The bloodiest and most brutal wars in history. The bloodiest wars you've never heard of 5 of the most brutal military events in history

Almost any significant date in the history of mankind is associated with a military conflict, if not with victory or defeat, then at least with their consequences. Wars are unleashed in the struggle for territory, resources, power, idea and even desecrated honor. Their cruelty sometimes frightens the imagination. Bloody battles, millions of dead, destruction, pain and suffering of survivors - what was it for?

We did not dare to arrange wars on the basis of the nominal number of victims, because the magnitude of the losses does not always indicate the degree of brutality. Many wars were accompanied by epidemics, famines and others, causing most of the losses. In addition, the losses in the war 2,000 years ago are not commensurate with the modern ones, since then only 300 million people lived on Earth, and now it is 25 times more.

20 bloodiest wars

N		date(years)	Victims(human)
1		66-73	800 000
2		220-280	40 000 000
3		755-763	15-35 000 000
4		1207-1308	50-70 000 000
5		1492-1691	120 000 000
6		1562-1598	4 000 000
7		1618-1648	8 000 000
8		1616-1662	25 000 000
9		1799-1815	3-4 000 000
10		1816-1828	2 000 000
11		1850-1864	20-100 000 000
12		1910-1920	1.5-2 000 000
13		1914-1918	20 000 000
14		1917-1922	20 000 000
15		1939-1945	68 000 000
16		1927-1950	8 000 000
17		1950-1953	1 300 000
18		1955-1975	4 000 000
19		1980-1988	1 500 000
20		1998-2002	5 500 000

First Jewish War (66 -73 AD)

At the beginning of 66, the oldest described military conflict occurred. The Jews of Israel and Palestine rebelled against the Roman invaders. The reason was the plundering of the temple treasury by the procurator Flavius.

One of major events ancient war - the siege of Jerusalem by four Roman cohorts led by Titus, the son of the emperor Vespasian. In 70 AD, when the events described were taking place, the city was a large, strong fortress with a triple line of defensive walls. The Jews bravely defended themselves and, despite severe famine, held the siege for about six months. Having captured the fortress, the Roman army plundered and burned the main shrine of Judaism - the Jerusalem Temple. During the blockade, 200 thousand people died from exhaustion, and the whole war claimed more than 800 thousand killed. The number of those taken prisoner and sold into slavery is incalculable.

Wars of the Three Kingdoms in China (220-280)

For China of the first millennium AD, frequent bloody internecine conflicts are characteristic. The fall of the ruling Han dynasty led to the division of the country into three kingdoms - Wu in the southeast, Shu in the southwest, and Wei in the north.

The new rulers constantly waged bloody wars, trying to seize and subjugate neighboring territories to their power. The sixty-year era of the Three Kingdoms ended with the victory of the northern state of Wei and the subjugation of the southern kingdoms. China became a single country again, but only for a few decades. During this historical period, a series of fierce battles took place, which claimed the lives of about 40 million people.

Chinese internecine wars (755 - 763)

One of the greatest bloodshed ancient history considered an internecine war in the Chinese provinces during the Tang Dynasty. The outbreak of military conflicts provoked an uprising led by the commander of the border provinces An Lushan, a Turk (or Sogdian) by origin. Having declared himself emperor, the rebel held out in power for 2 years and was killed by his own eunuch.

Despite the death of the leader, which was carefully hidden, the companions continued the war with the ruling dynastic clan. The last centers of the uprising were able to extinguish only by 763. For 8 years of military confrontation, the population of China has decreased, according to various sources, by 15 - 35 million people, which at that time amounted to more than half of the total population of China.

Mongol conquests (1207 - 1308)

The formation of the Mongol Empire as the largest state in the entire world history happened at the beginning of the 13th century. The area of ​​the imperial conquests was about 24 million square meters. km. He laid the foundation for the formation of the great state of Genghis Khan, his warriors conquered Asia and the east of Europe.

Mongol raids continued for 2 centuries and are considered the longest and deadliest military conflict in human history. The collapse of a great power occurred after the death of Tamerlane, the last famous commander of the Turkic-Mongol empire. Victories over the Egyptian and Syrian Mamluks, the Delhi Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire won the indisputable authority of his name. During military conflicts, the population of the conquered countries decreased (according to various estimates) by 50 - 70 million people, which amounted to 12 to 18% of the inhabitants of the entire planet.

Colonization of the American continent (1492-1691)

Colonial wars in America began in the 10th century, long before Columbus, in the territories of modern Canada. But the period of the most fierce battles falls on the end of the 15th - 18th centuries.

The new continent was inhabited by a huge number of Indian tribes that existed in their own socio-historical "vacuum". The natives did not possess firearms and became easy prey for the first colonialists. Their barbaric extermination, destruction of culture and plunder of the natural resources of the continent continued for more than two centuries. It is impossible to calculate the exact number of victims, there is no historical data on the indigenous population of the continent. Some estimates put the death toll at around 120 million.

Religious medieval conflicts in France (1562 - 1598)

Civil strife in France at the end of the 16th century is known in historical records as the Huguenot Wars. The confrontation between the Catholic and Protestant faiths resulted in an innumerable number of bloody military conflicts; historical disputes about their exact number are still ongoing.

Heinrich lV put an end to the thirty-year conflict by issuing an edict on the complete equality of Catholics and Protestants. By that time, the loss of the population amounted to about 4 million deaths. Oddly enough, but the religious conflict has tempered and strengthened France. The end of feudal revolts and the centralization of the state made him the strongest in Europe.

Thirty Years' European War (1618-1648)

The medieval conflict for political and military supremacy in Central Europe was provoked by the schism of the holy Roman papacy. The confrontation between the Protestant and Catholic powers resulted in one of the bloodiest and longest wars in the general history of Europe. Military operations were conducted on the territories of most large states, the total losses amounted to about 8 million people, including the civilian population.

This war is considered the last European religious conflict, after which interstate relations began to be exclusively secular. The signing of the Peace of Westphalia secured territorial boundaries and became the main protocol in the conclusion of international treaties.

