Wars are as old as humanity itself. The earliest documented evidence of war comes from a Mesolithic battle in Egypt (cemetery 117) about 14,000 years ago. Wars have been fought across most of the globe, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. In our review of the most bloody wars in the history of mankind, which should not be forgotten in any case, so as not to repeat this.
1. Biafran War of Independence
1 million dead dead
The conflict, also known as the Nigerian Civil War (July 1967 - January 1970), was caused by an attempted secession of the self-proclaimed state of Biafra (Nigeria's eastern provinces). The conflict resulted from the political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions that preceded the formal decolonization of Nigeria in 1960-1963. Most of the people during the war died of starvation and various diseases.
2. Japanese invasions of Korea
1 million dead
The Japanese invasions of Korea (or the Imdin War) took place between 1592 and 1598, with the initial invasion taking place in 1592 and a second invasion in 1597, after a brief truce. The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese troops. Approximately 1 million Koreans were killed, and Japanese casualties are unknown.
3. Iran-Iraq War
1 million dead
The Iran-Iraq War is an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from 1980 to 1988, making it the longest war of the 20th century. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980 and ended in a stalemate on August 20, 1988. In terms of tactics, the conflict was comparable to World War I as it featured large-scale trench warfare, machine gun emplacements, bayonet charges, psychological pressure, and extensive use of chemical weapons.
4. Siege of Jerusalem
1.1 million dead
The oldest conflict on this list (it occurred in 73 AD) was the decisive event of the First Jewish War. The Roman army besieged and captured the city of Jerusalem, which was defended by the Jews. The siege ended with the sack of the city and the destruction of its famous Second Temple. According to historian Josephus, 1.1 million civilians died during the blockade, mostly as a result of violence and starvation.
5. Korean War
1.2 million dead
Lasting from June 1950 to July 1953, the Korean War was an armed conflict that began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, led by the US, came to the aid of South Korea while China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea. The war ended after a truce was signed, a demilitarized zone was established, and an exchange of prisoners of war took place. However, no peace treaty has been signed and the two Koreas are technically still at war.
6. Mexican Revolution
2 million dead
The Mexican Revolution, which lasted from 1910 to 1920, radically changed the entire Mexican culture. Considering that the country's population was then only 15 million, the losses were appallingly high, but numerical estimates vary widely. Most historians agree that 1.5 million people died and nearly 200,000 refugees fled abroad. The Mexican Revolution is often categorized as the most important socio-political event in Mexico and one of the biggest social upheavals of the 20th century.
7 Chuck's Conquests
2 million dead
The Chaka Conquests is a term used for a series of massive and brutal conquests in South Africa led by Chaka, the famous monarch of the Zulu Kingdom. In the first half of the 19th century Chaka at the head of a large army invaded and plundered a number of regions in South Africa. It is estimated that up to 2 million indigenous people died in the process.
8. Goguryeo-Suu Wars
2 million dead
Another violent conflict in Korea was the Goguryeo-Sui Wars, a series of military campaigns waged by the Chinese Sui dynasty against Goguryeo, one of Korea's three kingdoms, from 598 to 614. These wars (which were ultimately won by the Koreans) caused 2 million deaths, and the total death toll is likely much higher because Korean civilian casualties were not taken into account.
9. Wars of Religion in France
4 million dead
Also known as the Huguenot Wars, the French Wars of Religion, fought between 1562 and 1598, are a period of civil strife and military confrontation between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The exact number of wars and their respective dates are still debated by historians, but up to 4 million people are estimated to have died.
10. Second Congo War
5.4 million dead
Also known by several other names such as the Great African War or the African World War, the Second Congo War was the deadliest in modern African history. Nine African countries directly participated in it, as well as about 20 separate armed groups.
The war was fought for five years (from 1998 to 2003) and resulted in 5.4 million deaths, mainly due to disease and starvation. This makes the Congo War the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.
11. Napoleonic Wars
6 million dead
The Napoleonic Wars, which lasted between 1803 and 1815, were a series of major conflicts waged by the French empire, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, against a multitude of European powers formed into various coalitions. During his military career, Napoleon fought about 60 battles and lost only seven, mostly towards the end of his reign. Approximately 5 million people died in Europe, including due to diseases.
