⍰
226 captures
22 Mar 2011 - 20 May 2022
SEPOCTDEC
25
201820192020
About this capture
Mid-Range Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century
Alphabetical Index
Site Index
List of Recurring Sources:
AWM: Australian War Memorial Fact Sheet [http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/war_casualties.asp]
"B&J": Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson, International Conflict : A Chronological Encyclopedia of Conflicts and Their Management 1945-1995 (1997)
Bodart, Gaston, Losses of Life in Modern Wars (1916)
Britannica, 15th edition, 1992 printing
Brzezinski, Zbigniew, Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the Twenty-first Century (1993).
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa (1981)
The Cambridge History of Africa (1986), ed. J. D. Fage and R. Oliver
CDI:  The Center for Defense Information, The Defense Monitor, "The World At War: January 1, 1998".
Chirot, Daniel: Modern Tyrants : the power and prevalence of evil in our age (1994)
Chomsky, Noam,  The Chomsky Reader (1987); Deterring Democracy (1991)
Clodfelter, Michael, Warfare and Armed Conflict: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1618-1991
Compton's Encyclopedia Online v.2.0 (1997)
COWP: Correlates of War Project at the University of Michigan [http://www.correlatesofwar.org/]
Courtois, Stephane, The Black Book of Communism, 1997
Davies, Norman, Europe A History (1998)
Dictionary of Twentieth Century World History, by Jan Palmowski (Oxford, 1997)
Dictionary of Wars, by George Childs Kohn (Facts on File, 1999)
DoD: United States Department of Defense [http://web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/m01/SMS223R.HTM]
Dumas, Samuel, and K.O. Vedel-Petersen, Losses of Life Caused By War (1923)
Dunnigan, A Quick and Dirty Guide to War (1991)
Eckhardt, William, in World Military and Social Expenditures 1987-88 (12th ed., 1987) by Ruth Leger Sivard.
Edgerton, Robert B, Africa's armies: from honor to infamy: a history from 1791 to the present (2002)
Encarta, Microsoft Encarta '95.
FAS 2000: Federation of American Scientists, The World at War (2000)
Gibbon, Edward, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Gilbert, Martin, A History of the Twentieth Century (1997)
Global Security: The World At War [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/index.html]
Grenville, J. A. S., A History of the World in the Twentieth Century (1994)
Hammond Atlas of the 20th Century (1996)
Harff, Barbara & Gurr, Ted Robert: "Toward an Empirical Theory of Genocides and Politicides", 32 International Studies Quarterly 359 (1988).
Hartman, T., A World Atlas of Military History 1945-1984 (1984)
Henige, David, Numbers From Nowhere, (1998)
Johnson, Paul, Modern Times (1983); A History of the Jews (1987)
Kuper, Leo, Genocide: its political uses in the Twentieth Century (1981)
Levy, Jack, War in the Modern Great Power System (1983)
Marley, David, Wars of the Americas (1998)
Obermeyer, Ziad. "Fifty Years of Violent War Deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia."
20th Century death tolls larger than 100,000 but fewer than 300,000 people.
American Conquest of the Philippines (1899-1902): 220 ,000 [make link]
John Gates ("War-Related Deaths in the Philippines, 1898-1902", Pacific Historical Review 53:367 (1983)) estimates a demographic shortfall between 127,593 and 362,659. A 1902 cholera epidemic killed a recorded 137,505, so the absolute most that could have died in the war would be 225,154 (​362659-137505​).
  • According to Gates: The most commonly cited number is 600,000, which is based on General Bell's 1901 comment that 1/6 of Luzon had died. There is, however, uncertainty over which "General Bell" said this, and how knowledgeable he would be.
  • The second most commonly cited number is probably 200,000, which also has an uncertain origin, but was already in circulation by 1913.
  • Sometimes you'll hear 3 million mentioned, but this originated as a typo in West Point: America's Power Fraternity. Because 3 million is so shocking, it has a tendency to stick in people's mind and get repeated (​Compton's​, under "Philippines", for example, gives the death toll as 1-3M). In any case, the passage was supposed to say 300,000.
