These Are The Wars That Killed The Most People In Human History

Dresden. World War II

National Interest: These Conflicts Killed the Most People in Human History

So many millions dead.

Key point: History is full of very bloody conflicts.

All wars are awful. Some wars are much, much more awful than others.

All wars are awful. Some wars are much, much more awful than others.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, nor does it comprise anything but a fraction of the overall deaths in wars in human history. Still, the five wars on this list may have collectively killed up to a quarter of a billion people.

These wars were big and upset the status quo. The Chinese Civil War turned more than half a billion people Red. World War II destroyed a totalitarian menace. Even the Mongol invasions echo in the present as an estimated 16 million people worldwide carry the genes of Genghis Khan.

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WNU Editor: The Chinese Civil War and the Tai Ping Rebellion were incredibly bloody. But the Second World War holds the record of people being killed.

What Happened to Dead Bodies After Big Battles Throughout History?

WNU editor: Now we know.

A Look At 10 Of The Largest And Most Important Tank Battles In History

Panzer IIIs and IVs on the southern side of the Kursk salient at the start of Operation Citadel, July 1943. Wikimedia commons

Ben Brimelow, Business Insider: Here's how 10 of the largest and most important tank battles in history played out

The tank is one of the most important weapon systems on the battlefield. Few weapons strike enemy soldiers with the fear that a fully loaded tank rolling towards them does.

After their trial by fire on the fields of Europe in World War I, tanks have become a necessity for any army that wants to be considered a serious foe.

In the one hundred years since its invention, tanks have been the winning factor in a number of battles. Entire wars have depended on their successful use.

Take a look at how 10 of the biggest tank battles in history went:

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WNU Editor: My father was near The Battle of Prokhorovka (during the larger Battle of Kursk). He was commanding an artillery unit, and as he told me more than once when I was growing up, it was in that battle that his entire unit was wiped up by another Russian artillery unit who thought they were the Germans. He suffered shrapnel wounds and a loss of his hearing .... but in a month later he was back at the front commanding another artillery unit.Such was war on the Russian front.

The 10 Most Intense Battles In US History

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks to US soldiers before D-Day.National Archives

Business Insider/We Are The Mighty: The 10 most intense battles in US history

In the short history of our country, the United States rose to global military dominance — yeah, I said it. Come at me, China.

But the road to the top was paved with the blood of good men and women. Looking back, there are some pivotal battles we remember with solemn pride and a little bit of hoo-rah.

Let's check out 10 of the most intense battles in United States history.

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WNU Editor: A good list.

6 Deadliest Battles For The Soldiers Fighting In It

We Are The Mighty: 6 deadliest battles for troops to fight in

For better or worse, the grunts handle the main chunk of the fighting. These are your combat arms troops — infantry, scouts, tankers, artillerymen, etc.

The supply guys in the back can usually get a bit comfy knowing that they probably won’t get called to the front line — except in the case of total war when the front line is so decimated that everyone, back to front, needs to push into the fray.

To quantify the level of suck, we’ve ranked the following battles by a metric that measures the percentage of casualties in relation to troops present on the battlefield and total loss of life from both sides. Thankfully, for today’s troops, full-scale battles aren’t as catastrophic as they were before the advent of modern medicine.

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These Are The 5 Most Horrific Wars In All Of History

Kyle Mizokami, National Interest: Bloodbaths: These Are the 5 Most Horrific Wars in All of History

Unlike World War I, World War II was a truly global war with much of the fighting taking place in Asia and the Pacific. The Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million military personnel and civilians, making it by far the country with the highest death toll. China is thought to have suffered 20 million deaths, Germany 6-7 million, and Japan roughly 2.5 to 3.2 million. The United States was fortunate, losing approximately 420,000, all but 10,000 military deaths.

All wars are awful. Some wars are much, much more awful than others.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, nor does it comprise anything but a fraction of the overall deaths in wars in human history. Still, the five wars on this list may have collectively killed up to a quarter of a billion people.

These wars were big and upset the status quo. The Chinese Civil War turned more than half a billion people Red. World War II destroyed a totalitarian menace. Even the Mongol invasions echo in the present as an estimated 16 million people worldwide carry the genes of Genghis Khan.

Read more ....

WNU editor: In terms of sheer numbers of people killed .... yup .... those 5 wars should be on the list.

