List of wars by death toll

This list of wars by death toll includes all deaths directly or indirectly caused by the deadliest wars in history. These numbers encompass the deaths of military personnel resulting directly from battles or other wartime actions, as well as wartime or war-related civilian deaths, often caused by war-induced epidemics, famines, or genocides. Due to incomplete records, the destruction of evidence, differing counting methods, and various other factors, the death tolls of wars are often uncertain and highly debated. For this reason, the death tolls in this article typically provide a range of estimates.

Compiling such a list is further complicated by the challenge of defining a war. Not every violent conflict constitutes a war; for example, mass killings and genocides occurring outside of wartime are excluded, as they are not necessarily wars in themselves. This list broadly defines war as an extended conflict between two or more armed political groups. Consequently, it excludes mass death events such as human sacrifices, ethnic cleansing operations, and acts of state terrorism or political repression during peacetime or in contexts unrelated to war.^[a]

List

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

War	Death range	Date	Combatants	Location
World War II	70–85 million[1][2][3]	1939–1945	Allied Powers vs. Axis Powers	Global
Mongol invasions and conquests	20–60 million[4][5][6][7]	1206–1368	Mongol Empire vs. various states in Eurasia	Asia and Europe
Three Kingdoms	34 million[8]	220–280	Multiple sides	China
Taiping Rebellion	20–30 million[9][10]	1850–1864	Qing Dynasty vs. Taiping Heavenly Kingdom	China
Manchu Conquest of China	25 million[11][12]	1618–1683	Manchu vs. Ming Dynasty	China
World War I	15–22 million[13][14][3]	1914–1918	Allied Powers vs. Central Powers	Global
Conquests of Timur	7–17 million[7]	1369–1405	Timurid Empire vs. various states in Asia	Central Asia, West Asia, and South Asia
An Lushan rebellion	13 million[15]	754–763	Tang Dynasty and Uyghur Khaganate vs. Yan Dynasty	China
Spanish conquest of Mexico	10.5 million[16]	1519–1530	Spanish Empire and allies vs. Aztec Empire and allies	Mexico
Russian Civil War	7–10 million[17][3]	1917–1922	Multiple sides; Bolsheviks, anti-Bolshevik left, White Movement, Allied and Central Intervention, as well as various separatists	Russia
Chinese Civil War	4–9 million[18][3]	1927–1949[b]	Multiple sides; but predominantly Communists vs. Kuomintang	China
Crusades	1–9 million[21][22]	1095–1291	Originally Byzantine Empire vs. Seljuk Empire, but evolved into Christians vs. Muslims	Europe and the Middle East
Thirty Years' War	4.5–8 million[23][24]	1618–1648	Anti-Imperial Alliance vs. Imperial Alliance	Europe
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire	7.7 million[25]	1533–1572	Spanish Empire vs. Inca Empire	South America
Reconquista	7 million[26][27][28]	718–1492	Christian peninsular kingdoms vs. Muslim peninsular kingdoms	Iberian Peninsula
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars	4–7 million[29][30]	1792–1815	French Republic, later French Empire vs. Coalition forces	Europe
Conquests of Menelik II	6 million[31]	1878–1904	Ethiopian Empire vs. Emirate of Harar, Kingdom of Kaffa, Kingdom of Wolaita, and allies	Horn of Africa
Second Congo War	3–5.4 million[32][33][34]	1998–2003	Multiple sides	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Spanish conquest of New Granada	5.25 million[35][36]	1525–1540	Spanish Empire and Klein-Venedig vs. Muisca Confederation and other civilizations	Colombia