12. Thirty Years' War
11.5 million million dead
The Thirty Years' War, which was fought between 1618 and 1648, was a series of conflicts for hegemony in Central Europe. This war became one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, and it originally began as a conflict between Protestant and Catholic states in the divided Holy Roman Empire. The war gradually developed into a much larger conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe. Estimates of the death toll vary considerably, but the most likely tally is that around 8 million people died, including civilians.
13. Chinese Civil War
8 million dead
The Chinese Civil War was fought between forces loyal to the Kuomintang (a political party of the Republic of China) and forces loyal to the Communist Party of China. The war began in 1927, and ended in essence only in 1950, when the main active battles ceased. The conflict eventually led to the de facto formation of two states: the Republic of China (now known as Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China (mainland China). The war is remembered for its atrocities on both sides: millions of civilians were deliberately killed.
14. Russian Civil War
12 million dead
The civil war in Russia, which lasted from 1917 to 1922, broke out as a result of the October Revolution of 1917, when many factions began to fight for power. The two largest groups were the Bolshevik Red Army and the allied forces known as the White Army. During the 5 years of the war, from 7 to 12 million victims were recorded in the country, which were mostly civilians. The Russian Civil War has even been described as the greatest national catastrophe Europe has ever faced.
15. Tamerlane's conquests
20 million dead
Also known as Timur, Tamerlane was a famous Turkic-Mongolian conqueror and general. In the second half of the 14th century he waged brutal military campaigns in Western, Southern and Central Asia, the Caucasus and southern Russia. Tamerlane became the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world after victories over the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire and the crushing defeat of the Delhi Sultanate. Scholars have calculated that his military campaigns resulted in the deaths of 17 million people, about 5% of the then world population.
16. Dungan uprising
20.8 million dead
The Dungan Rebellion was primarily an ethnic and religious war fought between the Han (Chinese ethnic group native to East Asia) and Huizu (Chinese Muslims) in 19th century China. The riot arose because of a price dispute (when the buyer of the Huizu did not pay the required amount for the bamboo sticks to the Hancu merchant). In the end, more than 20 million people died during the uprising, mostly due to natural disasters and war-induced conditions such as drought and famine.
17. Conquest of the Americas
138 million dead
European colonization of the Americas technically began as early as the 10th century, when Norwegian seafarers briefly settled on the coast of what is now Canada. However, it mostly refers to the period between 1492 and 1691. During these 200 years, tens of millions of people were killed in combat between the colonizers and Native Americans, but estimates of the total death toll vary widely due to a lack of consensus on the demographic size of the pre-Columbian indigenous population.
18. An Lushan Rebellion
36 million dead
During the reign of the Tang Dynasty, another devastating war took place in China - the An Lushan rebellion, which lasted from 755 to 763. There is no doubt that the rebellion resulted in a huge number of deaths and significantly reduced the population of the Tang Empire, but the exact number of deaths is difficult to estimate even in approximate conditions. Some scholars suggest that up to 36 million people died during the uprising, about two-thirds of the empire's population and about 1/6 of the world's population.
19. World War I
18 million dead
The First World War (July 1914 - November 1918) was a global conflict that arose in Europe and which gradually involved all the economically developed powers of the world, which united in two opposing alliances: the Entente and the Central Powers. The total death toll was about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians. About two-thirds of the deaths during World War I occurred directly in battle, in contrast to the conflicts that took place in the 19th century, when most deaths were due to disease.
20. Taiping Rebellion
30 million dead
This rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War, continued in China from 1850 to 1864. The war was fought between the ruling Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Christian movement "Heavenly Kingdom of Peace". Although no census was kept at the time, the most reliable estimate for the total death toll during the uprising was around 20 to 30 million civilians and soldiers. Most of the deaths were attributed to plague and famine.
21. Qing Dynasty Conquest of the Ming Dynasty
25 million dead
The Manchu conquest of China is a period of conflict between the Qing Dynasty (the Manchu dynasty ruling northeast China) and the Ming Dynasty (Chinese dynasty ruling the south of the country). The war that ultimately led to the fall of the Ming caused the deaths of some 25 million people.
