War
Armed conflict between states or organized groups, often for political aims.
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and organized armed groups, or between such groups. It is generally characterized by widespread violence, destruction, and mortality, and aims typically involve political, economic, or territorial objectives. War has changed over history, with great power wars and territorial conquests declining since 1945, while civil wars have increased in absolute terms.
Last updated 2026-10-01 from the source article.
Quick Facts
- Definition
- Armed conflict between states
- governmental forces
- or organized groups
- Characteristics
- Widespread violence
- destruction
- mortality; regular or irregular military forces
- Regulation
- Increasingly regulated by international humanitarian law
- Battle deaths
- Declined in part due to advances in military medicine
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The English word war derives from 11th-century Old English wyrre and werre, from Old French werre, ultimately from Proto-Germanic werzō meaning 'mixture, confusion'. Anthropologists disagree whether warfare was common throughout human prehistory or a more recent development after agriculture or organized states. Some sources claim most Middle and Upper Paleolithic societies were possibly egalitarian and may have rarely engaged in organized violence, while evidence of violent conflict increases from around 10,000 years ago. Raymond C. Kelly argued that before 400,000 years ago humans clashed like chimpanzees, but later preferred peaceful relations. Lawrence H. Keeley stated approximately 90–95% of known societies throughout history engaged in at least occasional warfare.
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