Manchu conquest of China (1616-1662)

The seizure of power in China by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the last imperial clan of the ancient state, was marked by half a century of bloodshed. One of the vassals of the ruling emperor Ming rebelled and united the northern provinces of the Jurchen under his command. Having declared himself a khan, Aisingero Nurhatsi led dozens of united tribes to conquer the entire territory of the Chinese kingdom.

Despite the death of the leader in 1626, it was not possible to stop the military conflict. The numerical superiority of the imperial army did not help the Ming dynasty to maintain power, and it suffered a crushing defeat. Another internecine conflict claimed the lives of more than 25 million people.

Napoleonic Wars (1799 - 1815)

Having come to power and proclaimed himself emperor in November 1799, Bonaparte hatched plans to conquer not only Europe, but also World domination. His army made campaigns across the Indian and Atlantic oceans, leading military campaigns in Africa and India.

The talented commander significantly expanded French possessions through military victories and diplomacy. Without hesitation, he tore up old and entered into new, more profitable alliances with other states, pursuing his own political goals. So the 3, 4, 5 coalitions were formed, plus an alliance in the Patriotic War of 1812. Military luck turned against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo during the 7th, anti-Napoleonic coalition. The death toll during military conflicts ranges from 3 to 4 million people.

The Chuck Wars (early 1816 - 1828)

The world did not know the history of the African continent until the arrival of the first Europeans on its coast. The natives had no written language. The period of the first half of the 19th century was marked for South Africa by the conquests of Chuck, the famous Zulu monarch.

Having come to power in 1816, the illegitimate son of Senzangakon began measures to carry out military reforms and mobilized all men 20-40 years old... Thanks to the talent of the commander, his army won brilliant victories over the superior forces of the enemy. Chaka increased the territory of his possessions 100 times, plundering and scattering independent tribes across the south of the continent. According to experts, about 2 million people were destroyed.

Taiping Uprising (1850-1864)

The history of Chinese internecine conflicts is astounding in the number of victims. The seizure of power by the Manchu Qing dynasty and its brutal rule provoked one of the bloodiest "Peasant" wars in Chinese history. Having raised a mutiny with good intentions to free the people, the leaders quickly lost control of the conduct of hostilities and drowned the country in a bloody carnage.

Only documented facts indicate 20 million deaths from violent actions. According to unofficial evidence from historians, the number of victims is about 100 million.

Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1920)

The revolutionary movement in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century was like all revolutions in the world, but it was distinguished by an extremely high percentage of civilian casualties. With a population of 15 million people at that time, according to various estimates, from 1.5 to 2 million died and more than 200 thousand emigrated from the country.

The revolution began with an uprising against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, which escalated into a civil war that lasted almost 10 years. This military conflict was of great historical significance. The country gained independence, adopted a new constitution and held agrarian reforms... The Mexican Revolution had a great impact on the socio-political life of all Latin America in the 20th century.

World War I (1914 - 1918)

The second decade of the 20th century was marked by one of the most large-scale military campaigns with the participation of first European and then world powers. The beginning of the military conflict was laid by the assassination of the Austrian ambassador to Montenegro. The tense political situation between Germany and England for influence on the European and African footholds led to a split of states into two blocs - "Entente" with the participation of Russia, Great Britain and France and "Quadruple Alliance" with the entry of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, as well as Bulgar kingdom.

The result of bloody battles was the disappearance with political map 4 empires - Germany, Osmania, Austria-Hungary and Russia. 35 states were involved in the circulation of the First World War, and about 20 million people died in the battlefields, about 45 million died from a catastrophic flu epidemic.

Russian Civil War (1917 - 1922)

The second revolutionary coup in October 1917 led Russia to a civil confrontation between the adherents of the monarchical system and the Bolshevik party. A feature of the fratricidal war was the participation of the Entente countries in it, which provoked even greater destruction on the territory of the state and led Russia to a political, economic and civilizational crisis.

The result of military clashes between the two largest military groups - the Red and White Armies, was the destruction of about 20 million people, and most of the civilian population of the country. The civil clash on the rubble of the Russian Empire has been described by European historians as the greatest national catastrophe.

World War II (1939 - 1945)

The number of victims in the Second World War, the most massive and bloody nightmare of the 20th century, cannot be accurately calculated. 72 states were drawn into the frenzy of war, and military operations were carried out on the territories of 40 countries. Military and labor mobilization in the USSR alone was about 100 million people, including women, old people and children.

In full-scale military conflicts, about 28 million soldiers of the opposing armies were killed. Losses among the civilian population, according to the most conservative estimates, amount to about 60 million human lives. Unfortunately, in our time, attempts are being made to rewrite history and erase the concentration camps and the first nuclear bombings from human memory.

Chinese Civil War (1927-1950)

China, with its multimillion population, breaks all records of sacrifice in the struggle for its formation. The prolonged conflict between the Kuomintang, supported by the American bourgeoisie, and the Chinese Communist Party lasted for over 20 years. The main fighting unfolded after the end of World War II and led to the formation of two states - Taiwan (an island state) and the PRC (mainland China).

The war led to the liberation of China from feudal and landlord oppression and the domination of foreign imperialists. The clashes of the opposing armies were remembered for the savage atrocities on both sides. More than 8 million civilians were tortured and exterminated.

Korean War (1950-1958)

The military conflict on the isthmus of the Korean Peninsula began with the invasion of the PRC army into the territory of its southern neighbor. The rapid advance of the North Korean army forced the United States and then the United Nations to side with South Korea. The support of the DPRK was provided by the pilots of the Soviet Union and China.

The alternating success of the Korean armies caused such great destruction and loss on both sides that the armistice decision was signed in July 1953. Having created a demilitarized zone and exchanged prisoners of war, the Korean states postponed the signing of the peace treaty indefinitely and, formally, they are still fighting. The military conflict claimed the lives of 1.3 million Koreans.

Vietnam War (1957 - 1975)

The large-scale and bloody Vietnam War began with the uprising of the communist underground in South Vietnam. After 2 years, the troops of North Vietnam came to the aid of the rebels, and since 1961 the United States entered the military conflict directly. A contingent of American troops launched a monstrous aerial bombardment of northern Vietnam with the use of napalm and chemical weapons. 15% of the entire territory of Vietnam was exposed to toxic substances.

