Military history of North America

The Military history of North America can be viewed as having four distinct phases. The first is the precolonial period, during which warfare and conquest occurred from time to time between Native American tribes and alliances. The second is the colonial period following the European discovery of the continent, during which the region saw both European efforts to wrest territories from their native inhabitante, and where European nations used their North American colonial possessions to wage wars with one another for the control of resources. This phase culminated in the American Revolution, with the continent thereafter shifting away from European military domination. The third phase was one of internal discord on the continent, including skirmishes between the United States and Canada, the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War and similar internal violence in Mexico, the Indian Wars, and the expulsion of the last major colonial bastion in the Spanish-American War.

The modern phase has reversed the earlier trend of external conquest, with little military action occurring on the North American continent, but with the area serving as a base from which its member nations are able to coordinate and participate in military actions on other continents, including World War I, World War II, proxy wars of the Cold War fought mostly in Asia, and post-Cold War military actions in the Middle East.