Deccan wars	4.6–5 million[37]	1680–1707	Mughal Empire vs. Maratha Confederacy	Indian subcontinent
Northern Wars	3.57–4.57 milion[38][39][40][41]	1554–1721	Multiple sides	Eastern and Northern Europe
Vietnam War	1.1–4.2 million[42][43][44]	1955–1975	North Vietnam and allies vs. South Vietnam and allies	Indochina
Nigerian Civil War	3.04–4.1 million[45][46]	1967–1970	Nigeria vs. Biafra	Nigeria
French Wars of Religion	2–4 million[47]	1562–1598	French catholics vs Huguenots	France
Korean War	2.5–3.5 million[48][18]	1950–1953	North Korea and allies vs. South Korea and allies	Korean Peninsula
Hundred Years' War	2.3–3.5 million[49][50][29]	1337–1453	House of Valois vs. House of Plantagenet	Western Europe
Soviet–Afghan War	1–3 million[51][3]	1979–1989	Soviet Union and Democratic Republic of Afghanistan vs. Afghan mujahideen	Afghanistan
Delhi Conquest of North India	0.5–3 million[52]	1300–1310	Delhi Sultanate vs. North Indian States	Indian subcontinent
Bangladesh Liberation War	0.3–3 million[53][54]	1971	India and Provisional Government of Bangladesh vs. Pakistan	Indian subcontinent
Mexican Revolution	1–2.7 million[29][55]	1910–1920	Anti-government forces vs. Pro-government forces	Mexico
Fang La Rebellion	2 million[29][56]	1120–1122	Song Dynasty vs. Fang La rebels	China
Ethiopian Civil War and Eritrean War of Independence	1.75–2 million[57][58][59]	1961–1991[c]	EPRDF, later EPLF, vs. Derg and People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	Horn of Africa
Russo-Circassian War and Caucasian War	1.5–2 million[60]	1763–1864	Circassian Confederation, Principality of Abkhazia, and Caucasian Imamate vs. Russian Empire	Caucasus
Second Sudanese Civil War	1–2 million[61][62]	1983–2005	Sudan vs. SSPDF	Sudan
Tây Sơn wars	1–2 million[63][64]	1771–1802	Tây Sơn dynasty vs. Nguyễn lords, Kingdom of Cambodia, Rattanakosin Kingdom, and Kingdom of France	Indochina
Akbar's Conquest of North India	1–2 million[65]	1556–1605	Mughal Empire vs. North Indian States	Indian subcontinent
Indian Rebellion of 1857	0.8–2 million[66]	1857–1858	United Kingdom and allies vs. Indian rebels and allies	Indian subcontinent
Balkan Wars	0.75–1.77 million[67][68]	1912–1913	Ottoman Empire vs. Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro; later Bulgaria vs. Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Romania	Balkans
Algerian War	0.4–1.6 million[69][70]	1954–1962	France vs. Separatists National Liberation Front, Algerian National Movement, and Algerian Communist Party	North Africa
Seven Years' War	1–1.5 million[71][29]	1756–1763	Great Britain, Hanover, Prussia, Portugal, and allies vs. France, Habsburg empire, Saxony, Spain, and allies	Global
Warring States period and Qin's wars of unification	0.65–1.5 million[72][29]	475 BCE–221 BCE	Multiple sides	China
French conquest of Algeria	0.98–1.48 million[73][74][75]	1830–1903	France vs. Regency of Algiers, Emirate of Abdelkader, Kingdom of Beni Abbas, and allies	North Africa
Gallic Wars	0.7–1.47 million[29][76][77][78]	58 BCE–50 BCE	Roman Republic vs. Gauls and allies	Gaul
Jewish–Roman wars	0.35–1.4 million[79][80]	66–135	Roman Empire vs. Judean provisional government	Fertile Crescent
War of the Spanish Succession	0.4–1.25 million[81][82]	1701–1714	Habsburg Spain, Great Britain, Holy Roman Empire, and allies vs. Bourboun Spain, Kingdom of France, and allies	Global
Franco-Prussian War	1.15 million[83][84]	1870–1871	Second French Empire, later Third French Republic, vs. North German Confederation	Central Europe
Japanese invasions of Korea	1 million [85]	1592–1598	Joseon and Ming dynasty vs. Japan	Korean Peninsula
