agriculture. The native people murdered or affected by modern diseases to which they have no immunity.

最无正当理由的战争是那些常常未被载入史册的战争,即针对土著民族的战争。如今在亚马逊地区,我们仍能看到这种情况:传统土地所有者的原始森林及其生活方式遭到破坏,数千公顷的丛林和栖息地为了放牧和农业被摧毁,土著居民惨遭杀害或感染上他们毫无免疫力的现代疾病。

In Australia the initial interactions with Aboriginal peoples were cordial, though soon the Convicts and settlers moved into the prime areas around fishing ground, sacred sites, fresh water sources. Aboriginals have traditional sharing of some resources with other groups, tribes. So their territory may be shared with 5 or so other groups and they co-operated along traditional lines. They had no concept of a non nomadic group coming and planting themselves down in the best location and then cutting down their trees which had been there hundreds of years, placing bovines and other animals on their hunting grounds which were kept with grass for kangaroos and wallabies to hunt.

在澳大利亚,最初与原住民的互动是友好的,但很快,罪犯和定居者便迁入了渔场、圣地、淡水水源周边的优质区域。原住民有与其他群体、部落共享部分资源的传统,因此他们的领地可能会与大约5个其他群体共享,并按照传统方式合作。他们无法理解,一个非游牧群体为何会前来并定居在最肥沃的地方,砍伐已存在数百年的树木,在为袋鼠和沙袋鼠保留牧草的狩猎场上饲养牛等牲畜。

In much of Australia Native Police were recruited and given guns and horses. Their role was to “Pacify” and “Civilize” the first Nation People. A “Skirmish” was polite speak for massacre of women, children and men. When the Aboriginals had battles they were resolved with a few dead tribesmen on either side, some women stolen as bounty, though rarely a serious massacre of another group. Now the mounted police had rifles and a license to kill!

澳大利亚大部分地区都招募了土著警察,为他们配备枪支和马匹,其职责是“安抚”和“教化”原住民。“小规模冲突”是对屠杀妇女、儿童和男性的委婉说法。原住民之间发生冲突时,通常双方只有少数部落成员死亡,有些妇女会被掳走作为战利品,但很少会出现大规模屠杀另一个群体的情况。而现在,骑警配备了步枪,且拥有杀戮的许可!

Only the trackers and mounted police would go into the roughest country and track down native groups in their own territory, and massacre them. No journalists, no witnesses…………….just an endless destruction of First Australian culture. Some of the unfortunate survivors were placed in reservations with many other tribespeople, with dissimilar traditional cultures. Cherburg is one such sad place.

只有追踪者和骑警会进入最偏远的地区,在原住民自己的领地追踪并屠杀他们,没有记者,没有目击者……只有对澳大利亚原住民文化无休止的破坏。一些不幸的幸存者被安置在保留地,与许多其他拥有不同传统文化的部落成员共处,切尔堡就是这样一个令人痛心的地方。

In New Zealand the “Mouri Wars” led to a treaty of Waitangi and some protections for Maoris to retain some of their traditional lands and rights. In Australia any recognition of traditional rights did not commence until the mid 1960’s. First Nations people were rounded up into Christian missions, some had an education, though this benevolence came with strings attached. Aboriginals could not travel anywhere they liked, were subject to random arrest and detention and incarcerated in large numbers.
Similar to the Native American peoples, First Nations Australians suffered from European diseases which decimated tribes and left great holes in their culture.

在新西兰,“毛利战争”促成了《怀唐伊条约》的签订,为毛利人保留部分传统土地和权利提供了一定保障。而在澳大利亚,对传统权利的认可直到20世纪60年代中期才开始。原住民被强行驱赶到基督教传教站,有些人获得了受教育的机会,但这种“善意”是附带条件的。原住民不能随意出行,可能会遭到随机逮捕和拘留,大量原住民被监禁。
与美洲原住民一样,澳大利亚原住民遭受了欧洲疾病的侵袭,这些疾病导致部落人口锐减,其文化也出现了巨大断层。

Australians voted to recognise the “Citizenship” of First Nation people in the mid 1960’s before that they were counted as wildlife on the census. Namatjirra the most renowned Aboriginal water colour painter, was not allowed to own property in Alice Springs central Australia, even though he was wealthy enough to purchase a property. When he challenged the decision to deny him this right his income and savings were confiscated and placed in an account with a white guarantor. His paintings sold for below value and his income garnered. He was banished from Alice Springs even though he was a famous and renowned international artist. That is the sad legacy of paternalism of Australia until the mid 1960’s.

澳大利亚人在20世纪60年代中期投票认可了原住民的“公民身份”,在此之前,原住民在人口普查中被算作野生动物。纳马吉拉是最著名的原住民水彩画家,尽管他有足够的财富购买房产,却不被允许在澳大利亚中部的艾丽斯斯普林斯拥有财产。当他对这一剥夺其权利的决定提出质疑时,他的收入和存款被没收,存入了一个由白人担保人监管的账户,他的画作被低价出售,收入也被侵占。尽管他是国际知名的艺术家,却被驱逐出了艾丽斯斯普林斯。这就是澳大利亚在20世纪60年代中期之前父权主义留下的可悲遗产。

So when we speak of an unjustified war, there are no better examples of the fate of indigenous peoples around the world. In Australia First Nations people have been granted some land rights, and an inquiry was held into the stolen generations, where children were taken from parents and adopted or brought up in orphanages or missions. Many suffered terribly at the hands of white masters.

