Category: Civil Wars
Explore the human side of civil wars through authentic historical photographs. Witness the struggles, courage, and consequences of divided nations.
These images document key events and personal moments that shaped political and social transformations around the world.
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#80 B-26 Invaders bomb logistics depots in Wonsan, North Korea, 1951.
A towering blast plume rises over the port city of Wonsan, North Korea, throwing dark debris into the air while the shoreline and clustered rooftops sit in stark contrast beneath it. The harbor and surrounding hills frame the scene, underscoring how closely industry, transport, and civilian-built spaces could overlap in a wartime landscape. From this…
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#96 South Korean troops, 1952.
Relaxed in the shade and surrounded by brush and rock, a group of South Korean troops pauses long enough for the camera to find them. The foreground soldier leans back with a broad, unguarded smile, his uniform neat and his grenades hanging visibly at the chest, while others sit and stand behind him in layered…
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#112 On September 15, 1950, General MacArthur launched a surprise amphibious assault at the port of Inchon, South Korea, resulting in a decisive U.N. victory over the invading North Koreans. Within weeks, U.N. and South Korean forces had captured Seoul and cut off vital North Korean supply lines.
Arms lifted high in surrender, a small group of captured soldiers stands in the churned-up rubble of war, their faces tense and exhausted as they look toward the unseen captors. Behind them, a tracked armored vehicle looms large, its steel mass and stowed gear emphasizing the industrial scale of the fighting. The stark contrast between…
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#12 Evacuees form Srebrenica look out from a U.N. truck in Medgas, Bosnia, north of Sarajevo, as a U.N. truck convoy carrying people from the besieged Bosnian town made its way to Tuzla, March 20, 1993.
Faces crowd the opening of a U.N. truck as evacuees from Srebrenica press close to the canvas flap, looking out into Medgas, Bosnia, north of Sarajevo. Children and adults share the same narrow frame, their expressions ranging from wary to exhausted, while hands grip the edge as if to steady both body and resolve. The…
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#28 A young Bosnian boy and his mother mourning their father and husband, respectively, at his grave.
Grief sits heavy in this scene: a small Bosnian boy stands at a fresh grave with both hands resting on the headstone, while his mother kneels close to the earth, head bowed beneath a patterned scarf. Newly turned soil rises in uneven mounds, and bright flowers pressed against the marker add a fragile note of…
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#6 Scene at the Berlin Wall near Bernauer Strasse. Four children, one of them with a soccer ball and another with a bike, watching a fifth child climbing up the Wall.
Along Bernauer Strasse, the Berlin Wall rises like a rough-built cliff of concrete and broken masonry, topped with tangles of barbed wire and harsh angles. In the foreground, a boy hauls himself upward, fingers searching for purchase near the top while a streetlamp and fence lines frame the scene with an uneasy normality. The surface…
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#22 Children playing at the Berlin Wall in Berlin Wedding.
On a makeshift wooden platform beside the Berlin Wall in Wedding, a child perches at the top while another figure lingers below, turning a fortified boundary into an improvised playground. Concrete blocks, barbed wire, and a rough stone barrier fill the frame, yet the strongest impression is the casual way youthful curiosity presses up against…
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#4 Richard D. Dunphy, U.S. Navy coal heaver in uniform. 1864.
Richard D. Dunphy faces the camera with the steady, unsmiling composure so common to Civil War–era studio portraits. His U.S. Navy uniform is carefully arranged: a dark, double-breasted jacket punctuated by bright buttons, a broad collar and scarf at the throat, and a soft sailor’s cap sitting low on his head. The plain backdrop and…
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#20 Veterans John J. Long, Walter H. French, E. P. Robinson, and an unidentified companion, 1860s
Four men stand close together in a studio setting, their dark coats and neatly arranged hair lending a formal air to a moment that still feels personal. Identified in the title as veterans John J. Long, Walter H. French, and E. P. Robinson, they pose beside an unidentified companion, meeting the camera with steady expressions…
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#36 Captain David D. Cole shows a stump where his leg was amputated following a complete separation of the knee joint at the Battle of Amelia Courthouse.
Seated in a studio setting, Captain David D. Cole faces the camera with a steady, unsmiling composure that speaks to both injury and endurance. His damaged limb is deliberately positioned for view, the amputated stump presented without theatrics, while a tailored coat, hat, and formal posture insist on dignity. The careful arrangement—chair, patterned floor, and…