Panthay Rebellion	1 million[86]	1856–1873	Qing Dynasty vs. Pingnan Guo	China
American Civil War	0.6–1 million[87][88]	1861–1865	United States vs. Confederate States	North America
Mozambican Civil War	0.5–1 million[89][90]	1977–1992	People's Republic of Mozambique, later Republic of Mozambique, and allies vs. RENAMO and allies	Mozambique
First Sudanese Civil War	0.5–1 million[91][92]	1955–1972	Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, later Democratic Republic of the Sudan, vs. Sudan Defence Force	Sudan
Burmese–Siamese wars	0.26–0.9 million[29][93][94]	1547–1855	Thailand vs. Myanmar	Southeast Asia
First Indochina War	0.4–0.84 million[95][96]	1946–1954	Viet Minh, Pathet Lao, and Khmer Issarak vs. French Union	Indochina
Angolan Civil War	0.8 million[97][90]	1975–2002	People's Republic of Angola, later Republic of Angola, and allies vs. Democratic People's Republic of Angola and allies	Angola
Burundian Civil War	0.55–0.8 million[98][99][90]	1993–2005	Burundi vs. Ethnic Hutu vs. Tutsi Militants	Rwanda and Burundi
Second Punic War	0.77 million[100]	218 BCE–201 BCE	Roman Republic vs. Ancient Carthage	Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa
War of Austrian Succession	0.75 million[101]	1740–1748	France, Prussia, Spain, and allies vs. Habsburg monarchy, Great Britain, Dutch Republic, and allies	Europe, Americas, and Indian subcontinent
Third Punic War	0.75 million[102][103]	149 BCE–146 BCE	Roman Republic vs. Ancient Carthage	North Africa
Iran-Iraq War	0.45–0.7 million[79][104][105]	1980–1988	Islamic Republic of Iran vs. Iraqi Republic	Iran and Iraq
Nine Years' War	0.68 million[106]	1688–1697	Kingdom of France vs. Grand Alliance	Europe
Crimean War	0.61–0.67 million[107][108][109]	1853–1856	Russian Empire vs. Ottoman Empire, France and United Kingdom	Crimea, Black Sea, Caucasus and Balkans
Syrian civil war	0.58–0.61 million[110][111]	2011–present	Multiple sides	Levant
Mexican War of Independence	0.6 million[112]	1810–1821	Mexican patriots vs. Spanish Empire	North and Central America
Bahmani–Vijayanagar Wars	0.6 million[113]	1362–1443	Vijayanagara Empire and Musunuri Nayakas vs. Bahmani Sultanate	Indian subcontinent
Turkish War of Independence	0.4–0.6 million[114][115][116]	1919–1923	Turkey vs. Greece, France, United Kingdom, and Armenia	Anatolia
Tigray War	0.16–0.6 million[117][118]	2020–2022	Ethiopia and Eritrea vs. Tigray People's Liberation Front and allies	Horn of Africa
Roman-Germanic wars	0.54 million[119][120]	113 BCE–774	Roman Republic, later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire, vs. Germanic tribes	Germania
First Punic War	0.4–0.54 million[121][122]	264 BCE–241 BCE	Roman Republic vs. Ancient Carthage	Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and North Africa
Paraguayan War	0.15–0.5 million[123]	1864–1870	Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay vs. Paraguay	South America
Uganda-Tanzania War and Ugandan Bush War	0.1–0.5 million[124][125][126][127]	1978–1986	Uganda vs. Tanzania, National Liberation Front, and National Resistance Movement	Uganda and Tanzania
Papua conflict	0.1–0.5 million[128][129]	1962–present	Indonesia vs. Free Papua Movement	New Guinea
Eighty Years' War	0.1–0.5 million[130]	1566–1648	Spanish Empire vs. Separatist Dutch Republic	Low Countries
Spanish Civil War	0.35–0.47 million[131][132][133]	1936–1939[d]	Nationalists vs. Republicans	Iberian Peninsula
Colombian conflict	0.45 million[137]	1964–present	Colombia vs. Colombian and Mexican drug cartels and paramilitaries vs. FARC	Colombia
Polish–Ottoman Wars	0.43 million[138][139]	1485–1699	Poland-Lithuania, Holy League, and allies vs. Ottoman Empire and allies	Central Europe and Balkans
