The sinking of the Titanic, the collision of the SS Mont-Blanc, and the Hindenburg explosion are all well-known transport disasters that are always remembered and talked about. They’ve become icons, have been made into movies, and have ensured their place in history, never to be forgotten. But there are many more disasters out there that each one mattered just as much for the people involved. Each one made our world a safer place.

10 The Iolaire

On January 1, 1919, two months after the end of World War I, British sailors who’d survived the perils of both the ocean and the war were returning to their families on the Isle of Lewis and Harris, only to tragically perish within miles of reaching home.

The Iolaire (which means “eagle” in Gaelic) was built as a luxury yacht in 1881. During the war, it was equipped with guns and performed anti-submarine and patrol work. The Isle of Lewis and Harris saw a fifth of its population of 30,000 killed in World War I; the crew of the Iolaire were the lucky ones, eager to celebrate the New Year with their families.

Before anyone could celebrate, the ship struck the rocks known as the Beasts of Holm. It was only meant to carry 100 people, but there were almost 300 aboard, with only 80 life jackets and two lifeboats. It was expected to dock in Stornoway Harbour, but due to low visibility, it struck the rocks at the entrance of the harbor and quickly sank, less than 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) from shore. While 205 perished, 40 were saved by a brave man who improvised a rescuing implement from a rope, and 39 more were able to make it to shore on their own.

A naval inquiry was held in private on January 8, its results not being released to the public until 1970. It reached the conclusion that due to the fact that no officers survived, “No opinion can be given as to whether blame is attributable to anyone in the matter.” Numerous other inquiries, both official and unofficial, were held, none of which settled the matter. The weather wasn’t very bad, but those in charge should have taken safety precautions, like slowing down while approaching the harbor and having more lifeboats.

The site of the wreck is marked today by a pillar that reminds everyone who enters Stornoway Harbour of the cruel irony that befell those who survived the war and were so close to enjoying peace.

9 USS Akron

Following the example of the Hindenburg, the US built two helium-filled airships, each 239 meters (784 ft) long and carrying enough fuel to travel 16,900 kilometers (10,500 mi). One of them was named the USS Akron and was commissioned by the US Navy in 1931. Its mission was to provide long-distance scouting in support of fleet operations, and after a number of trials, the airship was equipped with reconnaissance aircraft and a system designed for in-flight launch and recovery of Sparrowhawk biplanes.

On a routine mission, disaster struck. During the early hours of April 4, 1933, off the coast of New Jersey, a storm began, which caused the airship to strike the water with its tail. The Akron quickly broke apart. What’s intriguing is that it carried no life jackets and only one rubber raft, which dramatically diminished the crew’s chances of survival. Of the 76 onboard, 73 drowned or died of hypothermia.

Although the weather was certainly a factor, Captain Frank McCord is also considered responsible, for flying too low and not taking into account the length of his ship when he tried to climb higher. It is also believed that the barometric altimeter failed due to low pressure caused by the storm.

Akron’s sister ship, the USS Macon, was also lost off the California coast in 1935. Fortunately, that time, only two people perished. These events prompted the US to end its rigid airship program.

8 Junyo Maru Tragedy

The Japanese are remembered for being extremely cruel to their captives during World War II, especially to prisoners of war, who were moved around the Pacific in rusted ships and used for forced labor. The problem with these ships was that they were not marked with a red cross in order to be identified as prison ships per the Geneva Convention, which made them vulnerable to being sunk by Allied aircraft or submarines. The largest maritime disaster in World War II occurred because of this.

On September 18, 1944, the Junyo Maru was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean by the British submarine HMS Tradewind, which couldn’t have known what cargo the ship was carrying. Of the 6,500 Dutch, British, American, Australian, and Japanese slave laborers and POWs onboard, 5,620 died as a result. The Junyo Maru was sailing up the west coast of Java from Batavia (now called Jakarta) to Padang, where its prisoners were to be taken to work on the Sumatra Railway.

Conditions onboard were indescribably bad. Many people were literally packed into bamboo cages like sardines. Those in charge put their life jackets on as soon as they left, whereas the POWs could only count on two lifeboats and a few rafts.

Even more tragically, the approximately 700 POWs who were pulled from the water were still taken to work in the Sumatra Railway construction camps. Only about 100 survived.

7 MV Wilhelm Gustloff Disaster

Nazi Germany designed a state-controlled leisure organization in order to show its citizens the benefits of living in a national socialist regime. Working-class Germans were taken on tours for holidays aboard the MV Wilhelm Gustloff and the program, nicknamed Strength Through Joy, became the largest tour operator in the world in the 1930s.

This all ended when World War II began. In 1945, the Wilhelm Gustloff became part of Operation Hannibal, the German evacuation of over one million civilians and military personnel due to the advancing Red Army in Prussia. Over 10,000 people, 4,000 of whom were children, were crammed onto the ship, all of them desperate to reach safety in the West. The ship was only meant to carry 1,800 people.

The Wilhelm Gustloff set off on January 30, 1945, against the advice of military commander Wilhelm Zahn, who said it was best to sail close to shore and with no lights. Instead, Captain Friedrich Petersen decided to go for deep water. He later learned of a German minesweeper convoy which was heading their way and decided to turn on the navigation lights in order to avoid a collision in the dark. This would soon prove to be a fatal decision. The Gustloff was carrying anti-aircraft guns and military personnel but wasn’t marked as a hospital ship, which would have protected her. Soviet submarine S-13 needed no second invitation to torpedo the shiny target three times.

Ample rescue efforts were made, which saved approximately 1,230 people. Over 9,000 perished in the cold waters of the Baltic Sea, the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking.

6 Gillingham Bus Disaster

On the evening of December 4, 1951, 52 Royal Marine cadets, boys between 10 and 13 years old, were marching from a barrack in Gillingham, Kent, to one in Chatham to watch a box tournament. Their military uniforms were dark clothes and had nothing on them to make the cadets visible. The entrance to the Chatham Royal Naval Dockyard had a malfunctioning light, which made it impossible for the driver of an approaching double-decker bus to see the boys. He plunged right through them before stopping.

The driver, John Samson, had 40 years of experience behind the wheel, but inexplicably for the foggy weather, he didn’t have his headlights on. He claimed to have been traveling at no more than 32 kilometers per hour (20 mph). According to the only adult who was with the boys, Lieutenant Clarence Carter, Samson was going at least twice as fast.