22. Second Sino-Japanese War
30 million dead
The war fought between 1937 and 1945 was an armed conflict between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor (1941), this war actually merged into World War II. It became the largest Asian war in the 20th century, with up to 25 million Chinese dead and over 4 million Chinese and Japanese military personnel.
23. Wars of the Three Kingdoms
40 million dead
Wars of the Three Kingdoms - a series of armed conflicts in ancient China (220-280). During these wars, three states - Wei, Shu and Wu vied for power in the country, trying to unite the peoples and take them under their control. One of the bloodiest periods in Chinese history was marked by a series of brutal battles that could have resulted in the deaths of up to 40 million people.
24. Mongol conquests
70 million dead
The Mongol conquests progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire conquering much of Asia and Eastern Europe. Historians consider the period of Mongol raids and invasions to be one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. In addition, bubonic plague spread throughout most of Asia and Europe at this time. The total number of deaths during the conquests is estimated at 40 - 70 million people.
25. World War II
85 million dead
The Second World War (1939 - 1945) was global: the vast majority of the world's countries, including all the great powers, took part in it. It was the most massive war in history, with more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries of the world directly participating in it.
It was marked by massive civilian deaths, including due to the Holocaust and strategic bombing of industrial and populated areas, which led (according to various estimates) to the deaths of 60 million to 85 million people. As a result, World War II became the deadliest conflict in human history.
However, as history shows, a person harms himself all the time of his existence. What are they worth.
The sad first place in the list of the bloodiest conflicts in Russia is firmly occupied by the Great Patriotic War, which lasted from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945. True, at that time Russia was not a sovereign state, but was part of the USSR as the largest republic in terms of area. The victory over the Nazi coalition led by Nazi Germany came at the cost of a colossal effort of all forces, mass heroism and self-sacrifice.
The allies (USA, Great Britain, and to a much lesser extent France) also contributed to the overall victory, but the main burden of the war fell on the USSR.
The exact number of victims, including the dead military personnel and civilians, has not yet been determined. According to the latest data, it is about 27 million people - this is the population of a large European state. In the entire Soviet Union, there were almost no families left where there was not or was not a loved one. During this war, the winters were incredible, it was this fact that played into the hands of our country.
Memorable bloody wars of Russia
A very difficult test was also the Civil War, which took place in most of Russia from March 1918 to November 1920 (and in the Far East it lasted until the autumn of 1922). The war was characterized by extreme bitterness, intransigence of the parties. However, this is a characteristic feature of all civil wars, when the son goes against the father, and the brother against the brother. According to historians, the approximate number of victims of the Civil War (including those who died from starvation and epidemics) is from 8 to 13 million people.
Such a large difference in the estimates is due to the unsatisfactory accounting for losses in the armies of both sides, as well as the loss of many archival documents in subsequent years.
The First World War, in which our country participated from August 1914 to March 1918, also brought enormous damage to Russia. The losses of one army amounted to about 2.5 million people. And according to some historians - about 3.2 million. The exact number of civilian casualties in the combat zone is still unknown.
Also very bloody was the Patriotic War of 1812, when the losses of the Russian army killed and died from wounds and diseases amounted to about 210 thousand people.
And in the Russo-Japanese War, which took place from 1904 to 1905, our losses, according to various estimates, ranged from 47,000 to 70,000 people.
The main warring powers were Germany, the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, the USA, and Japan. The bloodiest civil war is nothing compared to World War II, which engulfed 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 guerrilla warfare 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 - the bloodiest war in world history
The destruction and losses caused by the Second World War were very great and practically unparalleled. They are simply impossible to calculate even approximately. In this hellish war, human losses approached 55 million people. In World War I, five times fewer people died, and 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, markets. However, the ideological content was more pronounced. Fascist and anti-fascist coalitions opposed each other. The Nazis unleashed a war, they wanted to dominate the whole world, to establish their own rules and regulations. 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 the main feature of World War II. An anti-fascist and national liberation movement arose in the states of the bloc of aggressors and in the occupied countries.