因此,当我们谈论无正当理由的战争时,世界各地原住民的遭遇便是最佳例证。如今,澳大利亚原住民已获得了部分土地权利,有关部门也对“被偷走的一代”展开了调查——许多原住民儿童被从父母身边带走,送往孤儿院或传教站收养或抚养,其中许多人在白人雇主手中遭受了极大的痛苦。

We now know the richness and lessons of the First nations people have resonance today for all Australians. A more enlightened vision of the future of First Nation and non indigenous peoples has begun as a sign of reconciliation. There is though no more compelling lack of justification, worldwide than the displacement and cultural destruction of first nation people as an undeclared war. We are only as enlightened as the way we treat our most vulnerable people, and to that measure more must be done to recognise and account for this undeclared war.

我们现在意识到,原住民文化的丰富内涵和经验教训对今天所有澳大利亚人都具有重要意义。作为和解的象征,一种关于原住民与非原住民未来的更具包容性的愿景已经开始形成。然而,在世界范围内,没有比这场针对原住民的、未宣战的战争——其导致原住民流离失所和文化毁灭——更缺乏正当理由的了。一个社会的文明程度取决于它对待最弱势群体的方式,从这一角度来看,我们必须采取更多措施,承认并正视这场未宣战的战争。

Jake Hilliard History
杰克·希利亚德 历史领域研究者

For the first 120 years of its existence, the United States government waged nearly continuous warfare against the Native American tribes that lived on the Western frontier, (and sometimes within U.S. jurisdiction). In some cases these wars came as a result of Indian attacks against settlements; in others, the wars were purely acquisitive efforts to gain territory and resources.
One of the most poorly conceived of these wars began in 1876. The Black Hills War came about because of white settler encroachment on lands allocated, by treaty, to the Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux. The U.S. government was unable (and largely unwilling) to restrict white migration into the Black Hills, and after unproductive negotiation simply decided to seize some of the most valuable area.

原问题:历史上最无正当理由的战争是什么?
在美国建国后的前120年里,美国政府对居住在西部边境(有时甚至在美国管辖范围内)的美洲原住民部落发动了几乎不间断的战争。有些战争是由于原住民袭击定居点引发的,而另一些则纯粹是为了获取领土和资源的掠夺性战争。
其中最缺乏合理性的一场战争始于1876年。黑山战争的爆发源于白人定居者侵占了根据条约分配给夏延族和拉科塔苏族的土地。美国政府无力(且在很大程度上不愿)限制白人向黑山地区迁移,在谈判无果后,便直接决定夺取这一最具价值的区域。

The war resulted in one of the most serious U.S. military defeats of the Indian Wars, the annihilation of the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Eventually, however, a combination of military and diplomatic efforts forced most of the Cheyenne and Sioux to surrender, apart from a portion that fled to Canada. Sporadic fighting would continue for another fifteen years or so. In the end, the U.S. government “pacified” the Cheyenne and Sioux (who were in the process of becoming more agrarian in any case), and assumed full control over the eastern half of what would become South Dakota. The death and destruction caused by the war provided an appropriate coda for U.S. mistreatment of Native American tribes across the 19th century.

这场战争导致了印第安战争中美国军事史上最严重的失败之一——第七骑兵队在小巨角河战役中全军覆没。然而,最终通过军事和外交手段的结合,除了一部分逃往加拿大的部落成员外,大多数夏延族和苏族被迫投降。零星的战斗又持续了大约15年。最终,美国政府“安抚”了夏延族和苏族(他们当时本就正逐渐转向农业生活),并完全控制了后来成为南达科他州的东半部地区。这场战争造成的死亡和破坏,为美国在19世纪对美洲原住民部落的虐待画上了一个恰当的句号。

Brian Naghten Former British Military Service
布赖恩·纳滕 前英国军人(1976-1979年服役)

I think when you consider the justification for a war you have to consider the mentality of warring nations during the time period. Before the 20th Century war was justified if you thought you could steal someone else’s country.
From the Middle Ages the Fourth Crusade probably stands out.

我认为,在考量一场战争的正当性时,必须结合当时参战国的心态。20世纪之前,如果你认为自己能够夺取别人的国家,那么这场战争就被视为是正当的。中世纪的第四次十字军东征或许是最典型的例子。

Pope Innocent III called for another expedition to recapture Jerusalem from Muslim control. The plan was to first attack the Muslim power base in Egypt before proceeding to Jerusalem. However financial problems resulted in a number of side projects. First Zara was sacked and brought under control of the Venetians. Then the Crusaders were enrolled in an attempt to restore the Byzantine Emperor as ruler in Constantinople. Now they were little more than mercenaries. Alexios the son of the Byzantine Emperor, who had contracted the Crusaders to regain control of Constantinople was crowned Emperor, but was soon deposed by a popular uprising. Unable to pay the Crusaders he was killed and the Christian Army looted the city. They then founded several Crusader States in Byzantine territory . Bringing them into conflict with the fragmented Byzantine States. This weakened the Greek Christian establishment so severely that it allowed the Muslims to eventually conquer Anatolia and Balkan Europe.

