Minor Atrocities of the Twentieth Century
There were 21,597 murders reported in the United States in 1995. Here are
just a few wars, oppressions and disturbances worldwide which have caused fewer
deaths than a single year of murder in America, but more than 6,000, the
approximate number killed by the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the worst natural
disaster for the US during the 1900s.
- Dutch Colonies (1900-14)
- Democidal deaths among forced laborers in the Dutch East and West Indies:
- Romania (1907)
- Peasant Revolt
- 11,000 rebels killed (Gilbert)
- 2,000 battle deaths (S&S)
- 2,000 total deaths (Eckhardt)
- Korea (1907-12)
- Righteous Army Uprising
- Andrew Nahm, Korea: Tradition and Transformation (1988): 17,690
Koreans k.
- Robert Oliver, History of the Korean People in Modern Times (1993):
17,697 Koreans, 136 Japanese killed
- Bong-youn Choy, Korea: a History (1971): 17,000 insurgents, 966
pro-Japanese Koreans
- Morocco (1907-11)
- S&S:
- Spanish-Moroccan War (1909-11)
- Spain: 2,000
- Morocco: 8,000
- TOTAL: 10,000
- Berber uprising (1911)
- France: 150
- Berbers: 1,500
- Eckhardt:
- 1907-08 w/ France: 1,000 civ.
- 1909-10 w/ France: 1,000 civ. + 1,000 mil. = 2,000
- 1909-10 w/Spain: 10,000 mil.
- 1911 w/France: 1,000 civ. + 1,000 mil. = 2,000
- TOTAL: 15,000
- Italo-Turkish War (1911-12)
- S&S:
- Italy: 6,000
- Turkey: 14,000
- TOTAL: 20,000
- Eckhardt: 20,000
- Urlanis: 14,000
- KIA: 6,000
- Disease: 1,948 Italians + 4,000 Turks
- Died of wounds: 400 Italians + 1,600 Turks
- Russia (1916)
- Kirghiz massacre Russians: 9,000 (Eckhardt)
- Korea (1919)
- March 1st Movement vs. Japanese
- Andrew Nahm, Korea: Tradition and Transformation (1988): 1,200
- Bong-youn Choy, Korea: a History (1971): 3,000 - 5,000
- Sohn Pow-key, The History of Korea (1970): 7,509 Koreans, 8
Japanese killed
- Ki-baik Lee, A New History of Korea (1984): 7,509 Koreans, from
Japanese sources
- Robert Oliver, History of the Korean People in Modern Times (1993):
7,645 Koreans killed
- Korean Overseas Information Service, Focus on Korea: Korean History
(1986): 25,000 Koreans
- Hungary (1919-20)
- External war (Apr.-Aug. 1919)
- S&S, battle deaths:
- Hungary: 6,000
- Czech.: 2,000
- Romania: 3,000
- TOTAL: 11,000
- Eckhardt: 11,000
- Internal war, Govt. vs. anti-Communists (Mar. 1919-Feb. 1920):
- Eckhardt: 4,000
- S&S: 1,000
- Post-war purge of Communists: 30 executed + 370 killed by mob (Gilbert)
- Onwar.com
- Red Terror: ca 590 executions
- White Terror: ca 5,000 executions
- Hungarian-Romanian War
- Czech: 1,000
- Hungary: 1,000
- Romania: 2,000
- Iraq (1920)
- Arabs vs UK
- Eckhardt: 1,000 mil.
- 19 April 2003 Guardian: 9,000 Iraqis + 9 British
- Japan (1923)
- Massacre of immigrant Koreans following earthquake in Kanto
- Andrew Nahm, Korea: Tradition and Transformation (1988): 20,000
- Eckhardt: 10,000
- Japan's War Responsibility Center: 6-10,000 [http://www.jca.apc.org/JWRC/exhibit/Korea59.htm]
- PGtH: 4,000 Koreans beheaded by Black Dragon Society as scapegoats for
earthquake.