Update: Here is a more comprehensive list .... List of wars by death toll (Wikipedia). Hat tip to Fred for this list.

A Look At How The Potato Helped To End The Continuous Wars Of Europe

A new study says the introduction of potatoes and the resultant increase in productivity "dramatically reduced conflict" both within and between states for some two centuries

AFP: Potatoes for peace: how the humble tuber stopped conflict in Europe

The humble potato -- drought-resistant, able to thrive in diverse soils, and enjoyed fried, steamed or baked -- brought centuries of relative calm and prosperity to Europe after its introduction in the 16th century, a new study says.

The crop, discovered in Latin America in the 1400s before eventually sweeping through Europe, greatly boosted productivity, helping lower land costs while improving nutrition and raising wages, from peasants up to the ruling classes, according to the study for the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The blessings that flowed from this agricultural revolution helped ease the economic and societal pressures that can lead to costly and disastrous conflicts, says the report.

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WNU Editor: I was not aware that the potato came from the Americas. One of my favorite Russian dishes. Fried potatoes with bacon, mushrooms and onions. Brings peace to my stomach all the time. :)

The 10 Bloodiest Battles In History

Grumpy Sloth: The 10 Bloodiest Battles In History

The battles listed below, all of which took place in the 20th Century, claimed between them over 20 million lives. The mechanisation of war, and the development of area bombing, meant that whole armies could be wiped out during one battle. Unsurprisingly, most of these battles involved the Soviet Union, due in part to the size of its army, but also to the ferocity of the fighting between the Soviet and Nazi forces in WW2.

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WNU Editor:  No arguments from me on this list.

Hat tip to Fred for the above link.

Has Mankind Always Gone To War?

Sarah Peacey, The Conversation: Have humans always gone to war?

The question of whether warfare is encoded in our genes, or appeared as a result of civilisation, has long fascinated anyone trying to get to grips with human society. Might a willingness to fight neighbouring groups have provided our ancestors with an evolutionary advantage? With conflicts raging across the globe, these questions have implications for understanding our past, and perhaps our future as well.

The Enlightenment philosophers Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau had different visions of prehistory. Hobbes saw humanity’s earliest days as dominated by fear and warfare, whereas Rousseau thought that, without the influence of civilisation, humans would be at peace and in harmony with nature.

The debate continues to this day. Without a time machine, researchers examining warfare in prehistory largely rely on archaeology, primatology and anthropology.

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WNU Editor: We have been conducting war for a very long time. Some previous posts ....

Mankind's First Genocide?

Oldest Evidence Of Violence Between Humans Unearthed In China

Warfare Started With The Creation Of Man's First Nation States

How The Longbow Changed Warfare

Robert Bateman, Daily Beast: How the Longbow Ended Knights in Shining Armor

Historians love watershed moments, and few in military history in the West were as important as the battle of Crecy in 1346.

Here is the short version: In the summer of 1346 the English kicked the snot out of the French in one of the most lopsided military victories of the Middle-Ages. It was the first of the major stompings of the French by the English in what is now known as the Hundred-Years War. At issue was who should rule most, if not all, of France: Edward III of England or Phillip VI of France. But that is somewhat beside the point. If you are studying for the SAT exams and do not care about more, stop here. That is all you need to know to answer a standardized test or perhaps a crossword puzzle.

What is important about this battle is that it is one of the first examples of the rise of disciplined infantry as the real rulers on the battlefield.

Driving into the tiny farm village of Crecy, in early spring when the chill is still in the air of northern France, can be spooky. Completely bare streets. Not a soul walking around, or even cars parked on the streets, making the town seem abandoned. This is a curious thing in such a densely populated nation as France. But it does appear at that time of year to be a de facto ghost town. Or perhaps something else…

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WNU Editor: The above video is an excellent review of this weapon.

Remembering The Battle Of Cannae

Robert Bateman, Daily Beast: The Ancient Battle Generals Still Love To Copy

Cannae for Hannibal was the definition of winning the battle but losing the war. However, his brilliant execution of a double envelopment would obsess tacticians for a millennia.

I went to the most famous battlefield in Western History, and had a surprise. Not a good one.

It is a stomp, well off the path, to get to Cannae.

The main train lines in Italy run up and down the coasts. Going inland, particularly in southeast Italy, is somewhat more episodic. My train had two cars. At the fourth stop, “Battle”, I got off.

