List of wars involving the Soviet Union

This is a list of wars involving the Soviet Union (1922–1991).

Key

Victory

Defeat

Another result*

*e.g. result unknown or indecisive/inconclusive, result of internal conflict inside the Soviet Union, status quo ante bellum, or a treaty or peace without a clear result.

List

Date	Conflict	Location	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
1916–1934	Central Asian Revolt	Central Asia	Russian Empire (until 1917) Russian SFSR Turkestan ASSR Kirghiz ASSR Soviet Union (from 1922)	Basmachi Khiva Bukhara Afghanistan	Victory The revolt is suppressed
1924	August Uprising		Soviet Union	Damkom	Victory The uprising is suppressed Consolidation of Soviet rule in the Georgian SSR
1925–1926	Urtatagai conflict		Soviet Union	Emirate of Afghanistan	Defeat Peace Treaty Urtatagui is seized back to Afghanistan Afghanistan agreement to restrain Basmachi border raids
1929	Sino-Soviet conflict		Soviet Union	China	Victory The provisions of the 1924 agreement are upheld
1929	Red Army intervention in Afghanistan (1929) Part of the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)		Soviet Union Kingdom of Afghanistan	Emirate of Afghanistan Saqqawists Basmachi	Defeat The Soviet Union failed to change the situation in the country Red Army withdrawal of Afghanistan back to the USSR Civil war continues Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)
1930	Red Army intervention in Afghanistan (1930)		Soviet Union	Basmachi	Victory
1932	Chechen uprising of 1932		Soviet Union	Chechen rebels	Victory The uprising is suppressed
1932–1941	Soviet–Japanese border conflicts		Soviet Union Mongolia	Japan Manchukuo	Victory Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact
1934	Soviet invasion of Xinjiang		Soviet Union Xinjiang clique White Movement Torgut Mongols	China	Stalemate Xinjiang divided in two
(1936–39)	Spanish Civil War	Spain	Spain People's Army Popular Front UGT CNT-FAI Generalitat de Catalunya Euzko Gudarostea Supported by: Soviet Union Mexico Volunteers International Brigades	Nationalist faction FET y de las JONS^[a] FE de las JONS^[b] Requetés/CT^[b] CEDA^[b] Renovación Española^[b] Army of Africa Supported by: Italy Germany Portugal	Defeat Nationalist faction victory Fall of the Second Spanish Republic Beginning of Franco's regime
1937	Islamic Rebellion in Xinjiang		Xinjiang Soviet Union White Movement	China	Victory Rebellion is suppressed Establishment of the rule of Sheng Shicai's Soviet puppet regime over the whole territory of Xinjiang province
1939	Soviet invasion of Poland (Part of World War II)		Germany Soviet Union Slovakia	Poland	Victory Partition of Polish territory (Fourth Partition of Poland) between Nazi Germany, Soviet Union and Slovakia
1939–1940	Winter War (Part of World War II)		Soviet Union	Finland	Inconclusive Soviet invasion of Finland repelled and the planned conquest of Finland fails Moscow Peace Treaty Cession of the Gulf of Finland islands, Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia, Salla, and Rybachy Peninsula, and lease of Hanko to the Soviet Union Expulsion of the Soviet Union from the League of Nations
1940	Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states (Part of World War II)		Soviet Union	Estonia Latvia Lithuania	Victory Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union by the Red Army
1940	Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (part of World War II)		Soviet Union	Romania	Victory Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region annexed into the Soviet Union; formation of the Moldavian SSR
1941–1945	World War II		Allied Powers: Soviet Union United States United Kingdom China France Poland Canada Australia New Zealand India South Africa Yugoslavia Greece Denmark Norway Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg Czechoslovakia Brazil Mexico	Axis Powers: Germany Japan Italy Hungary Romania Bulgaria Slovakia Croatia Thailand Manchukuo Mengjiang Wang Jingwei regime	Victory Debellation of the Third Reich Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires Creation of the United Nations Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers Beginning of the Cold War