War Literature. Reliability of the facts
Many books and articles have been written about the most bloody 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 even today. The history of the most bloody war has not yet been fully explored and is closely connected with the heated problems of the modern world. And all because this interpretation of military events still serves as a kind of justification and rationale for revising borders, creating new states, in order to positively or negatively evaluate the role of nations, parties, classes, rulers and political regimes. Such situations constantly agitate national interests and feelings. A lot of time has passed and so far, along with serious historical research, a large number of absolutely unreliable fabrications, writings and falsifications are being written.
The real history of the Second World War was already 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 USA 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 multi-part documentary film about the bloodiest war in history (released in 1978) in America was given the name "Unknown War", because they really know almost nothing about it. One of the French films about World War II was also called "Unknown War". It is a pity that a public opinion poll in different countries (including Russia) showed that the generation born in the post-war period sometimes simply lacks the most ordinary knowledge about the war. The respondents sometimes do not really know when the war began, who Hitler, Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill were.
Beginning, causes and preparation
The bloodiest war in the history of mankind 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, atomic bombs were used against Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) on September 6 and 9. Japan capitulated.
For the defeat in the First World War (1914-1918), Germany, with the support of its allies, wanted revenge. In the 1930s, 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 and turned Germany into a militaristic country dangerous to the whole world. The scale and pace of growth was impressive in its scope. The volume of military production increased 22 times. By 1935, Germany had 29 military divisions. The plans of the Nazis 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 great deal of work on this issue.
First period
On September 1, 1939, Germany treacherously invaded Poland. The most bloody war has begun. By that time, the German armed forces had reached 4 million people and possessed a huge amount of various kinds of equipment - tanks, ships, aircraft, guns, mortars, etc. In response, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, but did not come to the aid of Poland. Polish rulers flee to Romania.
On September 17 of the same year, the Soviet Union sends 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, the Germans would not be allowed to move further to the east. This was stated in their secret documents. Along the way, the Germans took possession of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, then took Bulgaria, the Balkans, Greece and about. Crete.
Mistakes
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. September 27, 1940 was signed by the Berlin Pact of the three powers - Germany, Italy and Japan. The military leaders in Germany at that time were A. Hitler, G. Himmler, G. Goering, V Keitel.
In August 1940, the Nazis bombarded 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 operations. Now the economy and resources from the occupied European countries went to prepare for war with the Soviet Union.
Second period of the war
The Soviet-German non-aggression treaties of 1939 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 most bloody battles and the heaviest human losses.
It was a new phase of the war. The governments of Great Britain and the USA 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 Nazis creating strongholds in the Middle East.
First steps to victory
The Soviet-German front took on forms of an exceptionally fierce nature. All the most powerful armed forces of the Nazis, according to the Barbarossa plan, were sent to the USSR.
The Red Army suffered huge losses, but it was able to thwart the plans for a "blitzkrieg" (blitzkrieg) in the summer of 1941. There were heavy battles that exhausted and bled the enemy groups. As a result, the Germans were unable to capture Leningrad, they were held back for a long time by the Odessa defense of 1941 and the 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 enemies and create the Resistance Movement.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US military base at Pearl Harbor and launched a war against America. On December 8, the United States and Great Britain, along 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 were taking 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 near Stalingrad (1942-1943), which ended with the encirclement and destruction of the 330,000-strong group of German troops. The victory at Stalingrad of the Red Army was a fundamental turning point in the Great Patriotic War. Then the Germans themselves already had doubts about victory. From that moment began the mass expulsion of enemy troops from the Soviet Union.
Mutual Aid
A radical turning point in the victory occurred in the Battle of Kursk in 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 in 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 could not 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 Nazis out of the country. During the ongoing offensive, the territories of Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria, northern Norway were liberated. Finland, Albania and Greece withdrew from the war. The Allied troops, having carried out Operation Overlord, launched an offensive against Germany and this opened a second front.
In February 1945, a conference of 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 upon, political decisions were made on the control and reparation of Germany.
Fifth period
Three months after the victory at the Berlin Conference, the USSR agrees to wage war on Japan. At the 1945 conference in San Francisco, representatives from fifty countries drafted 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. World War II is over.
Losses
In the most bloody war, approximately 55 million people died at the hands of the Nazis. The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the war, losing 27 million people, receiving huge damage from the destruction of material values. For Soviet people, the Great Patriotic War is the bloodiest and most monstrous in its cruelty.
