List of military conflicts spanning multiple wars

Early histories of a war typically describe the war as it was declared by the states involved. It is not uncommon for later historians to group together a series of wars over a long period or spread over several theaters as part of a broader conflict or strategic campaign. The most familiar of these in the present day is probably the Cold War, which included the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Soviet war in Afghanistan, among others. These groupings provide useful context for the wars involved. Note that some groupings overlap.

• 499 BC – 448 BC Greco–Persian Wars
• 264 BC – 146 BC Punic Wars
• 220 BC – 280 BC Wars of the Three Kingdoms (China)
• 92 BC – 627 AD Roman–Persian Wars
• 58 BC – 50 BC Gallic Wars
• 588–630 Perso-Turkic Wars
• 598–614 Goguryeo–Sui Wars
• 629–11th century Byzantine–Arab Wars
• 645–668 Goguryeo–Tang Wars
• 650s–737 Khazar–Arab Wars
• 680–1355 Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
• 718–1492 Iberian Reconquista
• 830s–1043 Rus'–Byzantine Wars
• 1048–1308 Byzantine–Seljuk Wars
• 1095–1272 The Crusades
• 1142–1445 Swedish–Novgorodian Wars
• 1206–1279 Mongol invasion of China
• 1231–1259 Mongol invasions of Korea
• 1274–1281 Mongol invasions of Japan
• 1296–1363 Wars of Scottish Independence
• 1299–1453 Byzantine–Ottoman wars
• 1337–1453 Hundred Years' War
• 1438–1552 Russo-Kazan Wars
• 1455–1485 Wars of the Roses
• 1494–1559 Italian Wars
• 1496–1809 Russo-Swedish Wars
• 1507–1572 Russo-Crimean Wars
• 1562–1598 French Wars of Religion
• 1592–1598 Japanese Invasions of Korea
• 1607–1890 Indian Wars (United States)
• 1627–1636 Manchu Invasions of Korea
• 1637–1652 Wars of the Three Kingdoms (Europe)
• 1648–1667 The Deluge
• 1676–1918 Russo-Turkish Wars
• 1689–1763 French and Indian Wars
• 1689–1815 Second Hundred Years' War
• 1722–1828 Russo-Persian Wars
• 1747–1793 Ten Great Campaigns
• 1754–1763 Seven Years' War
• 1754–1814 Sixty Years' War
• 1792–1815 Great French War, including
  • 1792–1802 French Revolutionary Wars
  • 1803–1815 Napoleonic Wars
• 1839–1860 Opium Wars
• 1848–1866 Italian Independence wars
• 1894–1945 Sino-Japanese Wars
• 1912–1913 Balkan Wars
• 1914–1945 European Civil War (European theaters of the World Wars)
• 1939–1945 World War II, including the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars, Continuation War, Great Patriotic War, and part of the Pacific War
• 1945–1991 Cold War
• 1946–1979 Indochina Wars
• 1947–present Indo-Pakistani Wars and Kashmir conflict
• 1948–present Arab–Israeli conflict
• 1955–present Sudanese Civil Wars
• 1978–present Afghan Civil War
• 1980–present Gulf Wars
• 1991–2001 Yugoslav Wars
• 1996–present Congo Wars
• 2001–present United States "War on Terrorism"