Did you say the war was started because of trees?

Potential Spoilers Below

The Wheel of Time: What caused the war?

Chora trees are large, living, tree-like constructs with trefoil-shaped leaves, created during the Age of Legends. It is said that they emitted a sense of peace for any who passed below their branches. They were grown in abundant quantities in the cities of old, especially in V'saine and Paaran Disen.

The Avendesora aka Chora

The destruction of the Sharom which floated above
the Collam Daan Universtity in V'saine.
This occurred after the Bore was created.

Avendesora, the Aiel name and the Wetlander name for the last-existing chora tree, found growing in Rhuidean means "Tree of Life" in the Old Tongue.

Aiel Warriors

Avendoraldera was a sapling from Avendesora presented by the Aiel to Cairhien in 509 NE.  It was a gift given to the people of the new city because the Aiel had determined that Cairhienin ancestors had provided their ancestors with water shortly after the Breaking. It was therefore a gift given to the city of Cairhien to satisfy the Aiel sense of honor for the aid they received when all other hands had turned against them.  Along with the sapling, Cairhienin merchants were given free passage across the Aiel Waste provided they displayed the proper banners.  In the histories, there are indications that Cairhien had no idea why they were privileged with such treasures or privileges.

Aiel Waste

Avendoraldera grew for four hundred years before King Laman cut it down with a mind to use its wood to build himself a magnificent and unique throne, thus precipitating the Aiel War and earning the Cairhienin citizens the Aiel epithet, "tree-killer."

King Laman

When the Aiel invaded, the nations of the Wetlands initially dismissed the threat and disparaged them as nothing more than savages. After countless battles and cities lost to the Aiel, the nations finally decided to unite together to combat the threat, forming the Great Coalition. Although the force opposing the Aiel was great, it did not succeed in defeating them, and the war carried on for over two years in a huge, bloody struggle for both sides. During this time, Cairhien itself was attacked and nearly burned to the ground.

The last battle of the war, the Battle of the Shining Walls, was fought outside of Tar Valon, in the winter of 978 NE at the base of Dragonmount. It is here that the Aiel succeeded in killing Laman Damodred, and the Aiel immediately ceased fighting, returning to the Three-fold Land now that the mission was complete.

Battle of the Shining Walls

Tar Valon

Dragonmount

The Game of Thrones: What caused the war?

It is unknown where the children of the forest came from, nor for how long they were alone in their land before humans arrived. A child named Leaf claimed at least "a thousand thousand of your man-years."  For thousands of years the children had to themselves, or shared only with the giants, the landmass that later became known as Westeros. Eventually about 12,000 years ago, the children came in contact with the First Men, the first outsiders. These invaders from Essos brought with them bronze, great leathern shields, the first horses, and their own gods. They burned the great weirwoods as they came, leading to war between the two.

Leaf - A child of the Forest

Giant

Catelyn and Ned under a weirwood tree

The two races fought a desperate war for dominance, supposedly resulting in the destruction of the Arm of Dorne and the flooding of the Neck through the magic of the greenseers of the children of the forest. The greenseers are also said to have turned trees into warriors.  Despite their obvious advantage in magic, the children were losing. The First Men were equipped with bronze swords and armour, and they were bigger and stronger.

After years of warfare, before they fought one another to a standstill, the two sides agree to a truce, signing the Pact on the Isle of Faces, agreeing to peacefully coexist and granting the open lands to humanity and the forests to the children. In time, the First Men abandoned the gods they had brought from Essos and adopted the gods of the children of the forest. With the signing of the Pact, the Dawn Age ended and the Age of Heroes began. The Pact lasted for four thousand years before the enigmatic Others invaded from the Lands of Always Winter, bringing death and destruction to both races in the Long Night. The Pact between the children and humanity ended with the arrival of new invaders, beginning with the Andals.

The Pact

Isle of Faces

An Other

The Lands of Always Winter

The Long Night

The Andal Invasion

Summation:

Both TWOT and ASOIAF have wars that were started over the destruction of tree(s) that one party held sacred.  Sure similarities occur within the same genre and fantasy is no exception.  But to this extent over the same book series?

Comments encouraged.  Love to hear the idea’s of others.  Most believe that since I present my idea’s as “fact like” I’m not open to change my viewpoints which is far from the truth.  I simply look at the information presented and go from there.  If you can shine a light on another way of thinking that opens the door to debate.