A Twofer
February 24, 2022 3:28 PM Subscribe
Has a country ever fought a war with an invader at the same time as it was experiencing an insurrection or civil war?
The Chinese Civil War when the Japanese invaded.
posted by nickggully at 3:46 PM on February 24, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by nickggully at 3:46 PM on February 24, 2022 [13 favorites]
The Paris Commune and the Franco-Prussian War might possibly count. The invasion and the civil war weren't actually in the same specific cities, as far as I know, and it may not have been entirely contemporary.
"Country" is complicated, but the Spanish conquest of Mexico might count. I'm thinking specifically of Tlaxcalteca vs. Tenochtitlan, with some other nearby polities doing military things I don't quite understand, during and sometimes because of the conquest.
posted by eotvos at 3:53 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
"Country" is complicated, but the Spanish conquest of Mexico might count. I'm thinking specifically of Tlaxcalteca vs. Tenochtitlan, with some other nearby polities doing military things I don't quite understand, during and sometimes because of the conquest.
posted by eotvos at 3:53 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
So many times. Rebellion/insurrection was often a trigger for an external invasion, and external invasions were triggers for internal revolts.
Coming immediately to mind:
Poland's "Deluge" in the early 17th century saw a Swedish invasion at the same time it was crippled by a Cossack uprising (among many other problems.)
Heraclitus revolted against the Byzantine Emperor and unseated him in the middle of the Byzantine/Persian war (around 600 AD).
The Paris Commune happened in the middle of the Franco-Prussian War.
posted by mark k at 3:56 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
Coming immediately to mind:
Poland's "Deluge" in the early 17th century saw a Swedish invasion at the same time it was crippled by a Cossack uprising (among many other problems.)
Heraclitus revolted against the Byzantine Emperor and unseated him in the middle of the Byzantine/Persian war (around 600 AD).
The Paris Commune happened in the middle of the Franco-Prussian War.
posted by mark k at 3:56 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
Afghanistan was in the midst of a civil war, with about 10% of the country controlled by the Northern Alliance, when the US invaded in late 2001.
posted by RichardP at 3:58 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by RichardP at 3:58 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
2nd English Civil War involved an invasion by the Scots in support of the royalist party.
posted by praemunire at 5:05 PM on February 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 5:05 PM on February 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
As @nickggully mentioned, China was fighting the Japanese AND the Communist insurrection long before US joined the war.
To make things really short... Republic of China was founded by Sun Yat-sen and his Nationalist party (aka Kuomingtang, or KMT) in 1911, but country was a mess. Yuan Shikai even temporarily took over as Emperor, and after his death, many northern governors broke away and formed their own governments. Then ROC leader Sun, ignored by the West, sought help from the Soviet Union, and sent many lieutenants to be trained there. When Sun died in 1926, Nationalist was split in what to do next. Chiang, the presumptive successor, wanted to use the new army to start the "Northern Expedition" to reunify China and defeat the Beiyan warlords. But many opposed the move, most of them are members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) including Mao Zedong.
Chiang went anyway, and was successful in capturing Beijing and be recognized as the leader of China. But while Chiang was away, the remaining members voted to move the capital of ROC from Guangzhou to Wuhan. Chiang viewed this as a betrayal and ordered the KMT to be purged of communist members. Thus started the Chinese Civil War, or technically at this time, a "Communist Insurgency", in 1927, and started the "Ten Year Internal War".
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and installation of Manchuko puppet state went mostly unopposed by Chiang Kai-shek who prefer to unite what's left of China before dealing with the Japanese, and continued his campaign against the CCP forces. It gotten so bad that in 1936 his own generals kidnapped him to force him to call a truce with the CCP so they can unite against the Japanese. But even then there was no formal collaboration between the two forces, and the truce only lasted until 1941 when battle broke out in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, that FDR sent a special envoy to talk peace between Chiang and CCP, and even Stalin chose to intervene and ordered Mao compromise.
