- Asia
Iraq invades and annexes Kuwait
About one hundred thousand Iraqi troops overran Kuwait in hours; Saddam Hussein declared the country annexed, and the ruling family fled to Saudi Arabia.
Era: The Iraqi Invasion and the Liberation of 1991
Sources: The Gulf War, 1991 (Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations) · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, The First Gulf War (Short History) · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
- Africa
Samuel Doe captured and killed
President Samuel Doe was captured, tortured, and killed by a rival rebel faction, and a West African ECOMOG force deployed in an attempt to contain the spreading conflict.
Era: The civil wars and Charles Taylor
Sources: Samuel K. Doe · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Liberian Civil War · World Without Genocide (Mitchell Hamline School of Law)
- Africa
First Tuareg rebellion
Tuareg fighters in the north rebelled over marginalisation and the distribution of uranium wealth; the rising was ended by a 1995 peace accord promising decentralisation.
Era: Democracy, Tuareg rebellions and the cycle of coups
Sources: Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995) · Wikipedia, Tuareg in Niger · Minority Rights Group
- Africa
RPF invasion begins the civil war
The Rwandan Patriotic Front, composed largely of Tutsi exiles from Uganda, invades northern Rwanda, igniting a civil war and intensifying official anti-Tutsi propaganda.
Era: Habyarimana, Civil War and Arusha
Sources: Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — Historical Background · United Nations, Massacre of the Tutsi Minority · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Europe
The fall of Vukovar
After a siege of some three months, Vukovar fell to the Yugoslav army and Serb forces on 18 November 1991; two days later 194 people taken from the hospital were killed at the Ovcara farm, a crime later prosecuted at the ICTY.
Era: Independence, the War and the Modern Republic
Sources: Vukovar Crimes · International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UN), The Conflicts (former Yugoslavia) · International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
- Africa
Civil war with the FRUD rebellion
The Afar-based Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy launches an insurgency in 1991; the civil war runs until a 1994 accord with the movement's moderate wing largely ends it.
Era: Civil War, Guelleh and the Republic of Bases
Sources: Djiboutian Civil War · Wikipedia, Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy · Wikipedia, Djibouti (country and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Invasion of Kuwait and the Persian Gulf War
Iraq invades and annexes Kuwait in August 1990; a United States-led coalition of many nations expels Iraqi forces in early 1991, after which Iraq is placed under severe international sanctions.
Era: The Republic, Saddam Hussein and the Wars
Sources: Persian Gulf War · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Asia
Operation Desert Storm liberates Kuwait
A U.S.-led coalition launched an air campaign in mid-January and a ground assault on 24 February, expelling Iraqi forces and liberating Kuwait by late February.
Era: The Iraqi Invasion and the Liberation of 1991
Sources: The Gulf War, 1991 (Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations) · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, The First Gulf War (Short History) · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
- Europe
The January events in Vilnius
Soviet forces stormed the Vilnius television tower and broadcasting centre, killing fourteen unarmed civilians; the defenders held parliament and the crackdown discredited Moscow.
Era: Restoration of Independence and a European Lithuania
Sources: January 13, 1991: the night when Soviets stormed LRT · LRT (Lithuanian National Radio and Television), March the 11th: path to the restoration of the independent State of Lithuania · Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (lrs.lt)
- Europe
Wars in Croatia and Bosnia
As Yugoslavia disintegrated, war engulfed Croatia and Bosnia amid ethnic cleansing and atrocity, with Belgrade backing Serb forces and the federation collapsing into a rump Yugoslavia.
Era: The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo War
Sources: Serbia: The Ten Years' War · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Slobodan Milošević · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Civil war begins
The Revolutionary United Front under Foday Sankoh, backed by Liberia's Charles Taylor, invaded from Liberia, beginning an eleven-year civil war marked by atrocities and funded by 'blood diamonds'.
Era: One-party rule, civil war, and recovery
Sources: The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002) · BlackPast.org, Foday Sankoh · Wikipedia
- Asia
Santa Cruz massacre
Indonesian troops fire on a peaceful pro-independence procession at Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery, killing at least 250; smuggled video footage brings the occupation to global attention.