Roman–Greek wars	0.42 million[140]	280 BCE–30 BCE	Roman Republic vs. Greek states, later Greek rebels, and Ptolemaic Kingdom	Peloponnese Peninsula, Balkans, Anatolia, Egypt and Roman Italy
Maratha invasions of Bengal	0.4 million[141][142]	1741–1751	Maratha Confederacy vs. Bengal Nawab	Indian subcontinent
Colombian War of Independence	0.4 million[143]	1810–1825	Colombian patriots vs. Spanish Empire	Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela
Third Indochina War	0.4 million[144]	1975–1991	Democratic Kampuchea, China, and Thailand vs. Vietnam, Laos, and People's Republic of Kampuchea vs. Communist Party of Thailand	Indochina
War in Darfur	0.4 million[145]	2003–2020	Sudan vs. SRF and SLM/A	Sudan
Mexican war on drugs	0.35–0.4 million[146][147]	2006–present	Mexico vs drug cartels	Mexico
Song–Đại Việt war	0.25–0.4 million[148][149]	1075–1077	Song Dynasty vs. Đại Việt	Indochina
Cuban Wars of Independence and Spanish–American War	0.39 million[150][151]	1868–1898	United States, Cuban Revolutionaries, and Philippine Revolutionaries vs. Spanish Empire	Caribbean and the Philippines
South Sudanese Civil War	0.38 million[152]	2013–2020	South Sudan vs. SPLM-IO, Nuer White Army, and SSDM	South Sudan
Yemeni civil war	0.15–0.37 million[153][154]	2014–present	Multiple sides	Yemen
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)	0.17–0.36 million[155][156]	2001–2021	Taliban and allies vs. United States-led coalition and the Afghan Government[e]	Afghanistan
Boko Haram insurgency	0.03–0.35 million[157]	2009–present	Multinational Joint Task Force vs. Boko Haram	Nigeria
Franco-Dutch War	0.34 million[158]	1672–1678	Kingdom of France vs. Dutch Republic	Western Europe
Ottoman–Venetian wars	0.34 million[159][160]	1415–1718	Ottoman Empire vs. Holy League	Mediterranean Sea, Greece and Cyprus
Liberian Civil Wars and Sierra Leone Civil War	0.3–0.32 million[161][162][163]	1989–2003	Liberian government, Revolutionary United Front vs. National Patriotic Front of Liberia, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, Sierra Leone	West Africa
Cambodian Civil War	0.27–0.31 million[164][165][166][90]	1967–1975	Khmer Rouge and allies vs. Kingdom of Cambodia, later the Khmer Republic, and allies	Cambodia
Goguryeo–Sui War	0.3 million[167][168]	598–614	Sui Dynasty vs. Goguryeo	Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula
Carlist Wars	0.3 million[169]	1833–1876	Carlists vs. Liberals and Republicans	Iberian Peninsula
Iraqi conflict	0.27–0.3 million[170]	2003–2017	Multiple sides	Levant
Gulf War	0.17–0.3 million[171][172]	1990–1991[f]	Kuwait and the United States-led coalition vs. Iraq	Kuwait and Iraq
Social War (91–87 BC)	0.1–0.3 million[173][79]	91 BCE–87 BCE	Roman Republic and allies vs. Marsic and Samnite rebels, and allies	Roman Italy
Russian invasion of Ukraine	0.16–0.29 million[g]	2022–present	Russia and North Korea vs. Ukraine	Eastern Europe and the Black Sea
Roman conquest of Britain	0.13–0.29 million[182][183][184]	43–84	Roman Empire vs. Celtic Britons	Great Britain
Philippine–American War	0.21–0.28 million[185][186]	1899–1913	United States vs. Philippine Republic, later Tagalog Republic, Sultanate of Sulu and Sultanate of Maguindanao	Philippines
Kalinga War	0.25 million[187]	262 BCE–261 BCE	Maurya Empire vs. Kalinga	Indian subcontinent
First Congo War	0.25 million[188]	1996–1997	Zaire vs. AFDL	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cristero War	0.25 million[189]	1926–1929	Mexico vs. Cristeros	Mexico