During the military conflict, more than a million Vietcong soldiers were killed - soldiers of North Vietnam and about 2.6 million civilians of both states. The US Army lost about 60 thousand soldiers killed, more than 1800 missing. The monstrous war resulted in the birth of more than half a million Vietnamese children with congenital anomalies and developmental defects at the level of genetic mutations. However, the United States was never charged with official use chemical weapons.

Iranian-Iraqi armed conflict (1980-1988)

Military operations on the Middle East bridgehead in the penultimate decade of the 20th century began with the invasion of the sovereign territory of Iran by the Iraqi army. The armed confrontation was provoked by religious divisions and opportunistic sentiments of the neighboring powers. An attack by the Israeli Air Force on the territories of the engineering development of a nuclear reactor in Iraq slowed down the country's energy supply program for many years.

The military conflict had grave consequences for both sides; practically no one won a victory. The losses were estimated at 200 thousand soldiers of the Iraqi army and 500 thousand soldiers from the Iranian side. In addition, about 25 thousand civilians were affected. In total, the countries have lost about one and a half percent of their population.

Great African War (1998 - 2002)

The name of the Second Congolese War on the African continent is associated with one of the most significant bloodsheds of the late 20th century. The conflict was provoked by ethnic strife and genocide in the Republic of Rwanda, the consequences of which spread to the territory of the Republican Democracy of the Congo.

Bloody battles with the direct participation of 9 major continental powers that created more than 20 armed groups led to the destruction of almost 5.5 million people. Sadly, about half of the population died (at the turn of the 21st century!) From epidemics and hunger. The military campaign was accompanied by atrocities - about half a million women were sexually abused, even five-year-olds were not spared, and cases of dismemberment and cannibalism were also recorded.

Modern films about war are full of colorful battles and single fights, in which, of course, wins the main character... At the same time, we still sincerely rejoice at the victory he won. Otherwise, he is good, he killed the bad ones - everything converges and is quite logical.

But the war is in real life- this is the most terrible phenomenon of society and a manifestation of the true essence of man, revealing in full glory his predatory, ferocious nature. And for centuries people consciously go to murder, exterminating enemies and pursuing their "false" goals - political, religious, racial, etc. And the worst thing is that contrary to the popular belief that "history teaches us not to repeat mistakes" history of their existence and have not learned to live peacefully.

The Swiss Jean-Jacques Babel calculated that in the entire history from 3500 BC. to this day, mankind has lived peacefully for only 292 years.

But there were different wars as well. It is often difficult to estimate the number of those killed in the war, but if we take the minimum figures for the estimates of losses, the picture is as follows.

10. Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)
The wars that Napoleon Bonaparte waged with different states Europe in the period from 1799 to 1815 is usually called the Napoleonic Wars. The gifted commander began to redistribute the political map of Europe even earlier than he made the coup of the 18th Brumaire and became First Consul. The Hanoverian Campaign, the War of the Third Coalition or the Russo-Austro-French War of 1805, the War of the Fourth Coalition, or the Russo-Prussian-French War of 1806-1807, which ended in the famous Peace of Tilsit, the War of the Fifth Coalition, or the Austro-French War of 1809, Patriotic the war of 1812 and the war of the Sixth Coalition of European Powers against Napoleon and, finally, the campaign of the "Hundred Days" era, which culminated in the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, claimed the lives of at least 3.5 million people. Many historians double this figure.

9. Civil war in Russia (1917-1923)

In the civil war that followed the 1917 revolution in Russia, more people died than in all the Napoleonic wars: at least 5.5 million people, and according to bolder estimates, all 9 million. And although these losses amounted to less than half a percent of the world's population, the war between the Reds and Whites had the most dire consequences for our country. No wonder Anton Ivanovich Denikin canceled all awards in his army - what awards in a fratricidal war? And, by the way, it is in vain to think that the Civil War ended in 1920 with the Crimean evacuation and the fall of the White Crimea. In fact, the Bolsheviks managed to suppress the last centers of resistance in Primorye only in June 1923, and the struggle against the Basmachi in Central Asia dragged on until the early forties.

8. Dungan Uprising (1862)

In 1862, the so-called Dungan Uprising against the Qing Empire began in northwestern China. Chinese and non-Chinese Muslim national minorities - Dungans, Uighurs, Salars - rebelled, according to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, against the national oppression of the Sino-Manchu feudal lords and the Qing dynasty. English-speaking historians do not fully agree with this and see the origins of the uprising in racial and class antagonism and in economics, but not in religious strife and rebellion against the ruling dynasty. Be that as it may, but which began in May 1862 in Weinan County, Shaanxi Province, the uprising spread to the provinces of Gansu and Xinjiang. There was no single headquarters for the uprising, and according to various estimates, from 8 to 12 million people suffered in the war between everyone and everyone. The uprising was brutally suppressed as a result, and the surviving rebels were sheltered Russian empire... Their descendants still live in Kyrgyzstan, South Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

7. Revolt of Ai Lushan (8th century AD)

The era of the Tang dynasty is traditionally considered in China as the period of the highest power of the country, when China was far ahead of the modern countries of the world. AND Civil War at that time it was a match for the country - grandiose. In world historiography, it is called the Ai Lushan uprising. Thanks to the disposition of Emperor Xuanzong and his beloved concubine Yang Guifei, the Turks (or Sogdians) in the Chinese service, Ai Lushan concentrated in his hands enormous power in the army - under his command were 3 of the 10 border provinces of the Tang empire. In 755, Ai Lushan rebelled and the following year proclaimed himself emperor of the new Yan dynasty. And although already in 757 the sleeping leader of the uprising was stabbed to death by his trusted eunuch, it was only possible to pacify the rebellion by February 763. The number of victims is amazing: at the very least, 13 million people died. And if you believe the pessimists and assume that the population of China decreased at that time by 36 million people, then we will have to admit that the rebellion of Ai Lushan reduced the then population of the world by more than 15 percent. In this case, if we count by the number of victims, it was the largest armed conflict in the entire history of mankind up to World War II.

