Mid-Range Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century

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These cost more lives than the American losses in Vietnam (58,135), but not as many lives as five years of murder in America (119,700 killed 1990-94). Or another way of looking at it, each atrocity on this page killed roughly the same number of people as a single year of medical mistakes in the USA ( 44,000 to 98,000 ).





Dutch East Indies, Aceh War (1873-1914): 70 000 Clodfelter Dutch: 2,317 KIA + ten times that to disease Atjeh people lost 11,187 (1904-1907)

Hans Bakker [ http://www.uoguelph.ca/~vincent/hbakker/war.htm ] Dutch: 7,700 officers and soldiers died in battle or disease Schulten estimates 2,267 Zentgraaf est. 7,707 Acehnese guerilla fighters: 30,000-100,000, died of battle or diseases

] Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901): 115 000 Rummel: War: 10,000 Democide: 105,000 TOTAL: 115,000

Hammond: In North China, 32,000 Chinese Christians killed, plus 200 missionaries.

Small & Singer, battle deaths: China: 2000 Japan: 622 Russia: 302 UK: 34 France: 24 USA: 21 TOTAL: 3,003

Eckhardt: 13,000 civ. + 3,000 mil. = 16,000 Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902): 75 000 Pakenham, Thomas, The Boer War (1979): British killed in battle: 5,774 k British died of disease or wounds: 16,168 Black auxilaries killed: 2,000 Boers killed: 7,000 White civilians died in camps: 18-28,000 Blacks dead in camps: 12,000 [TOTAL: 66,000 ± 5,000]

(1979): Gilbert: 28,000 whites and "more than" 50,000 blacks died in the camps.

Encarta British: 28,000 Boers: 4,000 Civilians died in camps: 20,000 [TOTAL: 52,000]

Steve Attridge, Nationalism, Imperialism and Identity in Late Victorian Culture: Civil and Military Worlds (2003): British killed in battle: 7,792 kia British died of disease: 13,250 Boers killed: 6,000 White women and children in camps: 26,370 died Blacks dead in camps: 14,154 "official figure ... now known to be wrong"; actually >20,000 [TOTAL: >73,412]

(2003): Trager, People's Chronology : 20,000 Boer women & children d. in camps.

: 20,000 Boer women & children d. in camps. Singer: 22,000 UK

Eckhardt: 13,000 civ. + 22,000 mil. = 35,000

COWP: 22,000 UK; 35,000 total

AWM: 606 Australian deaths Colombia (1899-1902): 100 000 War of a Thousand Days: Britannica : 60-130,000 Encarta : 60-130,000 Small & Singer: 100,000 Dict.Wars: 100,000 Eckhardt: 75,000 civ. + 75,000 mil. = 150,000

Somalia, Mohammed Abdulla Hasan (1899-1920): 100 000 Mad Mullah Jihad According to the Library of Congress [ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sotoc.html ], this war caused the deaths of about one third of the northern Somali population. The 1911 Britannica estimates 300,000 people in British Somaliland, so the death toll might have been something like 100-150,000. (depending on whether the 300000 was estimated before or after the one-third had died) By summing the battle casualties in the campaigns that are descibed in the OnWar.com essay for the 1899-1905 phase of the war, I determined that the dervishes suffered some 11,700 casualties (K+W) fighting the British, which would come to around 3,000 KIA, plus another 1,000 killed in battle with the Abyssinians. The British lost something over 200 KIA.

Russia (1900-17): 95 000 Romanov Regime: Rummel blames Tsar Nikolai for 1,070,000 democides; however, his evidence is (by his own admission) not as solid as he would like, so take this number with a grain of salt. Also, 975,000 of these would be included among the dead from the First World War (many -- 400T -- being mistreated POWs, along with 75T Turks/Kurds massacred, 83T German deportees dead, etc.) so we only have some 95,000 democides which occurred independently of WW1. Some 2,000 of these were killed in Jewish pogroms. Eckhardt, civil conflicts in 1905-06: Pogrom, Russians vs Jews: 2,000 Peasants & Workers vs Govt: 1,000 James Trager, The People's Chronology (1992): Pogroms in Russia kill some 50,000 Jews by 1909 ("1905") OnWar.com: Pogroms in Russia (1903) k. 50,000 Jews NOTE: I can't find supporting evidence for these high numbers killed in the pogroms. Most individual events seem to have killed dozens, and very occasionally hundreds. "In the famous pogrom of Kishinev in 1903, there were 49 Jewish deaths out of a Jewish population of about 50,000; in Bialystok in 1906, 70 deaths out of about 48,000 Jews." ( http://www.west.net/~jazz/felshtin/redcross.html ) "During 1903 and 1904, 45 pogroms occurred, 95 Jews and 13 non-Jews were killed, and 4,200 people were severely injured." ( http://www.factsofisrael.com/blog/archives/000418.html )