Regardless of the bus’s speed, 17 boys died on the spot, with seven more sent to the hospital. Never before had there been such a tragic loss of life on British streets, and the victims were given a grand military funeral at Rochester Cathedral. Thousands of locals attended. The incident was ruled an accident despite the driver not turning on the headlights or braking until he was a few meters away. Samson was later fined £20 and had his right to drive revoked for three years.

Every such disaster is followed by improvements in order to prevent further loss of life. This time, it was decided that British military marchers will wear rear-facing red lights at night.

5 Harrow & Wealdstone Rail Crash

October 8, 1952, is remembered by Londoners as the day of the worst peacetime rail crash in the UK. It was only exceeded by the Gretna Green disaster during World War I in 1915, when 227 Scottish soldiers headed for the front perished. The Harrow & Wealdstone rail crash involved three trains—a local passenger train from Tring, a Perth night express, which was running late because of foggy conditions, and an express train from Euston.

The driver of the Perth train passed a distant yellow signal, which means “caution,” without slowing, possibly because he couldn’t see it due to the weather. He also passed a later semaphore, which indicated “stop.” He only hit the brakes when it was already too late. Meanwhile, the train from Tring was waiting at the Harrow & Wealdstone Station for its passengers to embark. The Perth train impacted at approximately 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph). The disaster wouldn’t stop there. The fast-moving express from Euston approaching on a different line hit the debris from the initial impact and derailed.

In total, 16 carriages were destroyed, 13 of which were compressed into a pile only 41 meters (134 ft) long, 16 meters (52 ft) wide, and 9 meters (30 ft) tall. The human casualties would total 112 (102 immediately after the accident and 10 more later at the hospital), and 340 were injured.

Although the exact causes and persons responsible were hard to determine, it is believed that a combination of fog, misread signals, and out-of-date equipment caused the horrific crash. All the equipment was working, and the drivers were experienced men; all they needed was an updated system to back them up. The accident sped up the process of introducing the Automated Warning System of the British Railways. The system works by giving a driver who passes a caution or danger signal automated feedback, whether he saw the signal or not, and automatically applying the brakes.

4 USS Thresher Sinking

The USS Thresher was the first in a new fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarine. It was commissioned in 1961 and went through numerous sea trials to test its new technological systems. As if foreshadowing the disaster that was to strike later on, these trials were interrupted by the failure of the generator while the reactor was shut down, which caused the temperature in the hull to spike, prompting an evacuation. Another setback occurred when the Thresher was hit by a tug and needed extensive repairs.

On April 10, 1963, the sub was conducting drills in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Cod, when it suddenly plunged to the seafloor and broke apart. All 129 passengers were killed—96 sailors, 16 officers, and 17 civilians. During the investigation into the accident, a leak in one of the joints in the engine room was discovered, which caused a short circuit in the electrical system and made it impossible to resurface the Thresher. The sub had no other choice but to sink and implode due to increasing water pressure.

The disaster mobilized the US Navy to put more effort into SUBSAFE, a program designed to rigorously control the quality of nuclear submarine construction.

3 MV Derbyshire Sinking

The MV Derbyshire is the largest British bulk carrier lost at sea. Built in 1976, it was a majestic ship built in 1976 at 281 meters (922 ft) in length, 44 meters (144 ft) in width, and 24 meters (79 ft) in depth. It had been in service for only four years when it set sail toward its doom on July 11, 1980, carrying 150,000 tons of ore.

On September 9 or 10, Typhoon Orchid struck the Derbyshire in the East China Sea, just as the ship was approaching its destination. At the time, it was carrying 44 people, all of whom perished during the journey from Canada to Japan, where the ship was meant to transport its cargo.

What sets this disaster apart from others is that the ship seemed to be lost forever, with initial searches for the wreckage turning up nothing. The absence of any mayday call or distress signal beforehand was also intriguing to the families of those lost. A formal investigation was conducted seven years later in 1987. It concluded that no structural or other failures were to blame; the weather conditions were responsible.

The grieving families were not convinced, and they decided to from the Derbyshire Families Association (DFA) to work together toward the truth. They managed to raise enough funds to finally find what remained of the Derbyshire in 1994, lying on the seabed more than 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) down in the abyss. DFA members continued to push for a number of investigations, which resulted in increased ship safety over the years. While the 1970s were plagued by bulk carrier sinkings, with 17 lost each year. The numbers are much lower today.

2 Bihar Train Accident

Were it not for the British rule over India, which aimed to improve the transport system among other things, the Bihar train accident would have never happened. On June 6, 1981, a train with around 1,000 passengers crowed into nine coaches was traveling through the Indian state of Bihar, 400 kilometers (250 mi) away from Calcutta. It was the monsoon season in India, which meant that heavy rains made the tracks slippery, and the river below was swollen.

It is believed the tragedy that followed was caused by the driver, who saw a cow along the tracks and braked hard. Cows are sacred animals in the Hindu religion, and he was a devout follower. Due to the rain, the tracks were too slippery, and the wheels failed to grip, causing the carriages to plunge into the Baghmati River below, sinking fast. Rescue efforts were hours away, and by the time they arrived, almost 600 people had died, and another 300 remain missing.

1 Ufa Train Explosion

The 1980s were difficult times for Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was trying to hold together the Soviet Union and maintain the Communist Party’s commanding role. At the same time, a series of disasters couldn’t hide the fact that the country’s infrastructure was old and dangerous. One of these disasters happened on June 4, 1989.

Two Russian passenger trains with hundreds of people onboard were passing one another near the city of Ufa, close to the Ural Mountains, when they met an extremely flammable cloud of gas leaking from a nearby pipeline. Sparks released by their passing blew both trains to pieces. Seven carriages were reduced to dust, while 37 more were destroyed, along with the engines. More than 500 people perished, many of whom were children returning from a holiday on the Black Sea. The force of the explosion was estimated to be similar to 10 kilotons of TNT, which nearly equaled that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The fireball formed was 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) long and destroyed all trees in a 4-kilometer (2.4 mi) radius.

The pipeline going along the rail lines was full of propane, butane, and hydrocarbons, and the pressure within was high enough to keep it in a liquid state. On the morning of June 4, a drop in pressure was observed, but instead of checking it out, the people in charge increased the pressure. Consequently, clouds of heavier-than-air propane formed and left the pipe, traveling along the rails. All they needed was a spark.

As with many disasters, the Ufa train explosion happened because finishing something quickly at minimal cost was more important than long-term consequences. The pipeline had more than 50 leaks in three years, and the Soviet Ministry of Petroleum didn’t want to admit their negligence. Worse, railway traffic controllers didn’t have the authority to halt trains on the Trans-Siberian railway, even if they smelled gas.

