It is generally agreed by Latter-day Saint exegetes that D&C 87, as well as prophesying of a then-future Civil War in the United States, predicts plural wars that would take place globally after this conflict. Commenting on D&C 87:6, Terry R. Baker wrote that:
Notice the Civil War was only the
beginning of wars plural on the earth in the last days and that war will
eventually be poured out upon all nations. How long will these wars and unrest
last? The answer is in Doctrine and Covenants 87 verse 6: “6 And thus,
with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn and
with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the
fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to
feel the wrath and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until
the consumption decreed hath made a full end of wall nations;”
The American Civil War started
this cycle. Wars will continue until the Second Coming. (Terry R. Baker, A
Book of Mormon Guide to the Last Days Second Coming: Patterns, Prophecies, and
Principles [2025], 232)
Baker has a very useful table of wars since 1861, with the
outbreak of the U.S. Civil war up until 2023:
Table Two: Wars since 1861
1861-1865. American Civil War.
An estimated 650,000 were killed.
1862-1877. Dungan Revolt,
China. An estimated 12 million were killed.
1864-1870. Paraguayan War.
South America. An estimated 600,000 were killed.
1868-1878. Ten Years’ War.
Cuba. An estimated 241,000 were killed.
1873-1914. Aceh War. Indonesia.
An estimated 102,000 were killed.
1895-1898. Cuban War of Independence.
An estimated 362,000 were killed.
1899-1912. Philippine-American
War. The Philippines. An estimated 234,000 were killed.
1899-1902. Thousand Days War.
Colombia. An estimated 120,000 were killed.
1911-1920. Mexican Revolution,
an estimated 1 million were killed.
1912-1913. Balkan Wars.
Balkans. An estimated 140,000 were killed.
1914-1918. World War I. An
estimated 23,568,559 were killed.
1918-2003. Iraqi-Kurdish
conflict. Iraq estimated 210,784 killed.
1921-present. Kurdish rebellions
in Turkey. An estimated 100,000 were killed.
1924-1940. Italian conquest of
the Horn of Africa. Estimated 1 million were killed.
1927-1949. Chinese Civil War.
An estimated 9,671,401 were killed.
1935-1936. Second
Italo-Ethiopian War. Estimated 278,350 killed.
1936-1939. Second Civil War.
An estimated 707,107 were killed.
1937-1945. World War II.
Worldwide, an estimated 84,269,920 were killed.
1946-1949. Greek Civil War.
An estimated 158,000 were killed.
1947-present. Kashmir Conflict.
No. India, Pakistan. Estimated 93,808 killed.
1948-present. Arab-Israeli conflict.
Middle east. An estimated 116,074 were killed.
1948-1958. La Violencia. Columbia. An estimated 183,697 were
killed.
1948-pPresent. Internal
conflict in Myanmar. An estimated 180,278 were killed.
1948-1948. Indian annexation
of Hyderabad estimated 84,116 killed.
1954-1962. Algerian War,
an estimated 72,569 were killed.
1950-1953. Korean War.
Korea. An estimated 3,000,000 were killed.
1955-1975. Vietnam War.
Southeast Asia. An estimated 2,383,000 were killed.
1955-1972. First Sudanese
Civil War. Sudan. An estimated 500,000 were killed.
1960-1965. Congo Crisis
Republic of the Congo Estimated 100,000 killed.
1961-1974. Angolan War of Independence
estimated 92,452 killed.
1962-1970. North Yemen Civil
War. Yemen. An estimated 141,421 were killed.
1966-1970. Nigerian Civil War.
An estimated 2 million were killed.
1969-Present. Moro Conflict.
The Philippines. An estimated 120,000 were killed.
1971-1971. Bangladesh Liberation
War. E. Pakistan estimated 500,000 killed.
1975-1990. Lebanese Civil War.
Lebanon. An estimated 134,164 were killed.
1975-2007. Insurgency in Laos.
An estimated 100,000 were killed.
1980-1988. Iran-Iraq War.
An estimated 564,041 were killed.
1983-2009. Sri Lankan Civil
War. An estimated 89,443 were killed.
1983-2005. In the second Sudanese
Civil War, an estimated 1,414,214 were killed.
1986-present. Somali Civil War.
An estimated 387,288 were killed.
1991-2002. Algerian Civil War.
An estimated 93,808 were killed.
1991-1995. Bosnian War.
Bosnia and Herzegovina. An estimated 100,903 were killed.
1991-2001. Yugoslav War.
Balkans estimated 134,970 killed.
1991-1991. 1991 Iraqi
uprisings in Iraq estimated 141,333 killed.
1993-2005. Buruindian Civil
War, an estimated 300,000 were killed.