- Mexico (1923-24)
- De la Huerta Uprising: 7,000 (Marley)
- Afghanistan (1924-29)
- Govt. vs. anti-reformists
- 1924
- S&S: 1,500
- Eckhardt: 1,000 civ. + 1,000 mil. = 2,000
- 1928-29
- S&S: 7,500
- Eckhardt: 4,000 civ. + 4,000 mil. = 8,000
- Lebanon (1924-27)
- Druze War
- S&S: 4,000 French KIA (1924-25)
- Eckhardt: 4,000 civ. + 4,000 mil. = 8,000 (1925-27)
- Mexico (1926-30)
- Govt. vs. Cristeros: 10,000 (S&S, Eckhardt)
- Burma (1930-32)
- Saya San Rebellion
- Rudolf von Albertini, European Colonial Rule, 1880-1940: 3,000
killed and wounded, 128 hanged
- FSV Donnison, Burma: 3,000 "casualties", 78 hanged
- Maung Htin Aun, A History of Burma (1967): 10,000 rebels killed,
128 hanged
- French Indochina (1930-31)
- Nghe Tinh Revolt
- 10,000 killed (Dictionary of 20th Century World History; also M.
Clodfelter, Vietnam in Military Statistics (1995))
- Dominican Republic (1937)
- Haitians massacred in D.R:
- Eckhardt: 5,000 civ.
- John Gunther, Inside Latin America (1941): 7,000
- John E. Fagg, Cuba, Haiti & the Dominican Republic (1965):
10,000
- Robert Heinl, Written in Blood : The Story of the Haitian People
1492-1995 (1996): 15-20,000
- Chirot: 20,000 - 25,000
- Algeria, Setif uprising (1945)
- Clodfelter
- Likeliest: 6,000 est. by moderate historians
- Radio Cairo claimed 45,000 k
- French claimed 1,300 k
- Columbia Ency.: 100 Europeans k.; >6,000 Muslims d. in reprisals. [http://www.bartleby.com/65/se/Setif.html]
- Dutch East Indies, rebellion (1945-46)
- 9 Aug. 1995 AP
- Dutch KIA: 4,750
- Massacred by Dutch in Rawagedeh, Dec. 1947: 20 (Neth. officially) or 431
(local history)
- 13 Sept. 1999 Evening Standard (London): 622 British KIA
- Tariq Ali, The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity
- British & Indian: 620 KIA + 320 MIA
- Japanese ("alongside the British"): >1,000 k.
- Indonesian: 20,000 d.
- 23 Aug. 1995 Daily Yomiuri: 100,000 Indonesians and 6,000 Dutch
killed in fighting.
- Hartman ("casualties", [incl. wounded?]):
- Dutch: 25,000
- Indonesian: 80,000
- S&S (incomplete)
- UK: 1,000
- Netherlands: 400
- Eckhardt: 4,000 civ. + 1,000 mil. = 5,000
- Albania (1945-91)
- Communist Regime
- Rummel: 100,000 democides (1944-87)
- 15 Feb. 1994 Washington Times: 5,000 to 25,000 political
executions.
- WHPSI: 5,235 political executions (1948-52)
- 8 July 1997 NY Times: 5,000 political executions (citing the
president of the Association of Former Political Prisoners)
- Philippines (1946-54)
- Hukbalahap Rebellion
- WHPSI: 9,633 (1948-54)
- S&S: 9,000 (1950-52)
- T. Lomperis, From People's War to People's Rule (1996): "official"
- Huks: 9,695
- Gov't: 1,578
- TOTAL: 11,273
- Eckhardt: 5,000 civ. + 4,000 mil. = 9,000 (1950-52)
- Madagascar, revolt (1947)
- John Gunther, Inside Africa: The French admit to 11,505 known dead.
Unofficial totals go up to 80,000.
- Library of Congress: 60-80,000; later estimates 11,000 [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mgtoc.html]
- Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa: 11,000 to 80,000
- Paul Johnson: 80,000
- Maureen Covell, Historical Dictionary of Madagascar (1995): 50,000
to 100,000
- Encyclopedia Americana (2003), "Madagascar": 60,000 to
90,000
- Dict.Wars: 11,000
- B&J: 11,000 total, incl. 350 French
- Hartman: 11,000
- WHPSI: 10,000 deaths from domestic violence
- Eckhardt: 3,000 civ. + 2,000 mil. = 5,000
- S&S: 1,800 French KIA
- ANALYSIS: It's difficult to uncover a consensus on this. Three sources
put the toll in the upper tens of thousands. Four put it at 11,000 or so.