Large casualties were suffered by Poland - 6 million, China - 5 million, Yugoslavia - 1.7 million, and 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.
Results
The main outcome of the war was the defeat of the reactionary aggression on the part of Germany and its allies. Since that time, the alignment 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 Nazis, 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 perpetrators of misanthropic plans and the conquest of world domination.
Now, I think, the question of which war is the most bloody should no longer arise. This must always be remembered and not let our descendants forget about it, because "whoever does not know history is doomed to repeat it."
There are wars that have gone down in history forever, about which dozens of films have been made and many books have been written. And there are those who have not gone down in history, at least in history for the broad masses. This is due not to a small number of victims, but to the “quality” of these victims. After all, it's one thing when a European dies - it's a tragedy. And quite another - if somewhere in Africa "drank" a couple of million people. Who cares about them. But it still has to be up to them. Ignoring atrocities and massacres is no better than these atrocities themselves. This is silent complicity. Consider some of the bloodiest and most hushed up wars from the recent past.
1. Second Congolese or Great African War
The most bloody war of the 21st century: one way or another, more than twenty states and countless all kinds of fighters "for all the best" took part in it. The war, which began as an armed rebellion of another African general, very quickly grew into an international conflict, eventually affecting most of the entire continent.
It is believed that the active phase lasted from 1998 to 2002, although it has not completely stopped until now. But even in 4 years, her results are stunning. Over 5 million people died; how many had to leave the country or leave their homes is unknown, no one simply counted them, because this is Africa, but for sure we are talking about several million. More than 500 thousand women were raped (by women in those parts they mean any female person, regardless of age). That is, they raped and maimed, among other things, "women" of 5-7 years of age, and these are not isolated cases, but the usual practice of that war.
In general, the figures of losses and participating countries are comparable to the result of the First World War. If we take the statistics specifically for the Congo, then every tenth inhabitant died.
2 Sudanese Civil War
The war that could not happen. Absolutely every interest imaginable came into conflict. The North was at war with the South because they are different ethnic groups, different religious groups, different geography. The north is predominantly desert or semi-desert; The south, on the contrary, is almost all "green" - with fertile soil and large oil reserves.
In this war, child soldiers were actively used. 10-12-year-old children were recruited into the army from both sides, because the child agrees to simple answers like "These are enemies, they are bad." That answer is enough to kill. Although usually they also added a portion of drugs to beat off fear and all sorts of doubts. Over 50,000 children were recruited during the war; what atrocities they are capable of in such a state - you can imagine. Naturally, there are no rehabilitation centers provided. The conflict resulted in 2 million deaths, more than 4 million refugees and the emergence of the youngest of the recognized states - South Sudan (it is only 7 years old). Southerners defended their independence and oil, only the North controls all oil pipelines, and 50% of the population continues to starve.
3 Colombian Civil War
The war in Colombia began with the fact that in 1948 the liberals quarreled with the conservatives, and the communists seized the moment. It ended with the drug cartels becoming the most powerful force in the country. However, this war is not yet completely over.
The most famous figure of the war is the FARC - communist partisans, who gathered about 20 thousand "bayonets", but this is far from the only such grouping. There were, for example, desperate guys "M-19" who in 1985 seized the Palace of Justice and took hostage about 300 people, among whom were all members of the Supreme Court of Colombia. As a result, the palace was almost completely destroyed, 13 judges were killed, out of 35 members of M-19, only two managed to survive. Subsequently, the group began to cooperate with the Medellin cartel and legalized in the political system. Sounds absurd, but that's the way it is.
It is too early to consider the war over, even despite the government’s truce with the main enemy in the face of the FARC, because on January 21, 2019, another communist group - ANO - committed a terrorist attack in the capital, saying that this was a response for the attack on their bases on Christmas. A year earlier, they also blew up an oil pipeline. In total, almost 300,000 people died during the war years, and more than 5 million became refugees.
4. War of the Triple Alliance
One of the most devastating wars on a country-wide scale. From 1864 to 1870 Paraguay fought against Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The country professed the path of self-isolation under the wise leadership of the beloved leader of the people, Francisco Lopez. The usual South American dictatorial regime.
