HISTORY HAS WITNESSED hundreds of civil wars, at least two “world wars” and more than 40 distinct wars of independence. Other conflicts have been named for kings, queens, dogs, pigs, flagpoles, ears, pastries, and in one case an oak bucket. Then there are the wars that were named for the year in which they were fought, and others (as we are about to see) that are referred to by their duration.
Consider these:
The Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Year War DIDN'T look like this. In fact, not a single drop of blood was shed.
What if they stared a war and no one showed up? That’s what happened in the Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Year War between Holland and an English island. In fact, neither side even realized that a state of war existed. Huh???
The lengthiest war on record, known as Three Hundred and Thirty Five-Year War, was an entirely bloodless contest between Holland and England’s Isles of Scilly. How bloodless, you ask? Well, not a single shot was fired after the initial declaration of war was announced in 1651 and within weeks, both sides promptly forgot that a state of hostilities even existed. The Dutch initiated the conflict after Royalist privateers based on the tiny islands off Cornwall refused to compensate the Netherlands for damage done to that nation’s shipping during the English Civil War. It wasn’t until the 20th century that a British historian stumbled across some old documents that showed an unsettled state of war between England and Holland existed. No one was more shocked by the revelation than the Dutch. A treaty was signed in 1986.
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