Which Countries Have Been OFFICIALLY Invaded By The United States?

▶ In this video I talk about the countries that the United States have, throughout their history, officially invaded. The 'officially' is important, given that presence of US troops in various regions throughout the world is very common at many points in history. But for this video, I decided to limit the scope to the actual official invasions, by land troops, of a territory belonging to a country that the US were at war with. I also briefly mention the full number of conflicts that the US has been involved with, accounting for the number of victories, losses, or unresolved and current conflicts. After providing an overview of all the modern countries (or historical predecessors) whose territory the US has at one point invaded, I go through a reasonably sized list of examples of these invasions, looking into some in more detail and learning why, when and how the United States of America moved forward with these invasions. With the biggest element of this being understanding the motive for said invasion; most often to conquer new territories, establish influence / prevent another power from doing so, or to guarantee trade and business interests. Save a few exceptions when righteousness was truly the reason for invasion. In these examples we shortly learn about cases such as the First Barbary War, when they invaded Algiers, Tunis, Morocco or Libya, protectorates of the Ottoman Empire. The Spanish-American War, where they took the remnants of the Spanish Colonial Empire for themselves (Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam), the invasions of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq, Lebanon or Afghanistan. As well as their expeditions to Korea and China during colonial times. Not to mention the various interventions, some of which part of the 'Banana Wars' in Central America and the Caribbean; invading and occupying nations such as Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, among a few more.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 INTRO
00:25 How many conflicts have the US fought?
01:36 The common element: invasions
02:36 Criteria for what we consider an invasion
03:58 Map overview of invaded countries
05:31 First Barbary War
06:26 Mexican-American War
07:00 Mexican Border War
07:23 Second Opium War (China)
08:26 Joseon Expedition + Korean War
09:38 German Territories
10:07 Spanish-American War
10:39 Philippines & Cuba
11:01 Central America + Caribbean
12:04 Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
12:29 Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan
13:24 Summary

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[General.Knowledge]

Did I miss any other invaded countries?

[andrewmoore]

"We're not counting aid in foreign wars, or coups" Well yeah, the video would be twenty hours long if you did.

[atinofspam]

much like with the debate of “has britain really invaded 90% of the world”, it depends what you define as a country, whether you count colonies as independent or part of their colonisers country, and what you define as an invasion

[craigk.gowens]

The U.S. invaded Russia during and after the Russian Revolution. The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) North Russia landed in Arkhangelsk and the AEF Siberia in Vladivostok both in 1918. The Arkhangelsk force did not penetrate very far into Russia because resupply of the forces became difficult and they were unable to successfully recruit Anti-Bolshevik forces to aid the invasion. The goal was to reach forces of the Czechoslovak Legion that had been fighting the Germans in WWI and had become stranded inside Bolshevik Russia. They were attempting to retreat, but were barred from returning to their homeland to the west as by that time Russia had exited the war and didn't want anti-Central Power belligerents crossing into the Eastern Front from now neutral Russia. They were ordered to go east to Vladivostok to sail to Europe from there, which is why the AEF Siberia landed in Vladivostok and traveled west via the Trans-Siberian Railway to secure the members of the Czechoslovak Legion. They also wanted to keep Japan from using the Russian Revolution as a pretext to create a puppet state in the Russian Far East as they eventually successfully did in Manchuria and Korea before WWII. While the AEF Siberia did manage to help evacuate the Czechoslovak Legion, both AEF interventions are regarded as failures/defeats for the U.S.

[Cadence]

The US styled itself as anti-imperial, wanting European colonial powers out of Africa, Asia etc but only to extend their own influence and power. Similar to Japan in the 1930s and 40s.

[charlesweigel]

Two things that I would change about this list is #1 The year spain is added to the list. Andrew Jackson invaded Spanish Florida in 1818 & #2 I would and France to the list. During WWII the US invaded north Africa under the government of Vichy France which I think should count.

[risissous]

Now we need the same video for France, UK and Russia

[grandadmiralthrawn]

Why wasn't the war of 1812 covered?

[TheVineOfChristLives]

1:58: “the contiguous 48 saw no conflict in their land in ww2”

here are some additional examples of attacks, incidents, or espionage that occurred within the contiguous 48 states during World War II:

1. Operation Pastorius - In 1942, a group of eight German saboteurs landed on the east coast of the United States with the goal of conducting acts of sabotage. The group split up into two teams and attempted to plant explosives at various targets, such as aluminum plants and hydroelectric facilities. However, their plans were foiled when one of the saboteurs turned himself in to the FBI, leading to the capture of the rest of the group.

2. Bombing of the West Coast - In June 1942, a Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens in Oregon, causing minor damage but no casualties. In September of the same year, another Japanese submarine shelled the oil fields near Santa Barbara, California, causing minor damage.

3. Duquesne Spy Ring - A German espionage network known as the Duquesne Spy Ring operated in the United States during World War II. The ring was composed of 33 spies, most of whom were trained in Germany and sent to the United States to gather intelligence. The FBI eventually infiltrated the ring and arrested its members, resulting in the conviction of 33 spies.


These are some examples of attacks, incidents, and espionage that occurred within the contiguous 48 states during World War II, excluding training exercises and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

[brianquigley]

Great video... would have liked a little more detail... any chance you could do each of the "invasions" in more detail (from latest to earliest)? 😊

[comradestalin]

They are indeed British Empire's son

[Jjmv]

Nicaragua was invaded two times, the second happend in the late 1920's.

[mohammadwaliahmad]

I appreciate you finally made an episode about US Invading countries however I urge you to make Afghan Invasion & Middle Eastern Invasion 2 specific episode on these

[matthewnewman]

Finally I have been waiting for someone to make a video on this 😅 Thank you!

[AmirSatt]

What about Northern Russian expedition during russian civil war? USA intervened on the side of the white forces against the bolshevicks (in modern day Arkhangelsk oblast). It mostly consisted of small scale scirmishes though of about few thousand soldiers before americans just withdrew. And in russian far east Vladivostok and Khabarovsk regions as well there were bigger battles with red forces and partisans, the occupation of Vladivostok was the longest in the civil war. The war however was on very small scale and very unpopular in America so it pulled out relatively quickly. Not surprising that this part of history is not well known because it can harm relationship between two countries

[mariajoaoferrazdeabreu]

Great video. Always learning with this channel.

[Jochla]

As far as I know as a German Joseon (조선 ) is spoken Joson. The e is not spoken by itself. It just refers to the way the o is pronounced with the second o (어 ) shorter than the first one (오).

[window]

They call it "FREEDOM RAAAHHH 🦅🦅🦅"

[markmcdonald]

What about the many indigenous nations in North America I think an example is the Cherokee Nation, Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution/Russian Civil War, Vichy France, Italy, Japan (Okinawa) as a few you could add to the list.

[alexhousakos]

This list needs:

-Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918-1925) with US Troops invading Russia

-Vichy France (French Colonial Empire) being invaded with Operation Torch

Technically you won't find the word "invasion" in US nomenclature, "intervention" is used, which can be interchanged with "invasion" on a case by case basis.