6. First World War (1914-1918)

The hero of the novel by Francis Scott Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby" called it "the belated migration of the Teutonic tribes." This was called the war against the war, the Great War, the European War. The name with which she lived in history was coined by the military columnist for The Times, Colonel Charles Repington: The First World War.

The starting shot of the world meat grinder was a shot in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. From that day until the armistice on November 11, 1918, 15 million died by the most modest measure. If you come across the number of 65 million - do not be alarmed: it also included all those who died from the Spanish flu, the most massive influenza pandemic in the history of mankind. In addition to the mass of victims, the result of World War I was the elimination of as many as four empires: Russian, Ottoman, German and Austria-Hungary.

5. Wars of Tamerlane (14th century)

Remember Vasily Vereshchagin's painting "The Apotheosis of War"? So, initially it was called "Tamerlane's Triumph", and all because the great eastern commander and conqueror loved to build pyramids from human skulls. I must say that there was no shortage of material: for 45 years of conquest campaigns lame Timur - in Persian Timur-e-Liang, and in our opinion Tamerlane - put, no less than 3.5 percent of the world's population in the second half of the XIV century. The minimum is 15 million, or even all 20. Wherever he did not go: Iran, Transcaucasia, India, the Golden Horde, the Ottoman Empire - the interests of the iron lame stretched widely. Why "iron"? And because the name Timur, or rather Temur is translated from the Turkic languages ​​as "iron". By the end of Tamerlane's reign, his empire stretched from Transcaucasia to Punjab. Emir Timur did not have time to conquer China, although he tried - death interrupted his campaign.

4. Taiping uprising (1850-1864)

China is again in fourth place, which is not surprising: the country is inhabited. And again, the times of the Qing empire, that is, turbulent: the opium wars, the Dungan uprising, the ihetuan movement, the Xinhai revolution ... And the bloodiest Taiping uprising, which, according to the most conservative estimates, killed 20 million people. The immodest increase this figure to 100 million, that is, up to 8% of the world's population. The uprising that began in 1850 was essentially peasant war- Disenfranchised Chinese peasants rose up against the Manchu Qing dynasty. The goals were the most good: to overthrow the Manchus, drive out foreign colonialists and create a kingdom of freedom and equality - the Taiping heavenly kingdom, where the very word Taiping means "Great Calm". The uprising was led by Hong Xiuquan, who decided that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ. But in a Christian way, that is, mercifully, it did not work out, although the Taiping Kingdom was created in South China, and its population reached 30 million. "Hairy bandits", nicknamed so for the fact that they rejected the braids imposed on the Chinese by the Manchus, occupied large cities, foreign states got involved in the war, uprisings began in other parts of the empire ... The uprising was suppressed only in 1864, and then only with the support of the British and French.

3. The capture of China by the Manchu dynasty

You will laugh, but ... Again the Qing dynasty, this time the era of the conquest of power in China, 1616-1662. 25 million victims, or almost five percent of the world's inhabitants, is the cost of creating an empire founded in 1616 by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro in Manchuria, that is, in today's northeastern China. Less than three decades later, the whole of China, part of Mongolia and a large chunk of Central Asia fell under its rule. The Chinese Ming Empire weakened and fell under the blows of the Great Pure State - Da Qing-kuo. The conquered by blood held out for a long time: the Qing empire was destroyed by the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1912, the six-year-old emperor Pu Yi abdicated the throne. However, he will still be destined to lead the country - the puppet state of Manchukuo, created by the Japanese invaders on the territory of Manchuria and existed until 1945.

2. Wars of the Mongol Empire (13-15 centuries)

Historians call the Mongol Empire the state that emerged in the 13th century as a result of the conquests of Genghis Khan and his successors. Its territory was the largest in world history and stretched from the Danube to the Sea of ​​Japan and from Novgorod to Southeast Asia. The area of ​​the empire is still amazing - about 24 million square kilometers. The number of people who died during the period of its formation, existence and decay will not leave indifferent either: according to the most optimistic estimates, it is not less than 30 million. The pessimists count all 60 million. True, we are talking about a significant historical period - from the first years of the XIII century, when Temuchin united the warring nomadic tribes into a single Mongolian state and received the title of Genghis Khan, and until standing on the Ugra in 1480, when the Moscow state under the Grand Duke Ivan III was completely freed from Mongol-Tatar yoke. During this time, from 7.5 to 17 percent of the world's population died.

1. World War II (1939-1945)

The most terrible records are held by the Second World War. It is also the bloodiest - the total number of its victims is cautiously estimated at 40 million, and inadvertently at all 72. It is also the most destructive: the total damage of all the belligerent countries has exceeded the material losses from all previous wars taken together and is considered equal to one and a half, or even two trillion dollars. This war and the most, if I may say so, the world one - 62 states out of 73 that existed on the planet at that time, or 80% of the world's population, took part in it in one form or another. The war was fought on land, in the sky and at sea - the fighting was fought on three continents and in the waters of four oceans. This was the only conflict so far in which nuclear weapons have been used.

The main belligerent powers were Germany, Soviet Union, France, UK, USA, Japan. The bloodiest civil war is nothing compared to the Second World War, which covered the territories of forty states on three continents and all oceans. In total, 110 million people were mobilized in all these countries, tens of millions participated in the guerrilla war and in the resistance movement, the rest worked in military factories and built fortifications. In general, the war covered 3/4 of the population of the entire Earth.

World War II is the bloodiest in world history

The destruction and losses caused by the Second World War were very great and practically unparalleled. It is simply impossible to count them even approximately. In this hellish war, human losses approached 55 million people. Killed five times in World War I less people, and the material damage was estimated 12 times less. This war was of colossal proportions, as it was the most immeasurable event in world history.