Greek War of Independence	0.24 million[190][191]	1821–1829	Ottoman Empire vs. Separatist First Hellenic Republic	Balkans and Peloponnese Peninsula
Myanmar conflict	0.23 million[192][193]	1948–present	National Unity Government of Myanmar vs. State Administration Council	Myanmar
American Revolution	0.18–0.23 million[194][195]	1775–1783	American Patriots vs. Great Britain	North America
Chechen conflict	0.08–0.23 million[h]	1994–2009	Russia vs. Separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria	Caucasus
Indian Annexation of Hyderabad	0.2 million[202][203]	1947–1948	India vs. Hyderabad	Indian subcontinent
La Violencia	0.2 million[204]	1948–1958	Colombian Conservative Party vs. Colombian Liberal Party	Colombia
Greco-Persian Wars	0.2 million[205]	499 BCE–449 BCE	Greek city-states vs. Achaemenid Empire	Southeast Europe, West Asia, and Northeast Africa
Guatemalan Civil War	0.14–0.2 million[206][207]	1960–1996	Government of Guatemala vs. Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity	Central America
North Yemen Civil War	0.1–0.2 million[208][209]	1962–1970	Kingdom of Yemen vs. Yemen Arab Republic	Yemen
Italo-Senussi Wars	0.07-0.2 million[210][211][212]	1911–1934	Kingdom of Italy vs. Senusiyya, Ottoman Empire	North Africa
Portuguese Colonial War	0.14–0.18 million[213][214][215]	1961–1974	Estado Novo vs. MPLA, PAIGC, FNLA, among others	Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique
Thousand Days' War	0.1–0.18 million[216]	1899–1902	Colombian Conservative Party vs. Colombian Liberal Party	Colombia
Sri Lankan Civil War	0.08–0.17 million[217][218]	1983[i]–2009	Sri Lankan government vs. Separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam	Sri Lanka
Civil conflict in the Philippines	0.16 million[220][221]	1968–present	Filipino government vs. Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Communist Party of the Philippines, and Abu Sayyaf	Philippines
Russo-Japanese War	0.12–0.16 million[222]	1904–1905	Empire of Japan vs. Russian Empire	East Asia
Sudanese civil war (2023–present)	0.15 million[223][224]	2023–present	Sudan and allies vs. Rapid Support Forces and allies	Sudan
Algerian Civil War	0.15 million[225]	1992–2002	Multiple sides	North Africa
Arab-Israeli conflict	0.15 million[j]	1948[k]–present	Israel vs. Arab League, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi movement	Levant
Lebanese Civil War	0.12–0.15 million[231][232][233]	1975–1990	Multiple sides	Levant
Greek Civil War	0.08–0.15 million[234][235][90]	1946–1949	Kingdom of Greece vs. Provisional Democratic Government	Balkans and Peloponnese Peninsula
Yugoslav Wars	0.13–0.14 million[236][237]	1991–2001	Separatist forces and NATO vs. Yugoslavia, later Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Balkans
Irish Nine Years' War	0.13 million[238]	1593–1603	Kingdom of England vs. Irish rebels	Ireland
Chaco War	0.08–0.13 million[239][240][241]	1932–1935	Paraguay vs. Bolivia	Paraguay and Bolivia
Nanda–Mauryan War	0.1 million[242]	323 BCE–321 BCE	Maurya Empire vs. Nanda Empire	Indian subcontinent
Federal War	0.1 million[243]	1859–1863	Federal rebels vs. Conservative government	Venezuela
Wars of Alexander the Great	0.1 million[244][245][246]	336 BCE–332 BCE	Macedonian empire vs. Achaemenid Empire	Anatolia, Greece, Levant, Persia, Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamia
Congo Crisis	0.1 million[247]	1960–1965	Republic of the Congo, later Democratic Republic of the Congo, and allies vs. Congo Free State, South Kasai, Katanga, Kwilu rebels, Simba rebels, and allies	Congo
White Lotus Rebellion	0.1 million[248]	1794–1804	Qing dynasty vs. White Lotus	China