Era: Occupation and the Long Resistance
Sources: Santa Cruz massacre · Encyclopaedia Britannica, East Timor · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Collapse of the communist government and civil war
Najibullah's government falls in 1992 and rival mujahideen factions turn on one another, devastating Kabul in a civil war that opens the way for the Taliban.
Era: Revolution, the Soviet War and Civil War
Sources: Afghanistan: A Country Study · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Mohammad Omar — Biography & Facts · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Elections cancelled; civil war begins
After the Islamic Salvation Front leads the December 1991 vote, the army cancels the elections and ousts the president, triggering the civil war of the 1990s.
Era: Independent Algeria: Revolution, Civil War and Hirak
Sources: Algeria: Civil war—the Islamists versus the army · Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1992 Algerian coup d'état · Wikipedia
- Europe
Siege of Sarajevo begins
Bosnian Serb forces encircled and shelled the capital from the surrounding hills; lasting about 1,425 days, it became the longest siege of a capital city in modern history.
Era: Independence, the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica Genocide
Sources: Siege of Sarajevo (1992–96) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Ethnic cleansing and the Bosnian War
Campaigns to expel and destroy rival communities through killings, deportation, detention camps and sexual violence devastated Bosnia, crimes later prosecuted before the ICTY.
Era: Independence, the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica Genocide
Sources: The Breakup of Yugoslavia, 1990–1992 · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Radislav Krstić: first ICTY conviction for genocide (Srebrenica) · International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (UN-IRMCT)
- Asia
War in Abkhazia
Fighting between Georgian forces and Abkhaz separatists, with outside support, ended in Georgian defeat and the displacement of much of the ethnic Georgian population; casualty figures are disputed estimates.
Era: Independent Georgia: Conflicts, the Rose Revolution and the Western Turn
Sources: Abkhazia · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Georgia: Independent Georgia · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Transnistria war and ceasefire
War with the Russian-backed Transnistrian separatists peaked in the battle for Bender; the intervention of the Russian 14th Army proved decisive, and a ceasefire on 21 July 1992 froze the conflict, leaving Russian troops in place.
Era: Independence, the Transnistria Conflict and the Road to Europe
Sources: Twenty Years of Russian 'Peacekeeping' in Moldova · The Jamestown Foundation, Conflict prevention and resolution (5+2 format) · OSCE Mission to Moldova
- South America
Capture of Abimael Guzman
Police capture the Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman in Lima; he is sentenced to life imprisonment and the insurgency is broken.
Era: Reform, the Shining Path, and Modern Peru
Sources: Abimael Guzman · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shining Path · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
The Tajik civil war
Civil war erupts between the post-communist government and an Islamic-democratic opposition alliance; it causes massive displacement and a death toll that remains contested and is best treated as an estimate.
Era: Independence and Civil War
Sources: Tajikistan — Independence · Encyclopædia Britannica, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies · Federal Research Division, Library of Congress
- Asia
Capture of Xanana Gusmao
Indonesian forces capture resistance commander Xanana Gusmao in Dili; tried and sentenced to a long prison term in Jakarta, he continues to lead the movement from prison.
Era: Occupation and the Long Resistance
Sources: Biography: Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao · Government of Timor-Leste, Xanana Gusmao · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Assassination of Ndadaye; civil war begins
Ndadaye is assassinated by soldiers after months in office, igniting reciprocal massacres and a civil war that would kill an estimated 300,000 people.
Era: Democracy, Assassination and Civil War
Sources: Melchior Ndadaye · Wikipedia, History of Burundi · Wikipedia, Burundi Under Siege · International Crisis Group (via Refworld)
- Africa
Militia clashes over disputed elections
Disputes over the 1993 legislative elections sparked armed clashes between political militias in Brazzaville, fracturing the new democracy along factional and regional lines.
Era: Democracy, civil war, and the return of Sassou Nguesso
Sources: Republic of the Congo Civil War (1993–1994) · Wikipedia, Republic of the Congo (1960–present) · University of Central Arkansas, DADM Project
- Africa
Battle of Mogadishu ('Black Hawk Down')
A US raid against a faction leader turns into a fierce urban battle that kills 18 American and many Somali fighters and civilians, hastening the withdrawal of foreign forces by 1995.
