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a free account today! Some might argue that all wars are pretty
dumb, being as they are a final resort to diplomatic negotiations. Indeed, when we look back at history with
the benefit of hindsight, much of the bloodshed and conflict in this world could have been
easily avoided with a little bit of common sense and diplomacy. But some wars are just plain silly. Today, we’ll examine five wars that began
with a bizarre misunderstanding, overreaction, or drunken mistake, in this episode of the
Infographics Show – Dumbest wars in History. 5) The Battle of Kororareka in New Zealand. Although Maori chief Hone Heke was one of
the first to sign the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840, he wasn’t by any means a
happy camper. He objected to the change of the capital city
to Auckland as well as changes to customs tariffs. British troops in 1844 were stationed in the
town of Kororareka, New Zealand. They flew the Union Jack flag over the town,
and chief Hone Heke took offense, rode into town, and felled the flagpole. The troops erected a new flag pole and right
on cue the chief chopped it back down again. This happened a third time, and on the fourth
erection, the British assembled armed guards to keep watch of their flag. On the 11th of March, 1845, Heke and his tribe
rode into town once more and murdered the inhabitants in cold blood. The conflict dragged on for another 10 months. As is typical in these battles, the British
were outnumbered and outsmarted by the natives but were able to send for reinforcements and
eventually the British overcame Heke, but the old chief had made his point. 4) The War of Jenkins’ Ear began when English
Privateer, Robert Jenkins, is said to have crashed into parliament waving his severed
ear in his hand and demanding a war with Spain. Whether the ear in parliament story is fact
or fiction is open to conjecture, but the name of the war does, without a doubt, stem
from the loss of Jenkin’s ear. He claimed his ear had been removed by a Spanish
coast guard who had boarded his vessel. Thus war began, mostly in the Caribbean, with
fighting spreading across the Florida-Georgia border. The war lasted from 1739 to 1748, and many
more ears, limbs, and other body parts were severed in the process. 3) The War of the Golden Stool. The stool, made of gold (obviously), belonged
to the Ashanti Empire in Africa and was believed to be sacred. The stool was thought to house the souls of
the entire nation, the living, the dead, and those yet to be born. This stool was really a big deal to the people. The exiled king was unable to protect his
subjects and his stool, seeing as he was exiled, so in 1896, the British governor Sir Frederick
Hodgson stepped in and told the people that he intended to claim the stool for the crown. Not a good move. The locals obviously weren’t too impressed
that the British were intent on casually stealing all their souls, and assembled as many men
and weapons as they could. Meanwhile, the British set out to find the
stool and claim it, but instead found themselves under vicious attack by an army led by the
mother of the exiled king. The British troops were slaughtered. All but a few survived, and those that did
scurried back to town and barricaded themselves in a small fort while the opposing forces
grew to 12,000. Another 3 months passed before the British
had called in enough extra men and hardware to tackle the restless natives. They finally did so on July 12th, 1900, by
which time the besieged British had been trapped for weeks and had run out of food and ammunition 2) The Battle of Karansebes. 1788. Two factions of the Austrian army scouting
for Turkish forces clashed in this bizarre drunken mix-up. The Austrian hussars were setting up camp
and decided to indulge in some schnapps that they’d acquired from a group of gypsies. Soon afterwards, some infantry from the same
army saw the party and asked if they could join in. Not willing to share their booze, much arguing
ensued and one soldier fired a shot. Bad mistake, as the hussars and infantry began
battling with one another. To further confuse matters, some infantry
began shouting “Turks Turks Turks!” The factions of the same army continued shooting
at each other, thinking they were firing at the enemy. When the Turks did finally arrive two days
later, they discovered the dead, wounded, and hungover Austrian soldiers, and easily
took Karansebes. The Football War. This conflict between El Salvador and Honduras
in 1969 followed a game of soccer between the two football crazed nations. El Salvador lost the game, and tensions rose
between the two countries. Sore losers El Salvador broke all diplomatic
relations and sent over bombers disguised as passenger jets, taking Honduras by surprise
in a three day war that claimed the lives of 3,000 people. The United States swiftly intervened and brokered
a ceasefire between the two countries. Although underlying tensions such as economic
equality existed between the two countries, it was no doubt the game of soccer that led
to the war kicking off. One thing we don’t have to start a war over,
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So what do you think? What’s the dumbest reason anyone’s ever
gone to war? Are all wars stupid? Let us know in the comment section. Also, be sure to watch our other video called
- What You Should do if you Get Stopped by the Police. Thanks for watching, and as always, don't
forget to like, share and subscribe, see you next time