Relations between Paraguay and Brazil grew into something more after Paraguay seized a Brazilian gold ship. Perhaps this gold was necessary to compensate for the "wise rule" of the beloved leader. In general, one way or another, Paraguay turned out to be alone against three neighbors, almost completely surrounded. At the end of the war, Paraguay lost half of its territory, and 70% of the entire male population died in battle.
5. Genocide in Rwanda
An attempted genocide in Rwanda, and "genocide" is not a red word here - it was a real attempt to exterminate an entire people. Rwanda was home to two of the largest ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. There were more of the latter, but during the colonial period it so happened that the Hutus were much higher in the hierarchy. They occupied almost all the major political and military posts; these positions continued after independence.
After the departure of the whites, the Tutsis begin their struggle for rights, they also want to receive prestigious positions, and there are many of them. The small group of Hutu, of course, did not like it. Imagine the following picture: you are driving somewhere in a car and you hear how on the radio they call to cut you and people of your nationality. It happens every day: announcers tell you where to get weapons, why you need to be cut and how to do it best. And then they start killing you and everyone like you. Just like that, for no particular reason.
The Rwandan "Radio of a Thousand Hills" has become a household name: it is a term for aggressive propaganda in the media. The result of this propaganda is a million people killed in three and a half months. That's 300,000 a month, 10,000 a day, almost 400 people an hour.
6. Ambazonia
This conflict does not quite fit the list (it is not bloody), but it is happening right now and has every prospect of becoming one. Ambazonia is a rebellious region in Cameroon that has declared independence. They have their own government there, their own flags and even their own passports (of course, not recognized by anyone). Small skirmishes with the military of Cameroon occur regularly, and their number is on the rise, as well as the number of corpses. Classical African interests are touched upon: another ethnic group lives in Ambazonia, and even speaks English, unlike the French Cameroon. In addition, some neighboring states are interested in the escalation of the conflict.
Blood has replaced ink for most of human history. Get ready to learn about the most brutal wars that have ever been.
Wars over religion, political supremacy or conquest have claimed the lives of tens of millions and soaked the earth in blood.
16 PHOTOS
1. Religious wars in France - 3 million dead. The term itself is common to the numerous conflicts and tensions between Catholics and Huguenots (Protestants) that lasted throughout the 16th century. 
2. Second Congo war - 3,500,000 million. The Second War in the Congo was so bloody and brutal that people began to call it the "Great African War". 
3. Napoleonic Wars - 4.5 million. Out of the chaos of the French Revolution, Napoleon emerged with a desire to bring France to dominance. 
4. Reconquista - 7,000,000 million. The Iberian Peninsula became the epicenter of a bloody conflict that created the first major front where Muslims and Christians killed each other. 
5. Thirty Years' War - 8,000,000 million. The military conflict for hegemony in the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and Europe, which lasted from 1618 to 1648 and affected almost all European countries to one degree or another. 
6. Civil War in China - 8,000,000 million. A series of armed conflicts in China between the forces of the Republic of China and the Chinese Communists in 1927-1950. 
7. Civil war in Russia - 9,000,000 million. The Red Army and the White Army face each other in a bloody war that has claimed millions of lives and kept the country in turmoil for six years. 
8. Spanish conquest of the Incas - 9,000,000 million. A dark chapter in the history of mankind, which led to the death of 9 million Incas. 
9. An Lushan rebellion - 21,000,000 million. Over 21 million people died in the coup attempt. 
10. The conquest of Mexico - 24,000,000 million. Only 30 years have passed since the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, and the Spaniards were already busy exterminating the local population on an unimaginable scale. 
11. Manchurian conquest of China - 25,000,000 million. The process of extending the power of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to the territory belonging to the Chinese Ming Empire. 
12. Mongol conquests - 35 million. Wars and campaigns of the armies of Genghis Khan and his descendants in the XIII century. in Asia and Eastern Europe. 
13. The era of the Three Kingdoms - 38,000,000 million. The bloodiest military conflict in Chinese history. 
14. World War I - 40,000,000 million. The First World War showed once again how confused the political map of Europe was at that time. 
15. Taiping uprising - 44,500,000. Peasant war in China against the Manchu Qing Empire and foreign colonialists.