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The Oldest Known Evidence Of Human Warfare Has Been Confirmed

Part of a man’s skeleton found lying in the lagoon. The skull has multiple lesions on the front and left side consistent with wounds from a blunt implement. Photograph: Marta Mirazón Lahr

The Guardian: Stone-age massacre offers earliest evidence of human warfare

Researchers say remains of 27 murdered tribespeople in Kenya prove attacks were normal part of hunter-gatherer relations

Some 10,000 years ago a woman in the last stages of pregnancy met a terrible death, trussed like a captive animal and dumped into shallow water at the edge of a Kenyan lagoon. She died with at least 27 members of her tribe, all equally brutally murdered, in the earliest evidence of warfare between stone age hunter-gatherers.

The fossilised remains of the victims, still lying where they fell, preserved in the sediment of a marshy pool that dried up thousands of years ago, were found by a team of scientists from Cambridge University.

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WNU Editor: 27 victims .... men, women, and children .... all killed in the same place and time .... and violently. This was a deliberate massacre where taking prisoners was not a priority.

More News On The Confirmation Of The Oldest Known Evidence Of Human Warfare

Prehistoric Massacre Hints at War Among Hunter-Gatherers -- New York Times
Prehistoric massacre in Kenya called oldest evidence of warfare -- Reuters
10,000-Year-Old Battered Bones May Be Oldest Evidence of Human Warfare -- Live Science
Attack 10,000 years ago is earliest known act of warfare -- Science News
Anthropologists in Kenya find evidence of 10,000-year-old massacre -- DW
Prehistoric site shows brutal human attacks -- USA Today
War is as old as time: Cambridge University researchers unveil massacred bodies dating back 10,000 years -- The Independent
A Prehistoric Mass Grave Suggests Hunter-Gatherers Weren’t So Peaceful -- The Atlantic
10,000-year-old mass killing is still a mystery -- Ars Technica
Photos: The Oldest Known Evidence of Warfare Unearthed -- Live Science

The 10 Biggest Military Blunders In History

Battle of Agincourt, 25 October 1415. Image from the Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet. © The Art Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

History Extra: The top 10 military blunders in history

From ancient times to the present day, battles have been lost to dire weather, insufficient weaponry and bad luck. But what about those for which poor judgment and bad planning are to blame?

Here, historian Rupert Matthews explores 10 of the worst military blunders in history.

Any fool can lose a battle. All you need to have is a weaker army than your opponent. What takes a special talent is to lose a battle when you start off with all the advantages in your own hands.

Some commanders have managed to throw away the power of greater numbers, strong positions and superior weaponry with blunders of such awesome scale that they have ended up losing a battle that, logically, they should have won with ease. Here are the most impressive military blunders in history.

WNU Editor: When you have the advantage .... and you still lose .... that is definitely a blunder. I agree with the 10 that are listed here .... but I suspect that if I am given the time, I would probably list 100 more.

What 6 WWI Battlefields Look Like 100 Years Later

50,000 pounds of explosives were placed in a tunnel under German lines by British soldiers. The explosion created a hole over 90 meters wide.

Vintage History: What 6 WWI Battlefields Look Like 100 Years Later

These places have seen endless destruction and have been ravaged by war. However, what remains is a rich history and visually stunning landscapes.

Moscow’s Military Museum

Moscow’s Military Museum – A Journey Through Russia’s History -- RT

With an iconic T-34 tank guarding the entrance, you know where you are. The Central Museum of Armed Forces takes you through Russia’s military history, from its earliest days to modern times.

Founded soon after the Revolution, the museum moved to its present location in the north of Moscow in the 1960s. More than 20 halls are filled with thousands of items, and there is also a large outdoor display.

The exhibitions tracing the history of the Tsarist army and the Russian Civil War are currently closed for a makeover. Even without them, there is plenty to see, though. The focus is on World War II, from Soviet propaganda posters to weapons and banners captured from the Germans, the collection is a close-up of the some of the country’s most dramatic events.

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My Comment: Guess what museum I am going to visit when I am in Russia this summer.

Oldest Evidence Of Violence Between Humans Unearthed In China

Maba "man" took a wallop from something, but lived to fight another day. BBC

Ancient Skull Found In China May Be Oldest Evidence Of Violence Between Humans -- The Telegraph

An ancient skull discovered in China may be the oldest evidence of violence between humans, according to researchers.

