The modern history of Azeroth is defined by three large-scale global conflicts collectively known as the First, Second, and Third Wars. These wars reshaped political borders, devastated civilizations, and established the enduring rivalry between the Horde and the Alliance that defines the era of World of Warcraft Classic.
The First War began with the opening of the Dark Portal, a transdimensional gateway linking Azeroth to the world of Draenor. The portal was created through the combined efforts of the orcish warlock Gul’dan and Medivh, the last Guardian of Tirisfal, who had been corrupted by the Burning Legion.
Through the Dark Portal came the orcs of the Horde, already corrupted by demonic fel magic and driven by a need for conquest and survival. Their initial campaign targeted the human kingdom of Stormwind, located in the southern Eastern Kingdoms. Early engagements favored the Horde due to their physical strength, brutal tactics, and internal divisions among the humans.
The war culminated in the Siege of Stormwind. King Llane Wrynn was assassinated by the half-orc Garona, Stormwind City was destroyed, and surviving human refugees fled north by sea toward Lordaeron. During the conflict, Orgrim Doomhammer overthrew Warchief Blackhand and assumed leadership of the Horde, attempting to curb some of Gul’dan’s excesses.
The First War ended with the fall of Stormwind and a decisive Horde victory, marking the first time Azeroth faced an organized extraterrestrial invasion.
The Second War erupted when the Horde expanded its campaign northward into the rest of the Eastern Kingdoms. In response, the human kingdoms united with the dwarves of Ironforge, the gnomes of Gnomeregan, and the high elves of Quel’Thalas to form the Alliance of Lordaeron.
This war was fought on multiple fronts, including Khaz Modan, Lordaeron, Quel’Thalas, and the seas surrounding Azeroth. The Horde gained new allies, including forest trolls and goblin sappers, and constructed a powerful navy. Internally, however, the Horde suffered from factionalism, particularly due to Gul’dan’s betrayal, as he abandoned the war effort in pursuit of ancient Titan artifacts.
Key battles included the Siege of Quel’Thalas, where high elven lands were ravaged, and the Battle of Blackrock Mountain, which became a strategic stronghold. Ultimately, Alliance forces achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Blackrock Spire, where Orgrim Doomhammer was defeated and captured.
Following the war, most surviving orcs were placed in internment camps, their demonic bloodlust fading but leaving them weakened and leaderless. The Alliance, attempting to prevent future invasions, launched an expedition through the Dark Portal into Draenor. This resulted in catastrophic instability: multiple portals tore Draenor apart, and the Dark Portal was sealed from the Azerothian side. Draenor itself began collapsing, later becoming known as Outland.
In the years following the Second War, the Alliance struggled to maintain unity. Political tensions and resource exhaustion weakened central authority, while the orc internment camps became symbols of moral and logistical failure.
During this period, the Burning Legion enacted a new strategy: the creation of the Scourge, an undead army designed to destabilize Azeroth from within. The orc shaman Ner’zhul, punished for past failures, was transformed into the spectral Lich King and bound within the Frozen Throne in Northrend.
The Scourge spread via the Plague of Undeath, devastating the northern kingdom of Lordaeron. Prince Arthas Menethil, heir to the throne, pursued the source of the plague but gradually succumbed to despair and corruption. He ultimately claimed the cursed runeblade Frostmourne, becoming a death knight in service to the Lich King.
The Third War represented a convergence of multiple existential threats. The Scourge overran Lordaeron, culminating in the assassination of King Terenas Menethil II and the destruction of the kingdom. The high elven realm of Quel’Thalas was nearly annihilated, and the Sunwell was corrupted.
Simultaneously, the Burning Legion launched a full invasion, led by the eredar lord Archimonde, using the Scourge as its vanguard. In response to prophetic warnings, the orc leader Thrall led the freed orcs westward to Kalimdor, where they allied with the tauren and later the trolls of the Darkspear tribe.
Human survivors under Jaina Proudmoore also traveled to Kalimdor, where they encountered the ancient night elves, who had guarded the forests since the War of the Ancients. Initial conflicts between these factions gave way to cooperation as the true scale of the Legion’s threat became clear.
The war culminated in the Battle of Mount Hyjal, where the combined forces of orcs, humans, night elves, and dragonflights defeated Archimonde. His destruction marked the end of the Legion’s invasion and the effective conclusion of the Third War.
The aftermath of the Third War left Azeroth politically fragmented but temporarily free from cosmic invasion. The orcs founded Durotar, the night elves retreated into relative isolation, and the human survivors established Theramore. Meanwhile, the undead Forsaken, freed from the Lich King’s control, claimed the ruins of Lordaeron.
These unresolved tensions and power vacuums directly define the geopolitical situation at the beginning of World of Warcraft Classic.