Six Historical Wars, Re-Run Through a Modern War Simulator
2026-09-26 · by Jordi Fuster
One honest caveat before anything else: this uses each country's current GDP, military spending, population and personnel — not the figures from whatever year the actual war happened. So this isn't a historical simulation; it's a "what would this look like with today's numbers" exercise, applied to six real wars. National power shifts a lot over decades, and in a couple of these cases, that shift completely flips the result.
The Winter War — Finland vs. the Soviet Union (today: Russia)
In 1939, tiny Finland held off a full Soviet invasion for over three months before eventually ceding territory. Run one-on-one against Russia today: 23.2% to 76.8% in Russia's favor — a big gap, though Finland's decision to join NATO in 2023 and maintain one of Europe's most serious per-capita defense postures is precisely the kind of factor a raw-capacity number like this can't capture.
The Vietnam War — Vietnam vs. the United States
The US had an overwhelming material advantage in the actual war and still didn't achieve its objectives. Today, the gap is even wider on paper: 24.2% to 75.8% in the United States' favor, given how much larger the modern US economy and military are relative to Vietnam's. If anything, this result underlines how little raw capacity alone explained that war's actual outcome.
The Falklands War — Argentina vs. the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom won this 1982 conflict despite fighting roughly 8,000 miles from home. Today's numbers point the same direction: 33.0% to 67.0% UK — a result that broadly lines up with how the actual war went, one of the few matchups on this list where history and the model agree.
The Six-Day War — Israel vs. Egypt
Israel defeated a coalition led by Egypt decisively in 1967. Run one-on-one against Egypt today: 60.4% to 39.6% in Israel's favor — still an edge for Israel, though a much narrower one than the historical result, reflecting how much Egypt's economy and military have grown since.
The Korean War — North Korea vs. South Korea
The actual 1950–53 war ended in a stalemate and an armistice that still holds today. The modern numbers tell a completely different story: 33.3% to 66.7% in South Korea's favor — a full reversal, driven entirely by South Korea's economy growing into one of the world's largest while North Korea's did not.
Napoleon's invasion of Russia — France vs. Russia
Napoleon's 1812 campaign is remembered as one of history's most catastrophic invasions. Today's France against Russia: 41.4% to 58.6% Russia — still an edge for Russia, but a genuine contest rather than a rout, since modern France's economy and military are far closer to Russia's than Napoleon's France ever was.
None of this simulates the actual battles, the generals, the weather or the decisions that decided these wars — it's six real historical conflicts, replayed with today's national capacity instead of the era's. Curious about a different one? The War Simulator works for any pairing you want to try.