# has there ever been a 3 way war between countries?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-3-way-war-between-countries/494309>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 25, 2009, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-3-way-war-between-countries/494309 "2009-04-25T10:27:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-3-way-war-between-countries/494309/61 "2011-07-30T06:43:56Z")

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> [@Cheshire\_Human](#):
>
> My best guess, examples are left as exercises for the student, would be during the various “Indian Wars” in US and Canadian history. Two strong sides attack each other across the (recognized by the two sides) territory of a third (weak) group. Third group attacks (futiley (sp!)) both invading armies. I’m not going to bother to look it up, but it almost certainly happened. If you want an example from history, that’s where to look.

I looked up in Wikipedia and found a different story. The Iroquois nation cleaved during the Revolutionary War, one part siding with the Brits, the other with the Americans. Other tribes did the same. When I scanned, I couldn’t find an example of a faction who unwisely chose to fight both sides.

**War via Proxy**  
Modestly, I think my cold war example is the best. The US, China and the Soviet Union all fought each other in 1969. The problem here is that the Soviet’s support for Vietnam was mostly material: fatalities among their advisers were …16. China suffered 1446 dead, 4200 wounded; the US had 58,220 dead and 303,635 wounded. During the Sino-Soviet border conflict, 58 Soviets were killed and 100-600 Chinese died.

> **[Vietnam War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War)**
>
> ≈860,000 (1967)
> ≈1,420,000 (1968)

> **[Sino-Soviet border conflict](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino%E2%80%93Soviet_border_conflict)**
>
> The Sino-Soviet border conflict, also known as the Sino-Soviet crisis, was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China in 1969, following the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious border clash, which brought the world's two largest socialist states to the brink of war, occurred near Damansky (Zhenbao) Island on the Ussuri (Wusuli) River in Manchuria. Clashes also took place in Xinjiang.
> In 1964, the Chinese revisited the matter of the Sino-Soviet border demarca...

> **[Operation Menu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu)**
>
> 1970
> 1971
> 1972

Dates: The Chinese-Soviet border conflict occurred on March 2, 15, 17 and 21 1969. Nixon had taken office that January. Nixon’s secret bombing of Cambodia began on March 18, 1969. Surprisingly, it was noticed.

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