教皇英诺森三世号召再次发动远征,从穆斯林手中夺回耶路撒冷。最初的计划是先攻击穆斯林在埃及的权力基地,然后再进军耶路撒冷。然而,财政问题导致了一系列额外行动的发生。首先,扎达尔城被洗劫一空,并被置于威尼斯人的控制之下。之后,十字军被招募参与试图恢复拜占庭皇帝在君士坦丁堡统治的行动,此时的他们与雇佣兵已无太大区别。拜占庭皇帝的儿子阿历克塞曾与十字军签约,让他们帮助夺回君士坦丁堡的控制权,他后来被加冕为皇帝,但很快就因民众起义被推翻。由于无力支付十字军的报酬,阿历克塞被杀害,这支基督教军队随后洗劫了君士坦丁堡。他们还在拜占庭领土上建立了多个十字军国家,这使得他们与分裂的拜占庭各邦陷入冲突。这一行为严重削弱了希腊基督教势力,为穆斯林最终征服安纳托利亚和欧洲巴尔干地区创造了条件。

In the world after the UN was formed.
In 1956 President Nassar of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. Previously this had been controlled by the British and French and was a key avenue for trade between India and the Far East. 

在联合国成立后的世界里,也发生过这样的战争。1956年,埃及总统纳赛尔将苏伊士运河收归国有。此前,这条运河一直由英国和法国控制,是印度与远东地区贸易的关键通道。

Prime Minister “Baldrick” of England had a cunning plan. If Israel was to attack Egypt, Britain and France could intervene as “peacekeepers” and occupy the canal zone, forcing Nassar into confronting them and thereby removing him from office. President Eisenhower came down heavily on the side of Egypt (At this time Israel was regarded suspiciously because of their heavily socialist economy). Eisenhower threatened to wreck the British economy by selling Sterling holdings and exposed Britain as no longer a major power. Anthony Eden resigned as Prime Minister and British influence went into decline both in their Empire and beyond.

英国首相“鲍德里克”想出了一个狡猾的计划:如果以色列进攻埃及,英国和法国就可以以“维和部队”的名义进行干预,占领运河区,迫使纳赛尔与他们对抗,进而将其赶下台。艾森豪威尔总统明确表态支持埃及(当时以色列因其高度社会主义的经济体制而受到怀疑),他威胁要通过抛售英镑储备来摧毁英国经济,并揭露英国已不再是世界大国这一事实。安东尼·艾登随后辞去首相职务,英国在其帝国境内及境外的影响力均开始下降。

Ivan Radišić Private Trained at Canadian Armed Forces
伊万·拉迪希奇 加拿大武装部队受训士兵(2018年至今)

I would say the Mongol conquests of nations like Java, Georgia, Russian principalities, Poland, Hungary etc.
Those people never did anything to the Mongols, were not, in some cases, even aware they existed until the invasions, and were massacred with extreme cruelty regardless.

我认为是蒙古对爪哇、格鲁吉亚、俄罗斯公国、波兰、匈牙利等国家的征服战争。
这些国家的人民从未对蒙古人做过任何事,在某些情况下,甚至在遭到入侵前都不知道蒙古人的存在,却遭到了极其残酷的屠杀。

Stephen Shoemate Retired from large-current power supply repair
斯蒂芬·肖梅特 大电流电源维修退休人员

I'm sure there were a lot of them, but can't pick any specific one. The US in Vietnam was one that was pointless. All we did was kill a bunch of American and Vietnamese to keep a dictator in power a few more years. Just another example of how poorly it works when civilians micromanage the military, especially from afar. For a while, LBJ had to personally approve any bombing mission. The problem was that pictures of a truck convoy parked on the Ho Chi Minh Trail would sit on his desk for weeks before he gave his ok. By then the trucks were long gone, so the mission didn't happen. I was told of incoming mortar fire, and having to get permission to shoot back. We had no business there.

我敢肯定历史上有很多无正当理由的战争,但我无法指出具体哪一场。美国参与越南战争就是一场毫无意义的战争,我们所做的不过是杀害了大量美国人和越南人,只为让一个独裁者多掌权几年。这只是平民微观管理军队(尤其是远距离管理)效果糟糕的又一个例子。有一段时间,林登·约翰逊必须亲自批准每一次轰炸任务,问题在于,胡志明小道上停放着卡车车队的照片放在他的办公桌上数周后,他才会批准轰炸,而到那时,卡车早已不见踪影,轰炸任务也就无法执行。我还听说过,遇到迫击炮弹袭击时,士兵们还必须获得许可才能还击。我们根本不该出现在那里。