200,000 civilians killed
  • Max Boot, The Savage Wars of Peace (also FAS 2000)
    • Combat
      • US: 4,234
      • Filipino: 16,000
    • Filipino civilians: 200,000 of disease/famine
  • Clodfelter
    • US: 4,234 d, incl. 1,073 in combat
    • Filipino battle: 16,000
    • Filipino civilians: 200,000
  • Leon Wolff Little Brown Brother (1961) p.360
    • US, battle: 4,234
    • Filipino, battle: 16,000 ("actually counted") to >20,000 ("true total")
    • Filipino civilians: 200,000 of disease
  • Encyclopedia Americana (2003), "Philippines": 200,000 civilians
  • George C. Herring, From colony to superpower: U.S. foreign relations since 1776 (2008) p.329: "20,000 Filipinos killed in action and as many as 200,000 civilians killed from war-related causes."
  • Philip Sheldon Foner, The Spanish-Cuban-American War and the Birth of American Imperialism (1972) p.626: "16000 Filipino soldiers were killed, and over 200,000 civilians died"
  • Benjamin A. Valentino, Final solutions: mass killing and genocide in the twentieth century (2005) p.27: 200,000 civilians
  • Stanley Karnow, In our image: America's empire in the Philippines (1989) p.12: "by its end in 1901, at least 200,000 Filipino civilians had been killed."
Other
  • Eckhardt: 8,000 civ. + 4,000 mil. = 12,000
  • Small & Singer: 4,500 USAns
  • Irving Werstein, 1898: The Spanish American War: told with pictures (1966) p.124
    • US, battle: 5,000
    • Filipino, battle: 20,000
    • Filipino civilians: 250,000
  • Graff, American Imperialism and the Philippine Insurrection (1969)
    • Filipino combatants: 16-20,000
    • Filipino non-combatants: 250,000
  • P. N. Abinales, et al., State and society in the Philippines (2005) p.117: "half a million civilians were killed between 1899 and 1902"
  • Bartholomew H. Sparrow, "The Insular cases and the emergence of American empire" (2006) p.37: "About 600000 persons, or one-sixth of the population of the island of Luzon," died.
  • Dennis Owen Flynn, et al., Studies in Pacific history: economics, politics, and migration (2002) p.215: an estimated 600000 noncombatant Filipino civilians, men, women, and children" died
  • Renato Redentor Constantino, "The Colors of Memory", Mother Jones, Apr. 28, 2005: "the number of Filipinos killed or felled by disease as a result of America's occupation... around 600,000."
  • Antonio T. Tiongson, et al., Positively no Filipinos allowed: building communities and discourse (Temple University Press, 2006) p.127: "million"
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.
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
Amazonia (1900-12): 250,000 [make link]
Rubber companies in Peru and Brazil, worker deaths
Rummel: >250,000
French Colonies (1900-40) [make link]
  • Rummel
    Democidal deaths among forced laborers in all the French colonies: >200,000
  • Adam Hochschild, Leopold's Ghost, (1998) estimates a 50% population loss in the rain forest due to colonial brutality. Robert July (A History of the African People, 1974) reports a 1926 population estimate of 3.1M in all of FrEqAf. The 1946 Census found 25% of the FrEqAfan population (1054T/4131T) in Congo and Gabon, the forest territories. That indicates a 1926 forest population of 0.8M, and therefore, an earlier death toll of 800,000.
  • Tom Conner Andre Gide's Politics : Rebellion and Ambivalence​: The population of French Equatorial Africa declined from 15M (ca. 1900) to 9M (ca. 1914) to 2-3M (early 1920s)
  • Worker deaths while building the Congo-Océan Railroad, French Equatorial Africa, 1921-32
    • Basil Davidson, Africa in History (1991):
      • Official: 14,000
      • Coquéry-Vidrovitch: 20,000
    • Hochschild: 20,000
Russo-Japanese War (1904-05): 130,000 [make link]
  • Samuel Dumas, Losses of Life Caused By War (1923)
    • Japanese:
      • Citing Verluststatistik
        • killed: 47,400
        • dead of wounds: 11,500
        • dead of disease: 27,200
        • TOTAL: 86,100
      • citing Japanese Bureau of Military Statistics
        • killed: 47,152
        • died of wounds: 11,424
        • died of disease: 21,802
        • TOTAL: 80,378
    • Russian:
      • Citing Verluststatistik
        • killed: 28,800
        • died of wounds: 5,200
        • died of disease: 9,300
        • TOTAL: 43,300
      • citing Gaedke ("seems too large")
        • killed and died of wounds: 52,623
        • died of disease: 18,830
        • TOTAL: 71,453
    • TOTAL (​Verluststatistik​): 129,400
  • Small & Singer
    • Japanese: 85,000
    • Russian: 45,000
    • TOTAL: 130,000
  • Eckhardt: 130,000
  • Urlanis, both sides:
    • Killed: 99,000
    • Disease: 40,000
    • TOTAL: 139,000
  • Gilbert
    • Japanese: 58,000
    • Russian: 120,000
    • TOTAL: 178,000
Maji-Maji Revolt, German East Africa (1905-07)​: 175,000 [make link]
  • R. July, A History of the African People (1974): 70,000
  • Rudolf von Albertini, European Colonial Rule, 1880-1940​: official estimate of 75,000
  • 1911 Britannica: officially 120,000 men, women and children
  • Eckhardt: 150,000
  • Dict.Wars: 200,000
  • Cambridge History of Africa: 200,000 total, 400 on the German side incl. 15 whites
  • Robert Edgerton, The Fall of the Asante Empire: 250-300,000
  • T. Packenham, The Scramble for Africa (1991): 250-300,000
Libya (1911-31): 125,000 [make link]
Sanusi resistance to Italian rule:
  • K. Shillington, History of Africa (1995): 100,000 civilians died in concentration camps.
