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War (outline) |
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This list of wars by death toll includes all deaths that are either directly or indirectly caused by war. These numbers include the deaths of military personnel which are the direct results of a battle or other military wartime actions, as well as wartime/war-related deaths of civilians which are often results of war-induced epidemics, famines, genocide, etc. Due to incomplete records, the destruction of evidence, differing methods of counting, and various other reasons, death tolls of wars have often been quite uncertain, and heavily debated.
While the definition of war isn't entirely clear-cut, there is a general understanding of what it is. Merriam-Webster defines war as "a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations",[1] Oxford English Dictionary defines war as "hostile contention by means of armed forces, carried on between nations, states, or rulers, or between parties in the same nation or state; the employment of armed forces against a foreign power, or against an opposing party in the state",[2] and Encyclopædia Britannica defines war as "a conflict between political groups involving hostilities of considerable duration and magnitude".[3]
This list excludes mass killings and atrocities not explicitly classified as genocides, as well as genocides occurring outside of wartime, human sacrifices, ethnic cleansing operations, and acts of state terrorism or political repression during peacetime.[a]
War | Death range |
Date | Combatants | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
World War II | 50–85 million[4][5][6] | 1939–1945 | Allied Powers vs. Axis Powers | Global |
Mongol invasions and conquests | 20–60 million[7][8][9][10] | 1207–1405 | Mongol Empire vs. various states in Eurasia | Asia and Europe |
Three Kingdoms | 34 million[10] | 220–280 | Multiple sides | China |
Taiping Rebellion | 20–30 million[11][12] | 1850–1864 | Qing Dynasty vs. Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | China |
World War I | 15–30 million[13][14] | 1914–1918 | Allied Powers vs. Central Powers | Global |
Manchu Conquest of China | 25 million[15][16] | 1618–1683 | Manchu vs. Ming Dynasty | China |
Conquests of Timur | 7–20 million[10] | 1369–1405 | Timurid Empire vs. various states in Asia | Central Asia, West Asia, and South Asia |
An Lushan rebellion | 13 million[17] | 754–763 | Tang Dynasty and Uyghur Khaganate vs. Yan Dynasty | China |
Thirty Years' War | 4–12 million[18] | 1618–1648 | Anti-Imperial Alliance vs. Imperial Alliance | Europe |
Spanish conquest of Mexico | 10.5 million[19] | 1519–1530 | Spanish Empire and allies vs. Aztec Empire and allies | Mexico |
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire | 10 million[20] | 1533–1572 | Spanish Empire vs. Inca Empire | South America |
Russian Civil War | 7–10 million[21] | 1917–1922 | Multiple sides; Bolsheviks, Anti-Bolshevik left, White Movement, Allied and Central Intervention, as well as various separatists | Russia |
Chinese Civil War | 4–9 million[22] | 1927–1949[b] | Multiple sides; but predominantly Communists vs. Kuomintang | China |
Crusades | 1–9 million[25][26] | 1095–1291 | Originally Byzantine Empire vs. Seljuk Empire, but evolved into Christians vs. Muslims | Europe and the Middle East |
Reconquista | 7 million[27] | 718–1492 | Spanish and Portuguese Christians vs. Spanish and Portuguese Muslims | Iberian Peninsula |
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars | 5–7 million[28] | 1792–1815 | French Republic, later French Empire, vs. Coalition forces | Europe |
Conquests of Menelik II | 6 million[29] | 1878–1904 | Ethiopian Empire vs. Emirate of Harar, Kingdom of Kaffa, Kingdom of Wolaita, and allies | Horn of Africa |
Second Congo War | 3–5.4 million[30][31][32] | 1998–2003 | Multiple sides | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Spanish conquest of New Granada | 5.25 million[33][34] | 1525–1540 | Spanish Empire and Klein-Venedig vs. Muisca Confederation and other civilizations | Colombia |