1944–1960s	Anti-communist insurgencies in Central and Eastern Europe Guerrilla war in Ukraine (Part of World War II from 1944 to 1945) Guerrilla war in the Baltic states Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1953)		Soviet Union East Germany Polish People's Republic Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Hungarian People's Republic Socialist Republic of Romania People's Republic of Bulgaria Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Ukrainian Insurgents Polish Insurgents Estonian Insurgents Latvian Insurgents Lithuanian Insurgents Bulgarian Insurgents Serbian Insurgents Croatian Insurgents Romanian Insurgents German Insurgents Hungarian Insurgents	Victory The independence movements are suppressed Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe preserved
1945	Soviet–Japanese War (Part of World War II)		Soviet Union Mongolia	Japan Manchukuo	Victory Karafuto Prefecture annexed into the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Sakhalin Oblast of the Russian SFSR The Kuril Islands annexed into the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Russian SFSR The liberation of Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and northern Korea, and the collapse of the Japanese puppet states therein The partition of the Korean Peninsula; the Soviet Union occupies North Korea Manchuria and Inner Mongolia returned to China
1946–1954	First Indochina War		France State of Vietnam Kingdom of Laos Cambodia	Viet Minh Khmer Issarak Pathet Lao Japan Japanese holdout Supported by: Soviet Union China	Victory Withdrawal of French forces from Indochina Democratic Republic of Vietnam independence recognized State of Vietnam, Kingdom of Laos and Kingdom of Cambodia achieve independence Vietnam was partitioned between North (controlled by the Việt Minh) and South (controlled by the State of Vietnam)
1950–1953	Korean War		North Korea China Soviet Union	United Nations South Korea United States United Kingdom Australia Belgium Canada France Philippines Colombia Ethiopia Greece Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand South Africa Thailand Turkey	Ceasefire Establishment of the Korean DMZ Minor territorial changes
1955–1975	Vietnam War		North Vietnam Viet Cong and PRG Pathet Lao GRUNK (1970–1975) Khmer Rouge China Soviet Union North Korea	South Vietnam United States South Korea Australia New Zealand Laos Cambodia (1967–1970) Khmer Republic (1970–1975) Thailand Philippines	Victory Withdrawal of American forces from Indochina North Vietnamese victory over South Vietnam Dissolution of the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam annexed by North Vietnam Soviet-aligned communist governments take power in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
1953	East German Uprising		Soviet Union East Germany	East German demonstrators	Victory The uprising is suppressed
1956	Hungarian Revolution		Soviet Union ÁVH	Revolutionaries	Victory The revolution is suppressed
1961	Vlora Incident		Soviet Union Warsaw Pact:^[1]^[2] Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany Hungary Poland	Albania	Soviet-Warsaw Pact defeat Withdrawal of soviet marines^[3] and technicians Warsaw Pact capture of Pasha Liman Base failed^[4]
1968	Invasion of Czechoslovakia		Soviet Union Bulgaria East Germany Hungary Poland	Czechoslovakia	Victory The Prague Spring is suppressed Moscow Protocol Soviet military presence in Czechoslovakia until 1991
1969	Sino-Soviet border conflict		Soviet Union	China	Victory (status quo ante bellum)^[5] Tactical Soviet victory^[6] Strategic Soviet victory: ceasefire agreement signed^[5] 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement^[5]
1967–1970	War of Attrition		Egypt Soviet Union Kuwait^[7] PLO Jordan Syria^[8] Cuba	Israel	Inconclusive
1975–1991	Angolan Civil War		MPLA Cuba Brazil Soviet Union SWAPO MK	South Africa UNITA FNLA FLEC	Victory Three Powers Accord Withdrawal of all foreign forces from Angola Independence of Namibia
1977–1978	Ethio-Somali War		Ethiopia Cuba South Yemen Soviet Union	Somalia WSLF	Victory Somalia breaks all ties with the Soviet Bloc
1979–1989	Soviet–Afghan War		Soviet Union Democratic Republic of Afghanistan	Afghan Mujahideen	Defeat Failure to suppress the Afghan mujahideen insurgency Geneva Accords of 1988 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan Beginning of the Afghan Civil War^[9]