In the Second, as in the First World War, the reasons lay in the redistribution of the world, territorial acquisitions, raw materials, and sales markets. However, the ideological content was more pronounced. The fascist and anti-fascist coalitions confronted each other. The Nazis unleashed a war, they wanted to dominate the world, establish their own rules and orders. The states belonging to the anti-fascist coalition defended themselves as best they could. They fought for freedom and independence, for democratic rights and freedoms. This war was of a liberating nature. The resistance movement became main feature World War II. The anti-fascist and national liberation movement arose in the states of the bloc of aggressors and in the occupied countries.

Literature about the war. The credibility of the facts

Many books and articles have been written about the bloodiest war, a large number of films have been shot in all countries. The literary works written about this are immense, hardly anyone will be able to read them in their entirety. However, the flow of various kinds of publications does not come to an end today. The history of the bloodiest war has not yet been fully explored and is closely related to heated problems modern world... And all because this interpretation of military events still serves as a kind of justification and justification for revising borders, creating new states in order to positively or negatively assess the role of nations, parties, classes, rulers and political regimes. Such situations constantly stir up national interests and feelings. A lot of time has passed and until now, along with serious historical research, a large number of absolutely unreliable fabrications, essays and falsifications are being written.

The real history of the Second World War has already become overgrown with some myths and legends, supported by government propaganda, which had a stable character and was widely disseminated.

War films

In Russia, few people know about the maneuvers of the Anglo-American troops in Africa and in the waters of the Pacific Ocean during this period. And in the United States and England, people also have a poor idea of ​​the huge range of military battles on the Soviet-German front.

It is not surprising that the Soviet-American serial documentary film about the bloodiest war in history (1978 of release) in America they gave the name "Unknown War", because there they really know practically nothing about it. One of the French films about the Second World War was also called "The Unknown War". Too bad the opinion poll different countries(Including Russia) showed that the generation born already in post-war time, sometimes the most ordinary knowledge about the war is simply missing. The respondents sometimes do not really know when the war began, who were Hitler, Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill.

Beginning, reasons and preparation

The bloodiest war in human history began on September 1, 1939, and formally ended on September 2, 1945. It was unleashed by Nazi Germany (in alliance with Italy and Japan) with the anti-fascist coalition. The fighting took place in Europe, Asia and Africa. At the end of the war, at the final stage, against Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) on September 6 and 9 were used atomic bombs... Japan surrendered.

For the defeat in the First World War (1914-1918), Germany, with the support of its allies, wanted revenge. In the 30s, two military centers were deployed in Europe and the Far East. The excessive restrictions and reparations that the victors imposed on Germany contributed to the development of a powerful nationalist impulse in the country, where extremely radical currents took power into their own hands.

Hitler and his plans

In 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power, who turned Germany into a militaristic country, dangerous to the whole world. The scale and rate of growth were impressive in their scope. The volume of military production increased 22 times. By 1935, Germany possessed 29 military divisions. The plans of the fascists included the conquest of the whole world and absolute domination in it. Their main targets were Great Britain, France, the USA were also included in this list. However, the most important and most important goal was the destruction of the USSR. The Germans longed for a redivision of the world, created their own coalition, and did a tremendous amount of work on this issue.

First period

On September 1, 1939, Germany treacherously invaded Poland. The bloodiest war began. By that time, the German armed forces had reached 4 million people and possessed a huge amount of all kinds of equipment - tanks, ships, planes, guns, mortars, etc. In response, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany, but they do not go to help Poland. Polish rulers flee to Romania.

On September 17 of the same year, the Soviet Union introduces troops into the territory of Western Ukraine and Belarus (which became part of the USSR since 1917), so that with the collapse of the Polish state in the event of an attack, prevent the Germans from advancing further east. This was stated in their classified documents. On the way of their advance, the Germans took possession of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, then took Bulgaria, the Balkans, Greece and Fr. Crete.

Errors

At this time, Italian troops, fighting on the side of Germany, captured British Somalia, parts of Sudan, Kenya, Libya and Egypt. In the Far East, Japan occupied the southern regions of China and the northern part of Indochina. On September 27, 1940, the Berlin Pact was signed by the three powers - Germany, Italy and Japan. The military leaders in Germany at that time were A. Hitler, G. Himmler, G. Goering, W Keitel.

In August 1940, the Nazis began bombing Great Britain. In the first period of the bloodiest war in history, Germany's military successes were due to the fact that her opponents acted in isolation and could not immediately develop a unified system of leadership for joint warfare, and draw up effective plans for military action. Now the economy and resources from the occupied European countries were used to prepare for war with the Soviet Union.

Second period of the war

The 1939 Soviet-German non-aggression treaties did not play their role, so on June 22, 1941 Germany (together with Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Slovakia) attacked the Soviet Union. The Great Patriotic War began with the bloodiest battles and the most severe human losses.

It was new stage war. The governments of Great Britain and the United States supported the USSR, signed an agreement on joint actions and military-economic cooperation. The USSR and Great Britain sent their troops to Iran in order to prevent the possibility of the creation of support bases by the Nazis in the Middle East.

First steps to victory

The Soviet-German front acquired forms of an exceptionally fierce character. According to the "Barbarossa" plan, all the most powerful armed forces of the Nazis were sent to the USSR.

The Red Army suffered huge losses, but it was able to thwart plans for a "lightning war" (blitzkrieg) in the summer of 1941. Heavy battles were going on, exhausting and bleeding the enemy groupings. As a result, the Germans could not capture Leningrad, they were held back for a long time by the Odessa 1941 and Sevastopol defense of 1941-1942. The defeat in the Moscow battle of 1941-1942 dispelled the myths about the omnipotence and omnipotence of the Wehrmacht. This fact inspired the occupied peoples to fight against the oppression of their enemies and to create the Resistance Movement.

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US military base Pearl Harbor and unleashed a war against America. On December 8, the United States and Great Britain, together with their allies, declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany, together with Italy, declared war on America.

Third period of the war

At the same time, the main events took place on the Soviet-German front. It was here that all the military power of the Germans was concentrated. The bloodiest battle of the Great Patriotic War began on November 19. It was a counteroffensive at Stalingrad (1942-1943), which ended with the encirclement and destruction of a 330,000-strong group of German troops. The victory of the Red Army at Stalingrad was a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. Then the Germans themselves already had doubts about the victory. From that moment on, the mass expulsion of enemy troops from the Soviet Union began.

