- On 13 May 1901, a young newly-elected Winston Churchill
MP, with recent personal experience of fighting in India, the
Sudan, and in the Boer War, told the London Parliament: "I have
frequently been astonished to hear with what composure and how glibly Members,
and even Ministers, (the vast majority of whom had NO personal war experience
- HM) talk of a European war" - "the wars of peoples would be
more vindictive and terrible than those of kings" - "a European
war could only end in the ruin of the vanquished and the scarcely less
fatal commercial dislocation and exhaustion of the conquerors".
-
- These words from the beginning of the last Century could
just as easily apply to a great many political fools in many of our nations
across the globe today - 1st January 2003.
- Most of the current crop of political war mongers experience
of war comes from playing with their toy soldiers in their nursery.
-
- Lest we forget the past please take a long look at the butchers
bill for the last century's wars:-
- The eagerly sought after "Great War" or
World War I (1914-1918) is believed to have killed over
14 million people. This statistic includes 9 million soldiers,
sailors, and airmen, whilst 5 million civilians are estimated to have
perished, under occupation and bombardment, or from hunger and disease.
-
- [As in all wars the exact numbers of dead will never
be known with precision - due to a lack of record keeping or destroyed
archives, and/or falsification of death rates - usually downwards - for
political gain].
-
- In some WW I cases, eg. Serbia, more civilians died (82,000)
than military personnel (45,000). Destructive WW I by-products included
the mass murder of over 1,000,000 Armenians by the Turks in 1915. Another
possible "by-product" was the 1918 influenza epidemic
which killed more US soldiers (62,000) than died in battle (48,000) - out
of a US European force of over 1,000,000 troops.
-
- Worldwide this "flu" epidemic killed 20,000,000
people including a total of 500,000 US citizens. Nothing like it has
been seen since .......................
-
- It is entirely possible that the influenza epidemic was
a deliberately engineered bio-weapon released by some covert international
group intent on yet further planetary population reduction than that caused
by the fighting of the "Great War"..................
-
- The Central Powers lost 3,500,000 soldiers on the battlefield,
and lost the war.
- The Allied Powers lost 5,100,000 men, and were proclaimed the
"victors" .......................
-
- On average more than 5,600 soldiers were killed on each
day of the war, though some battles exceeded this - eg. over 20,000 British
soldiers were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
-
- Post-war human suffering was immense with hundreds of
thousands suffering early death as a result of their war wounds and
an estimated 250,000 being seriously mentally deranged by their war
time experiences, whilst entire populations never fully recovered from lower
level mental traumas.
-
- The World War I butchers bill included the following
minimum estimates of war dead:-
- Germany 1,800,000
- Russia 1,700,000
- France 1,384,000
- Austria-Hungary 1,290,000
- [British Empire 935,000]
- Britain 743,000
- Italy 615,000
- Romania 335,000
- Turkey 325,000
- Bulgaria 90,000
- Canada 70,000
- Australia 59,000
- India 49,000
- USA 48,000
- Serbia 45,000
- Belgium 44,000
- New Zealand 18,000
- South Africa 8,000
- Portugal 7,000
- Greece 5,000
- Montenegro 3,000
-
- WWI was followed, amongst other conflicts, by the
1930's war between Japan and China:
- It has been estimated that 6,000,000 Chinese civilians
were killed by Japanese forces in their empire building invasion of China.
-
- Then along came World War II (1938-1945):
-
- This was the most destructive conflict in human
history and resulted in the death of over 40 million. Some estimates
place the death toll at 61 million..................
-
- The official Soviet Union estimates state that it
suffered 10,000,000 military personnel deaths in action on land, at
sea, and in the air. A further 3,300,000 Soviet soldiers were killed after
they had become prisoners-of-war, whilst another 7,000,000 Soviet citizens
also died as a result of the war. Total Soviet losses were in excess of
20,000,000.
-
- Other Western estimates of Soviet losses are as
high as 25,568,000 including the deaths of 8,668,000 military personnel
and 16,900,000 civilians...................
-
- German calculations deduce that they lost 3,250,000
military personnel killed, along with 3,810,000 civilians by the
US-UK bombing campaign and/or the Soviet-Allied invasion of their Fatherland,
for a total loss of 7,060,000 ........................
-
- The Japanese are estimated to have lost 1,000,000 military
personnel and 2,000,000 civilians, for a total loss of 3,000,000.
The largest single toll being the 138,890 deaths resulting from the atomic
bomb attack on Hiroshima by the USA. Other estimates alter these figures
to 1,506,000 military and 300,000 civilian making a total of 1,806,000
Japanese dead.
-
- Co-incident WW II Chinese deaths are estimated
at 1,324,000 military and 10,000,000 civilians. [It is not clear in
net records if these estimates of multi-million Chinese civilian deaths
include those of the earlier 1930's Japanese aggression]. To discuss just
one aspect of WWII in China, after Doolittle's bombing raids on Tokyo,
the Japanese invaded the area of China that the bombers landed in, they
occupied 20,000 square miles, and slaughtered every man, woman, and child
- some 250,000 civilians were killed in this one action ................