Herero War, German Southwest Africa (1904-07): 75 000 [make link] 1911 Britannica: 5,000 Germans, 20-30,000 Herero k

Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa, p.615: The Nama population was reduced from 20,000 to 9,800 [-10,200], the Herero from 80,000 to 15,000 [-65,000].

Mark Cocker, Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold (1998): 75,000 Africans

(1998): 75,000 Africans Eckhardt: 80,000 civilians

Robert Edgerton, The Fall of the Asante Empire: 1,400 Germans KIA Russo-Polish War (1918-1920): 100 000 Singer USSR: 60,000 Poland: 40,000 TOTAL: 100,000

Eckhardt: 100,000

Urlanis calculates 37,000 Poles KIA, and cites... Polish official commission: killed: 17,278 (Urlanis: "underestimation") dead: 30,337 missing: 51,374

Morocco (1921-26) 68 000 War in the Rif Eckhardt: 11,000 civ. + 29,000 mil. = 40,000 Small & Singer, partial Spain: 4,000 France: 25,000 Moroccans: unknown Stanley Payne, Politics and the Military in Modern Spain (1967): KIA from 1916 to 1927: 17,082 Spanish + 2,394 Regulares (Moors serving Spain, partial count) Clodfelter French: 10,000 d. all causes Spain: 50,000 d. all causes Rif rebels: 30,000 killed and wounded [TOTAL: ca. 67,500] OnWar.com Berbers: 5,000 France: 16,000 Spain: 15,000 TOTAL: 36,000

Manchuria (1931-33): 60 000 Singer: Japan: 10,000 China: 50,000 TOTAL: 60,000

Eckhardt: 60,000 Chaco War (1932-35): 100 000 [make link] Dictionary of 20C World History Bolivia: 50,000 Paraguay: 35,000 TOTAL: 85,000

Bruce Farcau, The Chaco War (1991), deaths from all causes Bolivia: 50,000 Paraguay: 40,000 TOTAL: 90,000

(1991), deaths from all causes Marley Bolivia: 57,000 Paraguay: 36,000 TOTAL: 93,000

Our Times : 100,000

: 100,000 Clodfelter Paraguay KIA: 12,000 Disease: 36,000 Bolivia: 52,397, incl... KIA: 25,000 Died as POWs: 4,264 [TOTAL: 100,397]

Small & Singer Bolivia: 80,000 Paraguay: 50,000 TOTAL: 130,000

John Gunther, Inside Latin America : 135,000

: 135,000 Eckhardt: 70,000 civ. + 130,000 mil. = 200,000 Israel (1948 et seq.): 65 000 [make link] Israel has been almost continuously at war throughout its existence. Here's the tally:

