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The following is a list of the casualties count in battles or offensives in world history. The list includes both sieges (not technically battles but usually yielding similar combat-related or civilian deaths) and civilian casualties during the battles.
Large battle casualty counts are usually impossible to calculate precisely, but few in this list may include somewhat precise numbers. Many of these figures, though, are estimates, and, where possible, a range of estimates is presented. Figures display numbers for all types of casualties when available (killed, wounded, missing, and sick) but may only include number killed due to a lack of total data on the event. Where possible, the list specifies whether or not prisoners are included in the count.
This list does not include bombing campaigns/runs (such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Tokyo) or massacres such as the Rape of Nanjing, which, despite potentially massive casualties, are not typically classified as "battles", since they are usually one-sided engagements or the nation attacked is not officially at war with the attackers. Tactical or strategic strikes, however, may form part of larger engagements which are themselves battles, small campaigns or offensives.
For natural disasters, see List of natural disasters by death toll .
This list includes sieges, as well as modern battles fought primarily in urban areas. Major military operations that included city fighting are listed below. It is sorted by year.
This list includes major operations and prolonged battles or operations fought over a large area or for a long time. The durations of some operations, like the Battle of Moscow, are disputed; so numbers found in various sources may differ for that reason alone.
These refer to battles in which armies met on a single field of battle and fought each other for anywhere from one to several days. This type of battle died out in favor of larger military operations.
Action | Year | Conflict | Casualties |
---|---|---|---|
Sack of Rome (455) | 455 | fall of the Western Roman Empire | 400,000+ |
Sack of Thessalonica (1185) | 1185 | third Norman invasion of the Balkans | 10,000+ |
Sack of Berwick (1296) | 1296 | First War of Scottish Independence | 17,000 |
Sack of Rome (1527) | 1527 | War of the League of Cognac | 48,000 |
Sack of Naples | 1544 | Ottoman–Habsburg wars | 50,000 |
Sack of Magdeburg | 1631 | Thirty Years' War | 26,900 |
Raid on the Medway | 1667 | Second Anglo-Dutch War | 650 |
Dieppe Raid | 1942 | World War II | 6,860 |
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union. The central conflict leading to war was a dispute over whether slavery should be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prohibited from doing so, which many believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a protracted struggle with the Soviet Union for control over the Soviet city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. The battle was characterized by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in aerial raids; the battle epitomized urban warfare, being the single largest and costliest urban battle in military history. It was the bloodiest and fiercest battle of the entirety of World War II—and arguably in all of human history—as both sides suffered tremendous casualties amidst ferocious fighting in and around the city. The battle is commonly regarded as the turning point in the European theatre of World War II, as Germany's Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was forced to withdraw a considerable amount of military forces from other regions to replace losses on the Eastern Front. By the time the hostilities ended, the German 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army had been destroyed and Army Group B was routed. The Soviets' victory at Stalingrad shifted the Eastern Front's balance of power in their favour, while also boosting the morale of the Red Army.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all the world's countries—including all the great powers—participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war, blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities, more than half of which were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust of European Jews, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders.
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The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of conflicts fought between the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte (1804–1815) and a fluctuating array of European coalitions. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe. The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia.
The First Chechen War, also referred to as the First Russo-Chechen War, was a struggle for independence waged by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian Federation from 11 December 1994 to 31 August 1996. This conflict was preceded by the battle of Grozny in November 1994, during which Russia covertly sought to overthrow the new Chechen government. Following the intense Battle of Grozny in 1994–1995, which concluded with a pyrrhic victory for the Russian federal forces, Russia's subsequent efforts to establish control over the remaining lowlands and mountainous regions of Chechnya were met with fierce resistance and frequent surprise raids by Chechen guerrillas. The recapture of Grozny in 1996 played a part in the Khasavyurt Accord (ceasefire), and the signing of the 1997 Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty.
World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, or about 3% of the estimated global population of 2.3 billion in 1940. Deaths directly caused by the war are estimated at 50–56 million, with an additional estimated 19–28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine. Civilian deaths totaled 50–55 million. Military deaths from all causes totaled 21–25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war. More than half of the total number of casualties are accounted for by the dead of the Republic of China and of the Soviet Union. The following tables give a detailed country-by-country count of human losses. Statistics on the number of military wounded are included whenever available.
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The military history of Canada comprises centuries of conflict within the territory, and interventions by the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping missions worldwide. For millennia, the area comprising modern Canada saw sporadic conflicts among Indigenous peoples. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Canada was the site of several conflicts, including four major colonial wars between New France and British America. The conflicts spanned nearly 70 years and was fought between British and French forces, supported by their colonial militias, and various First Nations.
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