History Main / WonTheWarLostThePeace

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart imagines himself as [[Literature/BooksOfKings King David]], ruling high on the hog after killing the giant Goliath. After Goliath's son, Goliath II, beats Bart/David up and takes over, Bart/David goes through some TrainingFromHell to kill Goliath II and reclaim his kingdom. Except it turns out that the Israelites were so happy with the work Goliath did as their king, so now Bart/David has got himself a nation full of enemies who put him on trial for assassination.

* This trope is both the main premise and CentralTheme of ''VideoGame/RedFlood'', a GameMod for ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIronIV''. ''Red Flood'' is set in an AlternateHistory where ''no one'' won [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the First World War]]. Great Britain's empire was almost completely shattered, with the London Stock Market crash resulting in TTL version of the Great Depression. The British Raj, Belgian Congo, and Russian Empire all fell into various squabbling warlord states, with the remains of Russia proper becoming a dictatorship under Alexander Kolchak. The German Empire was savagely beaten by Russia and then had the Spartacist Revolution succeed, making Germany the first Communist country ITTL. And France easily had it the worst, with the Great War having so completely ''broke'' French society that this is where the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality utterly insane]] ideology of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Accelerationism]] first rose in power.

* This problem frequently plagues the ComicBook/XMen, particularly when they're against anti-mutant crusaders. Every battle they fight against anti-mutant forces, they end up hated more and more by even more radical groups in response to their victory.
* ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' in the Sith-Imperial War the Galactic Empire has defeated the Galactic Alliance, but almost immediately the Sith quickly turned on the Empire splitting it in two, the Sith and the Loyalists.
* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' is set in Japan towards the end of the 16th century, shortly after one of the many warring daimyo manages to cement his authority as shogun, and return the realm to an approximate state of peace. This, of course, means that the warlords' armies are disbanded, leaving legions of samurai unemployed and unemployable in honest work and so turn to banditry, providing an inexhaustible supply of mooks to terrorize villages and get cut down by Usagi.

* This ''nearly'' happens to the Bureau of Internal Investigation in ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Nova'' -- as part of their schemes to place themselves as the [[TheManBehindTheMan The Men Behind the Men]] of all humanity, they help arrange a war between the Federation (the government the Bureau ostensibly answers to, and the first to be suborned) and the Polaris (the last remaining independent power, [[HigherTechSpecies and a very powerful one at that]]). Thanks in much to one of the Bureau's agents, the Federation wins... followed by the Polaris using the Bureau's inability to ''directly'' control the Federation to put forward a peace proposal that is highly favourable to the Federation but has clauses that (without actually saying so) would allow the Polaris to subtly work against the Bureau's control over the Federation. The Bureau ends up having to bomb the peace conference and restart the war to ensure the peace is in line with their goals. Then it nearly happens ''again'': the President of the Federation tries to outmaneuover the Bureau by planning to officially announce a massive budget cut (thanks to their generally indirect methods of control, it would be very hard for the Bureau to stop this once announced, as in the eyes of the Federation bureaucracy the President ''does'' have that authority, and without their bloated budget the Bureau would lack the resources to keep the Aurorans and Polaris under their thumb), forcing Bureau agents to rush to Earth and violently threaten the President to abandon the plan at the last minute.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, just prior to the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the [[VestigialEmpire declining Cyrodiilic Empire]] was invaded by their re-formed ancient enemy, the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] under the leadership of the extremist [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]], in what would come to be known as the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great War]] (though the Dominion gave the event the much more ominous name of "The First War Against the Empire"). Emperor Titus Mede II opted to withdraw his forces from the Imperial City and met up with [[HornyVikings Nord]] reinforcements from Skyrim. Together, they were able to recapture the Imperial City and repulse the Dominion from Cyrodiil. However, Mede sensed that his forces (the Imperial Legion no longer being the continent-conquering BadassArmy of old) were in no condition to continue the fight and he risked a PyrrhicVictory (at best) if he pushed for complete victory. Instead, he decided to sue for peace, and the best he could manage was the White-Gold Concordat, an uneasy cease-fire treaty with terms heavily favorable to the Dominion (in fact, it was noticed that the treaty was in effect not that different from the Aldmeri Dominion ultimatum which had started the war in the first place). Included was the ceding of large tracts of the Hammerfell province to the Dominion, the official dissolution of the [[AncientOrderOfProtectors Blades]], a ban on [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Talos]] worship, and the right for the Thalmor to enforce these terms even within the boundaries of the Empire itself. Feeling betrayed by the Empire, Hammerfell immediately seceded and waged their own war to push the Dominion out of Hammerfell (in which they actually succeeded single-handedly, raising even more questions and doubt about whether Emperor's decision to sue for peace was sound to begin with). Also feeling betrayed were the Nords, to whom Talos was their most popular deity. Under the leadership of [[RebelLeader Ulfric Stormcloak]], the [[LaResistance Stormcloaks]] initiated the Skyrim {{Civil War}} in an attempt to gain independence. Further, none of the parties involved are under any illusions that the peace between the Empire and Dominion will last and all believe that a second Great War is inevitable. There are many indications in ''Skyrim'' that the Dominion is already preparing for another war while [[ManipulativeBastard working behind the scenes]] to weaken the Empire. [[spoiler:Even the Skyrim Civil War is part of a scheme to weaken the Empire, with the Thalmor working to ensure that it lasts for as long as possible, draining both sides of manpower and resources for eventual takeover]].

* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'': After the defeat of the British at the Battle of Yorktown, George III assumes that the Americans have trouble establishing a functioning government. Washington is conscious of this possibility as well, saying "Winning is easy, young man, governing's harder."

Do you know how hard it is to lead?'' TruthinTelevision, since the conventional wisdom in the early republic was that it wouldn’t last the decade.

** The Marines and World Government experience this after winning the Summit War against the Whitebeard Pirates. Their victory did not bring peace as the death of Whitebeard created a power vacuum in the New World that other big-name pirates would fight over. Whitebeard's last words, confirming that "One Piece does exist", inspired a second Great Age of Piracy even wilder than the one started by Roger's last words, and the large casualties the Marines suffered during the conflict meant that they were severely understaffed to deal with the sheer amount of pirates. All of this combined caused the world to fall into chaos over the [[TimeSkip two year timeskip]], so much that the Marines were forced to institute a [[{{Conscription}} Worldwide Draft]] to conscript more people just to get the manpower necessary to police the world's oceans, and even that is implied to still not be enough.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the Marines and World Government experience this after winning the Summit War against the Whitebeard Pirates. Their victory did not bring peace as the death of Whitebeard created a power vacuum in the New World that other big-name pirates would fight over. Whitebeard's last words, confirming that "the One Piece does exist", inspired a second Great Age of Piracy even wilder than the one started by Roger's last words, and the large casualties the Marines suffered during the conflict meant that they were severely understaffed to deal with the sheer amount of pirates. All of this combined caused the world to fall into chaos over the [[TimeSkip two year timeskip]], so much that the Marines were forced to institute a [[{{Conscription}} Worldwide Draft]] to conscript more people just to get the manpower necessary to police the world's oceans, and even that is implied to still not be enough.

** ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy'' is a remake of ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'' that ties the game's events more closely into [[ConstructedWorld Strangereal]]'s timeline. During the debriefing for the final mission, unit commander Ulrich Olsen explains that defeating the Usean Rebellion has led to a state of "armed peace" as the rebelling countries of USEA will seek to expand their military, and that another war looms on the horizon--a CallForward to ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies''.
** In ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'', the allied forces manage to defeat Belka and force to respect the sovereignty of their breakaway regions as well as hand over the southern half of their country to Osea. However, the harsh and humiliating terms of Belka's surrender only served to enflame tensions and hatred among Belka's most extreme elements, and they would swear to take their revenge by secrently formenting destructive wars all across the world by distributing high tech military technology to warmongers. The [[VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar fifth]], [[VideoGame/AceCombat6 sixth]], and [[VideoGame/AceCombat7 seventh]] games all in part take place due to covert meddling from Belka.

** In ''VideoGame/AceCombatZero'', the allied forces manage to defeat Belka and force to respect the sovereignty of their breakaway regions as well as hand over the southern half of their country to Osea. However, the harsh and humiliating terms of Belka's surrender only served to enflame tensions and hatred among Belka's most extreme elements, and they would swear to take their revenge by secrently formenting destructive wars all across the world by distributing high tech military technology to warmongers. The [[VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar fifth]], [[VideoGame/AceCombat6 sixth]], and [[VideoGame/AceCombat7 seventh]] games all in part take place due to covert meddling from Belka.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': In the first season finale, [[/Recap/HouseOfTheDragonS1E10TheBlackQueen "The Black Queen"]], the learned princess Rhaenyra tries to [[DefiedTrope defy this trope]] when her advisers urge her to take a stronger stand against her rivals the Hightowers after they move to usurp her claim on the Iron Throne by crowning her younger half-brother Aegon in the wake of her father's death, knowing that the dragons on both sides will destroy the peace her father worked hard to maintain.