Mutual assistance

The radical turning point in victory took place in Battle of Kursk 1943. The battles for the Dnieper in 1943 led the enemy to a protracted defensive war. When all German forces participated in the Battle of Kursk, British and American troops (July 25, 1943) destroyed the fascist regime of Italy, she withdrew from the fascist coalition. Great victories were demonstrated by the allies in Africa, Sicily, in the south of the Apennine Peninsula.

In 1943, at the request of the Soviet delegation, the Tehran Conference was held, at which it was decided to open a second front no later than 1944. In the third period, the Nazi army was unable to win a single victory. The war in Europe has entered its final stage.

The fourth period

In January, the Red Army launched a new offensive. Crushing blows fell on the enemy, by May the USSR managed to drive the fascists out of the country. In the course of the incessant offensive, the territories of Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria, and northern Norway were liberated. Finland, Albania and Greece withdrew from the war. The Allied forces, conducting Operation Overlord, launched an offensive against Germany and thus opened a second front.

In February 1945, a conference of the leaders of three countries - the USA, Great Britain and the USSR was held in Yalta. At this meeting, plans for the defeat of the Nazi army were finally agreed, and political decisions were made to control and reparation Germany.

Fifth period

Three months after winning the Berlin Conference, the USSR agrees to wage war with Japan. At the 1945 conference in San Francisco, representatives of fifty countries drew up the UN Charter. The United States wanted to demonstrate its power and new weapons by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9) in 1945.

The USSR, having entered the war with Japan, defeated its Kwantung Army, liberated part of China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. On September 2, Japan surrendered. The Second World War is over.

Losses

In the bloodiest war, an estimated 55 million people died at the hands of the Nazis. The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the war, losing 27 million people and receiving enormous damage from the destruction of material assets. For Soviet people The Great Patriotic War is the bloodiest and most monstrous in its cruelty.

Large human losses were suffered by Poland - 6 million, China - 5 million, Yugoslavia - 1.7 million, other states. The total losses of Germany and its allies amounted to about 14 million. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, died of wounds or went missing.

Outcomes

The main result of the war was the defeat of the reactionary aggression on the part of Germany and its allies. Since that time, the balance of political forces in the world has changed. Many peoples of "non-Aryan origin" were saved from physical destruction, which, according to the plan of the fascists, were to die in concentration camps or become slaves. The Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1949 and the Tokyo Trials of 1946-1948 gave legal assessments to the executors of misanthropic plans and the conquest of world domination.

Now, I think, there should no longer arise the question of which war is the most bloody. We must always remember this and not let our descendants forget about it, because "who does not know history is doomed to repeat it."

War is not only scary but also stupid. Here are the stories of five conflicts that have brought nothing but sacrifice and decline.

Since history began to be documented, more than 15,000 wars have occurred on Earth. Over the centuries, many of them seem absurd, most useless.

3600 years
BC NS.

1. The first catastrophic

Several hundred skeletons with broken bones and heaps of sling shells among the rubble of three-meter clay walls. This is all that remains of Hamukar - one of the first, if not the very first, city on Earth. Before the assault by the southerners from Uruk, it occupied more than 100 hectares in the north of modern Syria.

The Uruk people controlled the irrigation system and the wheat trade in Mesopotamia. Hamukar's economy grew by exporting obsidian and copper tools. In the last hours of the battle, the inhabitants of the rich and poorly defended city tried to remake clay seals, which designated the ownership of their property, into sling bullets.

The reasons for the conflict are unknown. There were no winners in it. The desert has engulfed artisan quarters for thousands of years. In the process, the Uruks destroyed the colony of their fellow merchants in Hamukar. The technology of copper production in this area has been lost for a long time.

The great civilization of antiquity. It existed in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Sling shells from the ruins of Hamukar. Photo: University of Chicago Plan of the ruins of Hamukara. Photo: University of Chicago Remains of a resident of Hamukar. Photo: University of Chicago

1st century

2. Tax Holocaust

In 66 AD, the Roman Empire was at its peak military power and had no rivals in the Mediterranean. Recruits for the best army of that time were trained by the first drill system. The first engineering troops on Earth did not know what an "impregnable fortress" was. And the province of Judea still rebelled.

The high priests were seething with the need to offer daily sacrifices for the health of the emperor. The inhabitants were outraged by the rudeness of the Roman soldiers and the greed of officials. Jerusalem revolted when the procurator confiscated a large amount of silver from the Temple, allegedly on account of unpaid taxes by the residents of the city. The Roman garrison was destroyed.

In the early years, the uprising was a success. Jerusalem was ruled by priests, the XII Legion was defeated, the rebel pirate fleet disrupted the supply of grain from Egypt to Rome. However, in 70 AD, a 60,000-strong army invaded Judea under the command of Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian. Radicals burned food supplies so that people would fight to the last, moderate citizens were slaughtered with daggers in the streets.

Jerusalem fell when the Romans broke through the walls with cars, set fire to and stormed the Temple. Fighting, hunger and epidemics have killed more than a million people - half of Judea. Jews have lost the chance to build their own state for centuries. From their main shrine, only a fragment of the retaining wall remained - the Wailing Wall.

In the past it was the Center for Jewish Religious Life. The object of pilgrimage, the only permitted place for sacrifices to God.

"Siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under the command of Titus", painting by David Roberts, 1850 / Wikipedia "Catapult". Painting by Edward Poynter, 1868 / Wikipedia

8th century

3. Vocation of nomads

In 755, An Lushan, a Central Asian commander in the service of the Chinese, strove for success. When the first minister died under the weak emperor Xuan Zong, he already controlled 3 border provinces out of 10. Having recruited an army of nomads, Lushan played on the contempt of the imperial court for the "barbarians from the north" and led them to the capital of the Tang dynasty. Soon the commander declared himself the first emperor of the new Yan dynasty.

