War of independence

A war of independence is a conflict occurring over a territory that has declared independence. Once the state that previously held the territory sends in military forces to assert its sovereignty or the native population clashes with the former occupier, a separatist rebellion has begun. If a new state is successfully established, the conflict is usually known as a ¨War of Independence¨.

Use of the term largely originates from the American War of Independence but prior conflicts sometimes got the name retroactively—such as the Dutch War of Independence, originally known as the "Seven Years' War" and still often called by that name in the Netherlands themselves.

Examples

Examples of war of independence include:

See also

Mexican–American War

A war between the U.S. and Mexico spanned the period from spring 1846 to fall 1847. The war was initiated by the United States and resulted in Mexico's defeat and the loss of approximately half of its national territory in the north. In the U.S. the war is termed the Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico. In Mexico names for the war include Primera intervención estadounidense en México (United States' First Intervention in Mexico), Invasión estadounidense a México ("United States' Invasion of Mexico"), Guerra de la Invasión estadounidense, and Guerra del 47 ("The War of 1847").

After its independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a republic in 1824, characterized by considerable instability, so that when the U.S. initiated the conflict with the Centralist Republic of Mexico, Mexico was ill-prepared to respond. The war with the U.S. followed in the wake of decades of Indian raids in the north of Mexico, which Anglo-American migration to the Mexican province of Texas was aimed at buffering. Anglo-Americans and some Mexicans revolted against the Mexican government in the 1836 Texas Revolution, creating a republic not recognized by Mexico, which still claimed it as its national territory. The 1845 expansion of U.S. territory with its annexation of Texas escalated the dispute between the U.S. and Mexico into open war.