Civil war is characterized by being a armed conflict between organized groups within the same state.
On rare occasions, a civil war can also break out between two countries that were created from the division of a single state.
As a rule, the main objective of civil wars is to take control of a particular region or an entire nation, achieving independence or changing government policies.
Civil wars (also known as internal wars) are conflicts of great gravity for the nation involved, whether in the economic or social sphere.
These conflicts are responsible for the death of a high number of civilians, as they are characterized by the active participation of the people in the fighting. The main victims are children, women and the elderly, who, even without fighting in conflicts, are the most affected by the attacks.
After World War II, civil wars lasted an average of four years, according to most statistics.
More than 25 million people are estimated to have died in civil wars since 1945, in addition to tens of millions who have had to undergo forced migration to escape conflict.
In Brazil, the most important civil wars were marked in history as the War of the Rags, which took place between 1835 and 1845. The conflicts were against rebels, farroupilha liberals and the troops of the Brazilian Empire.
The call War of the Straws, which took place from 1896 to 1897, led by Antônio Conselheiro, is also another example of civil war that has marked Brazilian history.
See also: the meaning of Cold War.