Deccan wars | 4.6–5 million[35] | 1680–1707 | Mughal Empire vs. Maratha Confederacy | Indian subcontinent |
Nigerian Civil War | 3.04–4.1 million[36][37] | 1967–1970 | Nigeria vs. Biafra | Nigeria |
Deluge | 3–4 milion[38] | 1648–1666 | Poland–Lithuania vs Swedish Empire and Russia | Eastern Europe |
French Wars of Religion | 2–4 million[39] | 1562–1598 | French catholics vs Huguenots | France |
Korean War | 2.5–3.5 million[40][22] | 1950–1953 | North Korea and allies vs. South Korea and allies | Korean Peninsula |
Vietnam War | 1.1–3.4 million[41][42] | 1955–1975 | North Vietnam and allies vs. South Vietnam and allies | Indochina |
Hundred Years' War | 2.3–3.3 million[43][44] | 1337–1453 | House of Valois vs. House of Plantagenet | Western Europe |
Afghan conflict | 1.17–3 million[45][46][47] | 1978–present | Multiple sides; Afghan mujahideen, later Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, United Tajik Opposition vs. Soviet Union, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Northern Alliance, Tajikistan, and the United States-led coalition | Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan |
Delhi Conquest of North India | 0.5–3 million[48] | 1300–1310 | Delhi Sultanate vs. North Indian States | Indian subcontinent |
Bangladesh Liberation War | 0.3–3 million[49][50] | 1971 | India and Provisional Government of Bangladesh vs. Pakistan | Indian subcontinent |
Mexican Revolution | 1.7–2.7 million[51] | 1910–1920 | Anti-government vs. Pro-government | Mexico |
Ethiopian Civil War and Eritrean War of Independence | 1.75–2 million[52][53][54] | 1961–1991[c] | EPRDF, later EPLF vs. Derg and People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | Horn of Africa |
Russo-Circassian War and Caucasian War | 1.5–2 million[55] | 1763–1864 | Circassian Confederation, Principality of Abkhazia, and Caucasian Imamate vs. Russian Empire | Caucasus |
Second Sudanese Civil War | 1–2 million[56][57] | 1983–2005 | Sudan vs. SSPDF | Sudan |
Tây Sơn wars | 1–2 million[58][59] | 1771-1802 | Tây Sơn dynasty vs. Nguyễn lords, Kingdom of Cambodia, Rattanakosin Kingdom, and Kingdom of France | Indochina |
Akbar's Conquest of North India | 1–2 million[60] | 1556–1605 | Mughal Empire vs. North Indian States | Indian subcontinent |
Indian Rebellion of 1857 | 0.8–2 million[61] | 1857–1858 | United Kingdom and allies vs. Indian rebels and allies | Indian subcontinent |
Balkan Wars | 0.75–1.77 million[62][63] | 1912–1913 | Ottoman Empire vs. Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro; later Bulgaria vs. Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Romania | Balkans |
Algerian War | 0.4–1.6 million[64][65] | 1954–1962 | France vs. Separatists National Liberation Front, Algerian National Movement, and Algerian Communist Party | North Africa |
French conquest of Algeria | 0.98–1.48 million[66][67][68] | 1830–1903 | France vs. Regency of Algiers, Emirate of Abdelkader, Kingdom of Beni Abbas, and allies | North Africa |
Gallic Wars | 1.47 million[69][70][71] | 58 BCE–50 BCE | Roman Empire vs. Gauls | Gaul |
Jewish-Roman wars | 0.35–1.4 million[72][73] | 66–135 | Roman Empire vs. Judean provisional government | Fertile Crescent |
War of the Spanish Succession | 0.4–1.25 million[74][75] | 1701–1714 | Habsburg Spain, Great Britain, Holy Roman Empire, and allies vs. Bourboun Spain, Kingdom of France, and allies | Global |
Franco-Prussian War | 1.15 million[76][77] | 1870–1871 | Second French Empire, later Third French Republic vs. North German Confederation | Central Europe |
Japanese invasions of Korea | 1 million [78] | 1592–1598 | Joseon and Ming dynasty vs. Japan | Korean Peninsula |
Panthay Rebellion | 1 million[79] | 1856–1873 | Qing Dynasty vs. Pingnan Guo | China |
Seven Years' War | 1 million[80] | 1756–1763 | Great Britain, Kingdom of Prussia, Hanover, Portugal, and allies vs. Kingdom of France, Habsburg empire, Saxony, Spain, and allies | Global |