  • John Wright, Libya A Modern History (1982):
    • Wright estimates that the native population fell by 125,000.
    • He cites these additional sources:
      • Muammar Gaddhafi claimed in 1969 that 750,000 Libyans (i.e. half the total population) died under the Italians.
      • While administering the territory prior to independence, the UN estimated that 250,000 to 300,000 natives died between 1912 and 1942.
  • Denis Mack Smith, Mussolini's Roman Empire (1976): 20,000 died in concentration camps, with perhaps 100,000 Bedouins (or half the Bedouin population) dying overall.
  • Clodfelter: 40,000 d. in combat, both sides, 1923-31. 100,000 Senusi d. all causes.
  • Eckhardt:
    • Civil War w/ Italy (1911-17): 16,000
    • Italian conquest (1920-32): 40,000
    • Civil War w/ Italy (1930-32): 40,000
    • TOTAL: 96,000
Balkan Wars (1912-13): 140,000 [make link]
  • Singer, battle deaths [TOTAL: 142,500]
    • First Balkan War (1912-13)
      • Turkey: 30,000
      • Bulgaria: 32,000
      • Serbia: 15,000
      • Greece: 5,000
      • [TOTAL: 82,000]
    • Second Balkan War (1913)
      • Turkey: 20,000
      • Bulgaria: 18,000
      • Serbia: 19,000
      • Greece: 2,000
      • Romania: 2,000
      • [TOTAL: 60,500]
  • Clodfelter [TOTAL: 129,500]
    • First Balkan War (1912-13)
      • Turkey: 30,000
      • Bulgaria: 32,000
      • Serbia: 15,000
      • Greece: 5,000
      • Montenegro: 3,000
      • [TOTAL: 85,000]
    • Second Balkan War (1913)
      • Bulgaria: 20,000 (53,825 died + killed in both wars, 60% from disease)
      • Serbia: 18,500
      • Greece: 2,500
      • Turkey: 2,000
      • Romania: 1,500
      • [TOTAL: 44,500]
  • Eckhardt
    • 1st B.W.: 82,000
    • 2nd B.W.: 61,000
    • [TOTAL: 143,000]
  • Urlanis, all parties:
    • KIA: 122,000
    • Disease: 82,000
    • Dead of wounds: 20,000
    • TOTAL: 224,000
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
Turkey (1925-28) [make link]
Kurdish uprising
  • David McDowall, A Modern History of the Kurds (1996) says that Kurdish "propaganda reports" claiming that 15,000 were massacred and that 200,000 deportees perished "may have been exaggerated".
  • Dan Smith believes them: "Turkish troops crush Kurdish uprising killing 250,000."
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
  • Marley
    • Bolivia: 57,000
    • Paraguay: 36,000
    • TOTAL: 93,000
  • Our Times: 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
  • Eckhardt: 70,000 civ. + 130,000 mil. = 200,000
Russo-Finnish War (1939-1940): 150,000 [make link]
  • COWP
    • USSR: 50,000
    • Finland: 24,900
    • TOTAL: 74,900
  • Gilbert
    • USSR: 58,000
    • Finland: 27,000
    • TOTAL: 85,000
  • Singer
    • USSR: 50,000
    • Finland: 40,000
    • TOTAL: 90,000
  • Eckhardt: 90,000
  • Roger Reese, The Soviet Military Experience : A History of the Soviet Army, 1917-1991
    Red Army: 126,875 killed and missing
  • Clodfelter
    • Finland: 23,157 KIA
    • USSR
      • according to Molotov: 48,745 KIA
      • most others give 175-200,000
    • [TOTAL: ca. 200,000-225,000]
  • Eloise Engle, The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940
    • Finland: 25,000
    • Soviets: one million killed, according to Khrushchev
  • [I'm adding Clodfelter's Finns to Reese's Soviets for my total.]