Three give both without taking sides. (Eckhardt and S&S are incomplete and
don't count) Four outvotes three, so I'd go with 11,000.
- Czechoslovakia (1948-89)
- Communist Regime
- 28 May 1991 CTK National News Wire, citing the Czech weekly, Reflex:
- Executed: 260
- Killed during arrests, in camps and prisons, etc.: 9,000-10,000
- Disappeared: 1,800
- TOTAL: 11,560 ± 500
- 20 May 2000 Czech News Agency:
- Opponents of communism executed: 238
- 3 Nov. 1999 Philadelphia Inquirer: 20,000 d in prison communism, plus 250
executed.
- Rummel (1987): 65,000 democides, 1944-68
- Malaya (1948-60)
- The Emergency:
- B&J: >10,000
- Encarta: 11,000
- Noel Barber, The War of the Running Dogs (1971)
- Security forces: 1,865 KIA
- Civilians: 2,473 murdered, 810 missing
- Insurgents: 6,698 KIA, ca. 1,000 died, deserted, liquidated
- TOTAL: 11,036 dead, maybe 1,810 more
- Olson & Shadle, Historical Dictionary of the British Empire
(1996); (also T. Lomperis, From People's War to People's Rule, 1996):
- Security forces: 1,865 KIA
- Civilians: 2,473
- Insurgents: 6,711
- TOTAL: 11,049
- Harff & Gurr: 5,000 to 20,000 Chinese were victims of repressive
genocide, 1948-56
- WHPSI: 12,616 deaths from domestic violence, 1948-62
- 11 Nov. 2000 Times [London]: 719 British soldiers
- Eckhardt: 13,000
- South Africa (1948-93)
- Apartheid Regime
- Ploughshares 2000: 7,000 since 1990
- Some numbers from the ANC's statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Comm.
[http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/submit/anctruth.htm]
- Deaths in detention: >70 (1985-89)
- Assassinations of anti-apartheid activists: ca. 100 (1974-89) + 165
(1990-92)
- Political violence: >12,000 (7/90-12/93)
- SIPRI 1994: 18,997 k. by pol. viol.
- Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full (2001): 20,000 blacks k. in
internecine political violence 1985-1994
- Before 1980:
- WHPSI: 1,707 deaths by political violence in South Africa,
1948-1977.
- Soweto Uprising (1976-77): 600 killed (16 June 1988 Toronto Star;
18 June 1977 Washington Post) or 575 k (16 June 1980 Washington Post)
- 14 Jan. 1977 Washington Post: 30 prisoners died in detention,
1963-77, citing Institute of Race Relations.
- Total: Some guy on Usenet, citing A Crime against Humanity:
Analysing Repression of the Apartheid State, by Max Coleman (I haven't been
able to confirm it). Deaths by political violence, 1948-94, S.Afr.: 21,000,
incl...
- (1990-94): 14,000
- Kassinga, Angola, 1978: 600 k
- (6/1990-7/1993): 8580 Black on Black out of 9325 total
- K by security forces: 518
- Iran (1953-79)
- Regime of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi
- 28 July 1980 AP: "Institute of International Studies in London
estimated that 10,000 persons died under the shah's rule."
- Rummel: 16,000 democides
- June 1963 demonstrations
- Reza Baraheni The Crowned Cannibals (1977): 6,000 killed
- Milani, The Making of Iran's Islamic Revolution
- official count: 20
- opponents claim thousands
- Kenya (1952-56)
- Mau-Mau Rebellion:
- Hartman: 10,527 Mau-Mau, 2360 pro-British Africans, 95 Europeans and 29
Asians killed. TOTAL: 13,011
- Encarta: 11,000 rebels, 2,000 pro-British Africans and 100
Europeans killed. TOTAL: 13,100
- Olson & Shadle, Historical Dictionary of the British Empire
(1996): 11,503 rebels, 590 Security forces and 1877 civilians killed. TOTAL:
13,970
- Dictionary of 20C World History: 11,503 Kikuyu, 1,920 pro-British
Africans and 95 Europeans killed. TOTAL: 13,518
- Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa: 13,000 Africans, 100 Europeans.