American Civil War | 0.6–1 million[81][82] | 1861–1865 | United States vs. Confederate States | North America |
First Sudanese Civil War | 0.5–1 million[83][84] | 1955–1972 | Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, later Democratic Republic of the Sudan vs. Sudan Defence Force | Sudan |
First Indochina War | 0.4–0.84 million[85][86] | 1946–1954 | Viet Minh, Pathet Lao, and Khmer Issarak vs. French Union | Indochina |
Burundian Civil War | 0.55–0.8 million[87][88] | 1993–2005 | Burundi vs. Ethnic Hutu vs. Tutsi Militants | Rwanda and Burundi |
Second Punic War | 0.77 million[89] | 218 BCE–201 BCE | Roman Republic vs. Ancient Carthage | Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa |
War of Austrian Succession | 0.75 million[90] | 1740–1748 | France, Prussia, Spain, and allies vs. Habsburg monarchy, Great Britain, Dutch Republic, and allies | Europe, Americas, and Indian subcontinent |
Nine Years' War | 0.68 million[91] | 1688–1697 | Kingdom of France vs. Grand Alliance | Europe |
Crimean War | 0.61–0.67 million[92][93][94] | 1853–1856 | Russian Empire vs. Ottoman Empire, France and United Kingdom | Crimea, Black Sea, Caucasus and Balkans |
Warring States period and Qin's wars of unification | 0.65 million[95] | 475 BCE–221 BCE | Multiple sides | China |
Syrian civil war | 0.58–0.61 million[96][97] | 2011–present | Multiple sides | Levant |
Mexican War of Independence | 0.6 million[98] | 1810–1821 | Mexican patriots vs. Spanish Empire | North and Central America |
Bahmani–Vijayanagar Wars | 0.6 million[99] | 1362–1443 | Vijayanagara Empire and Musunuri Nayakas vs. Bahmani Sultanate | Indian subcontinent |
Turkish War of Independence | 0.4–0.6 million[100][101] | 1919–1923 | Turkey vs. Greece, France, United Kingdom, and Armenia | Anatolia |
Tigray War | 0.16–0.6 million[102][103] | 2020–2022 | Ethiopia and Eritrea vs. Tigray People's Liberation Front and allies | Horn of Africa |
Northern Wars | 0.57 million[104][105][106][107] | 1554–1721 | Tsardom of Russia, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and allies vs. Swedish Empire and allies | Northern and Eastern Europe |
Roman-Germanic wars | 0.54 million[108][109] | 113 BCE–774 | Roman Republic, later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire vs. Germanic tribes | Germania |
First Punic War | 0.4–0.54 million[110][111] | 264 BCE–241 BCE | Roman Republic vs. Ancient Carthage | Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa |
Iran-Iraq War | 0.45–0.5 million[112][113] | 1980–1988 | Islamic Republic of Iran vs. Iraqi Republic | Iran and Iraq |
Paraguayan War | 0.15–0.5 million[114] | 1864–1870 | Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay vs. Paraguay | South America |
Uganda-Tanzania War and Ugandan Bush War | 0.1–0.5 million[115][116][117][118] | 1978–1986 | Uganda vs. Tanzania, National Liberation Front, and National Resistance Movement | Uganda and Tanzania |
Papua conflict | 0.1–0.5 million[119][120] | 1962–present | Indonesia vs. Free Papua Movement | New Guinea |
Eighty Years' War | 0.1–0.5 million[121] | 1566–1648 | Spanish Empire vs. Separatist Dutch Republic | Low Countries |
Spanish Civil War | 0.35–0.47 million[122][123][124] | 1936–1939[d] | Nationalists vs. Republicans | Iberian Peninsula |
Colombian conflict | 0.45 million[128] | 1964–present | Colombia vs. Colombian and Mexican drug cartels and paramilitaries vs. FARC | Colombia |
Polish–Ottoman Wars | 0.43 million[129][130] | 1485–1699 | Poland-Lithuania, Holy League, and allies vs. Ottoman Empire and allies | Central Europe and Balkans |
Roman–Greek wars | 0.42 million[131] | 280 BCE–30 BCE | Roman Republic vs. Greek states, later Greek rebels and Ptolemaic Kingdom | Peloponnese Peninsula, Balkans, Anatolia, Egypt and Italy |
Maratha invasions of Bengal | 0.4 million[132][133] | 1741–1751 | Maratha Confederacy vs. Bengal Nawab | Indian subcontinent |