Fighting did not resume immediately after Japanese surrender. in 1945, but Japanese forces have vastly weakened KMT forces while Mao's CCP kept to their guerilla war and has popular support and grew their numbers. Additionally, Stalin gave orders to take over Manchuria and not let the Nationalist troops through, and to give CCP most of the captured arms along the north.
When civil war resumed in 1946 between KMT and CCP, it only lasted 3 years and resulted in KMT retreating to the tiny island of Taiwan, and founding of PROC in 1949.
posted by kschang at 7:27 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
To make things really short... Republic of China was founded by Sun Yat-sen and his Nationalist party (aka Kuomingtang, or KMT) in 1911, but country was a mess. Yuan Shikai even temporarily took over as Emperor, and after his death, many northern governors broke away and formed their own governments. Then ROC leader Sun, ignored by the West, sought help from the Soviet Union, and sent many lieutenants to be trained there. When Sun died in 1926, Nationalist was split in what to do next. Chiang, the presumptive successor, wanted to use the new army to start the "Northern Expedition" to reunify China and defeat the Beiyan warlords. But many opposed the move, most of them are members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) including Mao Zedong.
Chiang went anyway, and was successful in capturing Beijing and be recognized as the leader of China. But while Chiang was away, the remaining members voted to move the capital of ROC from Guangzhou to Wuhan. Chiang viewed this as a betrayal and ordered the KMT to be purged of communist members. Thus started the Chinese Civil War, or technically at this time, a "Communist Insurgency", in 1927, and started the "Ten Year Internal War".
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and installation of Manchuko puppet state went mostly unopposed by Chiang Kai-shek who prefer to unite what's left of China before dealing with the Japanese, and continued his campaign against the CCP forces. It gotten so bad that in 1936 his own generals kidnapped him to force him to call a truce with the CCP so they can unite against the Japanese. But even then there was no formal collaboration between the two forces, and the truce only lasted until 1941 when battle broke out in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, that FDR sent a special envoy to talk peace between Chiang and CCP, and even Stalin chose to intervene and ordered Mao compromise.
Fighting did not resume immediately after Japanese surrender. in 1945, but Japanese forces have vastly weakened KMT forces while Mao's CCP kept to their guerilla war and has popular support and grew their numbers. Additionally, Stalin gave orders to take over Manchuria and not let the Nationalist troops through, and to give CCP most of the captured arms along the north.
When civil war resumed in 1946 between KMT and CCP, it only lasted 3 years and resulted in KMT retreating to the tiny island of Taiwan, and founding of PROC in 1949.
posted by kschang at 7:27 PM on February 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
After the French Revolution, the other monarchies in Europe reacted by allying together and invading in the War of The First Coalition (1792–1797). During this war there were a number of insurrections and revolts within France, especially in the Vendée, but notably in Toulon in 1973 in which Napoleon made a name for himself.
The Peninsular War (1802–1814 roughly) was fought against the French, by Spanish, Portuguese and British armies, but without any consensus of leadership in Spain, and with competing, hostile, juntas.
In the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990, depending on your definitions) there were separate invasions from both Syria and Israel.
As well as being in a state of civil war when the US invaded in 2001 (as mentioned above), Afghanistan was also in a state of civil war when the USSR invaded in 1979, and arguably in a state of civil war when the British invaded various times throughout the 19thC.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:25 PM on February 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Peninsular War (1802–1814 roughly) was fought against the French, by Spanish, Portuguese and British armies, but without any consensus of leadership in Spain, and with competing, hostile, juntas.
In the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990, depending on your definitions) there were separate invasions from both Syria and Israel.
As well as being in a state of civil war when the US invaded in 2001 (as mentioned above), Afghanistan was also in a state of civil war when the USSR invaded in 1979, and arguably in a state of civil war when the British invaded various times throughout the 19thC.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:25 PM on February 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 3:37 PM on February 24, 2022 [1 favorite]