- WHPSI: 13,200 deaths from domestic violence (1953-55) and 1118
political executions (1953-57).
- NY Times book review 3 July 2005
- Official figure is 12,000.
- David Anderson (Histories of the Hanged) places it at more than
20,000.
- Imperial Reckoning by Caroline Elkins: 130,000 to 300,000 Kikuyu
are unaccounted for.
- Eckhardt: 3,000 civ. + 12,000 mil. = 15,000 (1953-63)
- 11 Nov. 2000 Times [London]: 26 British soldiers
- B&J: 45,000
- Hungarian Uprising (1956)
- WHPSI: 40,000 deaths by domestic violence, 1956-57; and 2,587
political executions, 1953-57
- 1984 World Almanac: 6,000 to 32,000.
- S&S: 7,500 Soviets and 2,500 Hungarians. (Possibly a typo. Another
book by the same author, The Wages of War, gives 25,000 Hungarians.)
- Eckhardt: 10,000
- Hartman: 10,000 in Oct.
- John J. Mearsheimer (Aug. 1990 Atlantic Monthly): 10,000
- Clodfelter
- USSR: 1,500
- Hungarians: 1,945 in Budapest and 557 elsewhere [=2,502]
- [TOTAL: 4,002]
- Nehru claimed 25000 Hungarian and 7000 Russian dead.
- WPA3: 669 Soviets and 3,000 Hungarians
- B&J: 3,000 civilians
- Guinea (1958-84)
- Sekou Toure Regime:
- 5 Oct. 1982 AP: Acc2 Amnesty International, 78 political prisoners
died and 2,800 disappeared following their arrest in the 1970s.
- 3 April 1984 AP: Still missing
- 29 Dec. 1998 AP: total deaths in purges estimated at 6,000 to
35,000
- 25 Feb. 1992 LA Times (AP): 50,000 killed
- Cuba (1959
et seq.)
- Fidel Castro regime (1959- )
- Skidmore: 550 executions in 1st six months of 1959
- Gilbert: more than 2,000 executed.
- WHPSI: 2,113 political executions 1958-67
- Hugh Thomas, Cuba, or, the pursuit of freedom (1971, 1988): "perhaps"
5,000 executions by 1970.
- In addition, Thomas cites (unfavorably: "... does not command
confidence")
- Cuban Information Service, 1963:
- 2875 executed after trial
- 4245 executed w/o trial
- 2962 killed fighting Castro's regime.
- Caldeville (1969)
- 22,000 killed or died in jail.
- 2,000 drowned fleeing
- 27 Dec. 1998 AP (published in Minneapolis Star Tribune and Buffalo
News, et al.):
- cites Hugh Thomas: 5,000 might have beeen executed by 1970
- "... in recent years, capital punishment has been rare."
- Cuban American National Foundation (1997): 12,000 political executions (http://www.canfnet.org/english/faqfutur.htm)
- 11 Dec. 1998 New Statesman: 18,000 killed or disappeared since
1959 (citing Cuban American Nat'l Foundation)
- Mario Lazo, Dagger in the Heart : American Policy Failures in Cuba
(1968):
- 15,000 put to death by 1967.
- 35,000 refugees drowned (based on a 75% mortality, which seems high. cf.
Vietnamese and Haitian
death rates.)
- Total: 50,000
- Rummel (1959-87):
- Executions: 15,000
- Boat people drowned: 51,000 (based on a 75% mortality. See above)
- Died in prison: 7,000
- TOTAL: 73,000
- 22 Feb. 1999 Houston Chronicle (editorial by Agustin Blazquez):
97,000 deaths caused by Castro. This number seems to have originally come from
an unpublished study by Armando Lago [http://www.nocastro.com/archives/gohome.htm],
which now apparently estimates a death toll of 116,730-119,730, the bulk of whom
(85,000) disappeared at sea. [http://www.cubanueva.com/cubahoy/politica/1211_COSTOHUMANO-REVOLUCION.htm]
Like most sources that only appear in editorials and Internet, be careful.
- ANALYSIS: The dividing line between those who have an ax to grind and
those who don't falls in the 5,000-12,000 range.