1996-1997. First Congo War.
Zaire estimated 447,214 killed.
2001-present. War on Terror.
Worldwide, 493,500 were killed.
2003-2011. Iraq War. An
estimated 364,500 were killed.
2006-Present. Mexican Drug War
estimated 535,000 were killed.
2022-Present. Russia invades
Ukrain
2023-Present. Hamas, Lebanon,
Iran-Israel war. (Terry R. Baker, A
Book of Mormon Guide to the Last Days Second Coming: Patterns, Prophecies, and
Principles [2025], 240-43)
The late John A. Tvedntes, in his 1985 “A Reply to Dick
Baer” provided a similar (though dated) listing of conflicts since 1865 and
the cessation of the U. S. Civil War:
Since 1865, we have had almost
continual war in various parts of the world. Here is an incomplete listing of
some of these wars:
1863-67 French invasion of Mexico, war to
regain Mexican independence
1864 Austro-Prussian invasion of Denmark
1865-70 Paraguayan War (Argentina, Brazil & Uruguay invaded
and slew or chased 3/4 of the Paraguayan population)
1865-76 Russo-Turkestan War
1866 Seven Weeks War (Austria defeated by Prussia & Italy)
1870-71 Franco-Prussian War
1873-74 French conquest of Tonkin (North Vietnam)
1874 British conquest of Ashanti Kingdom (Ghana)
1874-79 Egyptian-Ethiopian War
1877-78 Russo-Ottoman (Turkish) War
1879-84 War of the Pacific (Chile vs. Peru & Bolivia)
1882 Italian conquest of Eritrea (northern Ethiopia)
1882 British conquest of Egypt
1883-96 French conquest of Madagascar
1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War
1885 Revolt of the Mahdi in Sudan (against Great Britain)
1885-86 British conquest of Burma
1885-98 French conquest of most of West Africa
1894-95 Chino-Japan War
1895-96 Italo-Ethiopian War
1896-98 British conquest of Sudan
1897 Greco-Turkish War
1898 Spanish-American War
1898-1902 Philippine Rebellion (against US occupation)
1899-1902 Boer War (British conquest of South Africa)
1900-01 Boxer Rebellion (USA, Russia, Great Britain, France &
Germany vs. Chinese)
1903 Panamanian Revolt (against Colombia)
1904-05 Russo-Japan War
1905 Egypto-turkish War
1906-09 American invasion of Cuba
1907 French conquest of Morocco
1907 Japanese conquest of Korea
1908 Austro-Turkish War
1911-12 Chinese Civil War (against Manchu emperor)
1911-17 Russian conquest of Persia (Iran)
1912-13 First Balkan War
1913 Second Balkan War
1914 American invasion of Mexico during Mexican Civil War
1914-19 World War I
1915 American invasion of Haiti
1916 American invasion of Mexico
1916 American invasion of Dominican Republic
1916 Irish revolt against Great Britain
1916-28 Chinese Civil War
1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
1918-20 Russian Civil War (Reds vs. Whites)
1920-23 Greek invasion of Turkey
1922 Turkish revolt against Sultan, led by Ataturk
1931 Spanish Revolt against King Alfonso XIII
1931-33 Japanese invasion of Manchuria
1932-35 Chaco War (Paraguay vs. Bolivia)
1934-36 Italo-Ethiopian War
1936-39 Spanish Civil War
1937-45 Japanese invasion of China
1938 German invasion/annexation of Austria
1939 Germany, having been ceded the Sudetenland, conquered the rest of
Czechoslovakia
1939 Italian conquest of Albania
1939-45 World War II
1945-49 Indonesian War of Independence (against Netherlands)\
1945-54 Malaya War (Great Britain vs. Communists)
1945-54 Indochina War (France vs. Vietnamese)
1946-49 Greek Civil War
1946-49 Communist Revolution in China
1947-49 Indian Civil War (Muslims vs. Hindus)
1947-49 Kashmir War (India vs. Pakistan)
1947 Indian insurgencies (Sikhs & other separatists)
1948-49 Israeli War of Independence
1948 Burma insurgencies (Communists & 3 separatist groups)
1948-52 Huk insurgency in Philippines
1950-53 Korean Conflict
1950-59 Chinese conquest of Tibet
1950 Yemen War (North vs. South Yemen)
1952-53 Mau Mau uprising in Kenya (against British)
1954-58 Quemoy-Matsu conflict (Nationalist vs. Communist China)
1954-62 Algerian War of Independence (against France)
1955-59 EOKA insurgency in Cyprus (against British)
1955 Sudanese government fights blacks in south