Teo loves animals, chocolate, and constantly finding out more about this magnificent and diverse world.

The 20th century was a time of immense global achievement but also of global unrest. It saw the fall and rise of empires, borders redivided, and nations created. It was a time when the world had a better standard of living then all human civilizations across all eras of time, but it was on the tip of a nuclear apocalypse.

You all knew this, but what about the lessons that you didn’t know? From one man’s attempt to create better human beings through DNA to the vote of a single man deciding the fate of the entire human race, these are the history lessons that you did not know but have left their mark on the entire world.

10 The Curse Of Timur

Timur (aka Tamerlane) declared himself a great khan in the year 1369 and made it his mission to rebuild the Mongol Empire into what it was at the time of Genghis Khan. After his death, he was buried with an alleged curse on his tomb stating that whoever shall disturb it will face an invader far worse than himself. According to local lore, the curse was said to take three days to affect the cursed.

In 1941, under the command of Joseph Stalin, Soviet anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov excavated the tomb for the purpose of recreating Timur’s face. Three days after the excavation, the Nazis executed Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union without warning. This resulted in some of the deadliest battles in human history and many Soviet defeats. Only after Joseph Stalin ordered the reburial of Timur did the tides of war change in favor of the Soviets, allowing them to gain the upper hand against Nazi Germany, push their forces west, and turn the tide of the war in favor of the allies.^[1]

9 South African Nuclear Disarmament

In a session of the South African parliament in 1993, President F.W. de Klerk revealed that at one point, the nation had developed a small arsenal of nuclear weapons. This confirmed the fears of many other African nations that the South African government had done so. However, in 1990, all South African nuclear warheads were dismantled in order to create “international cooperation and trust,” in the words of President de Klerk.

This was the first time in history that a nation voluntarily dismantled its nuclear arms and one of only four instances in history. The other nations dismantled theirs because they could no longer keep up with the maintenance after the collapse of the Soviet Union. South Africa’s decision, however, was made in order to extend an olive branch to the global community and show the nation’s devotion to peace.^[2]

8 The Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution took place on April 25, 1974, when the Armed Forces Movement, led by General Antonio Spinola and backed by many Portuguese military members and prominent civilians, ended the Estado Novo regime in Portugal.^[3] The regime was replaced with a democratic system which restored many civil rights in Portugal. Over the course of the next ten years, a constitution was established, and a stable two-party system was formed.

One of the revolution’s main triggers was a large portion of Portugal’s budget being spent on fighting wars in the African colonies. After many years of fighting, the Portuguese military had become fed up with the large loss of life in an unwinnable war, thus motivating the coup. After the revolution, the new government gave independence to Portugal’s colonies.

7 1993 Russian Constitutional Crisis

Not since the 1917 Communist revolution had Russia seen the level of political violence that it did during this crisis. It began due to the growing tensions between Russia’s parliament and President Boris Yeltsin. The peak of the crisis came on September 21, 1993, when President Yeltsin attempted to dissolve the parliament despite not having the authority to do so. As a direct response, the parliament impeached Yeltsin and named Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoy as the acting president.

The situation escalated on October 3, when demonstrators attacked Russian police surrounding the parliament, invaded mayors’ offices, and attempted to invade a Russian television network. The conflict ended on October 4, when the previously neutral army stormed Moscow’s White House (where the members of parliament were holed up) and arrested the leaders of the resistance under the orders of Yeltsin.^[4]

6 George Wallace And Arthur Bremer

George Wallace was the 45th governor of Alabama and the final independent presidential candidate to win promised electoral college votes. George Wallace was also one of the most controversial politicians in US history due to his extreme segregationist views. During his third presidential campaign in 1972, he was shot by Arthur Bremer during a campaign rally.^[5] At the time of the assassination attempt, Wallace was showing positive support numbers due to his more moderate platform, but the shooting derailed his campaign.

Bremer served 35 years in prison before being released on parole in 2007. Wallace returned to Alabama and served out his remaining term as governor, despite being paralyzed from the waist down. He later tried unsuccessfully to run for president again. Wallace was later elected as Alabama’s governor for a final term before retiring from politics.

5 Rhodesian Bush War

Founded as a British colony in 1890 by South African entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes, Rhodesia was nicknamed “The Breadbasket of Africa,” due to the extremely fertile farmland and hospitable climate. These features attracted many European settlers, primarily from Britain, during the 20th century. Rhodesia developed quickly into one of the most prosperous and developed regions in Africa and produced large amounts of natural resources, such as chrome and nickel. Rhodesians served Britain in both World Wars, and many Rhodesian men served as mercenaries during the Congo Crisis.

In spite of the development in Rhodesia, much of the native population felt disenfranchised by the white minority government, which largely excluded them from the political process. This gave rise to communist black nationalist groups, which waged guerrilla war on Rhodesia. During the conflict, Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965, resulting in heavy international sanctions.^[6] The rebel government, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, received aid from South Africa as well as the Portuguese colonies in the region, allowing the Rhodesian forces to fight for as long as they did. After the Portuguese colonies fell and the US government successfully pressured South Africa to stop aiding Ian Smith and his government, Rhodesia was left on its own.

The war lasted from 1965 to 1980, when the Lancaster Agreement gave the African natives control of the government, resulting in Rhodesia being renamed Zimbabwe and President Robert Mugabe coming into power, never to step down.

4 B-59 Submarine Incident

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a Russian B-59 submarine was operating in the Caribbean while US military forces were dropping depth charges as part of their Cuban blockade. Panicked, the captain and senior officers debated what to do. On board this B-59 was a nuclear warhead, and as the bombs fell, the submarine’s captain felt it was necessary to launch the warhead.

Thankfully, according to Soviet protocol, all senior officers aboard must approve any launch of a nuclear warhead. Two of the officers voted in favor of a launch, but one senior officer named Vasili Arkhipov voted against it, thus saving the world from nuclear destruction.^[7]

3 Genius Babies

From 1980 to 1999, over 200 babies were born using the sperm of Nobel Prize winners, high-IQ individuals, and athletes. The project was founded by a Southern California tycoon named Robert K. Graham. Graham’s goal was to create a better generation through the use of positive eugenics. At the time, the project was controversial, with opinions ranging from it being elitist to straight-up genocidal. Nevertheless, the effort lasted for almost 20 years, with many babies being born.

