What countries were involved in civil wars of Asia?

Answer 1

Careful in asking this question. First off, the history of Asian civilization stretches back thousands of years; secondly, numerous countries have participated in various Asian conflicts including other Asian countries; and thirdly Asia is the largest continent on the planet, so just to name an Asian nation does little to narrow the scope of the historian's mission. Russia could be included in this too, which brings the whole question into play, does Europe count as well (as a part of Eurasia, and given the fact that the horsemen of Asia more than once terrorized the plains of Europe and had profound impacts: the Huns, the Magyars, the Mongols, the Avars, the Sarmatians, etc. this is a very valid point)? Please modify your question. To give myself some preselected parameters though, okay we'll look at Asian conflicts after the age of colonialism/imperialism (yes, they are two distinct different time periods, but the concept of European powers expanding their direct political control over other parts of the globe holds true for both so we'll just roll with that). In India, British forces reguraly participated in wars between local rajahs and princes whenever one of the said princes was less favorable towards the British rule. However, it should be noted that actually the British were much more prone to DISSUADE competing Indian factions for the purpose of maintaing the peace. In China the greatest example is unquestionably the Boxer Rebellion where an international cadre of forces annihilated the Chinese nationalist "Boxers." In fact, it is from this conflict that the Germans received their nicknames, the "Huns." The Kaiser of Germany at the time told his troops who were to go to China to help suppress the uprising, that they were to conduct themselves in a manner that would be reminiscent of the Huns. Just as the Huns had terrorized Europe and had become synonomous with barbarism and terror, so should the Germans achieve the same reputation in Asia. In Vietnam, obviously the French were involved as it was their colony. The Japanese invaded during WWII, and afterwards Vietnamese rebels succeeded in driving out the French. Afterwards American forces became heavily involved, although in the end their intervention accomplished little and the country still fell to northern communist rule. In Korea the situation was remarkebly different. Despite a similar set of circumstances: a Communist North, a nationalistic but actually dictatorial South supported by the West; the North invades the South; the Western powers interven; etc. The Western powers were successful in at least preventing a Communist takeover of the entire penninsula, although had McArthur not been so aggressive towards China, all of Korea might now be a free democratic state. But once again, that is mere speculation. In Afghanistan, the United States originally suported Osama bin Laden and his Arab militias in league with Pakistan-supported Taliban forces against the Soviet Union during the 1980s, but after September 11th rightly turned on her one-time allies and aided her internal enemies, the Northern Alliance, to overthrow the Islamic regime. In Iran, the United States originally supported the Shah heavily to keep out Soviet influence, but after the Shah was overthrown in a populist Islamic revolt led by Ayatollah Khumeyni during the 1970s, Iran quickly earned a very high position on America's watchlist and began to slowly isolate itself from the rest of the Western world, although it still maintains good or at least marginal relations with Russia and China, primarily due to its large oil reserves. India conducted its civil war through civil disobediance as advocated by Mohattma Ghandi (forgive me for any spelling errors), which after almost ten years of struggle finally persuaded the British to abandon the long-time jewel of their Empire, India. Shortly thereafter, India split into the present day states of India and Pakistan based largely on religious lines. Despite a great deal of international pressure on Britain to withdraw her troops and grant India her independence, no other foreign troops were involved. The war in Lebanon, which had spilt over into Israel, finally caused Israel to invade its northern neighbor, in a long reign of bloodshed and horror which gave rise and strength to the Islamic terrorist organization, Hezbollah. From the actual testiomy of a Lebanese woman, Hezbollah were the heroes, wheras the Israelis were the women-raping, baby-killing butchers Hezbollah is most often made out to be. And she had proof of Israeli war atrocities to back up her claims, which for personal reasons I will not share here. In the 1990s, after the fall of communism, there was a revolution in Georgia as the former Soviet republic made its bid for independence. Aided by Russian military units stationed in Georgia, the country quickly became embroiled in a brutal civil war that was to last until 1995 and left the country impoverished, with two territories still virtually uncontrollable (Abkhazia in the northwest, dominated by the Russian "peacekeeping force" and South Ossetia to the northeast, dominated by Chechyan rebels, terrorist organizations, and organized criminal consortiums. In 2003, there was what was know as the Rose Revolution, where the corrupt government of Edward Shevardnadze was overthrown peacefully by Mikhaile Shaakashvili through popular demand. While Russia remains displeased with the fanatically pro-West Shaakashvili, Russian forces did not attempt military intervention into Tbilisi politics, although the Russian peacekeeping force in Abkhazia remains to this day. This is only the tip of the iceberg. As you can see, Asian history, even in the relatively brief period from the 19th century onward is extremely complex and diverse. Please limit your question, as any one of these topics and indeed, the many not mentioned here are all deserving of time and analysis.