The Longest War

Q: How many years did the war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly last?

A: 335 years

The Longest War That Never Happened: The Netherlands vs. the Isles of Scilly

In the annals of strange and forgotten conflicts, few can rival the bizarre "war" between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly—a war that lasted an astonishing 335 years without a single shot being fired.

The story begins in 1651, during the tail end of the English Civil War. The Isles of Scilly, a small archipelago off the southwest coast of England, were a Royalist stronghold, while the Netherlands sided with the Parliamentarians due to commercial interests and political alliances. Dutch naval forces, frustrated by Royalist privateers operating out of the Scilly Isles, demanded reparations. When none were offered, the Dutch declared war on the Isles.

However, shortly afterward, the Parliamentarians gained control of the islands, and the Dutch sailed home. No actual fighting took place, and the matter was largely forgotten—until 1986, when a historian uncovered the curious fact that no peace treaty had ever been signed. Upon this discovery, a peace ceremony was arranged, and on 17 April 1986, the Netherlands officially declared peace with the Isles of Scilly.

Thus, a war that was entirely bloodless, largely unacknowledged, and probably unknown to the residents of both nations for centuries, officially came to an end after 335 years—making it one of the longest (and quietest) conflicts in history.