The Turkic nomads helped An Lushan utterly defeat two armies of the ruling clan totaling 150,000 people, force the incumbent emperor to abdicate and split the country into two parts. In contrast, the son of the former emperor, Li Heng, recruited detachments of Uighurs, Burmese, Arabs and Tibetans into the state.

The war went on for 17 years and cost 36 million inhabitants. Not all of them died. The majority fled or were taken prisoner, but human losses in 1/6 of the world's population could not but undermine the strength of the country. Cities were depopulated, and for hundreds of years, Chinese history was not written by the Chinese.

An Lushan and Emperor Xuan Zong's escape from the capital Chang'an to Sichuan. Picture: Imperial Palace Museum / Wikipedia Ceramic figurines from the Tang Dynasty, 618-906. Photo: British Museum

19th century

4. Shore slaughter

For the export of timber, minerals, cotton and mate, the import of technology and weapons, Paraguay badly needed its own port on the Atlantic coast. The country was deliberately preparing for the slaughter: pouring cannons, re-equipping civilian steamers. 400 guns and 60,000 trained soldiers - a formidable army for this time and region.

In 1864, Paraguay began a six-year confrontation with the coalition of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil for access to the ocean. Triple Alliance at first it had only 30,000 regular troops, but in artillery and ships it was significantly superior to the enemy. This determined the end of the conflict. Paraguay invaded Argentina, raided Brazil. But relying on the supply and fire support of numerous river vessels, the Allied troops were moving with a steam roller across the basin of the La Plata. Bypassing the enemy's fortresses and cutting off fortified areas, they defeated the Paraguayan fleet and in 5 years of the hardest campaign took the capital Asuncion.

90% of the male population of Paraguay died at the front and because of the cholera epidemic, women and children were drafted into the troops. The president of the state was killed in the battle. The country never completed industrialization, and even now its main export is cotton. The blood bath was in vain.

Uruguayan artillery, 18 July 1866. Photo: Ricardo Salles, The War in Paraguay: Memories and Pictures, Rio de Janeiro, National Library / Wikipedia Brazilian Soldiers, May 30, 1868. Photo: Ricardo Salles, The War in Paraguay: Memories and Pictures. Rio de Janeiro, National Library / Wikipedia Uruguayan Soldiers' Trench. Photo: Ricardo Salles, "The War in Paraguay: Memories and Pictures". Rio de Janeiro, National Library / Wikipedia Remains of Paraguayan soldiers on the battlefield. Photo: Bia Corrêa do Lago / Wikipedia

20th century

5. Export revolution

After defeating the dictator Batista, Castro's team developed a strategy for exporting the revolution. Che Guevara fought in Congo and Bolivia, members of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party were captured in Guinea. The fighting qualities of the Cuban contingent in Angola were legendary. Cuban cells, rebel groups and missions operated in Chile, the Caribbean and throughout Latin America.

Up to 70,000 Cuban fighters and instructors were simultaneously on "foreign missions". These are impressive figures, considering that the size of the Cuban army rarely exceeded 45,000. While men were dying abroad, their families at home received coupons for rice, minced meat, surrogate coffee and soy milk.

Fierce battles on two continents, confrontation with the elite parts of South Africa, endless losses in guerrilla wars, Che's death in Bolivia, a suffocating American blockade. There was nothing left - only old sick people on the podium, thousands of the dead and crippled, poverty and death of hopes.

Che Guevara holding a child during the Congolese crisis, 1965. Photo: Che Guevara Museum in Cuba / Wikipedia

The history of mankind is the history of wars. The Swiss Jean-Jacques Babel calculated that in the entire history from 3500 BC. to this day, mankind has lived peacefully for only 292 years.

But there were different wars as well. It is often difficult to estimate the number of those killed in the war, but if we take the minimum figures for the estimates of losses, the picture is as follows.

10. Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)

The wars that Napoleon Bonaparte waged with various European states from 1799 to 1815 are usually called the Napoleonic Wars. The gifted commander began to redistribute the political map of Europe even earlier than he made the coup of the 18th Brumaire and became First Consul. The Hanoverian campaign, the war of the Third Coalition or the Russo-Austro-French War of 1805, the War of the Fourth Coalition, or the Russo-Prussian-French War of 1806-1807, which ended in the famous Peace of Tilsit, the War of the Fifth Coalition, or the Austro-French War of 1809, Patriotic the war of 1812 and the war of the Sixth Coalition of European Powers against Napoleon and, finally, the campaign of the "Hundred Days" era, which ended with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, took the lives of at least 3,5 million people. Many historians double this figure.

9. Civil war in Russia (1917-1923)

In the civil war that followed the 1917 revolution in Russia, more people died than in all Napoleonic wars: no less 5,5 million people, and according to bolder estimates, all 9 million. And although these losses amounted to less than half a percent of the world's population, the war between the Reds and Whites had the most dire consequences for our country. No wonder Anton Ivanovich Denikin canceled all awards in his army - what awards in a fratricidal war? And, by the way, it is in vain to think that the Civil War ended in 1920 with the Crimean evacuation and the fall of the White Crimea. In fact, the Bolsheviks managed to suppress the last centers of resistance in Primorye only in June 1923, and the struggle against the Basmachi in Central Asia dragged on until the early forties.

