History Main / OvernightConquest

A large-scale subtrope of CurbStompBattle and, in many cases, EasyLogistics. A common setup for BackFromTheBrink scenario. HomeByChristmas would be when someone is ''expecting'' this kind of war, only for things to turn out much less than expected. Compare also EasilyConqueredWorld, wherein the defenders fail to offer any resistance to much weaker invaders.

* The early stages of WorldWarTwo.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'', the PACT invasion of Cera took less than one night.

* MarvelComics has a 2012 CrisisCrossover called "It's Coming" which deals with a BadFuture in which The Phoenix is supposed to come back to Earth and reduce it to an ash-filled wasteland devoid of life. In the future, they call the cataclysmic event "The Six-Second War".

* There were a couple of real wars with names like these, such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_day_war Six-Day War]] where Israel had a major victory over several Arab nations in a course of one incomplete week in 1967, or Russian-Georgian war in South Ossetia in 2008, which pretty much turned into a full-scale Georgian rout after its second day, but is commonly called the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Day_War Five-Day War]], because of the cease-fire agreement date.
* There's also the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War Anglo-Zanzibar War]], which lasted all of a whopping 40 minutes before the conflict ended. It's the shortest war in history.

* In ''MobileSuitGundamF91'' the Crossbone Vanguards quickly take over the colony within mere hours, as forces of TheFederation were borderline weak to useless in defending the colony.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'' begins with the near-obliteration of the human race in a surprise attack that's over before anyone's realized what's going on.

* This is pretty how the Kushan Empire invaded the Capital City of Windham in ''{{Berserk}}''. Moments after the King of Midland dies, Emperor Ganishka and his troops come storming in and take over the joint.

* In ''CanadianBacon'' the Canadian-American war ends before hostilities can even begin when the Americans realize that all their nuclear weapons can be remotely controlled from Toronto. The American President surrenders to the Canadian Prime Minister who is not even aware that anything out of the ordinary is happening.

** The [[Film/RedDawn2012 2012 remake]] does the same, replacing the Russians with the Chine-- sorry, North Koreans.

* Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982, also qualifies. It helps that the islands are sparsely populated and that the British only had about 57 Royal Marines and some assorted sailors and civilian volunteers to defend the islands at the time. In spite of this, the Brits actually managed to force the initial Argentine assault force to retreat for a bit, and Governor Rex Hunt initially refused to surrender. Only after the Argentines brought in more troops and Surrounded Government House did a surrender occur. This, of course, touched off UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar. The Brits reclaimed the islands within two months.

** Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied Kuwait in just one day in 1990. It helps that Kuwait was a small country and it's military was at a size of about 16,000 strong. This pales in comparison to Iraq which was a fairly large country with a military of about ''one million men'' (the fourth largest army in the world at the time)!

* The early stages of WorldWarTwo
** Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939, the Russians invaded on September 17th, and by October 6th the campaign was over and Poland was being divided between them.

* In the early stages of WorldWarTwo, Germany conquered the Netherlands and Belgium in a matter of days.

* Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied Kuwait in just one day in 1990. It helps that Kuwait was a small country and it's military was at a size of about 16,000 strong. This pales in comparison to Iraq which was a fairly large country with a military of about ''one million men'' (the fourth largest army in the world at the time)!

* There were a couple of real wars with names like these, such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_day_war Six-Day War]] where Israel had a major victory over several Arab nations in a course of one incomplete week in 1967, or Russian-Georgian war in South Ossetia in 2008, which pretty much turned into a full-scale Georgian rout after its second day, but is commonly called the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Day_War Five-Day War]], because of the cease-fire agreement date.
* There's also the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War Anglo-Zanzibar War]], which lasted all of a whopping 40 minutes before the conflict ended. It's the shortest war in history.

* At the beginning of ''[[Literature/{{Animorphs}} The Ellimist Chronicles]]'', Toomin and his friend are playing a war game. Toomin's side is defeated so quickly he has to watch the replay in slow motion to find out what happened.

* In MichaelMoorcock's "Eternal Champion" story, the Eldren, under their military commander [[spoiler:former human Champion Ekrose]] perform a KillEmAll on every human on Earth within a very short (unspecified) span of time. Justified as the Eldren have ray guns, and the humans have classic middle ages armor, swords, and so forth.

* Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied Kuwait in just one day. It helps that Kuwait was a small country and it's military was at a size of about 16,000 strong. This pales in comparison to Iraq which was a fairly large country with a military of about ''one million men'' (the fourth largest army in the world at the time)!
** Then it got inverted with the liberation of Kuwait by teh U.S. led Coalition. While the air campaign went on for over a month, the ground campaign lasted just 100 hours.

* ''[[CiaphasCain Cain's Last Stand]]'' makes a very big deal that an invading Chaos force is progressing far faster than it has any right to, and even seems to be growing. They find out that it's because Warmaster Varan has [[spoiler: the ability to instantly brainwash any who hear or see him, including over a public-address system]]. In addition, Necrons have weapons that desintegrate targets and can teleport to just about anywhere they please, resulting in a CurbStompBattle.

* There's also the Anglo-Zanzibar War, which lasted all of a whopping 40 minutes before the conflict ended. It's the shortest war in history. See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War Anglo-Zanzibar War]]

* There were a couple of real wars with names like these, such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_day_war Six-Day War]] where Israel had a major victory over several Arab nations in a course of one incomplete week in 1967, or Russian-Georgian war in South Ossetia in 2008, which pretty much turned into a full-scale Georgian rout after its second day, but is commonly called the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Day_War Five-Day War]], because of the cease-fire agreement date.

* ''{{Thundercats 2011}}'': The Lizards have devastated the entire kingdom of the Cats in just one night. Justified as the Cats have medieval level technology, while the Lizards are armed with high tech weapons such as laser guns, bombs, and giant mechs.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'', the PACT invasion of Cera less than one night.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'', The PACT invasion of Cera less than one night.