The list of blockades informs about blockades that were carried out either on land, or in the maritime and air spaces in the effort to defeat opponents through denial of supply, usually to cause military exhaustion and starvation as an economic blockade in addition to restricting movement of enemy troops.
Spartan forces surrounded Athens on land. Athens withstood the landward attack, and subsisted on food imported by ship. In the Battle of Aegospotami, the Spartan navy destroyed the Athenian navy and implemented a sea blockade, forcing Athens to surrender.[1]
After the Normans occupied Corfu, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos blockaded the island with Venetian naval support gained in exchange for commercial privileges.
Included mainly Germany but also the entire Central Powers. The Allied blockade of Germany continued for a year after the Armistice until it signed the Treaty of Versailles.[4]
The Allied Powers carried out a blockade to prevent the Axis Powers from acquiring materials. Although the blockade was initially ineffective due to the use of neutral ports in the Soviet Union and Francoist Spain, it grew more severe when the Soviet Union and the United States entered the war in 1941 and when the Germans lost control of their occupied territories in France and Eastern Europe in 1944.
The Soviet occupation forces in Germany blockaded West Berlin at the beginning of the Cold War, but it became ineffective due to an American-led airlift.
Nigeria blockaded the secessionist republic of Biafra, creating an international humanitarian crisis that resulted in Biafrans receiving aid from volunteers around the world during the Biafran airlift and inspired the formation of Doctors Without Borders.
The blockade was first imposed during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. However, it was sporadically renewed after the Israel Defense Force was forced to withdraw to the South Lebanon security belt due to its continuing conflict with Hezbollah.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at war since the dissolution of the Soviet Union over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia is a landlocked country and therefore cannot conduct foreign trade without going through one of its neighbors. Turkey, Armenia’s historic enemy with whom it shares its largest border, is also an ally of Azerbaijan. Turkey and Azerbaijan have long refused to allow any Armenian trade over their air or land space. Lacking a sizeable enough border with Iran to facilitate major trade means Armenia is effectively dependent on the Georgia and Iran to conduct international trade. In order to avoid disturbing relations with Azerbaijan, Georgia imposes certain limits on Armenian imports.
Yugoslavia refused to recognize Croatia's independence. The Yugoslav Navy blockaded the Adriatic coast until it was defeated by Croatian artillery in the Battle of the Dalmatian Channels.
The PRC launched ballistic missiles at ROC territorial waters near the important ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung, forcing lengthy travel and shipping delays. The missile launches were believed to be intended to intimidate the Taiwanese public before the 1996 presidential election.
Several Arab League countries accused Qatar of funding terrorism in violation of a Gulf Cooperation Council agreement. Qatar denied these accusations but Saudi Arabia, Qatar’s only land neighbor, sealed its border, imposing a “land blockade“ and shutting down all land based trade to and from Qatar. Qatar was also criticized for its close relations with Iran and the management of Al Jazeera. Qatar claims it never funded terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and also shares a strategic alliance with the United States in the War on Terror and the international intervention against ISIL. The conflict was resolved after a diplomatic agreement brokered by the United States and Kuwait.
Starting in December 2022, Azerbaijan launched an illegal blockade of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, trapping the 120,000 residents within the region, blocking transport of food, medicine, and other supplies, and cutting off electricity and natural gas to the region.[6][7][8] The blockade has remained in place despite calls from the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights for the blockade to be lifted.[9][10]
Israel and Egypt closed all land border crossings to the Gaza Strip after the Battle of Gaza (2007) following the election of the Hamas Party and imposed a strict air and sea blockade. Israel claims that the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas, while Egypt claims that the blockade is intended to prevent Hamas from undermining the legitimacy of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority after winning the election.
After the Houthis overthrew President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi the Saudi government accused it of supporting Iran and blockaded the country. The United States and the United Kingdom provided naval and logistical support. The international community has criticized the blockade for creating a humanitarian crisis in Yemen including famine and a cholera outbreak.
Russia blockaded Ukraine's access to the Black Sea. After negotiations with Ukraine via Turkey, a corridor to export Grain was opened. It was briefly halted after the Kerch Bridge was attacked with a Truck Bomb.[11]
^Dakin, Douglas (2012). Η Ενοποίηση της Ελλάδας 1770-1923 [The Unification of Greece 1770-1923] (in Greek). Athens: Morfotiko Idrima Ethnikis Trapezis. pp. 214–215. ISBN978-960-250-150-4.
^Osborne, Eric W., Britain's economic blockade of Germany, 1914–1919, Frank Cass, London, 2004, p.230
^Hill, Nathaniel (2023-02-24). "Genocide Emergency: Azerbaijan's Blockade of Artsakh". genocidewatch. Retrieved 2023-05-08. Azerbaijan has repeatedly turned off the supply of natural gas and electricity to Artsakh, subjecting its people to freezing temperatures.
Medlicott, W. N. (1952). The Economic Blockade. History of the Second World War. United Kingdom, Civil Series. Vol. I. London: HMSO. OCLC1164343573.
Medlicott, W. N. (1959). The Economic Blockade. History of the Second World War. United Kingdom, Civil Series. Vol. II. London: HMSO. OCLC1164343573.
Elleman, Bruce A.; Paine, S. C. M., eds. (2006). Naval Blockades and Seapower Strategies and Counter-Strategies, 1805–2005. London: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-35466-0.
