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.

#30 Near Wiener Brucke in kreuzberg district East Berliners sitting on a warm summer day on benches and others were waving to friends in West Berlin on Sept. 6, 1961.

Along a grassy embankment near the Wiener Brücke in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, a line of East Berliners gathers at the railing, drawn outdoors by the warmth of late summer and by the pull of familiar voices just beyond reach. Several people lift their arms in greeting, and one man raises a small child high, as…
#47 West Berliners watch the incidents at the U.S. Army checkpoint at the Friedrichstrasse where an American car and two sightseeing buses were barred entry by Communist East Berlin police, in Berlin on Oct. 25, 1961.

Crowds press toward the U.S. Army checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse, craning for a better view as tension mounts on the street below. Men in coats and hats pack the foreground shoulder to shoulder, while others climb onto a raised platform, turning themselves into an improvised grandstand. A small child perched above the scene underscores how public—and…
#63 To give the impression of normality, East German authorities sent children to the base of the Berlin Wall to act as if they were at play. Berlin, 1962

Barbed wire slices across the foreground like a warning scribbled over everyday life, while a lone child crouches on a broad, empty stretch of pavement. The pose suggests play, yet the stillness and the watchful glance toward the camera make it feel staged—an ordinary moment pressed into service as an argument. Even without showing the…
#79 Sunlight shines on the barbed wire and blocks of the Berlin Wall in August 1961.

Sunlight cuts across a long, rough wall, catching on coils of barbed wire that lean outward like a warning. Shot from street level, the scene stretches into the distance, turning the barrier into a hard horizon line that dominates everything nearby. The glare and deep shadows make the surface look wet or freshly worked, emphasizing…
#95 A girl looks at the Berlin Wall through a frosty window which reflects the Wall’s silhouetted barbed wire in December 1962.

Frost clings to the windowpane, turning ordinary glass into a winter screen where Berlin’s new border appears twice—once in the distance and again as a dark reflection. A young girl presses close, her face half-softened by condensation and glare, while the Berlin Wall’s barbed wire cuts sharp silhouettes across the scene. The effect is unsettlingly…
#111 A tear gas grenade explodes next to an East German armoured car during riots on the first anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall, circa 1960.

Smoke billows up in a sudden white burst beside an armoured car, turning a guarded stretch of wall and wire into a scene of immediate panic and confusion. The vehicle’s heavy frame and small observation points feel built for control, yet the erupting tear gas grenade suggests that control was being contested in the street.…
#12 Richmond, Virginia — J. F. Griffin, at 81 the last surviving member of the Louisiana Tigers, holds a Second Naval Jack flag at the 32nd Annual Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans at Richmond. 1922.

Standing rigidly in a uniform that still bears its straps and medals, J. F. Griffin poses at the 32nd Annual Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans in Richmond, Virginia, in 1922. At 81 years old and described as the last surviving member of the Louisiana Tigers, he grips a tall flagstaff with the Second Naval…
#28 107 years old last remaining Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Civil War Veteran Albert Woolson (seated) sitting in the front porch wearing a military hat and blanket while people and photographers are passing by. 1954.

At 107 years old, Albert Woolson sits quietly on a front porch, bundled in a thick blanket and topped with a military hat that signals a lifetime tied to the Civil War’s long shadow. The title identifies him as the last remaining member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), and the photograph treats…
#44 John Salling, who claimed to be 106 years old. He was one of the oldest living Civil War veterans, 1960.

Weathered and steady-eyed, John Salling sits in a plain chair beside a brick wall, his suspenders and open-collared shirt giving the portrait an unvarnished, everyday honesty. The camera lingers on the lines of his face and the roughness of his hands, details that quietly suggest a lifetime of labor and survival rather than ceremony. With…
#6 A crowd of demonstrators passing British soldiers in Leeson St. in the Falls Road area of Belfast, July 1970.

July 1970 in Belfast’s Falls Road area feels close enough to touch in this scene on Leeson Street, where a packed crowd of demonstrators moves past a line of British soldiers posted along a high wall. Many hands are raised—some in gesture, some in appeal, some in defiance—while the troops stand spaced apart with rifles…