8. Dungan Uprising (1862)

In 1862, the so-called Dungan Uprising against the Qing Empire began in northwestern China. Chinese and non-Chinese Muslim national minorities - Dungans, Uighurs, Salars - rebelled, according to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, against the national oppression of the Sino-Manchu feudal lords and the Qing dynasty. English-speaking historians do not fully agree with this and see the origins of the uprising in racial and class antagonism and in economics, but not in religious strife and rebellion against the ruling dynasty. Be that as it may, but which began in May 1862 in Weinan County, Shaanxi Province, the uprising spread to the provinces of Gansu and Xinjiang. There was no single headquarters for the uprising, and in the war, everyone with everyone suffered according to various estimates, from 8 up to 12 million people. As a result, the uprising was brutally suppressed, and the surviving rebels were sheltered by the Russian Empire. Their descendants still live in Kyrgyzstan, South Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

7. Revolt of Ai Lushan (8th century AD)

The era of the Tang dynasty is traditionally considered in China as the period of the highest power of the country, when China was far ahead of the modern countries of the world. And the civil war at that time was a match for the country - a grandiose one. In world historiography, it is called the Ai Lushan uprising. Thanks to the disposition of Emperor Xuanzong and his beloved concubine Yang Guifei, the Turks (or Sogdians) in the Chinese service, Ai Lushan concentrated in his hands enormous power in the army - under his command were 3 of the 10 border provinces of the Tang empire. In 755, Ai Lushan rebelled and the following year proclaimed himself emperor of the new Yan dynasty. And although already in 757 the sleeping leader of the uprising was stabbed to death by his trusted eunuch, it was only possible to pacify the rebellion by February 763. The number of victims is staggering: by the very least died 13 million people. And if you believe the pessimists and assume that the population of China decreased at that time by 36 million people, then we will have to admit that the rebellion of Ai Lushan reduced the then population of the world by more than 15 percent. In this case, if we count by the number of victims, it was the largest armed conflict in the entire history of mankind up to World War II.

6. Firstworld war (1914-1918)

The hero of the novel by Francis Scott Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby" called it "the belated migration of the Teutonic tribes." This was called the war against the war, the Great War, the European War. The name with which she lived in history was coined by the military columnist for The Times, Colonel Charles Repington: The First World War.

The starting shot of the world meat grinder was a shot in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. From that day until the armistice on November 11, 1918, died by the most modest measure 15 million. If you come across the number of 65 million - do not be alarmed: it also included all those who died from the Spanish flu, the most massive influenza pandemic in the history of mankind. In addition to the mass of victims, the result of World War I was the elimination of as many as four empires: Russian, Ottoman, German and Austria-Hungary.

5. Wars of Tamerlane (14th century)

Remember Vasily Vereshchagin's painting "The Apotheosis of War"? So, initially it was called "Tamerlane's Triumph", and all because the great eastern commander and conqueror loved to build pyramids from human skulls. I must say that there was no shortage of material: for 45 years of conquest campaigns lame Timur - in Persian Timur-e-Liang, and in our opinion Tamerlane - put, no less than 3.5 percent of the world's population in the second half of the XIV century. Minimum - 15 million, or even all 20. Wherever he did not go: Iran, Transcaucasia, India, the Golden Horde, the Ottoman Empire - the interests of the iron lame stretched widely. Why "iron"? And because the name Timur, or rather Temur is translated from the Turkic languages ​​as "iron". By the end of Tamerlane's reign, his empire stretched from Transcaucasia to Punjab. Emir Timur did not have time to conquer China, although he tried - death interrupted his campaign.

4. Taiping uprising (1850-1864)

China is again in fourth place, which is not surprising: the country is inhabited. And again the times of the Qing empire, that is, turbulent: the opium wars, the Dungan uprising, the Ihetuan movement, the Xinhai revolution ... And the bloody Taiping uprising, which took lives by the most conservative estimates 20 million people. The immodest increase this figure to 100 million, that is, up to 8% of the world's population. The uprising that began in 1850 was essentially a peasant war - disenfranchised Chinese peasants rose up against the Manchu Qing dynasty. The goals were the most good: to overthrow the Manchus, drive out foreign colonialists and create a kingdom of freedom and equality - the Taiping heavenly kingdom, where the very word Taiping means "Great Calm". The uprising was led by Hong Xiuquan, who decided that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ. But in a Christian way, that is, mercifully, it did not work out, although the Taiping Kingdom was created in South China, and its population reached 30 million. "Hairy bandits", nicknamed so for the fact that they rejected the braids imposed on the Chinese by the Manchus, occupied large cities, foreign states got involved in the war, uprisings began in other parts of the empire ... The uprising was suppressed only in 1864, and then only with the support of the British and French.

3. The capture of China by the Manchu dynasty

You will laugh, but ... Again the Qing dynasty, this time the era of the conquest of power in China, 1616-1662. 25 millions of victims, or almost five percent of the world's inhabitants, is the cost of creating an empire founded in 1616 by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro on the territory of Manchuria, that is, present-day northeastern China. Less than three decades later, the whole of China, part of Mongolia and a large chunk of Central Asia fell under its rule. The Chinese Ming Empire weakened and fell under the blows of the Great Pure State - Da Qing-kuo. The conquered by blood held out for a long time: the Qing empire was destroyed by the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1912, the six-year-old emperor Pu Yi abdicated the throne. However, he will still be destined to lead the country - the puppet state of Manchukuo, created by the Japanese invaders on the territory of Manchuria and existed until 1945.

2. Wars of the Mongol Empire (13-15 centuries)

Historians call the Mongol Empire the state that emerged in the 13th century as a result of the conquests of Genghis Khan and his successors. Its territory was the largest in world history and stretched from the Danube to the Sea of ​​Japan and from Novgorod to Southeast Asia. The area of ​​the empire is still amazing - about 24 million square kilometers. The number of people who died during its formation, existence and decay will also not leave indifferent: according to the most optimistic estimates, it is no less 30 million. The pessimists count all 60 million. True, we are talking about a significant historical period - from the first years of the XIII century, when Temuchin united the warring nomadic tribes into a single Mongolian state and received the title of Genghis Khan, and until standing on the Ugra in 1480, when the Moscow state under the Grand Duke Ivan III was completely freed from Mongol-Tatar yoke. During this time, from 7.5 to 17 percent of the world's population died.

1. World War II (1939-1945)

The most terrible records are held by the Second World War. It is also the bloodiest - the total number of its victims is carefully estimated at 40 millions, and inadvertently in all 72. It is also the most destructive: the total damage to all the belligerent countries has exceeded the material losses from all previous wars taken together and is considered equal to one and a half, or even two trillion dollars. This war and the most, if I may say so, the world one - 62 states out of 73 that existed on the planet at that time, or 80% of the world's population, took part in it in one form or another. The war was fought on land, in the sky and at sea - the fighting was fought on three continents and in the waters of four oceans. This was the only conflict so far in which nuclear weapons have been used.