Charts and graphs

Bubble chart of wars with over 1.5 million deaths.^[249]

Combatant deaths in conventional wars, 1800-2011.^[250]

Seven deadliest wars after 1900. The length of each spiral segment is proportional to the war's duration and its area size to its death toll.^[251]

See also

• Casualty recording
• Timeline of wars
• List of battles by casualties
• List of number of conflicts per year
• Lists of wars
• List of ongoing armed conflicts
• List of genocides
• List of sovereign states by refugee population
• List of ethnic cleansing campaigns
• Genocides in history
• Genocide
• Massacre
• Casualty
• War crime
• Ethnic cleansing

Notes

1. Some examples would include Operation Condor (60,000–80,000 killed), the Cultural Revolution (1–20 million killed), the Rubber Terror (1.5–13 million killed), the excess mortality in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin (6–9 million killed), the Transatlantic slave trade, the Arab slave trade, the Slavery in the Ottoman Empire, the Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures (20,000–250,000 killed yearly in the Aztec Empire alone), the Dzungar genocide (420,000–480,000 killed), the Partition of India, or the Herero and Nama genocide (34,000–110,000 killed). For further information, see List of genocides and List of ethnic cleansing campaigns.
2. Before 1927, violence erupted during the 1911 Revolution, which brought an end to the Qing dynasty and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. Although major fighting had ceased by 1949, the Chinese Civil War is technically still ongoing, with the de facto independent Republic of China in Taiwan still claiming to be the legitimate government of all of China. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China attempted to annex Taiwan several times during the Taiwan Strait Crises. Large-scale human-caused deaths persisted during the White Terror (Taiwan) and under the People's Republic of China, which initiated the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries (1950–1953). This campaign resulted in the execution of an estimated 712,000 to 2,000,000 people.^[19][20]
3. In the midst of these conflicts, the Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia occurred in the Horn of Africa, resulting in the deaths of approximately 37,000 people. This war was a phase of the broader Ethiopian–Somali conflict.
4. While the civil war ended in 1939, mass killings would continue until 1947, during the White Terror period, which led to the extermination of 160,000-400,000 liberals, socialists of different stripes, Protestants, intellectuals, homosexuals, Freemasons, Jews, and Basque, Catalan, Andalusian, and Galician nationalists.^{[134][135][136]}
5. • 2001–2002: Islamic State of Afghanistan
   • 2002–2004: Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan
   • 2004–2021: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
6. A no-fly zone was imposed on Iraq following this conflict, which led to several cruise missile strikes against it between 1991 and 2003, some of them in response to Iraqi actions during the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (that lasted between 1994 and 1997), and others due to Iraq's failure to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.
7. Sources:^{[174][175][176][177][178][179][180][181]}
8. Sources:^{[196][197][198][199][200][201]}
9. Political violence in the country has been recorded as early as 1954.^[219]
10. Sources:^{[226][227][228][229][90]}
11. While the starting point of the conflict is usually denoted as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War or the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, violent strife emerged in the region as soon as 1920 during the Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine.^[230]