Superfact 93 : Around 20 to 30 million people died in the Taiping Rebellion, 1850 to 1864. It is the deadliest civil war in known history, the deadliest war in the 19th century, and the second deadliest war in all of known history. World War II was the deadliest.
The Taiping rebellion is estimated to have caused the deaths of 20-30 million people. However, some estimates estimate that as many as 70 million people might have died in the Taiping rebellion. The Mongol invasions and conquests cost 30-60 million lives, but they comprised many wars and took place during a time period of 162 years (1206 – 1368). Therefore, you typically don’t count that as one war. Also note that the estimate for deaths caused by World War I does not include the Spanish flu.
I consider this a super fact because it is true, an important history fact and despite the enormous losses in the Taiping rebellion, a lot of people have never heard of it.
Deadliest Wars
- Taiping rebellion, China, 1850 to 1864 – estimated deaths 20 to 30 million people.
- Second World War 1939 to 1945 – estimated deaths 70 to 85 million.
- The Mongol invasions and conquests, multiple wars – estimated 30 to 60 million dead.
- The Three Kingdoms War 184–280 AD in China – estimated to have resulted in 36 to 40 million deaths. Note this war consisted of multiple wars.
- Manchu Conquest of China (1618-1683) – estimated deaths 25 million.
- First World War 1914 to 1918 – estimated deaths 15 to 22 million.
- Conquests of Timur (1369-1405) – estimated deaths 15 to 22 million.
- An Lushan rebellion (754-763) – estimated deaths 13 million.
- Spanish conquest of Mexico (1519–1530) – estimated deaths 10.5 million.
- Russian civil war 1917 to 1922 – estimated 10 million deaths.
- Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (1533–1572) – estimated deaths 7.7 million.
- The Chinese Civil War (1927-1950) – estimated deaths 7 million.
- Reconquista (718–1492), multiple wars – estimated deaths 7 million.
- Crusades (1095–1291), multiple wars – estimated deaths 1 to 9 million.
- The 30 years’ war – estimated 4.5 to 8 million deaths.
- Napoleonic wars – estimated 5 million deaths (or 3,250,000 to 6,500,000).
- The Second Congo War 1996 to 2007 – estimated 3 to 5.4 million deaths.
- Vietnam War 1954 to 1975 – estimated 1.4 to 3.4 million deaths.
- Korean War 1950 to 1953 – at least 2.5 million deaths.
- Biafra war 1967 to 1970 – an estimated 500,000 to 3 million deaths
- Second Sudanese civil war 1983 to 2005 – an estimated –1 million to 2 million deaths.
- Algerian war of independence 1954 to 1962 – an estimated 500,000 to 1,500,000 deaths.
- First Sudanese civil war 1955 to 1972 – an estimated 500,000 to one million deaths.
- Somalia civil war 1988-1990 – an estimated 350,000–1,000,000.
- American Civil War – an estimated 700,000 deaths.
The links above are from Encyclopedia Britannica and from Wikipedia. Also note that after the Napoleonic Wars entry I only listed wars that happened after World War II and resulted in around a million deaths. The exception is the American Civil War. The list would be too long otherwise.
The Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a theocratic monarchy that tried to overthrow the Qing dynasty. It was led by Hong Xiuquan, a religious leader who believed he was Jesus younger brother. In the end the Qing dynasty prevailed but at a great cost.
To read a related post of mine with a different perspective see “We are living in relatively peaceful times“.
Super Facts 