Colombian War of Independence | 0.4 million[134] | 1810–1825 | Colombian patriots vs. Spanish Empire | Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela |
Third Indochina War | 0.4 million[135] | 1975–1991 | Democratic Kampuchea, China, and Thailand vs. Vietnam, Laos, and People's Republic of Kampuchea vs. Communist Party of Thailand | Indochina |
War in Darfur | 0.4 million[136] | 2003–2020 | Sudan vs. SRF and SLM/A | Sudan |
Mexican war on drugs | 0.35–0.4 million[137][138] | 2006–present | Mexico vs drug cartels | Mexico |
Song–Đại Việt war | 0.25–0.4 million[139][140] | 1075–1077 | Song Dynasty vs. Đại Việt | Indochina |
Cuban Wars of Independence and Spanish–American War | 0.39 million[141][142] | 1868–1898 | United States, Cuban Revolutionaries, and Philippine Revolutionaries vs. Spanish Empire | Caribbean and the Philippines |
South Sudanese Civil War | 0.38 million[143] | 2013–2020 | South Sudan vs. SPLM-IO, Nuer White Army, and SSDM | South Sudan |
Yemeni civil war | 0.15–0.37 million[144][145] | 2014–present | Multiple sides | Yemen |
Boko Haram insurgency | 0.03–0.35 million[146] | 2009–present | Multinational Joint Task Force vs. Boko Haram | Nigeria |
Franco-Dutch War | 0.34 million[147] | 1672–1678 | Kingdom of France vs. Dutch Republic | Western Europe |
Ottoman–Venetian wars | 0.34 million[148][149] | 1415–1718 | Ottoman Empire vs. Holy League | Mediterranean Sea, Greece and Cyprus |
Liberian Civil Wars and Sierra Leone Civil War | 0.3–0.32 million[150][151][152] | 1989–2003 | Liberian government, Revolutionary United Front vs. National Patriotic Front of Liberia, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, Sierra Leone | West Africa |
Goguryeo–Sui War | 0.3 million[153][154] | 598–614 | Sui Dynasty vs. Goguryeo | Manchuria and Korean Peninsula |
Carlist Wars | 0.3 million[155] | 1833–1876 | Carlists vs. Liberals and Republicans | Iberian Peninsula |
Iraqi conflict | 0.27–0.3 million[156] | 2003–2017 | Multiple sides | Levant |
Gulf War | 0.17–0.3 million[157][158] | 1990–1991[e] | Kuwait and the United States-led coalition vs. Iraq | Kuwait and Iraq |
Roman conquest of Britain | 0.13–0.29 million[159][160][161] | 43–84 | Roman Empire vs. Celtic Britons | Great Britain |
Russo-Ukrainian War | 0.12–0.28 million[162][163][164][165][166] | 2014–present | Russia vs. Ukraine | Eastern Europe and the Black Sea |
Philippine–American War | 0.21–0.27 million[167] | 1899–1913 | United States vs. Philippine Republic, later Tagalog Republic, Sultanate of Sulu and Sultanate of Maguindanao | Philippines |
Burmese–Siamese wars | 0.26 million[168][169] | 1547–1855 | Thailand vs. Myanmar | Southeast Asia |
Kalinga War | 0.25 million[170] | 262 BCE–261 BCE | Maurya Empire vs. Kalinga | Indian subcontinent |
First Congo War | 0.25 million[171] | 1996–1997 | Zaire vs. AFDL | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Cristero War | 0.25 million[172] | 1926–1929 | Mexico vs. Cristeros | Mexico |
Greek War of Independence | 0.24 million[173][174] | 1821–1829 | Ottoman Empire vs. Separatist First Hellenic Republic | Balkans and Peloponnese Peninsula |
Myanmar conflict | 0.23 million[175][176] | 1948–present | National Unity Government of Myanmar vs. State Administration Council | Myanmar |
American Revolution | 0.18–0.23 million[177][178] | 1775–1783 | American Patriots vs. Great Britain | North America |
Chechen conflict | 0.08–0.23 million[179][180][181][182][183][184] | 1994–2009 | Russia vs. Separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria | Caucasus |
Arab-Israeli conflict | 0.2–1.07 million[185][186][187][188][189][190] | 1948[f]–present | Israel vs. Arab League, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi movement | Levant |
Indian Invasion of Hyderabad | 0.2 million[192][193] | 1948 | India vs. Hyderabad | Indian subcontinent |
La Violencia | 0.2 million[194] | 1948–1958 | Colombian Conservative Party vs. Colombian Liberal Party | Colombia |