- Bay of Pigs (1961): 300 k (B&J; Hartman)
- Cameroon (1950s, 1960s)
- Insurrection:
- Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa: over 10,000
- Africana.com (1955-62) [http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_646.htm]
- insurgents: 600
- gov't officials & police: 1,500
- civilians: 15,000
- WHPSI: 10,000 (1963-67)
- Eckhardt: 32,000 (1955-60)
- Guinea-Bissau (1962-74)
- War of Independence
- Eckhardt: 5,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 15,000
- Zanzibar (1964)
- Massacre of Arabs:
- Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa: 5,000
- BBC: 17,000 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/3850393.stm]
- Malawi (1964-94)
- Banda Regime
- 17 May 1994 Denver Rocky Mountain News: Minister of State Tembo "personally
responsible" for 18,000 deaths by torture, assassination and massacre.
- 3 Dec. 1997 Dallas Morning News: 7,000 disappeared without trace
- 21 May 1995 L.A. Times: 6,000 "killed, tortured or jailed
without trial".
- Kashmir War (1965)
- S&S, Hartman:
- Pakistan: 4,000
- India 3,000
- Eckhardt: 13,000 civ. + 5,000 mil. = 18,000
- WPA3: 2,212 Indians KIA
- Dominican Republic (1960s)
- 1965 Coup
- WHPSI: 4,000
- Eckhardt: 1,000 civ. + 2,000 mil. = 3,000
- Marley: 3,000
- B&J: 3,000, incl. 30 USAns
- S&S: 2,500 Dominicans, plus 26 USAns
- Jan Rogozinski, A Brief History of the Caribbean (1994): 2,000
- Balaguer Regime (1966-78)
- Carlos María Gutiérrez, The Dominican Republic :
Rebellion and Repression (1972): 2,000 political assassinations by army,
1965-71
- Leslie Bethell, ed., Cambridge History of Latin America: 4,000
(1966-74)
- Dictionary of 20C World History: 4,000 opponents murdered by 1974
- Peru (1965-66)
- Peasant uprising: 8,000 peasants dead (Skidmore)
- Namibia (1966-90)
- South Africa vs. SWAPO
- SIPRI 1990: 12,800 (1967-89)
- B&J: 13,000 (1966-90)
- 24 Dec. 1989 Arizona Republic: 20,000 (1965-88)
- Atrocities
- Cassinga Massacre, May 4, 1978: South African forces kill some 700
refugees in Angola (Inter Press Service, 6 May 1988)
- Pakistan (1973-77)
- Govt. vs. Baluchi/Pathan separatists
- Eckhardt, SIPRI 1988: 3,000 military + 6,000 civilians = 9,000
- Clodfelter: 3,300 govt. + 5,300 rebels k. in battle
- Chile (1973-90)
- 1973 Coup
- Eckhardt: 5,000 killed in 1973 coup; 20,000 executions in 1974.
- Our Times: 5,000 (US Govt. estimate) to 30,000 (human rights
groups)
- Grenville: 5,000, perhaps 15,000
- Paul Sigmund, The Overthrow of Allende and the Politics of Chile:
1964-1976 (1977) cites
- NY Times: 2,500
- "opponents": as high as 80,000
- "more reliable estimates": 3,000-10,000
- 1 July 1999 Kansas City Star:
- CIA estimates: 2,000-10,000
- Official count by Chilean Junta: 244
- Clodfelter
- According to opposition ("probably inflated")
- Civilians: 14,800, incl. 3,000 in 1st day and 5,900 in Santiago
- Soldiers: 100 loyal to govt + 400 loyal to Pinochet
- "Military's own admission"
- 1,500 k. or executed during coup.
- 700 disappeared + 974 executed during rule.
- Paul Johnson, citing 8 Oct. 1973 Newsweek: 2,796 bodies in the
Santiago morgue.
- Gilbert: >2,500
- Skidmore: at least 2,000
- Marley: 1,500
- WHPSI: 537 deaths from political violence and 465 political
executions in 1973. Total: 1002
- AVERAGE:
- Median: 2,800-5,000
- Mean: 12,500
- Pinochet regime (1973-90)
- NPR: 3,000
- Gilbert: >2,528 arrested and killed.
- Grenville: 3,000 disappearances
- February 1995 report by the Corporation for Reparation and Reconciliation [http://www.amnesty.it/AIlibtop/1996/AMR/22200196.htm]:
- Extrajudicial executions and deaths under torture: 2,095
- disappearances: 1,102
- TOTAL: 3,197
- Western Sahara (1975 et seq.)
