The Most One-Sided Military Conflicts in Modern History

Warfare isn't always about peer forces meeting face to face and proving who is better. Sometimes, the battle skews heavily in favor of the other force. As Moltke the Elder once stated, "No plan survives contact with the enemy," and for some of the battles we're looking at today, that seems to be the case.

There aren't official names given in the books regarding these lopsided battles. However, it is important to note that ISIS has yet to stand up to a conventional military force. Engagements with the United States military have seen ISIS suffer catastrophic losses thanks to a lack of air support.

Drones are something of a great equalizer when it comes to creating lopsided battles. This is commonly seen in Ukraine currently, where a swarm of drones is able to disable entire columns of Russian armor without any losses on the Ukrainian side. This is likely to be a more prevalent part of warfare in the coming years.

While no official name has been given for the opening skirmishes of the second invasion of Iraq, it is one of the most lopsided battles in modern history. A US-led coalition swept aside most resistance, easily getting to the capital of Baghdad in a matter of days. The difference in firepower and technology was made painfully evident.

This 2002 battle saw American and coalition forces squaring off with an entrenched and prepared Taliban element. The United States had substantial air superiority over the region, resulting in a scene of carnage when it got right down to it. American forces made this into a lopsided battle to remember.

This 2002 battle saw a prisoner uprising take place between Taliban prisoners of war and American-led coalition forces. A battered prisoner force against one of the most technologically advanced militaries of all time resulted in a horribly lopsided battle. Most of the prisoners were killed in action, with around 86 or so surviving combat and returning as prisoners.

The Highway of Death is arguably the most lopsided battle in all of modern history. Iraqi forces were routed by American troops fleeing on Highway 80. It turned into a turkey shoot of sorts, with American airpower raining fire down on Iraqi vehicles. An estimated 1,000 troops died on the Iraqi side, with zero American casualties.

The Persian Gulf War isn't just one of the most lopsided battles of history, but arguably the most lopsided war of modern history. Coalition forces decimated Iraqi troops and infrastructure, leaving the country reeling after a successful series of military actions to get enemy troops out of Kuwait. The coalition forces were met with minimal resistance, despite the fears of how powerful Iraq's military must be.

By 1944, the German war effort was on its last legs. Operation Bagration was the start of a monumental offensive meant to break Nazi Germany's military power. It worked, as constant losses and casualties saw the Germans being put on the back foot for the entirety of the campaign.

The Imperial Japanese Navy didn't have much left in the tank in 1944. It was still a formidable force by most measurements, but it simply couldn't stack up next to the US Navy. The Battle of the Philippine Sea is one of the most lopsided battles in all of naval history. It was dubbed the Marianas Turkey Shoot due to the Japanese Navy taking a heavy loss of material and personnel during the battle.

It was a relatively audacious plan to invade the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. For the first few months, however, this was one of those lopsided battles in Germany's favor. The Soviets suffered enormous losses, still reeling from purges and famines. They'd get the initiative back soon enough, but the Germans enjoyed early successes during the skirmishes and fights between.

Operation Compass was a lopsided battle right from the very start. British Commonwealth forces numbered 36,000 troops to the 150,000 troops fielded by Italy. The results were far from what was expected, though. Over the course of a 2-month campaign, English forces readily beat back the Italians and recaptured western Egypt for the Allies.

Before the outbreak of the Great War, Tsarist Russian forces were seen as an equalizer for the Allies. They could stand up to the full might of Imperial Germany's army, right? The Battle of Tannenberg was an early battle that showed the Russians that Germany was just beyond their level. This costly fight took almost all of the Russian Second Army as casualties.

The opening shots of the First World War came not in the form of some massive battle, but rather an invasion of neutral Belgium. The Siege of Liege seemed to be where Germany would be stopped, but it resulted in one of the most lopsided battles in recorded history. German artillery and weaponry were just above the capabilities of Belgian defenses.

Britain's conquest of Sudan wasn't much of a war, necessarily, but more of a series of brutal subjugation battles. Britain had machine guns, artillery, and numerous technological advantages. The results of this battle saw around 48 dead British soldiers and 12,000 dead Sudanese troops.

You might ask why a war is listed as a lopsided battle, but stick with me. The Anglo-Zanzibar War lasted 45 minutes or so, one of the shortest wars in all of history. However, what makes it one of the most lopsided battles is the sheer number of casualties on the Zanzibari side. Around 500 Zanzibari troops lost their lives during the battle, compared to a single wounded British sailor.