Although no evidence has been brought forward to suggest that the children are above average in any way, shape, or form, largely due to the secrecy of the project, the families who have spoken about their children have described them as “wonderful.”^[8]

2 Attack Of The Dead Men

In 1915, World War I was in full rage, with never-before-seen weapons and tactics being employed by both sides of the conflict. According to one story, during a German offensive on the Russian Fort of Osowiec, located in modern-day Poland, the German forces employed chemical weapons on the Russians. The effects of the deadly gas on the Russian soldiers were catastrophic, causing them to cough up blood onto their uniforms.

When the Russians launched a counteroffensive, the invading German forces were horrified when they saw what appeared to be zombie-like soldiers. This resulted in the terrified German army retreating, despite having superior numbers against the Russian forces.^[9] This story, although virtually unknown in the West, is a symbol of Russian military power and is commonly told and taught in Russia.

1 The Wall Street Putsch

The months between the election and inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a time when American democracy hung in the balance. This was the Great Depression, and President Roosevelt’s plan to minimize its effects angered legislators on both the left and the right. The left argued that he hadn’t gone far enough, while the right believed that the new president’s policies were evidence that he was a socialist or communist, with some even going so far as to say that due to his Dutch descent, Roosevelt was a Jew and a part of a larger Jewish plot. This led to many calling for an end to American democracy and the institution of a communist or fascist regime.

These calls were taken a step further by a group of right-wing financiers. They hoped to convince President Roosevelt to step down and leave a military-led fascist government in his place. This group was able to gather millions in funds and also stockpile weapons in preparation for their new government. Their plan was derailed when they approached former Marine general Smedley Darlington Butler to lead their forces. Instead of joining the conspiracy, Butler reported the conspirators to Congress, recognizing them as traitors, thus putting an end to their plot.^[10]

I am just a guy writing lists and trying to make money.

You’d think that as the world got more modern, we’d find ways to solve our differences that didn’t involve blowing each other’s brains out. And, luckily, that’s true! But there was still plenty of horrific violence, including the deadliest wars in human history, in the 20th century, when mankind entered a period of shocking technological advancement and increasing levels of interconnectedness. Let’s take a look at some of the wars that defined the 1900s. 

10. World War I 

Often referred to as the Great War, World War I (1914-1918) was triggered by the chain reaction activation of a complex web of political alliances, militarism, and imperial rivalries, all kicked off by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. 

Nationalistic pride and 19th century tactics, however, soon clashed with the reality of modern warfare. The carnage was so severe that it forced men on all sides to dig down into the mud in order to survive. Trench warfare has thus come to symbolize the conflict as a whole. Machine guns, advanced artillery, poison gas, tanks, and aircraft all made their battlefield debuts and contributed to staggering casualties and a seemingly endless succession of failed offensives on all sides. The Eastern Front witnessed fluid and dynamic battles, while the conflict in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia added global dimensions. The war ended with an Allied victory in 1918, the signing of an Armistice, and the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. To this day, the war is often looked at as even more wholly unnecessary and tragic than other wars.  

9. Russian Civil War 

The Russian Civil War unfolded between 1918 and 1922, and was kicked off by the Russian Revolution of 1917. It marked a struggle for power and ideology among various factions, primarily the Bolshevik Red Army, anti-Bolshevik White Army, regional nationalist forces, and foreign interventionist troops.

The conflict began with the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, trying to consolidate national power after the October Revolution in 1917, during World War I. Opposition to the Bolsheviks coalesced into the White Army, composed of diverse elements ranging from monarchists to liberal democrats, seeking to resist a communist takeover. 

The frontlines of the Russian Civil War stretched across vast expanses, from the Western borders to Siberia. The Red Army, despite facing internal and external challenges and numerous setbacks, ultimately secured victory. The Russian empire therefore fell. The Soviet Union took its place, and would last until the end of the Cold War in 1991. 

8. Spanish Civil War

In the same way that the Mexican American War served as a proving ground for many of the tactics and commanders who’d later define the American Civil War, the Spanish Civil War – fought from 1936-1939 – gave the great powers of Europe a chance to test their mettle before being thrown into the furnace of World War II. 

The war erupted when General Francisco Franco, leading a coalition of conservative, monarchist, and fascist forces, sought to overthrow the democratically elected Second Spanish Republic. The conflict was characterized by a deep ideological divide, with the Republicans, a coalition of left-wing and anti-fascist forces, opposing Franco’s Nationalists. The International Brigades, composed of volunteers from various countries, including anti-fascist activists and intellectuals, joined the Republicans. Meanwhile, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy supported Franco’s Nationalists. 

Like all wars in the first half of the 20th century, this one was particularly savage. It was defined by roughly equal numbers and frontline stalemate until close to the end of the conflict, when the nationalists surged forward and destroyed the remaining Republicans. It was one of the first times the world saw the brutality of fascism firsthand. 

7. World War II 

The largest, most widespread, and deadliest war in history, World War II (1939-1945) was defined by the violent expansion of the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, and their allies) followed by counterattacks by the Allies (Britain & Commonwealth forces, France, the Soviet Union, China, the United States, and their allies), and Allied victory. The vast majority of the world was involved. As many as 85 million people, a large majority of them Allied civilians, were killed. Attacks against civilians were carried out by both sides. The Allies did this mainly via aerial bombing, including firebombing and nuclear bombing, as a way of breaking the enemy’s will to resist. The Axis mainly used ground forces to carry out bloody genocides, including the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their partners. 

The war raged from the Pacific Ocean to the jungles of southeast Asia, the Russian steppe, Sahara, and the beaches of France. It saw massive technological leaps forward, brought an end to centuries of European geopolitical dominance, and saw the rise of the United States and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers, making it arguably the single most significant event in human history. 

6. Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War raged between 1927 and 1949, between the Nationalist Party and the Communists. The initial phase of the Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalists, turned against the Communists, leading to a violent purge known as the Shanghai Massacre. The conflict then entered a period of intermittent truces and alliances, with both sides nominally cooperating against the Japanese invasion during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the resumption of the civil war in 1946 saw the Nationalists and Communists vie for control of China. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, garnered widespread support among peasants, while the Nationalists struggled with corruption and inefficiency. The decisive turning point came in 1949 when the Communists emerged victorious, leading to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists retreated to Taiwan, where they continued to rule, while the mainland underwent significant political, economic, and social transformation under Communist rule. The Chinese Civil War had profound implications for the course of Chinese history and the global balance of power during the Cold War era and beyond. 

