the soccer war 1969
Silliest war in history?
There seem to have been lots of wars (apparently) over trivial matters. Jenkin’s Ear (1739); the Greek-Bulgar Stray Dog (1925); Salvador-Honduras Soccer (1969); French-English Whiskers (1152). Also some supposedly non-violent wars such as the Serbian-Austrian Pig War (1906), or the British-Icelandic Cod Wars. (And note that I don’t even mention WMD.)
But might the craziest war in history be the Modena-Bologna “secchia rapita” (stolen bucket) war (1325 – 1337)?
Apparently this war between two Italian city states broke out as a result of the theft of a wooden pail, and led to several hundred deaths.
Is this really true?
Can anyone think of a more ridiculous casus belli for a real, violent war?
In modern terms, strictly a battle but in the context of The Indian Wars being a drawn out series of small conflicts and the fact that the Sioux name for it is The War of the Mormon Cow and the subsequent course of events I shall include it. In US terms it is The Gratten Massacre.
In 1854 a few thousand Oglala Lakhota were camped near Ft. Laramie in line with the terms of a previous treaty when a calf belonging to nearby Mormons wandered into the camp and, being its naturally clumsy self caused havoc and a lot of damage and was eventually shot.
2nd Lieutenant Gratton who was fresh out of West Point was ordered to arrest the cow-killer. Gratton disliked Indians in general and saw this as a good opportunity to prove himself against the ‘incompetant savages’. Ft. Laramie’s commander’s account states that Gratten undoubtably wanted a fight that day.
With a force of about 30 men plus an interpreter Gratten went to the camp and demanded that Conquering Bear hand over the guilty party. Conquering Bear tried to convince Gratten that the man involved would be dealt with severly by his own people but Gratten wouldn’t budge.
The situation was made worse by the drunken interpreter who was heard to be insulting Sioux and it is belived by both sides that he was mis-translating Conquering Bear’s requests, deliberately or otherwise is unknown.
When the Sioux leader stood up and turned to say something to a young Indian who was becoming angry at the soldiers Conquering Bear was shot in the back by an unidentified soldier which inevitably escalated to volleys of fire from both sides and the ensuing fight which left Gratten and his 30 troops dead and one dead Indian – Conquering Bear, the only Sioux to be killed in the incident.
The US press termed it the Gratten Massacre and went on overdrive in an attempt (which succeeded) to stir up anti-Indian feeling and just over a year later William S. Harney set out with his dragoons to exact retribution. This becoming start of a war with the Sioux that would last until 1890 and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. A war started because an Indian shot a cow!!!
El Salvador-Honduras 1969 Football War