Wars: War of Independence , 1948 Singer: Israel: 3,000 Egypt: 2,000 Syria: 1,000 Jordan: 1,000 Iraq: 500 Lebanon: 500 TOTAL: 8,000 Eckhardt: 8,000 B&J Jewish military: 4,000 Jewish civilians: 2,000 8,000 Arabs TOTAL: 14,000 WPA3 Israel: 6,000 Arabs: 15,000 TOTAL: 21,000 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs ("Israel MFA"): 6,373 Israelis KIA [ http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00us0 ] 5 March 1991 AP Israel: 6,200 Arabs: 2,000 regular soldiers + thousands irregulars [MEDIAN TOTAL: 8,200] Suez War , 1956 WPA3 Egypt: 1,650 Israel: 189 UK: 22 France: 10 TOTAL: 1,871 5 March 1991 AP Egypt: 2,000-3,000 Israel: 172 UK, France: 82 TOTAL: 2,254 to 3,254 Hartman: Egypt: 2500-3000 Israel: 181 UK, France: 32 TOTAL: 2,713 to 3,213 Eckhardt: 1,000 civ. + 3,000 mil. = 4,000 Israel MFA: 231 Israelis KIA [MEDIAN TOTAL: 2,800] Six Day War , 1967 Singer Egypt: 10,000 Syria: 2,500 Jordan: 6,100 Israel: 1,000 TOTAL: 19,600 5 March 1991 AP Egypt: 11,500 Jordan: 6,094. Syria: 1,000 Israel: 777 TOTAL: 19,371 Hartman Egypt: 10-15,000 Syria: 1,000 WPA3 Arabs: 4,000 Israel: 983 TOTAL: 4,983 B&J Israel: 700 Arabs: 25,000 "casualties" Israel MFA: 776 Israelis KIA Israeli Defense Force [ http://www.idf.il/english/history/born4.stm ] Jordan: 800 KIA Egypt: 15,000 Sachar, A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our Time , which would be 1996 Israel: 759 [MEDIAN TOTAL: ca. 16,600] Israeli-Egyptian War , 1967-70 Singer: Israel: 368 Egypt: 5000 TOTAL: 5,368 5 March 1991 AP : 721 Israelis Israel MFA: 1,424 Israelis KIA Eckhardt: 50,000 civ. + 25,000 mil. = 75,000 (incl. 6-Day War). [Without supporting evidence, I doubt 50T civilian deaths] [MEDIAN TOTAL: ca. 6,400] Yom Kippur War , 1973 WPA3 Egypt: 5,000 Syria: 3,000 Israel: 2,812 Other Arab: 340 TOTAL: 11,152 B&J Egypt: 5,000 Syria: 3,000 Israel: 3,000 Iraq: 200 TOTAL: 11,200 Sachar: Egypt: 7,700 Syria: 3,500 Israel: 2,552 TOTAL: 13,752 Eckhardt: 16,000 Singer: Egypt: 5,000 Syria: 8,000 Israel: 3,000 Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia: 401 TOTAL: 16,401 5 March 1991 AP Egypt: 15,000 Syria: 3,500 Israel: 2,569 Iraqi: 125 TOTAL: 21,194 Israel MFA: 2,688 Israelis KIA [MEDIAN TOTAL: ca. 14,900] TOTAL for these wars: Israel: 6,800-11,100 Egypt: 23,700-40,000 Syria: 5,000-11,500 Jordan: 7,100 TOTAL: Adding the above gives us 43,000 to 70,000 military (and up to 51,000 civilians, but we only have Eckhardt's estimates on this.) Other estimates for the total: [TOTAL of MEDIANS, above: ca. 48,900] CDI: 125,000 deaths (1948-97) Ploughshares 2000 : >100,000 in 1948, 1967, and 1973 wars. Plus, 12,000 people, including 500 Israelis, during 1978 and 1982 invasions of Lebanon Israel MFA: 20,093 Israelis KIA through 1997

Civil Strife: Israel vs. Palestinians: SIPRI 1997 : 13,000 killed (1948-96) B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in The Occupied Territories [ http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Total_Casualties.asp ] 9 Dec 1987-May 2003 (cross-ethnic killings only) In Occupied Territories Palestinians: 3544 Israelis: 532 In Israel Palestinians: 106 Israelis: 610 TOTAL Palestinians: 3650 Israelis: 1142 TOTAL: 4792 1st Intifada: 28 May 1992 [Glasgow] Herald : since Dec. 1987 904 Palestinians k by Israelis 88 Israelis k by Palestinians 473 Arabs k by Palestinians TOTAL: 1,465 9 Dec 1992 Irish Times : since Dec. 1987 1,121 Palestinians k by Israelis 103 Israelis k by Palestinians 535 Arabs k by Palestinians TOTAL: 1,759 2nd Intifada: 1 Oct. 2001 Chicago Tribune : about 650 Palestinians + 170 Israelis since 28 Sept 2000 Ploughshares 2000 : >1,500