5. Korean War

The Korean War unfolded from 1950 to 1953 on the Korean Peninsula. The war began when Communist North Korean forces, backed by the Soviet Union and China, invaded South Korea, which was supported by the United Nations and the United States.

The conflict was triggered by the political division of Korea after Japanese occupation during World War II, with the Soviets occupying the north and the United States occupying the south along the 38th parallel. The North, led by Kim Il-sung, sought to reunify the peninsula under communist rule, while the South, led by Syngman Rhee, aimed to maintain independence.

The war saw significant involvement from international forces, with the United Nations sending a multinational coalition, primarily composed of U.S. troops, to support South Korea. In response, China intervened on the side of North Korea, escalating the conflict. The war’s frontlines fluctuated along the 38th parallel, with intense fighting and trench warfare reminiscent of World War I. The armistice agreement signed in 1953 established a demilitarized zone near the original border, solidifying the division between North and South Korea. However, a formal peace treaty was never signed, and the Korean Peninsula remains divided to this day. 

4. Six-Day War

The Six-Day War, a brief but transformative conflict in the Middle East, took place from June 5 to June 10, 1967, involving Israel and its neighboring Arab states. The tensions leading to the war had been escalating due to territorial disputes, political tensions, and military buildups in the region.

The immediate catalyst for the war was the closure of the Straits of Tiran by Egypt, effectively cutting off Israel’s access to the Red Sea. Additionally, Arab rhetoric and troop movements had heightened the sense of an impending conflict. In a pre-emptive strike, Israel launched Operation Focus, targeting Egyptian airfields, which resulted in the destruction of a significant portion of the Egyptian air force.

In the ensuing six days, Israel swiftly secured victories on multiple fronts. Israeli forces seized the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The war reshaped the political and territorial landscape of the region, marking a turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The aftermath of the Six-Day War had lasting implications. Israel’s victory significantly expanded its territorial control, leading to occupation and settlement activities in the captured territories. However, the war also intensified regional hostilities. 

3. Iran-Iraq War 

The Iran-Iraq War, one of the longest and bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century, took place between 1980 and 1988, involving the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The war had deep-seated roots in territorial disputes, historical grievances, and ideological differences.

The conflict began when Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, invaded Iran in September 1980, seeking to exploit what it perceived as Iran’s weakened position after the Iranian Revolution and the subsequent political turmoil. The war quickly escalated, with both sides engaging in WWI-style trench warfare. The conflict saw the extensive use of chemical weapons, causing significant human suffering and long-term health consequences.

The war’s dynamics were complex, with shifting alliances and international involvement. Various countries supported either Iran or Iraq, with the United States and the Soviet Union supplying arms to Iraq (weirdly enough) at different points in the conflict. The war finally concluded in 1988 with a UN-brokered ceasefire.

The Iran-Iraq War had profound consequences for both nations. It resulted in immense human and economic losses, with estimates of casualties ranging from hundreds of thousands to over a million. 

2. Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, spanning from 1955 to 1975, was a protracted conflict involving Ho Chi Minh’s Communist North Vietnam, supported by the Soviet Union and China, and Ngo Dinh Diem’s South Vietnam, backed by the United States and its allies. The war was rooted in the struggle for control of Vietnam, complicated by Cold War geopolitics and ideological differences.

The war witnessed guerrilla warfare tactics by the communist forces, including the Viet Cong, and intensive bombing campaigns by the United States. The use of chemical defoliants, most notably Agent Orange, had severe environmental and health consequences. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring countries, with the US conducting arguably illegal bombings in Laos and Cambodia.

As public opposition to the war grew in the United States, a gradual withdrawal of American troops began in the early 1970s. The Paris Peace Accords in 1973 aimed to end US involvement, leading to a ceasefire. However, the war continued between North and South Vietnam, culminating in the fall of Saigon in 1975, leading to reunification under communist rule.

1. Cold War 

Although (thankfully) not a war in the traditional sense, the Cold War was a geopolitical, ideological, and military standoff between the United States and its allies, representing the democratic and capitalist Western bloc, and the Soviet Union and its allies, representing the communist Eastern bloc, that persisted from the end of World War II in 1945 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. This ideological confrontation was characterized by intense political and military rivalry, violent proxy wars around the globe, a nuclear arms race that had the world on edge for decades, a space race, and ideological competition between capitalism and communism.

The origins of the Cold War can be traced to the differing post-war visions of the Allies. While they had been wartime allies against Nazi Germany, the ideological differences and spheres of influence soon emerged. The division of Germany, the establishment of the Iron Curtain in Europe, and the containment policy formulated by the United States, deepened tensions.

The Cold War concluded with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The United States emerged as the sole superpower and the beginning of a new era of international relations.

The 20th century featured some of the deadliest battles and wars in history, and we’re not even including the world wars here. Some of them – like the Nigerian Civil War – would result in the deaths of millions of people, many of them civilians that had nothing to do with the many underlying causes of these brutal conflicts. Here are 10 of the bloodiest non-World War battles of the century

10. Battle Of Warsaw

The Battle of Warsaw is also sometimes called the Miracle on the Vistula, fought between August 12 and 25, 1920, during the Russo-Polish War. It began with the Bolsheviks’ attempt to export their revolution to nearby regions and secure their borders, with Poland being one of their oldest and strongest enemies in the region. Poland, on the other hand, fought to assert its newly gained independence and expand eastward. 

As the Red Army approached Warsaw, the Poles, led by General Józef Pi?sudski, defended the city while launching a flanking maneuver from the south, encircling and overwhelming the Red Army. The Polish victory outside Warsaw is still remembered as a victory of a weak, outnumbered enemy against a vastly-superior military force, although at a heavy price. The battle resulted in the deaths of possibly 15,000 – 25,000 Soviet soldiers, with up to 5,000 dead on the Polish side. 

9. Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive of January 1968 was a major military campaign of the Vietnam War launched by North Vietnamese forces and the Viet Cong. It involved simultaneous attacks on South Vietnamese cities, military installations, and towns, with around 85,000 participating troops. The offensive aimed to break the stalemate in the war and achieve either a collapse of the South Vietnamese government or a withdrawal of United States forces from the conflict. 

Despite advance warnings on the southern side, the attacks were larger and more intense than expected, briefly capturing parts of Saigon and 36 provincial capitals, including the ancient capital of Hue that was occupied until February.

