Throughout the history of man, there have been many battles and armed conflicts. Unfortunately, it seems as though world peace is way out of our reach. Below I have listed the worst armed conflicts in history so far with the estimated death toll, years of duration, and location. (The death toll estimates include death of civilians, soldiers in battle, and those who have died from diseases, famine, etc.)
These figures of one million or more deaths include the deaths of civilians from diseases, famine, etc., as well as deaths of soldiers in battle and possible massacres and genocide. Where only one estimate is available, it appears in both the low and high estimates. This is a sortable table. Click on the column sort buttons to sort results numerically or alphabetically.
Wars and armed conflicts
40,000,000 |
72,000,000 |
World War II |
Worldwide |
1939 |
1945 |
World War II casualties and Second Sino-Japanese War[4] |
1.7%–3.1% |
30,000,000 |
30,000,000 |
Late Yuan warfare and transition to Ming Dynasty |
China |
1340 |
1368 |
Ming Dynasty |
6.7% |
25,000,000 |
25,000,000 |
Qing dynasty conquest of the Ming Dynasty |
China |
1616 |
1662 |
Qing Dynasty |
4.8% |
20,000,000 |
100,000,000 |
Taiping Rebellion |
China |
1851 |
1864 |
Dungan revolt |
1.6%–8% |
15,000,000 |
65,000,000 |
World War I (High estimate includes Spanish flu deaths)[14] |
Worldwide |
1914 |
1918 |
World War I casualties |
0.8%–3.6% |
15,000,000 |
20,000,000 |
Conquests of Timur-e-Lang |
West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Russia |
1369 |
1405 |
|
3.4%–4.5% |
13,000,000 |
36,000,000 |
An Lushan Rebellion |
China |
755 |
763 |
Medieval warfare |
5.5%–15.3% |
8,000,000 |
12,000,000 |
Dungan revolt |
China |
1862 |
1877 |
Panthay Rebellion |
0.6%–0.9% |
5,000,000 |
30,000,000 |
Conquests by the Empire of Japan |
Asia |
1894 |
1945 |
|
|
5,000,000
|
9,000,000 |
Russian Civil War |
Russia |
1917 |
1921 |
Russian Revolution (1917), List of civil wars |
0.28%–0.5% |
2,500,000 |
5,400,000 |
Second Congo War |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
1998 |
2003 |
First Congo War |
0.06%–0.09% |
3,500,000
|
7,000,000 |
Napoleonic Wars |
Europe, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean |
1803 |
1815 |
Napoleonic Wars casualties |
0.4%–0.7% |
3,000,000 |
11,500,000 |
Thirty Years' War |
Holy Roman Empire |
1618 |
1648 |
Religious war |
0.5%–2.1% |
3,000,000 |
7,000,000 |
Yellow Turban Rebellion |
China |
184 |
205 |
Part of Three Kingdoms War |
1.3%–3.1% |
1,000,000 |
3,000,000 |
Nigerian Civil War |
Nigeria |
1967 |
1970 |
Genocides in history |
0.03%-0.09% |
1,500,000 |
2,000,000 |
Afghan Civil War |
Afghanistan |
1979 |
Present |
Soviet-Afghan War, Taliban Era, and NATO Intervention. Death toll estimates through 1999 (2M) and 2000 (1.5M and 2M). |
0.06% |
3,000,000 |
4,000,000 |
Deluge |
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth |
1655 |
1660 |
Second Northern War |
0.6%–0.7% |
400,000 |
4,500,000 |
Korean War |
Korean Peninsula |
1950 |
1953 |
Cold War |
0.1% |
800,000 |
3,000,000 |
Vietnam War |
Southeast Asia |
1955 |
1975 |
Cold War and First Indochina War |
0.08%–0.19% |
2,000,000 |
4,000,000 |
French Wars of Religion |
France |
1562 |
1598 |
Religious war |
0.4%–0.8% |
2,000,000
|
2,000,000
|
Shaka's conquests |
Africa |
1816 |
1828 |
Ndwandwe–Zulu War |
0.2% |
1,000,000 |
2,000,000 |
Second Sudanese Civil War |
Sudan |
1983 |
2005 |
Religious war |
0.02% |
1,000,000 |
3,000,000 |
Crusades |
Holy Land, Europe |
1095 |
1291 |
Religious war |
0.3%–2.3% |
600,000 |
2,000,000 |
Soviet War in Afghanistan |
Afghanistan |
1980 |
1988 |
Cold War |
0.012%–0.04% |
800,000 |
1,000,000 |
Du Wenxiu Rebellion |
China |
1856 |
1873 |
|
|
500,000 |
2,000,000 |
Mexican Revolution |
Mexico, United States |
1911 |
1920 |
Pancho Villa and Columbus Raid |
0.03%–0.1% |
500,000 |
2,000,000 |
|
|
1980 |
1988 |
Al-Anfal Campaign and Invasion of Kuwait |
0.01%–0.04% |
400,000 |
800,000 |
American Civil War |
United States,Confederate States |
1861 |
1865 |
|
0.03%–0.06% |
300,000 |
1,200,000 |
Paraguayan War |
South America |
1864 |
1870 |
Military history of South America and Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias |
0.02%–0.08% |
No Replies
|