Almost from the first days of the existence of the human race, it was accompanied by squabbles caused by intolerance, pride and envy, which ultimately led to conflicts and wars. People did not stop at anything, in an effort to establish their rule over their neighbors. As you know, in the Ancient World, success was measured by the size of the troops and the talents of commanders, has anything changed now? Sometimes it seems that people fell into an endless tailspin from wars and battles, while the rich of this world simply stand behind the scenes, successfully pulling the strings.
Have you ever wondered what war is? If we turn to Wikipedia, a conflict is called a conflict between various peoples, tribes, political entities, etc., taking place in the form of armed confrontation, involving the military and civilians. In fact, everything is much worse, since the war is millions of deaths, destroyed destinies and grieving mothers. War is hunger and deprivation, in which humanity has no one to blame but itself!
The list we presented will not follow in chronological order, it is sorted by the number of victims of a war. Here are the ten most bloody wars in the history of the human race.
10
US Civil War (1861-1865)
Opens the "top ten" Civil War in the United States, about which we know quite a bit. For some reason, it is mistakenly assumed that the conflict between the North (Union and border states) and the South (Confederation) developed only on the basis of discussions about the abolition of slavery. Everything was much more complicated, and the problem of slavery is only one of a whole list of contradictions between the industrial northern states and the agricultural southern. The result of the political confrontation was the withdrawal of several states from the Union, which resulted in a four-year war, which began with the siege of Fort Sumter by the "Confederates". It is worth mentioning that the army of the North exceeded the southerners almost twice, and the total number of victims reached 800 thousand people. The war ended with the victory of the Union, the return of the southern states to a single state, and the abolition of slavery, although it was still a long way before the black people gained equality of rights.
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9
Afghan war (1979-1989)
The Afghan war, which lasted a little over 9 years, was not just an intra-ethnic conflict. The favorable geopolitical location of Afghanistan made it the most important region for the influence over which the USSR fought on the one hand and the countries of the West on the other. Since the 19th century, the so-called “Great Game” has been waged here - political rivalry between the Russian and British empires.
The reason for the war in the second half of the 20th century was the revolution in Afghanistan, which began the civil war. The Soviet Union, supporting the current government loyal to its northern neighbor, openly assisted in suppressing the Mujahideen. Also one of the reasons for sending a limited number of Soviet troops to Afghanistan is the protection of the southern borders. Mujahideen on the other side of the conflict received all sorts of financial and military support from conservative Islamic states and Western countries that are part of NATO.
Initially seemed short-lived, the conflict dragged on for almost 10 years, and its result was a lot of victims. Until now, it was not possible to calculate their exact number, but most sources agree that there were about 1 million of them.
8
The war in Vietnam (1955-1975)
The Vietnam War has also gone beyond local conflict. Beginning as a revolution in South China, it escalated into full-scale hostilities that affected the territories of Laos and Cambodia, subsequently going down in history as the second Indochina war. In this case, the US Army became an open participant in the hostilities from South Vietnam, while the USSR and the People's Republic of China provided covert support to the northern regions of the country. Speaking essentially, it was the same confrontation between Western countries and communist states. The victims of the war were more than a million civilians, along with several thousand soldiers. It is interesting that both in the Afghan war and in the war in Vietnam, the countries that openly entered into conflict (the USSR and the USA, respectively) suffered a real defeat.
7
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
This war is one of the most bloody, as well as the last religious war, which affected almost the entire territory of Europe. As the name implies, the war lasted more than thirty years, killing the lives of a huge number of people. The reason for the war was a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants, which developed into a struggle for territory and political influence (in principle, this ends almost all wars “wrapped” with good religious intentions). Many monarchies and clans became participants in the Thirty Years' War, from Portugal in the West to the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in the East. The Westphalian world of 1948 marked not only the end of the war, but also made it possible to count the dead, the total number of which exceeds 5 million people. Since the main hostilities took place on the territory of modern Germany, its inhabitants suffered the greatest losses. The war mowed down entire regions; in depopulated cities and villages, people went hungry and continued to die even after the war ended. According to historians, the restoration of the population in Germany took more than 100 years.
6
Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)
Napoleonic wars are usually called a series of wars involving the army of the military leader, and later Emperor Napoleon I. Having come to power in France, he found the country in an unenviable position caused by isolation from other European countries. However, the old foundations that reigned in the government and the army of these states allowed Napoleon to capture almost all European territories in a short period of time, making plans (as it is now commonly called “Napoleonic”) to invade the East.