Notes

^ The only party under Francisco Franco from 1937 onward, a merger of the other factions on the Nationalist side.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 1936–1937, then merged into FET y de las JONS

References

^ "'Shqiptarët tentuan t'i merrnin të 12 nëndetëset!' – Zbardhet dokumenti sekret i arkivave sovjetike: Si dështoi plani që baza t'i kalonte Traktatit të Varshavës" ['The Albanians tried to take all 12 submarines!' – Secret Soviet archive document revealed: How the plan to transfer the base to the Warsaw Pact failed] (in Albanian). Retrieved 21 December 2022.
^ Готовился Ли Переворот В Албании? 'Дело Т. Сейко': Версии [Was a Coup Being Prepared in Albania? 'The T. Sejko Case': Versions]. libmonster.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ Low, Alfred D. (1976). The Sino-Soviet dispute : an analysis of the polemics. Rutherford [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 0-8386-1479-5. OCLC 2225938.
^ says, yp Xhixh (14 February 2022). "'Shqiptarët tentuan t'i merrnin të 12 nëndetëset!' Zbardhet dokumenti sekret i arkivave sovjetike: Si dështoi plani që baza t'i kalonte Traktatit të Varshavës" ['The Albanians tried to take all 12 submarines!' Secret Soviet archive document revealed: How the plan to transfer the base to the Warsaw Pact failed]. Gazeta Tema. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Exploring Chinese History :: Politics :: Conflict and War :: Soviet Aggression". Retrieved 26 December 2016.
^ Kuisong p.29
^ Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 596. ISBN 9781851098422.
^ "The War: Lebanon and Syria". Dover.idf.il. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
^ Borer, Douglas A. (1999). Superpowers defeated: Vietnam and Afghanistan compared. London: Cass. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-7146-4851-4.

[FetJons-1] The only party under Francisco Franco from 1937 onward, a merger of the other factions on the Nationalist side.

[Natmerge-2] 1936–1937, then merged into FET y de las JONS

[3] "'Shqiptarët tentuan t'i merrnin të 12 nëndetëset!' – Zbardhet dokumenti sekret i arkivave sovjetike: Si dështoi plani që baza t'i kalonte Traktatit të Varshavës" ['The Albanians tried to take all 12 submarines!' – Secret Soviet archive document revealed: How the plan to transfer the base to the Warsaw Pact failed] (in Albanian). Retrieved 21 December 2022.

[4] Готовился Ли Переворот В Албании? 'Дело Т. Сейко': Версии [Was a Coup Being Prepared in Albania? 'The T. Sejko Case': Versions]. libmonster.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[5] Low, Alfred D. (1976). The Sino-Soviet dispute : an analysis of the polemics. Rutherford [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 0-8386-1479-5. OCLC 2225938.

[6] says, yp Xhixh (14 February 2022). "'Shqiptarët tentuan t'i merrnin të 12 nëndetëset!' Zbardhet dokumenti sekret i arkivave sovjetike: Si dështoi plani që baza t'i kalonte Traktatit të Varshavës" ['The Albanians tried to take all 12 submarines!' Secret Soviet archive document revealed: How the plan to transfer the base to the Warsaw Pact failed]. Gazeta Tema. Retrieved 21 December 2022.

[ibiblio.org-7] "Exploring Chinese History :: Politics :: Conflict and War :: Soviet Aggression". Retrieved 26 December 2016.

[Kuisong_p.29-8] Kuisong p.29

[9] Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 596. ISBN 9781851098422.

[autogenerated1-10] "The War: Lebanon and Syria". Dover.idf.il. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2013.

[11] Borer, Douglas A. (1999). Superpowers defeated: Vietnam and Afghanistan compared. London: Cass. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-7146-4851-4.

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