Era: State Collapse, Civil War and the Federal Republic
Sources: Operation Gothic Serpent (Battle of Mogadishu) · Wikipedia, Somalia (CRS In Focus) · U.S. Library of Congress / Congressional Research Service
- Asia
First Nagorno-Karabakh War ceasefire
After fighting that left roughly 30,000 dead (estimate) and hundreds of thousands displaced, a 1994 ceasefire left Armenian forces in de facto control of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent districts.
Era: Independent Armenia
Sources: Nagorno-Karabakh · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Asia
First Karabakh war ends in ceasefire
A 1994 ceasefire halted the first Nagorno-Karabakh war, leaving Armenian forces in de facto control of the region and surrounding districts, with large displacement on both sides (figures are estimates).
Era: Independence, the Aliyev era and Karabakh
Sources: Nagorno-Karabakh: conflicts, map and people · Encyclopædia Britannica, Heydar Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Africa
ICJ awards Aouzou Strip to Chad
The International Court of Justice ruled that the disputed Aouzou Strip belonged to Chad; Libyan forces withdrew by the end of May 1994.
Era: The Déby era and its legacy
Sources: Territorial Dispute (Libya/Chad), Judgment of 3 February 1994 · International Court of Justice
- Africa
Habyarimana's plane shot down
A surface-to-air missile downs the plane carrying President Habyarimana and Burundi's president over Kigali, killing all aboard; extremists seize on it to unleash the genocide.
Era: Habyarimana, Civil War and Arusha
Sources: Massacre of the Tutsi Minority · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and the United Nations · United Nations, Juvénal Habyarimana · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Africa
RPF victory ends the genocide
Paul Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front captures Kigali and most of the country by mid-July, defeating the genocidal regime and halting the mass killing.
Era: The Genocide against the Tutsi
Sources: Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — Historical Background · United Nations, Massacre of the Tutsi Minority · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, History of Rwanda · Wikipedia
- Asia
Civil war and the defeat of southern secession
Southern leaders declared secession, but northern forces took Aden in July 1994 and crushed the breakaway attempt, consolidating Saleh's control over a unified Yemen.
Era: Unification and the Republic of Yemen
Sources: Yemen: History (ancient kingdoms, Islam, the imamate, unification and war) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Yemeni Civil War (Houthi conflict and Saudi-led intervention) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
The Srebrenica genocide
After overrunning the UN 'safe area', Bosnian Serb forces under Ratko Mladić executed up to 8,000 Bosniak men and boys; the ICTY and ICJ ruled the killings genocide.
Era: Independence, the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica Genocide
Sources: About the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica · United Nations, Application of the Genocide Convention (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro) · International Court of Justice, Radislav Krstić: first ICTY conviction for genocide (Srebrenica) · International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (UN-IRMCT)
- Europe
Operation Storm
In August 1995 the Croatian army launched Operation Storm, which within days overran the Republic of Serbian Krajina and ended its existence, accompanied by the flight of tens of thousands of Serbs; generals later tried at the ICTY were acquitted on appeal in 2012.
Era: Independence, the War and the Modern Republic
Sources: The Conflicts (former Yugoslavia) · International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY Weekly Press Briefing, 21 November 2012 (Gotovina and Markac appeals judgement) · International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
- Africa
First Congo War
A Rwanda- and Uganda-backed rebellion under Laurent-Désiré Kabila advances across the country against the collapsing Mobutu regime.
Era: Mobutu's Zaire
Sources: Kabila, Laurent-Désiré (1939–2001) · BlackPast.org, Mobutu Sese Seko · Wikipedia
- Asia
Maoist insurgency
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) wages a decade-long armed insurgency that kills more than 12,000 people before a 2006 UN-mediated peace accord.
Era: Insurgency, Republic and Reconstruction
Sources: Nepal — Fall of the monarchy · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Africa
Anjouan and Mohéli secede
Anjouan and Mohéli declare separation from the Comoros; a federal attempt to retake Anjouan by force is defeated, pushing the archipelago towards fragmentation.
Era: The Union and the Mayotte Question
Sources: Comoros: History · Encyclopædia Britannica, Union of Comoros · Encyclopedia.com
- Africa
Civil war returns Sassou Nguesso to power
Civil war erupted in June 1997 between forces of President Lissouba and former president Sassou Nguesso; backed by Angolan troops, Sassou Nguesso's forces prevailed by October, Lissouba fled into exile, and Sassou Nguesso declared himself president.
