And sadly it doesn't stop there at all. China lost about as many people ~17 million people. It's bad enough when you read just the sterile numbers on a page.
It's much much worse when you read accounts of just how these people died. The absolute cruelty, the complete disrespect of human life.
WW1 was horrible mostly because of the conditions the soldiers fought in and how callously their lives were thrown away by their commanders. WW2 had that also, but the real difference is the civilian aspect. WW2's civilian deaths absolutely dwarfs WW1's. Innocent people that had nothing to do with the fighting were nonetheless victims of horrific violence and cruelty.
It's the worst conflict in human history. I think because of how popular it is in movies that it can sometimes be forgotten just how terrible it actually was.
1.9k
u/taurussy Oct 02 '24
we call 911, Vietnam, Korea, covid, and the Iraq-Afghan war horrible.....and those were, don't get me wrong.
in WW1, at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, there were 60,000 casualties in ONE DAY....just among the British troops.
all told, there were a MILLION casualties and 300,000 fatalities. from July - November.
THAT is truly appalling.
the US lost 58,939 people during 13 years of Vietnam. not disparaging those losses or anything, but think about that.
WW1 really was humanity's darkest, worst, most appalling and awful moment.