Protectionist tendencies and policies in world trade date back to mercantilist periods. The basis of protectionist policy practices is the idea that countries should have foreign trade surpluses and prevent monetary outflow from the country. In this sense; protectionism, which prioritizes monetary wealth, is mainly known and draws attention as the practice of colonialist periods. Although countries occasionally resort to protectionist policies today, the general application of the free market system is based on the free trade approach. The most characteristic practice of protectionist periods is the protectionist practices implemented after the Great European Depression and the Great Depression of 1929. Protectionist practices generally come to the agenda together with trade wars in periods of economic crisis and contraction, and can sometimes cause actual wars. Although world trade turned towards an important free trade approach as institutions and rules after the Second World War, protectionist practices and trade wars started to enter the world agenda again, especially after the 2008 global crisis. From this perspective, it is seen that protectionist practices mostly occur in economic crisis and recession periods. The aim of this article is to examine protectionist tendencies and trade wars in world trade and to evaluate their possible effects and results.