Greco-Persian Wars | 0.2 million[195] | 499 BCE–449 BCE | Greek city-states vs. Achaemenid Empire | Southeast Europe, West Asia, and Northeast Africa |
Guatemalan Civil War | 0.14–0.2 million[196][197] | 1960–1996 | Government of Guatemala vs. Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity | Central America |
North Yemen civil war | 0.1–0.2 million[198][199] | 1962–1970 | Kingdom of Yemen vs. Yemen Arab Republic | Yemen |
Italo-Senussi Wars | 0.07-0.2 million[200][201][202] | 1911–1934 | Kingdom of Italy vs. Senusiyya, Ottoman Empire | North Africa |
Portuguese Colonial War | 0.14–0.18 million[203][204][205] | 1961–1974 | Estado Novo vs. MPLA, PAIGC, FNLA, among others | Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique |
Thousand Days' War | 0.1–0.18 million[206] | 1899–1902 | Colombian Conservative Party vs. Colombian Liberal Party | Colombia |
Sri Lankan Civil War | 0.08–0.17 million[207][208] | 1983[g]–2009 | Sri Lankan government vs. Separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | Sri Lanka |
Russo-Japanese War | 0.12–0.16 million[210] | 1904–1905 | Empire of Japan vs. Russian Empire | East Asia |
Sudanese civil war (2023–present) | 0.15 million[211][212] | 2023–present | Sudan and allies vs. Rapid Support Forces and allies | Sudan |
Algerian Civil War | 0.15 million[213] | 1992–2002 | Multiple sides | North Africa |
Lebanese Civil War | 0.12–0.15 million[214][215][216] | 1975–1990 | Multiple sides | Levant |
Greek Civil War | 0.08–0.15 million[217][218] | 1946–1949 | Kingdom of Greece vs. Provisional Democratic Government | Balkans and Peloponnese Peninsula |
Yugoslav Wars | 0.13–0.14 million[219][220] | 1991–2001 | Separatist forces and NATO vs. Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, later Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | Balkans |
Irish Nine Year's War | 0.13 million[221] | 1593–1603 | Kingdom of England vs. Irish rebels | Ireland |
Chaco War | 0.08–0.13 million[222][223][224] | 1932–1935 | Paraguay vs. Bolivia | Paraguay and Bolivia |
Federal War | 0.1 million[225] | 1859–1863 | Federalists vs. Conservatives | Venezuela |
Congo Crisis | 0.1 million[226] | 1960–1965 | Republic of the Congo, later Democratic Republic of the Congo, and allies vs. Free Republic of the Congo, South Kasai, Katanga, Kwilu rebels, Simba rebels, and allies | Republic of the Congo |
Wars of Alexander the Great | 0.1 million[227][228][229] | 336 BCE–323 BCE | Macedonian Empire vs. Achaemenid Empire among others | Greece, Balkans, Anatolia, Persia, Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent |
But their hold on power was bought at the price of great suffering and an unknown but terrible number of deaths — perhaps seven to ten million in all.
The watchword of the Congress, in fact, was not reaction, but rather peace, and, in the wake of the estimated five to seven million deaths of the French Wars, one can thank God for it.
Thus ended for a time one of the bloodiest wars in history. During the two years and more the loss of life was frightful; nothing remains upon which to base a reliable estimate, but the War Monument at Kiuto, and the accounts of such battles as Kyong-chu, Choung-chu, Haing chu, the Im Chiu River, Pyongyang, Yenan, the massacre at Söul, Ulsan and Chiu-chu, and fifty other engagements would make a million lives a conservative estimate.
Independent scholars, based at Ghent University in Belgium, suggest that the death toll in Tigray is now between 385,000 and 600,000.
As our estimate of the civilian deaths in the Tigray war is regularly mentioned in the media, it seems important to share our evolving understanding and updated (lower) number of civilian deaths as a result of the Tigray war and blockade. We concluded that the IPC/FEWS categorization, on which our Tigray statistics are mainly based, overestimates hunger mortality. Along with developing information on the ground, this would point to a total number of civilian deaths ranging from 162,000 to 378,000.