The northern forces suffered heavy casualties by the end of it, with estimates suggesting up to 50,000 troops killed. Conversely, U.S. and South Vietnamese losses were far fewer. Although a military failure, the offensive was a propaganda victory for North Vietnam and Viet Cong, as it weakened the South Vietnamese government and adversely affected its military alliance with the United States.

8. Battles Of Khalkhin Gol

Tensions between the Soviet Union and Japan started flaring up in the late 1930s, particularly along their shared border along the Khalkhin-Gol river in Mongolia. The largest clashes – now known as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol – happened between May and September, 1939, when Soviet forces crossed the river to assert control over disputed land, encountering fierce resistance from the Japanese Sixth Army. Believing that the river marked the border, the imperial Japanese forces launched a series of attacks across the front, decisively pushing back the initial Soviet advance. 

By the end of August, however, Soviet forces under General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov outnumbered the Japanese two to one, with superior tanks and artillery. His envelopment and destruction strategy proved successful, inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese army. Despite the Japanese commander preparing a counteroffensive to respond to it, a ceasefire was declared in Moscow due to the outbreak of war in Europe. On the other hand, the skirmishes convinced the Japanese that a protracted conflict with the Soviet Union was unfavorable, which in turn influenced their decision to attack the United States in 1941 instead of Siberia.

7. Battle Of Teruel

The Battle of Teruel took place during the Spanish Civil War, lasting from December, 1937 to February, 1938 amidst some of the most severe winter conditions of the war. It was centered around the city of Teruel that changed hands between Republican and Nationalist forces many times throughout the conflict. 

It was one of the deadliest phases of the civil war, marked by intense artillery and aerial bombardment that resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. Many died due to the effects of the winter, resulting in a total number of 110,000 deaths on both sides over the course of two months.

6. Battle Of The Marshes

The Battle of the Marshes, or Operation Kheibar, was fought during the Iran-Iraq War between February and March 1984. The main battleground was the Hawizeh Marshes towards the north-east of Basra, where Iran launched a new offensive after many earlier unsuccessful operations. They initially faced heavy losses with human wave attacks, resulting in over 15,000 casualties and slow progress. Iranian forces adapted over time, however, with more-successful amphibious assault offensives with the help of their 92nd Armored Division.

While the Iranians eventually nearly broke through the Iraqi lines, they were eventually pushed back to these marshes and Majnoon Island, where it turned into a massacre. It was a pyrrhic victory for Iran, as they succeeded in removing the Iraqis from the territory but still suffered losses of over 200,000 men in one of the most brutal military offensives of the century, at the cost of about 10,000 soldiers on the Iraqi side. It was also when Iraq deployed chemical weapons like mustard gas on a mass scale, giving the war a whole new horrifying dimension.

5. Battle Of Dien Bien Phu

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the most important battle of the First French-Indochina war, fought between the French colonial government and the Vietnamese nationalist forces under the command of Ho Chi Minh. It began on March 13, 1954 and lasted until May 7, bringing a decisive end to French rule in the region. 

By November, 1953, thousands of French forces had taken control of an airstrip in the Dien Bien Phu valley in the northwest of Vietnam. They aimed to cut off Vietnamese supply lines and  support a growing insurgency in Laos that matched with their goals, hoping to draw the Viet Minh into a conventional, open battle they believed they could win. 

However, they had greatly underestimated the capabilities of General Vo Nguyen Giap’s Viet Minh forces that soon surrounded the valley and began artillery bombardment that lasted for four months. The siege against this single French position was relentless and brutal, and despite support from the United States, the French garrison ultimately succumbed to the overwhelming assault. Around 10,000 French troops out of 15,000 lost their lives during the battle, including 2,200 that died during the battle and more than 7,000 that succumbed to the harsh conditions of Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camps. 

4. Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War was a multi-faceted conflict that lasted for more than 15 years. From 1975 to 1990, anywhere between 150,000 to 200,000 people – mostly civilians – died in the war that left Lebanon in ruins, making it one of the deadliest conflicts of the century in the Middle East. 

It began with an attempted assassination of a Christian Phalangist leader, triggering clashes between Palestinian-Muslim forces and Phalangists. Syria intervened in 1976, aiming to meet its own goals in Lebanon, followed by the entry of various other Arab and Middle-Eastern countries. Israel invaded in 1982 to eliminate the presence of the Palestinian Liberation Authority in the country, leading to brutal civilian massacres in refugee camps and involvement of the United States and United Nations to end the conflict. 

3. Battle Of The Ebro

The Battle of the Ebro was fought between July 25 and November 16, 1938, marking the final and bloodiest chapter of the Spanish Civil War. It began when Republican forces launched a surprise attack after crossing the Ebro river at various points and breaking through the defensive lines of General Franco’s army. 

The battle lasted 115 days and resulted in about 130,000 casualties on both sides. According to some reports from the time, many soldiers that died during this time still remain buried in unmarked locations across the front. While the Republican forces saw some early successes, they were ultimately defeated by Francoist troops that countered with overwhelming bombing runs and frontal assaults.

2. Huaihai Campaign

The Huaihai Campaign was an important battle of the Chinese Civil War, fought from November 1948 to January 1949 in the valley of the River Huai. The campaign marked a decisive turning point of the entire conflict, as it was here that the Communist forces – led by Chen Yi and Liu Bocheng – gained the upper hand against Nationalist troops. 

The final and decisive battle of the offensive happened in and around Yungchung, resulting in the capture of 327,000 Nationalist prisoners, including their commander General Tu. At the same time, Liu Bocheng targeted the Nationalist stronghold of Ch’inglungchi, which ultimately fell on January 22 and opened the way for further Communist advances towards Nanjing and Shanghai. 

The Battle at Xuzhou witnessed the deaths of about half a million Nationalist troops, dealing a major blow to their positions north of the Yangtze River. The victory during this campaign played a crucial role in the ultimate Communist conquest of China.

1. Nigerian-Biafran War

The Nigerian-Biafran War, also called the Nigerian Civil War, began in 1967 when the Republic of Biafra in the southeast of Nigeria seceded from the country. It was a fierce conflict marked by widespread violence against civilians, fueled by long-standing regional tensions like ethnic competition, educational inequality, and economic disparities. 

Biafra – largely populated by displaced Igbo people – seceded after political turmoil and two failed coup attempts, leading to fighting between the secessionist state and Nigeria’s government. The war escalated quickly, and while Biafran troops made some initial advances, they were soon pushed back by the might of the heavily-armed federal Nigerian forces. International efforts to mediate and provide humanitarian aid were proven ineffective due to the scale of the war that ultimately cost the lives of anywhere between 500,000 to 3 million people.

