rogercooper.com

Civil wars are common throughout history. They may be efforts an area to secede from existing state (American Revolution, American Civil War), to take control of an existing state (English Civil War, Chinese Civil War) or both (Russian Civil War).

Most geographical sources neglect these events. Geacron does not show the United State until 1784. Centennia does not show the Russian or English Civil Wars.

Given the frequency of civil wars, I can’t try to show them all. For me to show a civil war the following must be true.

1. The war must last more than a year
2. Each side must control at least one major city

Civil wars are often waged by loose alliances of disparate groups. If the alliance is coordinating military operations, I am considering to be a state, even if it does not meet other definitions of a state. I think that is more useful to provide information on the whole alliance, so the user can the see resources available. Separatists I will usually list separately even if they are allied with groups trying to takeover the whole country. This can be quite complex e.g. the Russian Civil War.