-
- Poland lost 850,000 military personnel due to invasion
by Russia and Germany. 6,000,000 Polish citizens were killed whilst Poland
was under occupation (mainly at German hands) - 3,000,000 of them
being Polish Jews, providing a Polish total death toll of 6,850,000. ........................
-
- A further 3,000,000 European Jews were killed, bringing
the total Jewish race loses to 6,000,000................
-
- Yugoslavia lost 300,000 military personnel and over 1,400,000
civilians and partisans during the German occupation, for a total death
toll of 1,700,000.
-
- Rumania lost 520,000 military personnel and 465,000 civilians,
for a total of 985,000 killed..
- France lost 340,000 troops and 470,000 civilians for
a total death toll of 810,000.
- Austria lost 380,000 troops and 145,000 civilians for
a total of 525,000 deaths
-
- The British lost 264,433 military personnel killed, 30,248
merchant navy deaths, and 60,595 civilian deaths from bombing, making a
total of WWII war losses of 355,276 Other estimates suggest Britain lost
326,000 military and 62,000 civilians for a total of 388,000.
-
- The British Empire of Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
and South Africa lost 129,196 service personnel in action, whilst
India lost 36,092 war dead in action in the Far East, North Africa, and
Italy. Black African troops also fought for the Empire, Basutoland (Southern
Africa) lost 1,105 men and the Askaris (Southern Rhodesia) lost
498 men. Thus the total British Empire death toll was 520,564. This does
not count the death by famine of 3,000,000 Indians during 1943 - to some
extent a resultant by-product of the Japanese attempted invasion of India
from Burma.
-
- The Greeks lost 79,743 military personnel during the
Italian-German invasion, also 360,000 civilians died from privation and
hunger during the Italian-German occupation, a further 70,600 were executed
by the occupying forces in reprisals, and 50,000 Resistance fighters were
killed in action, making a total Greek death toll of some 520,000.
-
- Italy lost 330,000 troops and 80,000 civilians for a
total death toll of 410,000.
-
- The USA lost 362,561 military personnel between December
1941 and August 1945. Other sources suggest that US lost 292,000 troops
killed in action with 116,000 killed in accidents or died from disease
- for a total of 408,000 troops lost.
-
- Holland lost 14,000 troops during the German invasion
and in the Far East battles of 1941-42, whilst 236,000 Dutch civilians
died as a result of the war, giving a total loss of 250,000.
- Finland lost 27,000 troops in the winter war of
1940 against Soviet Russia, and some 52,000 civilians due to the larger
WWII, for a total loss of 79,000.
-
- Bulgaria lost 19,000 troops and 2,000 civilians for a
total loss of 21,000.
-
- The Spanish legion lost 4,500 killed in action fighting
with German forces against Soviet armies at the siege of Leningrad, a
further 7,500 Spanish lives were lost fighting along side the Allies against
the Axis powers, whilst a further 10,000 Spaniards died in concentration
camps.
-
- Thus the World War II butchers bill estimates are:-
-
- Soviet Union 25,568,000
- China 11,324,000
- Germany 7,060,000
- Poland 6,850,000
- European Jews 6,000,000
- Japan 3,000,000
- Yugoslavia 1,700,000
- Rumania 985,000
- France 810,000
- Hungary 750,000
- Austria 525,000
- [British Empire 520,564]
- Greece 520,000
- Italy 410,000
- USA 408,000
- Czechoslovakia 400,000
- Holland 250,000
- Belgium 85,000
- Bulgaria 81,000
- Finland 79,000
- Canada 44,893
- Australia 43,256
- India 36,092
- Spain 22,000
- New Zealand 12,000
- South Africa 9,000
- Norway 5,000
- Denmark 4,000
- Black Africa 1,603
-
- The number of wounded, premature deaths, and mentally
affected victims may never be known but are believed to number in the several
millions.
-
- Such evolving World War blood bath insanities had their
beginnings with little wars that rapidly escalated into big wars - caused
by the desire of lunatics to press their will onto the World stage.
- Desire for "World domination" has a way of
backfiring, not only on the originator, but also on the entire
human race.
-
- Then came Korea (1950-1953):
-
- Reliable estimates of war dead from the Korean "conflict"
are hard to come by and differ considerably depending on the political
source regime.
-
- Probably some 4 million of the combined North and South
Korean population of 40 million were killed, of which 1 million were South
Korean and 3 million North Korean.
- US figures have chopped and changed over time but it
would appear that some 36,940 US troops died in action, 8,176 went missing
in action, whilst a further 20,600 were killed in accidents - making a
US servicemen death toll total of 65,716, with a total of 103,248 wounded
in action.
-
- Other UN forces (Britain, Canada, Australia, Turkey,
Ireland, New Zealand etc.) lost some 4000 war dead
-
- South Korean ROK troop losses have been estimated at
415,004, with 1,312,836 wounded in action. The North Korean armed forces
are estimated to have lost 500,000 troops. No estimates of NK
wounded are available.