We all make bad decisions. Fortunately our decisions don’t usually cause continent-wide destruction. Here are the most catastrophic decisions of the twentieth century. I think you’ll find a few surprises.

Though Harry Truman was under extreme pressure to end the war and reduce American casualties I think his decision to drop two atomic bombs on August 6th and August 9th, 1945 was in error. The Japanese were already defeated. According to Army Air Force General Henry H. (Hap) Arnold, “It always appeared to us, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.” President Eisenhower declared in an interview with Newsweek: “…the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”

Bad move. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the so very lofty upper-class took control of the Democratic Party. Since then the Democrats rarely win elections, no matter how stupidly the Republicans behave. Tragically some thought this new elitist Democratic Party would be pro-peace. In fact the Democrats are more war-like than ever, only now the wars are even more pointless. (Example: our invasions of small Muslim nations.) What happened to Democrats that stand up for working people?

General MacArthur said that any defense secretary who advises the president to fight a land war is Asia should “have his head examined.” Unfortunately this is just the advice Defense Secretary Robert McNamara gave to President Johnson, and troop levels rocketed upward in the mid-1960s. The war suited the enemy. No domestic opposition was permitted in Vietnam so the government didn’t have to worry about public opinion. Vietnam possessed a large population that could hide from American firepower in the dense jungle. In contrast, the United States media often criticized the war effort. Americans don’t like high casualties, especially not in an interminable war half way around the world.

The 9/11 Commission chaired by Republican Tom Kean concluded that Saddam Hussein did not aid Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. The Iraq Survey Group concluded that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction after 1991. So why did so many people die in the 2003 launched Iraq War? Why the huge expense?

After World War II, many Jews fled to Palestine and established the new nation of Israel, thus antagonizing a huge new set of people – the Muslim community which now numbers about 1/5 of the world’s population. Hitherto Muslims had been particularly anti-Jewish, but after the Zionists massacred villages and forced the original population to flee, Muslims turned against the Jews. It would have been far preferable for Jews to migrate to any of the English-speaking nations.

The December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was madness. What’s startling is that Admiral Yamamoto, who planned the attack, knew very well Japan could not possibly win a protracted war against the United States. The U.S. possessed a far larger population and greatly superior industrial strength. Though his staff celebrated on December 8th, Yamamoto was sunk in depression.

If only the decision had been made to remove Chairman Mao from power! The long-suffering Chinese people would have been spared the Great Leap Forward (actually Backward), the Great Famine of 1958-1962, and the Cultural Revolution. Just one of Mao’s bright ideas during the Great Leap Forward: his plan to exterminate sparrows. He thought the sparrows consumed primarily grain, where in fact they consume a lot of insects. With the sparrows gone the locust population exploded, causing immense ecological damage.

Winston Churchill never should have issued a guaranty to Poland in 1939, which led to war when Germany invaded Poland. As esteemed American diplomat and historian George Kennan wrote: “the British guaranty to Poland … was neither necessary nor wise.” The British and French didn’t have the power to save Poland from Germany. Churchill’s foolish guaranty only benefited Stalin, who was happy to see Germany, France, and Britain destroying one another. Stalin had killed millions of his own people in his vast system of prison camps and the engineered famine of 1932-1933 (the Holodomor). Churchill I think should be singled out as the single worst decision-maker of the century. As First Lord of the Admiralty he energetically banged the drums for war as Britain pondered whether to enter World War I. Churchill also deserves a great deal of blame for the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer oversaw the catastrophic return of Britain to the gold standard, which helped bring about the Great Depression.

Prime Minister Clemenceau perhaps deserves the most blame for the vindictive Versailles Treaty (signed 1919) though some of his compatriots thought him too generous. Despite promises made to the Central Powers, territory was parceled out by the victors regardless of the wishes of the inhabitants. Germany was saddled with huge reparations payments, impossible to pay. Economist John Maynard Keynes wrote of this decision: “I believe that the campaign for securing out of Germany the general costs of the war was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible.” The Central Powers were unfairly forced to accept sole responsibility for the war. Keynes concluded that the Versailles treaty was a “Carthaginian peace.” Versailles vengeance sowed the seeds for World War II.

In 1914 Prime Minister Asquith and Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey decide to involve Britain in World War I, although it was France and Russia – not Germany – that threatened the British Empire. British policy called for an alliance against the most formidable continental power, but long-term was Germany alone so overwhelmingly superior to both France and Russia? If Britain had not send troops the war would have ended within a year. Europe would have been spared one of its greatest nightmares – the millions that died from machine gun, cannon, disease, poison gas, and starvation. The rise of the Bolsheviks in Russia, with all its attendant misery, and the atrocities of World War II would also have been avoided. Instead of the Great War we would have had the relatively minor War of 1914, and Europe would never have descended into the depths of despair and decadence from which they still haven’t entirely recovered.

In popular imagination, the 20th century was a time of technological progress and relative peace around the world, when we built the computer and finally reached space. Look closer, though, and this rosy view doesn’t seem to be accurate, or at least not for everyone. While it’s true that some parts of the world experienced unprecedented growth and stability during this time – at least in the post-war era – it was a tumultuous, dark period for many others. 

10. The Troubles

From the late 1960s to 1998, Northern Ireland was embroiled in one of the bloodiest insurgencies of the 20th century. Known as the Troubles, it was a violent culmination of years of conflict between the nationalist Irish and unionist British population in the region, controlled by the UK since the 1920s. It was a large-scale conflict, and could even be categorized as a war if we go by the numbers. 

More than 3,500 people died throughout the episode, as rebel Irish paramilitaries – like the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – waged an intense guerilla war against the loyalist Ulster forces, allied with the British army. The conflict saw multiple civilian deaths and casualties, as more than 47,000 people were injured in the crossfire, most of them young adults. This time was also marked by multiple high-profile assassinations, like Lord Mountbatten and Airey Neave – the British Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 1979. 

While the Troubles officially came to an end with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the violence only completely stopped in 2007. 

9. Guatemalan Civil War

The civil war in Guatemala began in the wake of the revolution in Cuba in 1959, when leftist guerilla groups in the country began a 36-years-long armed conflict against the Guatemalan state. It was the longest struggle in modern Latin American history, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and making millions of others homeless. 

The conflict is still remembered for its exceptional brutality against civilians, especially those of Mayan descent. Much of the violence could be attributed to paramilitary death squads allied with or directly controlled by the state and local landowners. It included arbitrary execution, sexual violence, torture, mutilation, violence against children, and systematic destruction of settlements. 

