Nine Largest Wars (by Death Toll)
Three of the ten most costly wars, in terms of loss of life, have been waged in the last century. These are of course the two World Wars, then followed by the Second Sino-Japanese War (which is sometimes considered part of World War II, or overlapping with that war). Most of the others involved China or neighboring peoples. The death toll of World War II, being 60 million plus, surpasses all other war-death-tolls by a factor of two. This may be due to significant recent advances in weapons technologies, as well as recent increases in the overall human population.
| Deaths (millions) |
Date | War |
|---|---|---|
| 60–72 | 1939–1945 | World War II (see World War II casualties) |
| 36 | 755–763 | An Shi Rebellion (number exaggerated based on census system,but not considering the territorial shrink and inefficient census system afterwar） |
| 30–60 | 13th century | Mongol Conquests (see Mongol invasions and Tatar invasions) |
| 20 | 1914–1918 | World War I (see World War I casualties) |
| 20 | 1850–1864 | Taiping Rebellion (see Dungan revolt) |
| 20 | 1937–1945 | Second Sino-Japanese War |
| 8–12 | 1862–1877 | Dungan revolt |
| 7–20 | 1370–1405 | Conquests of Tamerlane |
| 5–9 | 1917–1922 | Russian Civil War and Foreign Intervention |
Read more about this topic: Causes Of War
Famous quotes containing the words largest, wars and/or death:
“The eager fate which carried thee
Took the largest part of me:
For this losing is true dying;
This is lordly man’s down-lying,
This his slow but sure reclining,
Star by star his world resigning.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Nations like the Cuban and the Swiss
Can never hope to wage a Global Mission.
No Holy Wars for them. The most the small
Can ever give us is a nuisance brawl.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“We like the chase better than the quarry.... And those who philosophize on the matter, and who think men unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would not have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase, which turns away our attention from these, does screen us.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)