Curated playlist
Revolution-based civil wars
- Spanish Civil WarSpain's 1936 military coup failed, and that failure started a three-year civil war.
- Cuban RevolutionThe Cuban Revolution began with a lawsuit, not a gunshot. Young lawyer Fidel Castro sued Batista for corruption.
- Russian Civil WarIn 1919, Trotsky armed Petrograd's workers and saved the city from a White army.
- Vietnam WarOn March 8, 1965, 3,500 US Marines waded ashore near Da Nang, starting America's ground war in Vietnam.
- French RevolutionThe Bastille held only seven prisoners when a crowd stormed it in 1789. It was an early moment in the French Revolution.
- Chinese Civil WarTwo generals kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in 1936 because he kept fighting Communists instead of Japan.
- Korean WarThe UN approved force in Korea because the Soviet Union was absent. It had boycotted the Council since January 1950.
- Greek Civil WarShots rang out at a march of at least 200,000 people in Athens in 1944. It began the Greek Civil War.
- Guatemalan Civil WarGuatemala's civil war began with a mutiny over a secret deal. Officers revolted in 1960 over a U.S. training camp.
- Nicaraguan RevolutionNicaragua's revolution ended with an election that removed the government it had created.
- German revolution of 1918–1919Germany's 1918 revolution toppled an empire in days with almost no one killed.
- Afghan conflictAfghanistan's king was overthrown by his own cousin in 1973 while abroad. That coup opened decades of war.