1956 Hungarian Revolt (unsuccessful)
1956 Sinai/Suez Conflict
1956-59 Cuban Civil War (Castro vs. Batista)
1958 US troops sent to Lebanon
1959-62 China-India (Himalayas) War
1959-64 Watusi-Hutu war in Rwandu-Burundi
1959-74 PAIGC insurgency in Portuguese Guinea
1959-75 Pathet Lao insurgency in Laos
1960-67 Revolts in the Congo (provinces of Katanga and Kasai)
1960-67 Revolt in Venezuela
1960- Basque insurgency in Spain
1960- Terrorist insurgency in Colombia
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion (US-backed Cuban troops in Cuba)
1961 Goa War (Indian forcible seizure of 3 Portuguese colonies)
1961 Kuwait War (Great Britain vs. Iraq)
1961-76 Angola War of Independence (against Portugal)
1962 West New Guinea War (Netherlands vs. Indonesia)
1962- Eritrean secession in Ethiopia
1962- Ogaden War (Ethiopia vs. Somalia)
1963 Algeria-Morocco War
1963-65 Malaysian War (Malaysia & Great Britain vs. Indonesia)
1964 Cyprus Civil War (Turks vs. Greeks)
1964 Zanzibar Civil War (Blacks vs. Arabs)
1964-73 Vietnam War (USA)
1964-75 Mozambique War of Independence (against Portugal)
1964-76 Insurgency in Oman
1964- CPT (Communist) insurgency in Thailand
1964- Insurgency in Brazil
1965 Rebellion in Dominican Republic put down by Dominicans, with
assistance from USA and Organization of American States
1965 Pakistan-India War
1965 Rebellion in Peru
1965-66 Communist insurgency in Indonesia
1965- Chad War (Libya vs. Chad & France)
1965-79 Civil War in Rhodesia
1966- Namibia War SWAPO insurgency against South Africa)
1967 Six-Day War Israel vs. Arabs)
1967-70 Nigerian Civil War (Biafra Secession)
1967- Guatemala insurgency (left-wing allied with Mayans against
government and right-wing)
1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
1969 Soccer War (El Salvador vs. Honduras)
1969- IRA war in Northern Ireland (Catholics vs. Protestants)
1970 Polish uprising suppressed by Soviets
1970 Insurgency in Honduras
1970 Insurgency in Guinea
1970-75 Communist (Khmer Rouge) conquest of Cambodia
1970- ANC insurgency in South Africa
1970- Left-wing terrorist insurgency in Germany
1971 Bangladesh War of Independence (with India) against Pakistan
1971- Palestinian insurgencies in West Bank & Gaza Strip, controlled
by Israel
1972 State of war begun in 1937 between China and Japan ends
1972- Separatist insurgency in Pakistan
1972- Philippines government fights insurgencies by Muslim MNLF &
Communist NPA
1973 Chile Civil War
1973-74 Yom Kippur War (Israel vs. Egypt & Syria)
1974 Civil War in Cyprus, Turkish invasion
1974- Left-wing & right-wing separatist insurgencies in Turkey
1975 North Vietnam conquest of South Vietnam (end of a conflict begun
in 1959)
1975 Moroccan invasion of Spanish Sahara
1975- Lebanon Civil War
1975- Insurgency of UNITA and other factions in Angola
1975- East Timor War (Indonesia vs. FRETILIN guerrillas)
1975- NLF guerrilla insurgency against Laos & Viet-Nam
1975- CPM (Communist) insurgency in Malaysia
1975- West Sahara War (Polisario Front vs. Morocco)
1976- Left-wing & right-wing insurgencies in Argentina
1976- Sunni guerilla insurgency in Syria
1977-78 Katanga secession in Zaire (government aided by France and
Belgium)
1977 Right-wing and left-wing insurgencies in El Salvador
1978 Afghanistan Communist Revolution
1978-79 Islamic Revolution against the Shah of Iran
1978- MRM guerrilla insurgency in Mozambique
1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (fighting continues today)
1979 Sino-Viet War
1979- Cambodian guerrilla insurgency against Viet-Nam & Samrin
government
1979- Kurdish & other separatist insurgencies in Iraq
1979- Shiite guerrilla insurgency in Iraq
1980- Iran-Iraq (Gulf) War {continues today)
1980- Maoist guerrilla insurgency in Peru
1980- Rebellion in Zimbabwe
1981- Right-wing guerrilla insurgency (allied with Miskito Indians) in
Nicaragua
1981- Rebellion in Uganda
1982 Falkland Islands War (Great Britain vs. Argentina)
1982-85Israeli invasion &
occupation of southern Lebanon
1983 American invasion of Grenada
Further Reading:
