Which War In History Claimed The Most Lives ?
Although a war helps to defend a country's borders, it also claims lives, both of soldiers and innocent civilians. In addition, the economy of the countries involved in the war is adversely affected. It takes years to recover from a war. However, the people who have lost their loves ones may never recover from the loss. History has shown that wars can displace people and devastate their lives. That is why governments today make all efforts to avert wars. The last war that involved several countries was the Second World War. |
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The Second World War claimed the most lives, with more than 60 million people losing their lives. However, there is some dispute over the number of lives lost, as the figure is pegged between 50 and 70 million. According to scholars, some 40 to 52 million civilian people ended up losing their lives, and this figure includes even those who died due to famine and diseases caused due to the war. Around 22 to 25 million soldiers lost their lives in the war, and this included the soldiers who perished when they were taken as prisoners of war. Also, the loss suffered by countries was disproportionate, with some countries losing more lives than others. The countries that suffered the maximum loss of lives include erstwhile Soviet Union, Poland, China, Germany and erstwhile Yugoslavia.
While stability was a problem around the time Second World War took place, no country wanted a war. As a result different countries signed treaties with one another. However, after end of the First World War, Germany was given the short end of the stick and people were feeling humiliated by the treaty (Treaty of Versailles) the country was forced to sign. In addition, Germany lost a lot of its land. It is this feeling that Hitler took advantage of and rose to fame and popularity. On 1 September 1939, Germany attacked Poland and other countries decided that they had to take measures to prevent a war. As a result, Europe, Africa and Asia ended up being involved in a six-year long war that devastated countries, caused the Holocaust, killed millions of people and displaced millions further.
On the day that Germany attacked Poland, the country's air force was decimated even before it could take defensive measures, and the Polish army was no match to the great Germany army. It was a lost battle even before the war had begun. The Germans began bombing bridges and roads, so that marching soldiers could not be mobilized against the German army, and many of them were gunned down using planes. In addition, the Germany army also targeted civilians and any civilian caught fleeing the battle or shooting was mercilessly killed.
On hearing about the attack against Poland, France and Great Britain did try to intervene and get the attack to stop. Both countries issued an ultimatum to Hitler, but to no avail. Instead, Hitler was in no mood to listen or retreat. All he was interested in was resurrecting the glorious past of Germany that was lost during the First World War. So, he ordered the German army to push deeper into Poland. This prompted France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany and as a result their allies were also drawn into the war. This marked the start of the Second World War, the war that cost the most lives in the history of military combat.
It maybe interesting to note that when the Second World War came to an end, the Allied forces wanted to establish their own territory and this resulted in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cold War threatened to break into a nuclear conflict between the two countries, and if this had occurred, it would have cost more lives than those that were lost during the Second World War.
More Articles :
Wikipedia: World War II Casualties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
About.com; 20th Century History: World War II Starts
http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiistarts.htm
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Every single country in the world has its own history and culture. All the historical records that we have highlight the important events in history and help us to understand our country's past and how things were during those times. However, at times, there could be strange events that have no explanation. Some of these strange events could have been important or even had an impact on the history and past of a country, but many times, these events are not discussed because they are so strange, weird and unacceptable. 