- Morocco vs. Polisario Front
- S&S (1975-80):
- Morocco: 5,000
- Mauritania: 2,000
- TOTAL: 7,000
- Eckhardt: 3,000 civ. + 7,000 mil. = 10,000 (1975-85)
- WPA3: 10,000 (1975-91)
- SIPRI 1990: 10,000-13,000 (1975-89)
- CDI: 16,000 (1975-96)
- Indonesia - Aceh (1976- )
- Secessionist revolt
- Ploughshares 2000: over 10,000 since 1989
- 19 May 2003 AP: >12,000
- 13 May 2003 Jakarta Post: 15,000
- 25 March 2001 New Straits Times (Malaysia): >70,000 killed or
reported missing
- International Terrorism (1980-99)
- U.S. State Department: 9,255 [http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1999report/373317.jpg]
- Biggest 20thC incidents
- Air-India Flight 182 (Toronto to India via London) destroyed over Atlantic
near Ireland, probably by a Sikh terrorist bomb. (23 June 1985)
- 24 June 1985 UPI: 329 k.
- Infoplease: 329 [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001449.html]
- Lockerbie, Scotland: N.Y.-bound Pan-Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight from a
terrorist bomb (21 Dec. 1988)
- Infoplease: k'd 259 aboard + 11 on the ground = 270 [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001449.html]
- US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, 7
Aug. 1998
- Korean Air, near Burma, Boeing 747 jetliner exploded from bomb planted by
North Korean agents (29 Nov. 1987)
- Infoplease: 115 [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001449.html]
- India, Assam (1979- )
- Seccessionist civil war
- Ploughshares 2000: up to 10,000 (1979-2000)
- 1983 election violence:
- Eckhardt: 3,000 civ.
- Gilbert: >5,000
- Nigeria, Fundamental Islam vs Govt (1981-84)
- Eckhardt:
- 1980-81: 5,000
- 1984: 1,000
- Gilbert: >4,000 (1981)
- China (1983-84)
- Govt. Crackdown on Crime:
- Eckhardt: 5,000 civilians executed
- 26 Sept. 1984 NY Times: 5,000 executions in 1st 3 months
- 16 Nov. 1984 Christian Science Monitor: 5-10,000 executions by
Jan. 1984
- India, Sikh uprising (1982-91)
- SIPRI 1997: 16,000 (1983-89)
- 9 May 1993 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: 20,000
- Clodfelter (massacre, Golden Temple, Amritsar, 1982)
- Sikh militants: 492-780 k.
- Indian soldiers: 84-220 k
- South Yemen, Civil War (1986)
- 5 March 1991 AP
- Officially: ca. 4,250
- Diplomatic sources: ca. 10,000
- Dict.Wars: 10,000
- War Annual 1 (1986): 10,000
- Eckhardt: 10,000
- Gilbert: 13,000
- Clodfelter: 13,000
- Uganda (1987- )
- Gov't vs. Lord's Resistance Army, ADF
- Ploughshares 2000: 5,000
- 2 Nov. 2004 BBC: 100,000
- Myanmar (1988)
- 3,000 killed when the army attacked pro-democracy rallies. (Dan Smith)
- Compton's, "Myanmar": 10,000
- Papua New Guinea (1989-98)
- Bouganville Revolt
- 16 March 1998 Wall St. J.: 10,000 civilians (dis./mal.), 1,000
rebels, 2,200 gov't sympathisers; TOTAL: 13,200
- B&J: 3,000 civ. dis./mal. + "several hundred" in fighting
- 15 July 1996 Daily Telegraph: 10,000 died in 7 years, acc2 UN.
- Dict.Wars: 20,000
- Gulf War (1990-91)
- Shortly after the war, the US Defense Intelligence Agency made a very rough
estimate of 100,000 Iraqi deaths, and this order of magnitude is widely accepted
-- even improved upon:
- B&J: 50,000 to 100,000
- Compton's: 150,000 Iraqi soldiers killed
- World Political Almanac 3rd: 150,000 incl. civilians.
- Our Times: 200,000.
