|
World War II resulted in more extensive territorial changes in Europe, both during and after the German surrender in May 1945. World War II is unique in the long bloody annals of warfare. The very first historians, both Greeks, began reporting on wars (3rd century BC) and we know of ancient battles dating back over 5,000 years. But in all that extensive history, there has been nothing like World War II. It boils down to the fact that never before in history has there been such an existential conflict between good and evil. That of course is a value judgement, but one easily made if you look at German atrocities and Japanese atrocities. But lets just look at numbers.
First, World War II was the greatest human disaster in history, either natural or man made. The death toll of World War II exceeded that of the Black Plague or any other pandemics. (Some diseases like smallpox have larger death tolls, but not specific outbreaks.) It exceed Stalin's brutal killing programs. And far more than the 17 million killed in World War I. It was comparable only to Mao's death toll, but much of his killing was inadvertent and over a much longer period. here is not precise total, but 66-75 million deaths is a rough estimate. There are different estimates, but rarely do the estimate go below 50 million deaths.
Second, it was mostly civilians who were killed in World War II. This is a little difficult for Americans to understand as we had a mere 6 civilian war casualties in the Continental United States--of all people Sunday school picnickers. The Axis powers actually targeted civilians as a war goal. It was the only war in modern history in which more non-combatants were killed than combatants. In World War I, some 65 percent of deaths were military personnel. In World War II, 80 percent of the fatalities were civilians. That was the case because the Axis powers set out to kill civilians as a mtter of policy.
Third, World War II is the only war we know of in which the victorious powers (the Allies and Soviets) suffered far more casualties than the defeated powers (the Axis). And most of the Allied casualties were civilians--much less the case for the Axis. Of the civilian and military deaths, some 80 percent were killed by the Axis. As one historian puts it, "What ever we can say about the losers, one thing is that they were savage killers." And their victims were mostly civilians. And if you look closely, almost two thirds of those victims were Soviets or Chinese. [Hanson]
World War II resulted in more extensive territorial changes in Europe, both during and after the German surrender in May 1945. World War II is unique in the long bloody annals of warfare. The very first historians, both Greeks, began reporting on wars (3rd century BC) and we know of ancient battles dating back over 5,000 years. But in all that extensive history, there has been nothing like World War II. It boils down to the fact that never before in history has there been such an existential conflict between good and evil. That of course is a value judgement, but one easily made if you look at German atrocities and Japanese atrocities. But lets just look at numbers.
First, World War II was the greatest human disaster in history, either natural or man made. The death toll of World War II exceeded that of the Black Plague or any other pandemics. (Some diseases like smallpox have larger death tolls, but not specific outbreaks.) It exceed Stalin's brutal killing programs. And far more than the 17 million killed in World War I. It was comparable only to Mao's death toll, but much of his killing was inadvertent and over a much longer period. here is not precise total, but 65-75 million deaths is a rough estimate. There are different estimates, but rarely do the estimate go below 50 million deaths. World War I called 'the war to end all wars' or the Great War decimated a generation and traumitized the Western World. Some 20 million soldiers and civilians perished. Not believd that aecomd Wold War was imosible. Bur a Secomd World War occurd only twi decades later. And World War II was far deadlier--three times deadlier. World War II’s total death toll is generally estimated at 65 75 million, including those who died from combat, genocide, famine, disease and other war-related causes. One historian wrirs, "No other conflict combines such a vast absolute death toll, such a high civilian share of the dead and such a large proportion of the world’s population caught in the violence with evidence that is unusually broad, global and documented—and therefore hard to dismiss." 【MacGregor】
It was mostly civilians who were killed in World War II. This is a little difficult for Americans to understand as we had a mere 6 civilian war casualties in the Continental United States--of all people Sunday school picnickers. And most of the Allied casualties were civilians--much less the case for the Axis. The Axis powers actually targeted civilians as a war goal. It was the only war in modern history in which more non-combatants were killed than combatants. In World War I, some 65 percent of deaths were military personnel. In World War II, 80 percent of the fatalities were civilians. That was the case because the Axis powers set out to kill civilians as a matter of policy. And in the case of The NAZIs and to a lesser extent the Soviets, a primary war goal.
World War II is the only war we know of in which the victorious powers (the Allies and Soviets) suffered far more casualties than the defeated powers (the Axis). This was primarily because of Soviet and Chinese deaths. An large numbers were not battlefield deaths, but the murder of POWs. The Axis varied. The Germans were talented practitioners of warfare. Even in their great defeats, the Germans inflicted far more losses on the Soviets than they suffered. This is a phenomenon virtually unknown in history. Japan was different. While it inflicted massive casualties on the Chinese, in the Pacific War they suffered far greater casualties than the Americans. In some battles the Japanese casualties were ten times those of the Americans. This was in part military incompetence and in part because of their determination to fight to the death. For many Japanese officers and soldiers, a death in combat was the height of military glory. Of the civilian and military deaths, some 80 percent were killed by the Axis. As one historian puts it, "What ever we can say about the losers, one thing is that they were savage killers." And their victims were mostly civilians. And if you look closely, almost two thirds of those victims were Soviets or Chinese. [Hanson]
In most wars, the primary casualties are military due to combat operations and non-combat consequences such as disease. World War II was uniue in modern warfare in that civilian casualtis far exceeded military condequences. And the civilian casulasties did not primarily occur during the fighting as part of unntended consequences. They occurred after the country or areas of the counytry were occupied as aresult of operations and policies pursued by the occupying power. The range of such policies were extensive. The Axis powers found many ways to kill people, virtually unimaginable to mpodern populations even in non-Western countries. This explains why the World War II death toll reach such huge levels. What isnot well known is that it was not industrialized warfare that resoinsible for most of th deaths, it was the murderous policies of the combatants--primarily the Axis powers.
