German Troops Parading in Conquered Poland-1939

Ever wonder about the smaller, subsidiary wars that revolved around and were a part of World War Two? Well, wonder no longer…get thee hence to https://warsandconflictsoftheworld.substack.com/p/wars-within-wars-world-war-two

An Historical Look at the Subsidiary Conflicts Around the Second World War

History is fascinating. One of the more interesting facets of history for me is how a war that starts off between two rival nations can grow and metastasize into a larger conflict.  Additional belligerents become involved in the main war, with multiple connected wars and conflicts breaking out on the fringes of the primary conflict. 

This article will focus on the Second World War in this vein, but realize that this is a trend we see throughout history and across many major wars.

Examples of this include the Thirty Years War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Napoleonic Wars, and, of course, World War Two, among many others.

The Thirty Years’ War began as a religious revolt in Bohemia, but soon grew and involved most of the nations of Europe over thirty years, resulting in the deaths of millions and the devastation of most of central europe.  

The American Revolution began as a rebellion in England’s American colonies (which was seen by other nations at first as an English civil war), but eventually drew in multiple Native American nations on both sides, as well as the nations of France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic (who all had valid reasons to see the British Empire weakened).  Warfare among the colonists (rebel Patriots vs. Loyalist Tories) also can be considered an American civil war.

The Napoleonic Wars were an extension of the French Revolutionary wars, but also featured related conflicts such as the Anglo-Danish War, the Russian-Swedish War, a Russian-Ottoman War, the Wars of Liberation in Spanish America (literally from Mexico south to Argentina and Chile), the Haitian Revolution, and the Anglo-American War of 1812, to name a few.

The main focus of this article, the Second World War, is without doubt the best known and most researched conflict in human history. Nearly everyone knows who Hitler was, has heard about the Holocaust, is aware of what happened at Pearl Harbor, and many other facets of World War Two.  Almost hidden within the larger conflict of World War Two are several smaller yet significant subsidiary wars and conflicts that were part of the worldwide conflict we call the Second World War.

NOTE: For the purposes of this article, we are considering World War Two to have begun in the following years in the following regions:*

In Asia, when Japan invaded China in July, 1937.

In Europe, when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in September, 1939.

Read the rest of this article at our Substack Newsletter site at https://warsandconflictsoftheworld.substack.com/p/wars-within-wars-world-war-two