- Other authoritative sources working with more detailed data have come up
with lower numbers:
- The British govt. put the death toll at 30,000 (War Annual 6, 1994)
- A May 1992 report by the US House Armed Services Committee estimated that
9,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed by the air campaign. [http://es.rice.edu/projects/Poli378/Gulf/aspin_rpt.html]
- The PBS news show
Frontline estimates 2300 civilians, 10-20,000 military in air war and,
10,000 military in the ground war; for a total of 27,300 ±5000. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/appendix/death.html)
- Because the advancing American Army found only 577 dead bodies and captured
only 800 wounded/sick prisoners (compared to 37,000 healthy prisoners), John
Heidenrich ("The Gulf War: how many Iraqis died?", Foreign Policy,
22 March 1993) plausibly estimates the number of Iraqi military killed at 1,500
(probable) to 9,500 (absolute maximum), with fewer than 1000 civilians.
- 29 April 1999 AP: 4,500 to 45,000
- Civilian death toll is put at 2,500 by US and 35,000 by Iraqis
- The US lost 147 killed in battle and 289 dead otherwise. The other
Coalition members lost 92 dead.
- NOTE: Subtracting the civilian estimates from the estimated total
indicates that AP puts the military deaths in roughly the same range as
Heidenrich: 2,000 to 10,000
- Dict.Wars: 85,000 Iraqi and 240 Coalition soldiers.
- Wm Arkin: 3,200 Iraqi civilians (cited in 4 Dec. 2001 WSJ [http://wsjclassroomedition.com/tj_120401_casu.htm]
and 13 Jan. 2002 San Francisco Chronicle)
- Martin Gilbert:
- Coalition
- USA: 145 k. in action and 121 k. in accidents.
- UK: 24
- Egypt: 10
- UAE: 6
- Iraqis: at least 8,000 in battle, and 5,000 civilians
- 25 July 1991 The Gazette (Montreal), citing a Greenpeace report by
Wm Arkin:
- Iraqi
- Military: 100,000-120,000
- Civilian: 62,400 to 99,400 (87% of dis./mal.
after fighting stopped)
- Post-war revolts in N +
S Iraq: 30,000-100,000
- Kuwaitis: 2,000-5,000
- Coalition
- US: 145 KIA + 2 mortally wd. + 121 in accidents = 268
- Allies: 77
- TOTAL: 345
- 8 Jan. 1992 Interpress, citing a later Greenpeace report by Arkin:
- Iraqis
- Military: 72,500-118,000
- Civilian: 2,500-3,000 in bombing + 49,000-56,000 from dis./mal in 1990-91
- Post-war revolts in N +
S Iraq: 102,000-150,000 civilians & rebels
+ 5,000 Iraqi soldiers
- 16 Feb. 2003 Pittsbugh Post-Gazette [http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20030216casualtiesbox0216p9.asp]
- Iraqi soldiers killed
- Beth Daponte / William Arkin: 56,000
- Army War College: 10,000-20,000
- John Heidenrich / John Mueller: 1,000-6,000
- Iraqi civilians killed
- Daponte / Arkin: 3,500
- Government of Iraq: 2,248
- Army War College: 1,000-3,000
- Heidenrich/Mueller: Fewer than 1,000
- Indirect civilian deaths
- 19 March 2004 NY Post
- Iraqi soldiers: 40,000
- Iraqi civilians: 2,300
- Project on Defense Alternatives, 20 Oct. 2003 [http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8.html]
- War dead
- Iraqi civilians: 3,500
- Iraqi military: 20,000 - 26,000
- Post-war
- Anti-regime uprisings: 30,000 civilians + 5,000 military
- Health-related deaths: 60,000-100,000
- 11 Nov. 2000 Times [London]: 47 British soldiers
- Kuwaiti civilians
- 24 Feb. 1991 St. Petersburg Times: acc2 Pentagon, 2,000-10,000
killed by Iraqis "in recent days"
- 7 March 1996, Guardian [London]: 600 missing since Iraqi
occupation.
- MEDIAN
- Direct civilian deaths
- Iraqi: 2,625
- Kuwaitis: 4,750
- [Total: 7,375]
- Iraqi Soldiers: 25,000
- TOTAL: 75,000 (The whole appears to be greater than the sum of its parts
because many estimates tally the war's dead without differentiating between
military and civilian.)