Greek Civil War (1943-49): 158,000 [make link]
  • Our Times: 50,000
  • Hartman, citing Jan.1951 Stratiokita, the Greek general staff weekly:
    • Greek Army: 12,777 killed, 4527 missing
    • Civilians executed by Communists: 4,289
    • Communists: 38,000
    • [TOTAL: 55,066, maybe 59,593]
  • WPA3: 12,777 Greek soldiers; 38,000 Communists
  • Howard Jones, "A New Kind of War" (1989) estimates 13,000 govt. dead or missing + 38,000 guerrillas, and cites ...
    • Kousalas: 16,753 gov't dead
    • Averoff-Tossizze: 36,839 guerillas counted, but probably 50,000 killed.
    • O'Ballance: 158,000 total
  • P. Johnson: 80,000
  • C. M. Woodhouse, The Struggle for Greece
    • 70,000 dead on the gov't side, incl. 15,000 soldiers
    • 38,000 rebels killed.
    • 5,000 executions, both sides.
    • TOTAL: 128,000
  • Urlanis: 148,000
  • Edgar O'Ballance, The Greek Civil War : 1944-1949 (1966): 158,000 dead, half Communist forces, half Govt and civilians. He also cites Greek govt figures for 6/1945-3/1949:
    • Democratic Army (Comm.): 28,992 k.
    • Greek Natl Army: 10,927 k + 3,756 missing
    • Civilians: 3156 executed by DA and EPON + 731 k. by mines, etc.
    • [TOTAL: 43,806 to 47,562]
  • Clodfelter
    • Greek National Army: 15,969 k.
    • Greek Democratic Army: >50,000 k.
    • TOTAL: 158,000
  • B&J: 158,000
  • T. Lomperis, From People's War to People's Rule (1996): 158,000
  • Singer: 160,000
  • Eckhardt: 160,000
Yugoslavia​, Tito's Regime (1944-80): 200 ,000 [make link]
  • Killed by Communists shortly after coming to power
    • Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: up to 60,000
    • 9 July 1990 NY Times: 70-100,000
      Anti-Communist emigres claim ca. 500,000 killed
    • John Lampe, Yugoslavia as History: 100,000
    • Marcus Tanner, Croatia: a Nation Forged in War: est. for the number of returning POWs k. by Communists in the Bleiburg massacre range from 30,000 to 200,000 (The upper number being favored by Croat nationalists)
    • Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: a Short History: 250,000
    • Rummel: 500,000
    • MEDIAN: 100,000-250,000
  • Rummel estimates 1,072,000 democides under Tito, but 500,000 of these are associated with the immediate aftermath of WW2. He estimates the death toll for the Communist regime after the war clouds settled (i.e. 1945-87) to be 572,000.
Colombia (1946-58): 200,000 [make link]
La Violencia
  • Clodfelter
    • Peasants: 85,144 k
    • Other civilians: 39,856, incl. armed gangs
    • Colombian military: 6,200
    • Police: 3,620
    • TOTAL, incl. died of wounds and disappeared: 180,000 (through 1958) + 20,000 (1959-62)
  • Grenville: 200,000
  • Britannica: 200,000
  • Dictionary of 20C World History: 200,000
  • Hammond: 200,000
  • Eckhardt: 200,000 civ. + 100,000 mil. = 300,000
  • Singer: 300,000
Romania (1948-​89​): 150,000 [make link]
Communist Regime
  • Rummel: 435,000 democides, 1948-87
  • Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts (1993): 100,000 forced laborers died building the Danube-Black Sea Canal, 1949-53
    This may be an exaggeration. Both Chirot (Modern Tyrants) and Mazower (Dark Continent) number the total living labor force on the Canal at 40,000.
  • 24 Oct. 2000 AP: 100,000 peasants and prisoners perished in prison or building the canal.
  • George Hodos, Show Trials (1987): 75,000 executed during 1st 4 years of Communism.