World War II's geographic extent was an imprtant factoir in the killing. The war was fought in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Only the Americas escaped large-scale fighting, primarily because the Axis powers did not have the naval strength to reach the Ameicas. Nut resources from the Ameicas played a vital role in War. Some 120 million mosdtly men, bit some women from over 50 countries wre dawn into the fighting. While World War I and some earlier wars spanned multiple regions, nothing approched the geographic scale of World War II. World War II began as regional campaigns, but became part of a vast interlocking conflict. One historian writes, "What makes World War II different is that its theaters were simultaneous, tightly connected and fed by mass mobilization on a truly global scale." Italian aggression (1935), the Sino-Japanese War (1937), NAZI-Soviet alliance (19399) NAZI aggression (1939), Battle of the Atlabtic (1939), Wstern Desert (1940), the Ost Krieg (1941), the Pacific War (1941), Strategic Bombing (1942), China-Burma-India (1942), Sicily-Italy (1943), and D-Day (1944). Approaches varied. The Axis powers fought separate wars. The Societs swiched sides--only beause the Gemans invased the Sovit Union launching the Ost Krieg. The Soviets first coordinated with the NAZIs and then wth the Western Allies. The Allies were different. They coordinated closely coming to a Germany first strategy, although dm. King had gis own ideas. Unlike the Axis, the Allies did not fight separate conflicts. This began even before Pearl Harbor when Bitain turned their secreat weapons research over to the Americans (1940).
They Britain and America they overlapped and intensified one another’s destructiveness. And America provided the oil nd other reouces vital to the British War effort.
World War II was not the first industrial war. Industry had begun to play a makor role in warfare as the Industril Revolution spread. Industy enable Britain to win the Opium Wars (1840s/60s). Industry was in large mesure what enable the Northern Free States to degfeat he Souther Slave Stas in the American Civil War (1860s). Indutry was a factor in te Crimea War (1850s). Indutry was vital in World War I, bt it was not yet mechaized, especilly for the Germans. Even heavily industrialized America was not yet a majoity urbaized country. Europe and America was much more urbaized by World War II. European countries and America were all heavily indstrialized. And Japan had developed an important industrial sector. Now industrialization was hugely important in military operations, it was not a major factor in he lethality of the war--the 65-75 million deaths. Industry was epoecially not as imprtant as stressed by many historians. One source typical tells us, "Killing on such a scale became possible only because of industrial production. In World War I, about 200,000 aircraft for military use were manufactured worldwide; in World War II, roughly 300,000 aircraft were built by the United States alone. Tank production rose from roughly 5,600 in World War I to at least 260,000 in World War II across the globe. The Great War industrialized killing on the frontlines; World War II industrialized total destruction everywhere. Mass production enabled long-range bombers, mechanized armies and vast logistics systems capable of striking not just armies but cities, infrastructure and food supplies—indeed, entire populations." The killing was very real. Identifying industry as the major killer is a great misunderstanding.
What was different about World War II was new ideologies driving mass murder, even genocide. Here Soviet Communism was not the principal driver. The Soviets killed in the tens of millions during the 1920s and 30s, but ideologicl killing was relatively limited during World War II, limited mostly to the period when the Soviets were a NAZI ally (1939-41> This was the era tht the Soviets occupied neigboring countries in Eastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, eastern Poland, and norther Romania. Mot only were there trgetted killings, but deaths as a result of arrests and banishment of people to Central Asia and Siberia. It was the NAZIs who were resonsible for much of the killing of civilians. Much of the civilkan killing. This was conduced largely on ethnic/racial grounds. Here we are talking about racial animus afainst Jews and democraphics. The NAZIs and the various nsationsal collaborators murdered some 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. All too mmny people think this was the major atrocity of World War II. It was not. The NAZIs murdered even more non-Jews Among the millions of others, including Slavs, Roma, gay people and people with disabilities. And hd there were plns kill far more people after they won the War aswell as subject others to perpetual slvery. These deaths were not the byproduct of combat, they resdulted not by battlefield combat or siege, but by a deliberate state organized murder project. The Holocaust was a major part of the killing, but obly a fraction of the mon combat killing. Here the NAZIs were concerned that the large Slavic population was a threat. But they also targeted smaller ethic groupos in Eastern Europe like the Balts. The NAZIs spelled this out in detail as part of Generalplan Ost. The Japanese were different. Their killing wasbasically to terorize the local population into accepting Japanese rule. Only in Manchuria was there a limited effort to replace the population and colonize the area. There was a range of methods that were used to kill civilians--all of which resulted in far greater deaths than the bombing. There were awide range of ways that military esionnel and civilians could be killed outside of combat operations.
Hanson, Victor Davis. The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won (2017). This is a brilliant book with many insights missed by purely military historians.
MacGregor, Iain. The Lighthouse of Stalingrad and The Hiroshima Men.
Navigate the CIH World War II Section:
[Return to Main World War II page]
[About Us]
[Biographies]
[Campaigns]
[Children]
[Countries]
[Deciding factors]
[Diplomacy]
[Geo-political crisis]
[Economics]
[Home front]
[Intelligence]
[Resistance]
[Race]
[Refugees]
[Technology]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Return to the Main World War II page]