A fracture on the right temple of the skull is likely to have been caused by a blow to the side of the head some 150,000 to 200,000 years ago.

“There are older cases of bumps and bruises and cases of trauma,” said Erik Trinkaus from Washington University in St Louis, US, to the BBC.”

But this is the first one I am aware of where the most likely interpretation is getting whooped by someone else – to put it bluntly.”

The skull was unearthed in a cave near Maba in 1958 but its significance only came to light recently.

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More Evidence Of Archaeologists Uncovering Evidence Of Early Human Violence

'Earliest' evidence of human violence -- BBC
Evidence uncovered of world's oldest violent argument -- CBS
The Roots of Violence -- The Scientist
Archaeologists Uncover Evidence Of Early Human Violence -- And Caring -- Forbes
Bashed Skull Is Earliest Evidence of Human Aggression? -- National Geographic

Warfare Started With The Creation Of Man's First Nation States

PLUNDER Ruins at Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mexico. A wave of new research holds that early states arose from warring chiefdoms as populations grew. Beth Greenfield for The New York Times

Sign of Advancing Society? An Organized War Effort -- New York Times

Some archaeologists have painted primitive societies as relatively peaceful, implying that war is a reprehensible modern deviation. Others have seen war as the midwife of the first states that arose as human population increased and more complex social structures emerged to coordinate activities.

A wave of new research is supporting this second view. Charles Stanish and Abigail Levine, archaeologists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have traced the rise of the pristine states that preceded the Inca empire. The first villages in the region were formed some 3,500 years ago. Over the next 1,000 years, some developed into larger regional centers, spaced about 12 to 15 miles apart. Then, starting around 500 B.C., signs of warfare emerged in the form of trophy heads and depictions of warriors, the two archaeologists report in last week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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My Comment: Economic cooperation or warfare .... the two underlying mechanisms that has always dictated how nation states behaved. hmmm .... it seems we have not changed much in 5,000+ years.

War Was Also Brutal During The Times Of The Pharaohs

Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II died from multiple ax wounds. (Credit: Public domain / Catalogue du Musee du Caire (Royal Mummies section), published in 1912. )

New Pharaonic Mystery Puzzles Researchers -- CBS News

Elite members of ancient Egypt, including the pharaoh himself, likely wielded ornate daggers, swords and axes in battle, or to personally execute prisoners, rather than using the shiny metal for ceremonial purposes, research suggests.

The weapons were used during the Bronze Age, a period between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago when the civilization was at its height, according to Daniel Boatright, an Egyptologist at Isle of Wight College in the United Kingdom.

This finding is "strange considering the amount of literature that's been composed so far that basically says that all of them were for ritualistic purposes and were never used in battle," Boatright told LiveScience.

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My Comment: The history buff in me finds this fascinating.

Ancient War In The Andes Revealed With Recent Archaeological Discoveries

The west gate of the Inca fortress of Quitoloma. Archaeologists are working on excavating and conserving it. CREDIT: Photo courtesy Chad Gifford/Pambamarca Archaeological Project

Ancient War Revealed in Discovery of Incan Fortresses -- Live Science

Incan fortresses built some 500 years ago have been discovered along an extinct volcano in northern Ecuador, revealing evidence of a war fought by the Inca just before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Andes.

"We're seeing evidence for a pre-Columbian frontier, or borderline, that we think existed between Inca fortresses and Ecuadorian people's fortresses," project director Samuel Connell, of Foothill College in California, told LiveScience.

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My Comment: At least Latin American does not conduct human sacrifices today.

It Seems That Man Has Been At War With His Fellow Man For A Very Long Time

Bronze Age relic: Archaeologists have found the remains of around 100 bodies in the Tollense Valley in northern Germany, including this fractured skull

'Earliest' Bronze Age Battle Site Containing 100 Bodies Found On German River Bank -- The Daily Mail

Fractured skulls and broken bones found on a German river bank could point to the earliest site of a Bronze Age battle ever discovered.

Archaeologists uncovered the remains of around 100 bodies in the Tollense Valley in northern Germany, suggesting brutal hand-to-hand combat between warring tribes.

Bones had been battered, skulls were fractured and one body has an arrowhead buried more than 2cm inside it.

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My Comment: On the one hand, such a discovery is fascinating and informative of how we interacted (and fought) in ancient times. On the other hand .... it is depressing to know that our culture and approach to war has not changed .... with the exception that we now have better weapons.