  • 8 Jan. 1990 Time: A Romanian court found Ceausescu guilty of genocide, with 60,000 victims.
East Germany (1949-89): 100,000 [make link]
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.
Guatemala (1960-1996): 200,000 [make link]
  • Totals
    • 29 Dec. 1996 New York Times: 100,000 dead and 40,000 disappeared, presumed dead
    • War Annual 8: ditto
    • 5 Dec. 1996 Washington Post: ditto
    • CDI: 140,000 dead
    • Chomsky
      • (1991)
        Total : 200,000
      • (1987)
        • Murders: 150,000
        • Killed, 1966-68: 10,000
        • Killed, 1980-85: 50,000
        • Total, 1954-83 (27 Nov. 1983 NYTimes citing Guatamalan Human Rights Comm.): 40,000 disapp. + 95,000 deaths.
    • Dict.Wars: 150,000 dead + 50,000 missing
    • Commission for Historical Clarification [​http://hrdata.aaas.org/ceh/report/english/conc1.html​]
      • 42,275 Victims of human rights violations, including...
        • 23,671 arbitrary executions
        • 6,159 forced disappearances
      • Total number of persons killed or disappeared as a result of the conflict: over 200,000 (including the above)
    • 29 April 1999 AP: 200,000
  • Partials
    • Grenville: 35,000 disappearances
    • Harff & Gurr: 30,000 to 63,000 Indians, leftists were victims of repressive genocide, 1966-84
    • Obermeyer, “Fifty years of Violent War Deaths…”: 20,000 violent war deaths
      • margin of error: 10,000 to 34,000
      • in contrast, Obermeyer cites earlier Uppsala/PRIO est.: 33,000
Congo Crisis (1960-64): 100,000
  • WHPSI: 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
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
New Guinea Irian Jaya (1962 et seq.) [make link]
Chronologically
  • B&J
    • Indonesian conquest of Irian from Netherlands (1962): 30,000
    • Indonesia vs. Iria Jaya insurgency (1965- ): 10,000
  • Ploughshares 2000 cites ...
    • Osborne, Indonesia's Secret War
      • Hastings: 2,000-3,000
      • Bonay: 30,000
      • Reinhardt: 900
    • InterPress Service: 43,000
  • Gawler, "Report claims secret genocide in Indonesia", 19 August 2005, Univ. of Sydney: "More than 100,000 Papuans are estimated to have died since Indonesia took control of West Papua from the Dutch Government in 1963."
  • Celerier, "Autonomy isn’t independence", Le Monde Diplomatique​, June 2010: "According to official figures, 150,000 Papuans were killed between 1963 and 1983."
  • George, "No Man's Island". 17 July 2011 Newsweek​: "Human-rights groups allege the ongoing fighting has killed more than 400,000 civilians"
Colombia (1964- ): 220,000 [make link]
  • Official report by the National Centre of Historical Memory. Killings since 1958 in war between government against FARC and ELN
    • Associated Press 25 July 2013 "Colombian conflict has killed 220,000 in 55 years, commission finds"
    • Reuters 25 Jul 2013 "Colombia civil conflict has killed 'nearly a quarter of a million': study"
      • Civilians: 177,300 (80%)
      • Armed forces, paramilitary and rebels groups were killed in combat: 40,787
      • The bloodiest period was between 1985 and 2002
      • The report documents 1,982 massacres - defined as four victims or more - killing 11,751 between 1980 and 2012, attributing 1,166 to paramilitaries, 343 to rebels, 295 to government security forces and the remainder to unknown armed groups
      • Indigenous Indians killed between 1996 and 2009: 1,190
      • TOTAL: 220,000
  • Estimates produced ca. 1999-2001
    • 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
    • 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)
  • Partials:
    • 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.