The conflict’s worst phase came during the early 1980s, when the paramilitaries undertook counter insurgency measures aimed at wiping out the rebel population. Between 70% – 90% of the population was killed in the worst-affected provinces during this time, which has since been recognized as a genocide by the U.N.

8. Revenge Hutu Genocide

Most people know about the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when more than 80% of the Tutsi minority was killed by the Hutus following the assasination of president Juvénal Habyarimana. Far less discussed, though, are the immediate effects of this tragedy on nearby regions, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Throughout 1996 and 1997, Hutu refugees in Congo went through a reprisal genocide by the now-Tutsi-led Rwandan government. During the First Congo War, Rwandan-backed rebels committed multiple massacres  in the eastern part of the country, mostly against the Hutu refugees that fled Rwanda after its civil war, as well as local Congolese Hutus. Brutal execution methods were deployed, as tens of thousands of civilians were killed in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that would impact politics and social relations in the region for years to come.

7. Japanese Invasion Of Manchuria

The Sino-Japanese War officially broke out in 1937, though conflict in China was ongoing for much longer than that. Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931 and established the puppet state of Manchukuo, beginning a conflict that would last until the defeat of the Japanese empire in 1945. 

Throughout the war, Japanese forces committed multiple atrocities in many parts of China. While some of them are well-known – like the Nanking massacre of 1937, when the invading army terrorized hundreds of thousands of civilians in Nanking for six weeks – others now lie mostly forgotten. Like Germany, Japan also conducted extensive experiments on the conquered population, with the largest labs operating in Manchukuo. The details are gruesome, as the experiments were usually carried out in crude and inhumane ways. The victims were usually prisoners of war captured during the invasion, many of whom would die within weeks of experimentation. 

6. Iran-Iraq War

On September 22, 1980, Iraqi forces began a full scale invasion of Iran, beginning a conflict that would be characterized by inhumane killing methods – like chemical attacks – and widespread violence against civilians. The Iran-Iraq war was easily one of the longest conflicts of the 20th century, as it went on for nearly eight years until the ceasefire in 1988 (though a formal peace agreement wasn’t signed until August 16, 1990). 

The conflict would have a profound impact on geo-politics in the Middle East and beyond, even if it’s largely forgotten outside the immediate regions it was fought. Iraq made excessive use of its chemical weapons arsenal, both against civilians and on the battlefield against Iranian soldiers. The violence was also directed at the Kurdish rebels inside Iraq – in March, 1988, between 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed by a massive chemical attack in the Kurdish-Iraqi town of Halabja. 

5. Herero And Namaqua Genocide

Around the turn of the 20th century, Germany controlled one of the largest colonial empires around the world, almost all of it located in Africa. Between 1904 and 1907, the Herero and Namaqua tribes from Namibia went through what many historians now recognize as the first genocide of the 20th century, almost all of it perpetrated by professional German forces. If we go by the numbers, more than 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Namaqua were wiped out, often in brutal, inhumane ways that would be repeated in many battles and concentration camps until the end of WW2.

From the German side, it was a war of extermination, waged to completely replace the local population with German settlers. While it started as a rebellion by the Herero, they were quickly overwhelmed by superior German firepower, followed by some of the worst atrocities on a native population in colonial European history. Many of them were forced to march into the desert and die of starvation or heat; others were forced to work in concentration camps until they died, or tortured, experimented on, raped, and even beheaded. 

4. Partition Of India

In August 1947, India was divided into the modern states of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, which finally granted independence to the long-held British colony. While it was a moment to celebrate, this period is now remembered for the widespread violence on both sides of the border, resulting in one of the largest humanitarian crises of the 20th century. 

More than two million people lost their lives, as a number of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims on either side of the border began one of the largest mass migrations in human history. More than 14 million people would be made homeless by the violence, almost all of which was directed at the civilian population. While it’s not recognized as a genocide, some British soldiers and journalists that witnessed it later described it to be worse than Nazi concentration camps. 

3. Late Ottoman Genocides

The First World War was as full of atrocities and dark phases as the second, though it hardly gets the same attention in contemporary readings of 20th century history. One of the darkest was the dissolution of the Ottoman empire, which was followed by gross violence and campaigns of ethnic cleansing across the new territories. 

Some historians see them as a continuous series of genocides known as the Late Ottoman Genocides, even if there’s quite a bit of controversy in Turkey regarding whether they count as genocides. While the Armenian genocide is still remembered and talked about, it also included violence against Assyrians, Greeks, Kurds, Arabs, Jews, and others. As the vast empire once spread across eastern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East broke up and gave way to new nations in the Middle East, old ethnic tensions between communities and the new geo-political realities of the region resulted in numerous atrocities, often committed by the armed forces of the new states. 

2. Colonial Belgian Rule

From 1885 to 1908, the nation of Congo was run entirely as a privately-held enterprise of Belgian King Leopold II. Known as the Congo Free State, it was the only private colony in history, with its own private army and local militias to control the lucrative resources of the region. This period was marked by exceptional brutality against the local population, so much so that a bunch of other empires – including other European colonial powers that were engaged in similar techniques in their own colonies – had to come together and intervene to put a stop to it. 

While the numbers are disputed, the Congolese population was reduced from some 20 million to 10 million in this time. Natives were often kidnapped and forced to work for resources like ivory and rubber. Torture, sexual violence, amputations, and exhaustion was common in places like the plantations and mines, as Leopold’s armies kept a strict, violent check on productivity. There were a few rebellions, though they were often put down mercilessly, followed by reprisal attacks on the local population.  

1. The Eastern Front of WW2

The Second World War’s eastern front was easily the largest military confrontation in history, even if modern history books hardly give it the same attention as, say, the Pacific and western European theaters. Stretching across a front that was, at its widest, more than 1,000 miles long, with over 400 Red Army and German divisions in total, it’s not inaccurate to say this was where the war was really fought and decided. 

The eastern front also saw some of the worst atrocities in the entire war, though much of it is just mentioned as numbers in post-war figures. Here, Nazi violence wasn’t just limited to the Jewish population, but also other communities like the Roma, Russians, Poles, prisoners of war, and others. In occupied territories, massacres perpetrated by German death squads and local collaborators were commonplace, often done in crude and gruesome ways. Unlike the west, the war in the east was fought as a war of complete annihilation, with few parallels in history in terms of scale or brutality.