Era: Democracy, civil war, and the return of Sassou Nguesso
Sources: Denis Sassou Nguesso · Wikipedia, Denis Sassou-Nguesso · Encyclopædia Britannica, 1997 Human Rights Report: Republic of Congo · U.S. Department of State
- Asia
Death of Pol Pot and collapse of the Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge insurgency disintegrates and Pol Pot dies, ending the movement responsible for the genocide of the 1970s.
Era: Occupation, the UN Transition, and the Restored Kingdom
Sources: Pol Pot · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Khmer Rouge · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Second Congo War begins
Kabila breaks with Rwanda and Uganda; nine nations and many militias are drawn into 'Africa's World War,' the deadliest conflict since 1945.
Era: Africa's World War & After
Sources: Second Congo War · Wikipedia
- Africa
Border war with Ethiopia
A dispute over Badme escalates into a full-scale war that kills tens of thousands and displaces more than a million before a ceasefire.
Era: Independence, Border War and the Closed State
Sources: Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998 invasion of Ethiopia) · Wikipedia, Algiers Agreement (2000) · Wikipedia
- Africa
The civil war
A military mutiny led by Ansumane Mané escalated into a civil war that drew in Senegalese and Guinean troops, devastated Bissau and displaced hundreds of thousands before Vieira was ousted in May 1999.
Era: Instability, civil war and the cocaine route
Sources: History of Guinea-Bissau · Wikipedia, Guinea-Bissau (country overview and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
KLA insurgency and Serbian crackdown
The Kosovo Liberation Army's insurgency against Serbian rule met an escalating campaign by Serbian and Yugoslav forces, killing many Albanians and displacing hundreds of thousands during 1998.
Era: War, NATO Intervention and UN Administration
Sources: Kosovo conflict (1998-99 war and NATO intervention) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, NATO's role in Kosovo (KFOR; Operation Allied Force, 1999) · NATO, Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo (1998-99 expulsions and killings) · Human Rights Watch
- Asia
Pakistan conducts nuclear tests
Following India's tests, Pakistan detonates nuclear devices in Balochistan, openly joining the ranks of nuclear-armed states.
Era: Bangladesh, Military Rule and the Modern Republic
Sources: Pakistan: A Country Study · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division
- Oceania
The Tensions
Ethnic conflict between Guadalcanal and Malaitan groups around Honiara displaces thousands and, in 2000, topples Prime Minister Ulufa'alu.
Era: Tensions, Recovery and Great-Power Attention
Sources: Australian peacekeepers in Solomon Islands, 2000–2017 · Australian Government (Anzac Portal, Dept of Veterans' Affairs), History of Solomon Islands · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Europe
NATO air campaign begins
After the failure of talks at Rambouillet, NATO launched Operation Allied Force against Yugoslav forces on 24 March 1999, a 78-day air campaign intended to halt the humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo.
Era: War, NATO Intervention and UN Administration
Sources: NATO's role in Kosovo (KFOR; Operation Allied Force, 1999) · NATO
- Africa
Second Liberian Civil War begins
The rebel group LURD launched a new insurgency against Taylor's government from the north, opening a second civil war that would eventually besiege Monrovia.
Era: The civil wars and Charles Taylor
Sources: Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003) · BlackPast.org, Second Liberian Civil War · Wikipedia
- Europe
Kosovo War and NATO bombing
After fighting between Yugoslav forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army and the displacement of Albanian civilians, NATO bombed Yugoslavia for some eleven weeks until Milošević agreed to withdraw from Kosovo.
Era: The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo War
Sources: Kosovo conflict · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Asia
Post-ballot violence and INTERFET
Pro-Indonesian militias unleash killings and destruction, displacing some 500,000 people; the Australian-led INTERFET deploys from 20 September to restore order.
Era: The Referendum and UN Transitional Administration
Sources: UNTAET Background · United Nations Peacekeeping
War & Rupture in the 1990s
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged war and rupture — wars, invasions, conquests, battles and armed conflict, narrowed to the 1990s — 47 of them, drawn from 34 nations, running from 1990 to 1999. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 47
- Nations
- 34
- Earliest
- 1990
- Latest
- 1999
- Africa
- 19
- Asia
- 15
- Europe
- 11
- Oceania
- 1
- South America
- 1
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.