East Timor, Conquest by Indonesia (1975-99): 200,000 [make link]
  • Early:
    • Compton's​: 100,000 killed in the first year
    • Encarta: 100,000 ditto
    • D.Smith: 100,000 ditto
    • 15 Sept. 1999 AP, for the first couple of years
      • 1977 Indonesia's foreign minister: 50-80,000
      • 1985 Amnesty International report: 200,000 (''pulled out of thin air,'' based on church census in 1974 and Indonesian census in the 1980s)
  • Total:
    • The Timor-Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), Conflict-Related Deaths In Timor-Leste: 1974-1999 [​http://www.cavr-timorleste.org/updateFiles/english/CONFLICT-RELATED%20DEATHS.pdf​]
      Official estimate: The lowest possible number of conflict-related deaths: 102,800 (+/- 12,000). That includes 18,600 (+/- 1,000) killed or disappeared, plus 84,200 (+/- 11,000) excess hunger and illness. The commission speculated that the maximum number due to excess hunger and illness could have been 183,000 [The total range therefore: 90,800 to 202,600]
    • Eckhardt: 90,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 100,000 (1975-87)
    • Dunnigan: 90,000 to 200,000
    • Rummel: 150,000 (1975-87)
    • CDI: 150,000 (1975-97)
    • FAS 2000: as many as 60,000 in first assault; 100,000 to 250,000 as of 1979.
    • B&J:
      • 1975-76: 100,000
      • TOTAL: 200,000
    • [MEDIAN: 200,000]
    • War Annual 6: 100,000 killed in the first year, and another 100,000 over the next decade or so.
    • Ploughshares 2000: >200,000
    • Chomsky (1987): 200,000 to 300,000 by 1979
    • Dict.Wars: 250,000
    • Our Times: 300,000
  • Intensified violence, 1999
    15 Sept. 1999 AP: "estimates range upwards wildly from 600"
    • a Roman Catholic aid agency: 20,000
    • UN World Food Program: up to 7,000
Lebanon (1975-90)​: 150,000 [make link]
  • Killed in the first couple of years: 40,000 (P.Johnson), 60,000 (1984 World Almanac; Hartman; Compton's​), 60,099 (WHPSI 1975-77)
  • Total killed since the trouble began:
    • Eckhardt
      • 1975-76 Civil War: 75,000 civ. + 25,000 mil. = 100,000
      • 1982-87 Israeli vs PLO: 40,000 civ. + 12,000 mil. = 62,000
      • TOTAL: 162,000
    • WPA3: 150,000 (1975-91)
    • 14 Apr. 2000 LA Times: 150,000
    • 14 Dec. 1985 Montreal Gazette: 150,000 (to 1985)
    • 24 Dec. 1989 Arizona Republic: 150,000
    • [MEDIAN: ca. 150,000]
    • 9 March 1992 AP: > 144,000 k, citing official police statistics
      • Not incl. 6,630 "killed ... in related conflicts involving Palestinians", such as...
        • Power struggles between rival factions of Palestinians: 2,000 deaths
        • 3,781 killed in fighting between Shiite militia and PLO
        • 857 Pal. & Leb. k. by Christian militia in Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in 1982.
      • "17,415 people remain missing [and] are presumed dead" [I don't know if these were included or not.]
    • Dict.Wars: 144,000
    • SIPRI 1990: 131,000 (to 1989)
    • US State Dept.: >100,000 [​http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5419.htm​]
    • War Annual 6: 100,000 (to 1983)
    • CDI: 60,000 (1975-97)
  • Shia Amal-PLO War (1985-87)
    • 22 Nov. 1986 LA Times: >1,000 k.
    • 11 Dec. 1986 NY Times: >1,500 k
    • 9 March 1992 AP: 3,781 k
  • Israeli Invasion
    • 3 Sept. 1982 Washington Post
      Beirut newspaper An Nahar est. 17,825 k. during invasion
      • Outside Beirut
        • Military personnel: 9,797 (PLO, Syria, etc.)
        • Civilians: 2,513
      • Beirut area: 5,515 (mil. + civ.)
    • 14 October 1982 Christian Science Monitor
      • Beirut massacre: 2,000 k. acc2 Lebanese govt.
      • Throughout Lebanon
        • An Nahar: 48,028 casualties, incl. 17,825 k.
        • Palestine Red Crescent Society: 27,000 casualties (k+w)
    • 5 March 1991 AP
      • Israel: 657 k.
      • Syrians: 370
      • PLO: 1,000
      • Lebanese and Palestinians: 19,000+, mostly civilians
    • 14 Dec. 1985 Montreal Gazette: 650 Israelis k. (1981-84)
    • 24 Dec. 1989 Arizona Republic: 654 Israelis
    • Ploughshares 2000: 12,000 people, including 500 Israelis, killed during the 1978 and 1982 invasions of Lebanon
  • Outsiders:
    • 237 (Info. Please 1991), 239 (Gilbert) or 241 (Our Times) USAns, and 58 French (Our Times) killed in Oct. 1983 bombings.
