Decisive 20th Century Battles

The Middle East 1991: The Gulf War

Beginning on 2nd August 1990, the last major war of the 20th Century was between Iraq under Saddam Hussein and a coalition force from 35 nations authorized by the UN and led primarily by the United States.

Hostilities began when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait, a small monarchy on the coast of the Persian Gulf. This act was met with immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by some of the UN Security Council but Hussein’s refusal to withdraw meant that coalition troops were deployed to remedy the situation by force.

Six days after 2nd August the US deployed Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force and Coast Guard units to Saudi Arabia, in what was labelled Operation Desert Shield. At the same time America rallied other countries to the cause and by the time the fighting actually began on January 17th, 1991, twelve countries had sent naval forces to the Gulf. This was known as Operation Desert Storm.

The war itself was over before it began. The quality of Iraqi troops and equipment couldn’t match those of coalition forces and aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and bordering areas of Saudi Arabia.

It was a decisive victory for the coalition forces, which liberated Kuwait and penetrated Iraqi territory. Other neighbouring countries were affected however, when Iraq launched missiles against targets in Saudi Arabia and Israel in retaliation for their support of the coalition. This conflict ended on 28th February 1991 but as we all know, this short-lived battle was just the beginning…