East Germany (1949-89): 100 000 Communist Regime 27 Oct. 1991 LA Times : 100,000 died in captivity or were executed for political offenses in E.G. (citing an official report by the unified German govt.) 27 Oct 1991 Independent (London): 100,000 d., incl. 65,000 in or on way to post-war Soviet camps. Rummel: 70,000 democides, 1948-87 9 April 1990 UPI: 90,000 (acc. to Association for the Victims of Stalinism) or 56,000 (other sources) Germans k./d in Soviet detention camps after WW2. Mostly hunger. 23 June 1991 Chicago Tribune : 40,000 German political prisoners d. in Soviet-run camps after WW2 WHPSI : 6,162 political executions, 1948-52 12 Aug 2004 Agence France Presse: 1,065 died fleeing E. Germany; 227 died in Berlin, 190 after the construction of the Wall.

Congo Crisis (1960-64): 100 000 WHPSI : 14,003 deaths by political violence, 1958-67.

: 14,003 deaths by political violence, 1958-67. Dan Smith (1997): 100,000 killed in 1960 war.

Eckhardt: 100,000

Singer: 100,000, plus 50 Belgians (1960-67)

B&J: 110,000 (1960-64)

Dunnigan (1991): 100,000 to 110,000

Peter Forbath (The River Congo (1977)): at least 200,000 Iraq (1960s) Govt. vs. Kurds Eckhardt: 100,000 civ. + 5,000 mil. = 105,000 (1961-70) B&J 1961-66: 10,000 1968-70: 2,000 TOTAL: 12,000

Angola (1961-75): 80 000 Anti-colonial war Dunnigan (1991): 120,000 Hartman: 4,000 Portuguese 25,000 insurgents 50,000 civilians TOTAL: 79,000 "casualties" (killed only?) Eckhardt: 30,000 civ. + 25,000 mil. = 55,000 WHPSI (1958-77): 43,337

Atrocities: Dict.Wars: 20,000 Africans k. in 1961 revolt. Basil Davidson, In the Eye of the Storm : Angola's People : 300 Europeans k. by Kongo; 20-30,000 Africans k. by Portuguese, 1961 Hartman: 7,000 massacred by UPA Guerillas; 30,000 massacred in retaliation, 1961 Harff & Gurr: 40,000 Kongo, Assimilados were victims of repressive politicide, 1961-62

Mozambique, Anti-colonial war (1961-75) Hartman: 3,500 Portuguese 10,000 FRELIMO 50,000 civilians TOTAL: 63,500

Eckhardt: 30,000

WHPSI: 4,625 (1958-75) North Yemen (1962-70): 100 000 1984 World Almanac: 150,000

Singer: 100,000 (plus 1,000 Egyptians)

Eckhardt: 101,000

B&J: 100,000 (incl. 1,000 Egyptians + 1,000 Saudis, 1962-67)

5 March 1991 AP: 70,000 Nicaragua (1972-91): 60 000 Sandanista Rebellion (1972-1979) WPA3 : 10,000 30,000 ( Britannica ) 35,000 (Singer) Eckhardt: 25,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 35,000 40,000 ( Our Times ) 50,000 (Chomsky 1987) MEDIAN: 30,000

Contra Rebellion (1981-90): 30 000 WPA3 : 10,000 B&J: 25,000 (1980-95) 30,000 ( Washington Post , 6 Feb. 1990) Dict.Wars: 30,000 Eckhardt: 15,000 civ. + 15,000 mil. = 30,000 (to 1987) 30,000 ( 1990 SIPRI ) 57,000: ( Chicago Tribune , 27 July 1989) MEDIAN: 30,000