    • 9 March 1992 AP
      241 USAns + 58 French (1983); plus 75 k at US Embassy (1983+84)
    • US State Dept.
      • April 1983, U.S. Embassy, W. Beirut: 63 k
      • October 1983, US & Fr HQ: 298 k
      • September 1984, US Embassy annex, E. Beirut: 9 k
    • A total of 273 military USAns killed, 1982-84 according to House Res. 45,108th Conngress, 1st Session
    • 1,000 Syrians KIA, 1976 (Singer)
Cambodian Civil War (1978-91): 225,000 [make link]
  • Eckhardt
    Vietnam vs Cambodia, 1978-87
    14,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 24,000
  • CDI: >25,000 (possibly just refers to the substantiated Vietnamese losses)
  • SIPRI 1996, (1979-89)
    • Vietnamese battle dead: 25,300
    • Cambodian battle dead: >50,000
  • Wallechinsky:
    • Cambodians: 200,000
    • Vietnamese: 25,300
  • Clodfelter, Michael, Vietnam in Military Statistics (1995)
    • Vietnamese: 25,300
    • Cambodians: 100,000 (1978-79) + 100,000 thereafter, not including deaths among refugees
  • B&J: 500,000, incl. 50,000 Vietnamese
  • Rummell: 1,160,000 deaths, 1979-87
    • War Dead: 60,000
    • Famine: 250,000 (non-democidal)
    • Democide: 850,000
      • by Samrin: 230,000
      • by Vietnam: 460,000
      • by Khmer Rouge: 150,000
      • by others: 10,000
Kurdistan (1980s, 1990s): [make link]
  • In Iraq:
    • 1987 War Annual: 300,000 (1983-87)
    • Washington Post, 6 June 93: 70-120,000 (1987-89)
    • David McDowall, A Modern History of the Kurds (1996): 150-200,000 (Anfal operations, 1988)
    • 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News: 280,000 (1961-1999), incl. 180,000 between 1976 and 1988, and 10,000 in 1991.
    • HRW: Chemical attack on Halabja, 1988: 4,000 to 7000 civ. killed. 3,200 names collected. [​http://hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFAL3.htm​]
    • Ploughshares 2000
      • Total 1961-2000: >100,000
      • Fighting among rival Kurds since 1994: 5,000 k
      • Anfal operations
        • US State Dept.: 70-150,000
        • Human Rights Watch: 50-100,000
    • B&J:
      • 1974-75: 3,000
      • 1976-95: 60,000
      • TOTAL: 63,000
    • 857 cartons of detailed files kept by the Iraqi secret police describing genocide against the Kurds emerged in 1991-92.
      • Time 1 June 1992: 200,000 to 300,000 killed (late 80s)
      • AP 7 Dec. 1991: 200,000 k (1986-1991)
      • Chicago Tribune 26 May 1992: 200,000 to 300,000 (1988-91)
  • In Iran:
    • Under Islamic Republic, 1979 to Feb. 1981: 10,000 (David McDowall, A Modern History of the Kurds (1996))
    • 1979-89: 17,000 (SIPRI 1990)
    • 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News: 17,000, incl. 10,000 military (1979-99)
    • 1980-90: 50,000 (1990 War Annual 4)
  • In Turkey:
    • 4 April 95 Washington Post: 15,000 (1985-95)
    • B&J: 18,000 (1984-95)
    • Ploughshares 2000: 30-40,000
    • 29 April 1999 AP: 37,000 (1984-99)
    23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News: 40,000 (1984-99)
  • TOTAL:
    Adding the numbers above puts the total in the 200 to 400 thousand range. OTOH, the CDI estimates a total of 120,000 deaths between 1961 and 1997 in Iran, Turkey and Iraq. (see also Iraq, 1961-70)
Uganda (1987- ): 100,000 [make link]
Gov't vs. Lord's Resistance Army and ADF
  • Project Ploughshares (2010): "Hundreds of thousands of people, possibly as many as 500,000, have been killed in the course of the conflict.... In Northern Uganda alone, 65,000 people have been killed." [​http://www.ploughshares.ca/content/uganda-1987-2010#Deaths​]
  • Pepper, "Invisible children and the cyberactivist spectator", Nebula, December 1, 2009: "estimates of 12,000 killed in the conflict since 1987"
  • Adams, "A History of Violence", Herald (Glasgow) Feb. 2, 2008: "Aid agencies estimate more than 100,000 people have been killed in the civil conflict"
  • "Uganda's rebels seek peace talks" 2 Nov. 2004 BBC: 100,000
  • "Uganda; Returning Rebel Women Face Rejection", Africa News, Dec. 20, 2007: "LRA in its 20-year war in northern Uganda, which has left an estimated 100,000 dead from war and war-related causes."