-
- Chinese sources state that 110,400 Peoples Volunteer
Army troops died in action, 21,600 died of wounds, and 13,000 died of sickness
making a total of 145,000 military deaths. 260,000 PVA troops were wounded.
-
- US sources estimate that Communist forces lost 2,000,000
troops - consisting of 1,000,000 Chinese troops and 1,000,000 North
Korean troops. Other US sources state that these figures are grossly inflated....................
-
- Chinese sources state that US and ROK forces killed 3,000,000
Korean civilians. Their deaths were caused directly or as a result of aggressive massed
bombing raids over North Korea (which included the use of anthrax and other
biological weapons of mass destruction), and other war actions. Other
(US) sources estimate that some 500,000 North Korean civilians died in
the war.
-
- I have been unable to find any US estimates of the South
Korean civilian death toll.
- Then came Vietnam (say 1961-1975 with the hiatus in 1965-1973):
-
- Again accurate figures for military and civilian war
dead are hard to find and different sources disagree greatly upon the statistics
whilst some involved nationalities are not mentioned at all.
- US military war dead are officially reported as 58,182.
However Vietnam War Veterans sites suggest this figure is incorrect
(possibly a deliberate downplay of the true butchers bill for home political
reasons) - due to non-inclusion of those who died of their wounds
after shipment outside of Vietnam. The true figure is believed to be 78,326
service personnel deaths from action, with 304,000 wounded in action.
-
- South Vietnamese military deaths are estimated at >400,000.
Several other countries assisted the US war effort in Vietnam and lost
troops in action. eg Australia had 520 killed, New Zealand 37 killed. The Philippines,
Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada also lost troops fighting
for the USA
-
- Viet Cong and North Vietnamese military personnel death
estimates vary from >900,000 to 1,500,000. Several other communist countries
such as Russia, China, North Korea etc also lost troops fighting for the
North Vietnamese.
-
- Estimates of North and South Vietnamese civilian dead
vary from 1,700,000 to > 2,000,000, whilst some 2,700,000 civilians
were wounded. The war generated 13,000,000 refugees.
- I have not been able to find estimates for the numbers
of military and civilian dead in the adjacent territories of Laos and Cambodia.
-
- Truely as US General Patton (who fought in both world
wars) said - "war is not about you dying for your country - it is
about making some other dumb bastard die for his country"..................
-
-
- The USA has been very successful at this over the last
century - but will the winning streak last ???
-
- [It is interesting to note that in the literally zillions of
US web sites devoted to the Korean and Vietnam wars and their incredible
detail on issues such as the deployment and weapons of US forces - down
to the daily supplies list for say the second sergeant of the 4th Platoon
of the 24th Field Battalion of the "Foot and Mouth" Division
level - the amount of data or estimates on US casualties is extensive
- whilst that on other combatants - both US allies and enemies
- is virtually non-existent ....................]
-
- The next war worthy of note was the Iran-Iraq War
(1980-1988):
-
- Casualty figures are highly uncertain, though estimates
suggest more than one and a half million war and war-related casualties
-- perhaps as many as a million people died, many more were wounded, and
millions were made refugees. Iran acknowledged that nearly 300,000 people
died in the war; estimates of the Iraqi dead range from 160,000 to 240,000.
Iraq suffered an estimated 375,000 casualties, the equivalent of 5.6 million
for a population the size of the United States. Another 60,000 were taken
prisoner by the Iranians. Iran's losses may have included more than 1 million
people killed or maimed.
-
- One could add countless other recent wars -
such as those between India and China, or the several between India and
Pakistan, the several Arab-Israeli wars, the Falklands war between
Argentina and the UK, or those of Eastern Africa between Ethiopia
and Eritrea, the Southern Sudan, Uganda, those in Southern Africa and Angola,
those in the Central African region of the Congo - Rwanda region,
those in the former Soviet Union - eg. Chechnya, Georgia, those between
the Kurds and Turkey or Iraq, or the recent US-NATO-Yugoslav actions in
Bosnia and Serbia, or the ongoing Israel-Palestine issue etc etc etc.
-
- How many of us died in the last Century as a result of
war ???
- It is well for any would be member of the human race
to ponder these death toll statistics - before lending un-informed
support to the next lunatic's war aims.............
-
- Is war really worth it ???
-
- Could we not make this new Century a tad more enlightened
than the last - PLEASE
-
-
- "We can truly say that the whole circuit of the
earth is girdled with the graves of our dead . . . and, in the course of
my pilgrimage, I have many times asked myself whether there can be more
potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come, than this
massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war." --King
George V, Flanders, 1922
-
- -----------------------------------------
-
- (1) war dead figures have been taken, along with
much of the prose - often verbatim, from the excellent books by historian
Martin Gilbert "First World War" - Weidenfeld and Nicholson London,
and "Second World War" - Phoenix Press London. (2) additional
internet research has allowed material from a variety of diverse sources
to be included re WW I, WW II, Korea, and Vietnam, (3) HM acknowledges
that there will be incorrect figures, possibly omitted countries,
and that some death tallies are controversial and open to skepticism.
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