Philippines (1972- ) Guerrilla Wars 29 Jan. 2003 Philippine Daily Inquirer : Killed in Communist rebellion, AFP Intelligence Service report: Government forces: 9,867 (1971-2002) Communist rebels: 22,799 (1971-2002) Civilians: 10,672 (crossfire, 1969-2002) Total: 43,338 1990 SIPRI : 50,000 (Moro insurrection, Mindinao: 1975-1986) 1992 War Annual : 50,000 B&J: 60,000, Mindinao, 1970-95 Eckhardt (1972-87) vs. Muslims: 20,000 civ. + 15,000 mil. = 35,000 vs. Communists: 20,000 civ. + 15,000 mil. = 35,000 TOTAL: 70,000 CDI: 75,000 (Govt. vs. New People's Army and National Liberation Front: 1969-97) Ploughshares 2000 Mindinao: 100,000-150,000 since 1971 vs. NPA: 25,000 since 1969 TOTAL: 150,000 ± 25,000 D.Smith (1991): 80,000 ("20 years") Dictionary of 20C World History : 120,000 (Moro insurrection, Mindinao: 1969-1996)

Colombia (1970s, 1980s, 90s): 45 000 Govt vs Communist guerrillas Before 1990 27 July 1989 Chicago Tribune : 50,000 to 1989 ( War Annual 4 ): 70,000 killed, 1973-89 Dictionary of 20C World History : 80,000 (vs. drug cartels, 1986-90) After 1990 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News : 45,000 since 1986 Ploughshares 2000 : 40,000 since 1990 28 June 2001, Xinhua News Agency: 40,000 in past decade August 2000 International Enforcement Law Reporter : 35,000 civilian deaths and disappearances since 1987 20 January 2002 Austin American Statesman : 35-40,000 in past decade. 16 Dec. 1999 NY Times : 35,000 in last 10 years Washington Post (15 Jan. 1996): 17,000 deaths, 1990-94, acc2 to a report by the [Colombian] National Planning Dept. Whole length 1 July 2001, Xinhua News Agency: 200,000 k over 37 yrs 20 January 2002 Austin American Statesman : ca 200,000 Agence France Presse 6 May 2002: some 200,000 deaths in almost 4 decades 2 August 2001: 200,000 in 37 yrs 6 Sept. 2000: 120,000 deaths in 4 decades 13 July 1999, The Times [London]: 50,000 in 3 decades [MEDIAN: ca. 45,000] 10 September 2001 UPI: >40,000 in 37 yrs. 16 Jan. 2000 Toronto Star : 35,000 in 30+ years 17 Jan. 2000 Independent [London]: 30,000 in 35 years B&J: 30,000 (1965-95)

El Salvador (1979-92): 75 000 Govt. vs. guerrillas Total Deaths: Britannica : 70,000 24 Dec. 1989 Arizona Republic : 71,000 Clodfelter: 73,000, incl. 60,000 civilian (to 1990) B&J: 75,000 Compton's : 75,000 Encarta : 75,000 Our Times : 75,000 Dict.Wars: 80,000 Disappearances (included above): 9,000 (Grenville) Murders: 30,000 (1979-81, Chomsky (1987))

Sierra Leone (1991-2002): 75 000 Gov't vs. Revolutionary United Front B&J: 100,000 (1991-95) SIPRI 1997 : over 3,000 CDI: 30,000 (1989-97) 29 April 1999 AP : 14,000 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News : 15,000 (1991-96); 500,000 to 1999 Ploughshares 2000 : 20-50,000 27 June 2000 USA Today : perhaps as high as 75,000 18 May 2000 The Times [London]: 75,000 7 May 2003 Agence France Presse : 200,000 7 Oct. 2004 CNN: 50,000 [MEDIAN: ca. 75,000]

Algeria (1992-2002): 100 000 Fundamentalist Moslem Insurrection, govt. vs. FIS and GIA: CDI: 75,000 (1992-97) Washington Post , 13 Jan. 1998: 75,000 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News : 80,000 Dict.Wars (1999): 70,000 Ploughshares 2000 : 100,000 New York Times : 60-70,000 (15 Jan. 1998); 100,000 (27 Jan. 2000) 26 June 2003 Agence France Presse: 100,000+ 8 April 2004 Guardian : up to 150,000

Eritrea-Ethiopia War (1998-2000) 70 000 FAS 2000: 40,000 soldiers KIA

23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News : 50,000

: 50,000 9 June 2000 Chicago Tribune : 70,000

: 70,000 21 Dec 2005 BBC: 80,000

Ploughshares 2000: 70-120,000 mil. + civ.

List of Recurring Sources

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Last updated Oct. 2010

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