This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Cuba and predecessor states.
List
Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604): Battle of Pinos (1596), Raid on Santiago de Cuba (1603) Eighty Years' War, 1621–1648 (Eighty Years' War and Thirty Years' War): Battle in the Bay of Matanzas (1628) Invasion of Cuba (1741) – 1741 – War of Jenkins' Ear (War of the Austrian Succession)
Battle of Santiago de Cuba (1748) – 1748 – War of Jenkins' Ear (War of the Austrian Succession) Battle of Havana (1748) – 1748 – War of Jenkins' Ear (War of the Austrian Succession) Battle of the Windward Passage – 1760 – Seven Years' War Siege of Havana – 1762 – Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763) (Seven Years' War) Action of 17 February 1783 – 1783 – American Revolutionary War Action of 23 August 1806 – 1806 – Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808) (French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars) Spanish–American War: Battle of San Juan Hill (1898), battle of Santiago de Cuba (1898)
ConflictCombatant 1Combatant 2ResultPresidentPrime Minister Lopez Expedition (1850-1851) Filibusters Captaincy General of Cuba Spanish Cuba victory Filibuster leaders executed Ten Years' War(1868–1878) Captaincy General of Cuba Pact of Zanjón Little War (Cuba)(1879–1880) Cuban Rebels Spain Spanish victory Cuban War of Independence(1895–1898) Republic of Cuba in Arms Mambises Cuban Liberation Army Spanish Empire Captaincy General of Cuba American intervention; independence granted in 1902 Treaty of Paris United States governance of Cuba Cuban independence Cuban Pacification(1906) Conservatives Liberals Liberal victory Subsequent US occupation of Cuba War of 1912(1912) Cuba Cuban Partido Independiente de Color Rebellion suppressed Dissolution of the Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) Chambelona War(1917) Cuba Liberal Party of Cuba Rebellion suppressed Sugar Intervention(1917–1922) Conservatives Liberals Conservative victory Uprising quelled, US occupation of Cuba World War I(1917–1918) Allied Powers:
and others... Central Powers: and others... Allied Powers victory (see Aftermath of World War I) Sugar Intervention(1917–1922) Conservatives Liberals Conservative victory Uprising quelled, US occupation of Cuba World War II(1941–1945)AlliesAxis Allied victory (see Aftermath of World War II)Cuba declared war on the Axis powers in December 1941, being one of the first Latin American countries to do so. On 15 May 1943, the Cuban patrol boat CS-13 sank the German submarine U-176. Collapse of the German Reich Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires Creation of the United Nations Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers Beginning of the Cold War American theater of World War II(1941–1945)Allies:
(from 1941) Costa Rica (from 1941) Dominican Republic (from 1941) El Salvador (from 1941) Haiti (from 1941) (from 1941) (from 1941) Cuba (from 1941) (from 1941) (from 1942) (from 1942) Bolivia (from 1943) (from 1943) (from 1945) (from 1945) Peru (from 1945) Uruguay (from 1945) (from 1945) Argentina (from 1945) Chile (from 1945)Axis: (from 1941) Allied victory Axis objectives failed or did not affect the outcome of the conflict. Cuban Revolution(1953–1959) Cuban Constitutional Army Revolutionary victory Overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's government Establishment of a government led by Fidel Castro Beginning of the Escambray rebellion Escambray rebellion(1959–1965) Insurgents: Anti-communists Batistianos Cuban government victory Cuban invasion of Panama(1959) Revolutionary Action Movement May 22nd Youth Revolutionary Movement Cuban expedition failed Invasion of the Dominican Republic(1959) Cuban invasion failed Bay of Pigs Invasion(1961) Cuban DRF Cuban government victory US–Opposition failure to topple the Cuban government All surviving counter revolutionaries captured Increased cooperation between Cuba and the Soviet Union Sand War(1963–1964) Support: Egypt Support: Military stalemate The closing of the border south of Figuig, Morocco/Béni Ounif, Algeria. Morocco abandoned its attempts to control Béchar and Tindouf after OAU mediation. Demilitarized zone established No territorial changes Congo Crisis(1963-1965) 1963–1965:
Supported by: 1963–1965:Supported by: Defeat The Congo established as an independent unitary state under the authoritarian presidency of Mobutu Sese Seko. Guinea-Bissau War of Independence(1963–1974) PAIGC Supported by: Algiers Accord Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde from Portugal South African Border War(1966–1990) South Africa TGNU (1985–1989) Military stalemate Angolan Tripartite Accord, leading to: Withdrawal of South African forces from Namibia; withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola 1989 Namibian parliamentary elections SWAPO government assuming power in Namibia South West Africa gains independence from South Africa as the Republic of Namibia Ñancahuazú Guerrilla(1966–1967) ELN BoliviaSupported by: Brazil Bolivian government victory Che Guevara executed Machurucuto raid(1967) Revolutionary Left Movementn guerrillas Supported by: n National Guard n Army Venezuelan government victory War of Attrition(1967-1970) Inconclusive See aftermath Yom Kippur War(1973) Defeat See At the final ceasefire: Egyptian forces held on the eastern bank of the canal. Israeli forces held on the western bank of the canal. Israeli forces held of the Syrian Bashan region of the Golan Heights. Operation Independence(1975-1977) Argentine government victory Cuban intervention in Angola(1975–1991) Stalemate Cuban and South African withdrawal in 1991 Cabinda War(1975–1991)
(until 1991)
RPD Angola (1991) UNITA (joint operations, 1991)
FLEC FLEC-FAC CCC Republic of Cabinda (1975–1976, 1999) Democratic Front of Cabinda (1975) Cuban withdrawal War is Ongoing Angolan Civil War(1975–1989) People's Republic of Angola/Republic of Angola MPLA (1975–1989) SWAPO (1975–1989) ANC (1975–1989) FLNC (1975–1978)
Democratic People's Republic of Angola UNITA FNLA (1975–1983)
(1975–1978) FLEC MPLA victory Withdrawal of all foreign forces in 1989. Resistance of FLEC continued to this day Ogaden War(1977–1978) Victory Soviet and Cuban intervention leads to Somali withdrawal Somalia breaks all ties with the Soviet Bloc and the Second World (except China and Romania). Beginning of the Somali Rebellion Eritrean War of Independence(1977–1991) 1974 Ethiopian Empire1974–1991 Derg (1974–1987) PDR Ethiopia (1987–1991) ELF (until 1981) EPLF (since 1973) TPLF (since 1975) EPLF victory ELF defeated by EPLF during the Eritrean Civil Wars EPLF overthrew the Derg regime Eritrea gains de facto independence from Ethiopia in 1991 under EPLF rule, and de jure independence after the referendum held in 1993 under UN auspices Independence of Eritrea Ethiopia becomes a landlocked country. Ethiopian Civil War(1977–1991) Derg (1974–1987) PDR Ethiopia (1987–1991) TPLF EPLF EPDM EPRP MEISON EDU OLF WSLF ONLF ALF IFLO EPLF/TPLF rebel victory Fall of the Ethiopian Empire and subsequent implementation of military rule Creation, then collapse, of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia by the Derg Installation of the TPLF-led transitional government which would later become the EPRDF government in Ethiopia Installation of the EPLF-established PFDJ government in Eritrea after independence from Ethiopia Independence of Eritrea; Ethiopia becomes a landlocked country. Nicaraguan Revolution (1961-1990) Sandinista National Liberation Front Junta of National Reconstruction/Nicaraguan Government (from 1979) Sandinista Popular Army MAP-ML (1978–1979) MILPAS (1978–1979, under Omar Torrijos)
Supported by:
Dirección de Inteligencia Somoza regime (1961–1979) National Guard Contras (1981–1990) FDN UDN ARDE MILPAS Fifteenth of September Legion KISAN/YATAMA
Supported by:
CIA (from 1981) Inconclusive Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to the United States in July 1979, relinquishing control of the government. A five-member provisional government takes its place. The right-wing Contras begin an armed insurgency against the Sandinistas in 1981 which continues until 1990. The Tela Accord is signed in 1989 and the Sandinista party is defeated in the 1990 election, bringing the armed revolution to an end. Sandinistas led by Daniel Ortega are re-elected in 2006 and remain in power until today. United States invasion of Grenada(1983)
Grenada (PRG) People's Revolutionary Army Grenadian Opposition
Caribbean Peace Force:
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
American–CPF & Grenadian Opposition victory Grenadian People's Revolutionary Government toppled Hudson Austin deposed Nicholas Brathwaite sworn into office Cuban and Soviet forces expelled2026 United States intervention in Venezuela (2026) Venezuela United States Armed Forces United States Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Delta Force United States Navy United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard United States Air Force United States Cyber Command United States Space Command Central Intelligence Agency United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Rescue TeamDefeat Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores captured by the US military and prosecuted Vice president Delcy Rodríguez sworn in as acting president of Venezuela Amnesty bill and 621 political prisoners detained in Venezuela released (as of 8 March) 2026 Cuban crisis Lift of US sanctions on oil trade and privatization of Venezuela oil industryMiguel Díaz-CanelManuel Marrero Cruz
Notes
References
Bibliography
See also Military interventions of Cuba