The prerequisite for the war is considered the Great French Revolution, which lasted a decade, and ended with the rise to power of Napoleon. The huge army and the talents of the military leader allowed Bonaparte to gain complete supremacy in Europe, but did not save him from collapse during the invasion of Russia, which we call the Patriotic War. The result of the wars was the complete defeat of Napoleon and his exile, as well as the restoration of the royal Bourbon dynasty, who again returned to the French throne and the Congress of Vienna. And most importantly, the excessive appetite and thirst for power of one person cost the lives of more than 6.5 million people.
5
Civil war in Russia (1917-1922)
In simple terms, the Civil War in Russia is a military conflict between the Red Army and the adherents of the tsarist regime. In fact, everything is much more complicated. The prerequisite for the war was the revolution of 1905-1907, the growing unrest in the state was only exacerbated by failures in the First World War.
In general, the cause of the 1917 revolution and the ensuing Civil War was the inept rule of Emperor Nicholas II, as well as the outdated monarchical system of government. Hunger and devastation in the country became fertile ground for growing the seeds of revolution. The five-year Civil War was fought between several parties that imposed their form of power, separatists fighting for separation from the Russian Empire and other states that defended their geopolitical interests. The result of the war was the coming to power of the communist regime, which was established almost throughout the territory of the former empire. In a relatively short period of 5 years, about 7 million people died.
4
Conquests of the Japanese Empire (1894-1945)
The birth of the Japanese empire took place after the Meiji restoration, which marked the transfer of power from the shogunate to the emperor, which allowed Japan to make an economic and political breakthrough, becoming one of the leading world powers. Although Emperor Mutsuhito, who took the Meiji name, came to power in 1968, he will consider Japan to be politically correct as an empire since 1971, when the ruler set out to seize the territories of neighboring countries. The collapse of the empire dates from 1947, when the Japanese Constitution was adopted. During its existence, the Japanese Empire waged bloody wars, many countries in the Eastern Hemisphere. The results of her foreign policy caused the death of more than 20 million people. Only the use of nuclear weapons by the United States in 1945, as well as the intervention of the Soviet army, which finally predetermined the defeat of Japan, could “calm down” the Land of the Rising Sun. An interesting fact, according to the results of the Second World War, the population of China, who was attacked by Japan, suffered the most.
We advise you to read: TOP 10 great military victories over superior enemy forces.
3
World War I (1914-1918)
The First World War was the result of the exorbitant ambitions of the leading European states seeking to achieve maximum influence. The formal reason for the start of hostilities was the successful assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but the prerequisites for the war were observed long before it began. In many ways, it was determined by the aggressive foreign policy of the German Empire, seeking to develop its colonial power. Previously, this conflict was called the Great or World War (people did not yet know that soon they would face even greater tragedy). Two opposing camps took part in the war: the Entente on one side and the Fourth Alliance on the other. The fighting took place in Europe, Asia Minor and the African continent. Its result was the collapse of several empires and the redistribution of spheres of influence, legally formalized by the Treaty of Versailles. As subsequent events will show, this treaty will become the starting point and the main cause of the Second World War. Over 4 years of World War I battles, about 55 million people died.
2
Mongol conquests (1206-1368)
The Mongol conquests, which began in the early years of the 13th century, lasted more than 150 years and ended only in 1368 after the collapse of the Mongol Empire. The horde swiftly captured territories, subjugating the defeated peoples to their will. During its heyday, the Mongol Empire extended from the Far East to Central Europe. Horde raids entered our history, like the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The warriors of Genghis Khan and subsequent rulers of Mongolia were distinguished by cruelty and bloodthirstiness, becoming a real scourge for the inhabitants of Western Europe, who were afraid of invasion from the East. It is believed that more than 60 million people were killed during the Mongol-Tatar raids, which makes their terror the bloodiest, up to the 40s of the 20th century.
1
World War II (1939-1945)
It makes no sense to retell the details of World War II, which will undoubtedly remain in history as the most terrible tragedy of mankind. Its main reasons were not only exorbitant ambitions in conjunction with the maniacal thirst for power of Adolf Hitler, but also the plight of Germany, in which it was placed under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles on the basis of the First World War. It is noteworthy that only 11 countries from the then existing 73 states did not participate in this crime on a global scale. Horrific events such as the Holocaust and the use of nuclear weapons for military purposes went hand in hand with the Second World War. Six years of battles were marked by the death of about 70 million people.
Conclusion
Although all of the above wars were fought in different periods of history and in different territories, the loser was always people who died innocently in favor of the wishes of their rulers. With each century, humanity is developing ever new ways to hurt another, improving their weapons. I would like to end the article with the phrase of Albert Einstein, who answered the question about possible weapons in the Third World War. The scientist said that he does not know what weapons will be used, but if this war happens, the next battles will take place only with clubs and stones.