  • Hugh Muir, "Helping Uganda's Invisible Children", Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Feb. 23, 2010: "An estimated 20,000 children... have been killed over the quarter century since. Another 100,000 people are believed to have died in the fighting." [sum=​120,000​]
  • Goodspeed, "People areafraid", National Post [Canada], Dec. 18, 2010: "[The LRA']s 22-year reign of terror in Uganda, where it is estimated to have killed nearly 500,000 people"
Liberia (1989-2003): 250,000 [make link]
  • Govt v National Patriotic Front (1st Civil War: 1989-1997):
    • Edgerton: 100,000
    • D. Smith: 150,000 "in 1990 alone"
    • CDI: 150,000 (1990-97)
    • B&J: 150,000 (1989-95)
    • Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full (2001): as many as 150,000 murdered
    • Chicago Tribune (17 Apr. 1996): 150,000
    • Time (28 July 1997): as many as 200,000
    • War Annual 8 (1997): 200,000
  • LURD and MODEL insurrections (2nd Civil War: 1999-2003)
    Lydia Polgreen, "A Master Plan Drawn in Blood", NY Times, April 2, 2006: 300,000
  • Combined 14-year civil war:
    • Boston Globe (29 March 2003): 200,000
    • 22 July 2003 The Times (London): 200,000
    • Truth and Reconciliation Committee, Volume 1: Preliminary Findings and Determinations​, p.44 [​https://www.trcofliberia.org/reports/final/volume-one_layout-1.pdf​]: 250,000 dead
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
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-95): 175,000 [make link]
  • Total
    • U.S. State Dept.: 250,000 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996 [​http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1996_hrp_report/bosniahe.html​])
    • 29 April 1999 AP: 250,000
    • Compton's Encyclopedia​: 200,000
    • 6 April 2002 Times [London]: 200,000, incl...
      • D. in siege of Sarajevo: 15,000
      • Massacred in Srebrenica: 8,000
    • Obermeyer, “Fifty years of Violent War Deaths…”: 176,000 killed
      • margin of error: 67,000 to 305,000
      • in contrast, Obermeyer cites earlier Uppsala/PRIO est.: 55,000
    • MEDIAN: ca. 175,000
    • International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights: more than 160,000 (Annual Report 1997 [​http://www.ihf-hr.org/ar97bos.htm​])
    • Dan Smith (The State of War and Peace Atlas 1997) uses the Bosnian War as the example of how difficult it is to estimate accurate death tolls, but in the end, he settles for 150,000.
    • B&J: >60,000
    • George Kenney, The Bosnia Calculation (NY Times Magazine, 23 April 1995): 25,000 to 60,000 ([​http://suc.suc.org/politics/myth/articles/042395.George_Kenney.html​])
  • Srebrenica
    6 July 2000 LA Times:
    • 4,700 bodies exhumed
    • Internat. Red Cross estimates total of 7,079 k.
    • Amal Masovic's B-H govt. commission: 8,400
Zaire (Dem. Rep. Congo), Civil War (1997) [make link]
  • CDI: 250,000 (In the table, this is given as the number of deaths, but in the text, the number is described as an uninvestigated "disappearance".)
  • 20 Feb. 1998 Agence France Presse: 200,000 refugees "unaccounted for", according to UN.
  • Donald G. McNeil, “In Congo, Forbidding Terrain Hides a Calamity”, June 1, 1997, New York Times: out of 1.4 M Rwandan refugees in Zaire ...
    • 700,000 fled east when the war began.
    • 400,000 fled west, of which ...
      • 125,000 eventually returned to Rwanda
      • 53,000 remained in Zaire
      • 222,000 disappeared.
  • Amnesty International, 23 Nov. 1998: "as many as" 200,000 Rwandese Hutu refugees massacred by AFDL and RPA. ([​http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aipub/1998/AFR/16203698.htm​])
  • Howard W. French,  “Kagame's Hidden War in the Congo”, September 24, 2009, New York Review of Books [​http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23054​]: 300,000, citing Prunier, Africa's World War

to Table of Contents
Last updated Feb. 2012
Copyright © 1999-2012 Matthew White