- Post-war
- Health-related deaths: ca. 80,000
- Uprisings: ca. 65,000 k., all sides, civ+mil
- For the aftermath of the war, see also
- Croatia (1991-92)
- War of Independence
- 3,000 (1994 Britannica Annual)
- 6,000 - 10,000 (SIPRI 1994)
- 25,000 (Our Times)
- Azerbaijan (1991-95)
- Nagorno-Karabakh War
- 20,000 (as of 1994, Amnesty International [http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aipub/1994/EUR/551294.EUR.txt])
- 20,000 (CDI: 1989-95)
- 20,000 (B&J)
- 4,000-10,000 (as of 1993, SIPRI 1994)
- Atrocities:
- 4 March 1992 Houston Chronicle: Armenians killed >1,000
Azerbaijani civilians in Khodzhaly.
- Zaire (1992-94)
- Ethnic conflicts in Masisi (Hutu Banyarwanda vs. Nyanga, Nande, Hunde):
7,000 deaths (1993) plus several hundred more, 1994-95 (Amnesty International [http://www.amnesty.org/news/1996/16200496.htm])
- Ethnic clashes (Dan Smith)
- 1992-93, south: 3,000
- 1993-94, north: >3,000
- Georgia, the former Soviet one (1992-95)
- SIPRI 1994: 2,500 (1992-93)
- B&J: 5,000 (1992-95)
- CDI: 6,000 (1992-95)
- 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News: >10,000
- 9 May 1993 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- Abkhazia: 700-1,500 k
- Southern Ossetia: 1,500
- Congo-Brazzaville (1997-99)
- Coup and civil war
- 23 May 1999 Denver Rocky Mtn News: 10,000 (1997-99)
- Agence France Presse (2 Dec. 1997): 4,000 to 10,000 (4 months)
- Amnesty International ([http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aipub/1999/AFR/12200199.htm])
- 2,000 killed in fighting between supporters of Kolelas and government,
11/93-12/93
- 15,000 killed 6/97-10/97 by supporters of former President Lissouba (citing
1998 government report)
- 2,000 civilians killed Makélékélé and Bacongo
districts 12/98-1/99
- Ploughshares 2000: 7-11,000
- Kosovo (1998-99)
- Ethnic cleansing by Yugoslavs, before the war
- 29 April 1999 AP: 2,000 (in 1998)
- Ploughshares 2000: 1-2,000 (1998)
- Ethnic cleansing during the war
- 18 July 1999 Baltimore Sun (NY Times News Service): 10,000
Albanians killed during 3-month campaign
- 5 July 1999 AP: 10,000
- 4 July 1999 Toronto Star: 10,000
- 9 Nov. 1999 Washington Times: 9,269
- Ploughshares 2000: 2,500-10,000
- NATO Bombing (1999)
- 9 Feb. 2000 Slate, civilian deaths [http://slate.msn.com/code/Explainer/Explainer.asp?Show=2/9/2000&idMessage=4570]
- Human Rights Watch: ca. 500; or specifically 488-527 ("confidently")
- Serb propaganda: 1,200-5,000 ("stubbornly")
- HRW: 500 civ. [http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/02/nato207.htm]
- 14 June 1999 Time: 5,000 military + 1,200 civilian = 6,200
- 4 Dec. 2001 WSJ: 500, citing Wm Arkin [http://wsjclassroomedition.com/tj_120401_casu.htm]
- 5 July 1999 AP: 1,200 civilians, citing Yugoslav state-run media
- Ploughshares 2000: 500 civilians
- 11 July 1999 Washington Post
- Official Serbian figures: 576 Serb military "casualties"
(probably deaths)
- NATO estimates: 5,000 to 10,000 Serb soldiers dead
- Author's estimate: 1,600 civilians and 1,000 military "casualties"
- Indonesia (1999- )
- Moluccas, or Spice Islands. Christians v. Moslems
- Ploughshares 2000: 2,000-4,000
- 28 April 2002 CNN: 5,000-9,000 [http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/04/27/indonesia.ambon/index.html]
List of
Recurring Sources
to Table of Contents
Last updated July 2005
Copyright © 1998-2005 Matthew White