Have two democracies ever been at direct war with each other?

Answer 1

Britain and the United States twice.
The Union and the Confederacy once.

(If you stretch the definition of democracy to include the German Empire then)
Germany and France twice (and that does not include WWII)
Germany and Britain once
Germany and the US once

Israel and Lebanon at least twice
Pakistan and India twice
(would have to check on the former's credentials though to be sure.)

The Greeks and the Turks have been at it a couple times while at least being called democacies.

It's long list and I've done all the reaching I care to do. What it all really hinges on though your definition of democracy. In that whole list there is not one example where these governments ruled a population that had the franchise extended to all men never mind their women. Nor is there an example where both parties had a fully developed system of responsible government. It is only the US with it's long standing Republican model that you really see any responsibility, but even then, you could question it. As to whether any two democracies, with fully franchised populations and responsible governments have gone to war with each other, I figure I'm pretty safe to say no.

Does that add any more clarity to your question?

Answer 2

Almost all modern wars are between "democracies". Ever since monarchy's became unfashionable, democracy has been the prevalent process of choosing the leadership. The vast majority of nations on this earth, at war or not, are democracies. Israel and Lebanon are both democracies. Palestine is a democracy. (And when they voted for whom they wanted, Hamas, the USA refused to accept ther democratic choice.) Believe it or not, even Iraq was a democracy and Sadam Hussein's victories were no more valid or invalid than George Bush's.

Don't get caught up in that "good vs. evil" stuff that the government spits out. A lot of the answers here are stuck on judging a democracy based upon whether they are friendly with the US government or not. They are saying that it's not really a democracy if there is not a choice between true alternatives. But the reality is that even in the USA, there is no real choice. Either the party of the dancing elephant or of the smiling jackass? Hardly a choice for a real democracy.

And it doesn't matter anyway when the election can be stolen with rigged voting machines, and the other candidate doesn't even protest it.

Answer 3

No, that would never happen! It's impossible according to the NeoCons.

But........

There WAS Athens and Sparta. And also the Union and Confederacy. But those don't count, because, because, well because they were a LONG TIME AGO.

BTW, Hitler actually lost the election to Hindenburg before seizing power. And no one in their right mind would call Nazi Germany a democracy.

Zippychippy is right, many countries claim to be democracies. How do we know which ones are real?
Saddam Hussien's Baathist regime, though, was not a democracy by any means, it was a dictatorship. I don't care if he was elected.
Also, why do we think our modern government is more democratic than Ancient Greek city-states? They invented democracy, our system is based on theirs.

I sum it up this way, ANY country has the potential to go to war with any other, regardless of their system of government. Just because it hasn't happened in modern times doesn't mean it will never happen. Or couldn't, for that matter.

Answer 4

Good question. If you are thinking of a modern democracy then the answer is no, stable democracies don't go to war with each other.

In regard to other posters, just because a country has elections, that doesn't make it a democracy. Due process of law is just an essential requirement of a democracy as in free elections. In addition, the power of the government is limited in a democracy.

Answer 5

If you go by democracies by technicalites pretty much all wars have been that way. If you go by legitimate democracies the civil war is probably the last one. You can look to WWI but that legitimacy is still kinda sketchy.

Answer 6

I have to agree with zippychippy. There is a big difference between a country that practices modern democracy and one that merely claims to have it. Saddam Hussein claimed that he was democratically elected (carried 95%+ of the vote, too)

Answer 7

Yes, Hitler was elected. He manipulated the German laws and successfully pushed the idea that if people didn't support Hitler's party they were considered to be anti-German even though Germany was a democracy and had more than one party.

Answer 8

Does the American Civil War count?

Answer 9

first Hitler was not elected he over threw hindenburg ,natzi germany was a dictatorship
during the U.S. cival war the north and south became two seperate democrecys , your answer realy depends on how you look at this

Answer 10

Yes

Remember, Hitler was democratically elected.