In this post, you will discover 10 deadliest battles that ever occurred in human history. If you are a sensitive person, it will surely make your skin crawl when you hear the astonishing number of precious lives lost in each of these battles and thousands even hundreds of thousands were civilians. It is heartbreaking to know so many lives have been lost because of hatred between men and countries or to claim land that some would argue, never belonged to either of them in the first place.
Here Are 10 Most Deadly Battles
- The Somme Offensive
The Somme Offensive or The Battle of the Somme was a battle fought by the British and French forces against the Germans. It was fought in Somme France between July 1, 1916 and November 18, 1916 during World War I. On the 1st day of the battle around 57,470 British soldiers lost their lives and this was one of the worst days in history of the British Army. The Battle of Somme left 1.12 million casualties.
- Battle of Stalingrad
The German forces suffered a massive attack and defeat in Russia which was a significant turning point in World War II at the Battle of Stalingrad. Hitler’s troops were headed towards the Caucasus and then he ordered them to move back and attack the Russian city of Stalingrad. It is said that Hitler had great hatred for the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and the battle turned into a selfish one between the two nation’s leaders. the German troops suffered severely and they were forced into a full retreat. The battle of Stalingrad was responsible the deaths of 1.2 million priceless lives between July 17, 1942 and February 2, 1943
- Siege of Leningrad
Over a period of approximately 872 days the German and Finnish armed forces sieged the city of Leningrad in the Soviet Union but only after causing 1.2 million casualties. This was one of the darkest periods of World War II. The siege of Leningrad began on September 8, 1941 and did not end until January 27, 1944. By November, the troops had surrounded the city and vital supplies were cut off. In 1940 two 650,000 Leningraders died from disease, starvation and shelling activities by enemy forces. The city obtained sparse supplies across Lake Ladoga which barely kept the surviving population alive. Finally at some point in 1943 the Soviet troops were able to break through the German encirclement which allowed them to get more supplies in the city. It was a great day for the Soviets in January of 1944 when they were able to drive out the Germans and push them westward which ended the siege of their city.
- Taking of Berlin
The Taking of Berlin began on April 16th 1945 when 8500 aircraft, 6300 tanks and 20 army troop regiments were unbridled by the Russian dictator, Josef Stalin. They were sent to capture Berlin and crushed the German forces which put up a resistance but they were no match for the Russian forces that surrounded the city of Berlin on April 24th. This was part of the final series of events that lead to Hitler and the Nazi German’s downfall. By the time this was over there was a massive bloodbath that claimed 1.3 million lives.
- Ichi-Go
The Japanese forces launched Ichi-Go April 19th 1944 and their objective was to control the railroad between Beiping and Hong Kong as well as the Allied airfields in southern China from where US forces were launching the planes that were bombing Japan. The second item on their agenda was to worsen the food crisis in China by destroying food supplies and crops. They were only somewhat successful as EU S forces were still able to bomb Japan from Saipan and other Pacific bases. Ichi-Go left behind 1.3 million casualties.
- Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa which is also known as the Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union against the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941. His goal was to neutralize a mutual defense treaty between France and the Soviet Union. Hitler thought this would ensure the Soviets standing by when Germany invaded its next target which was Poland. This battle started on a Sunday during World War II. Over 3,000,000 Axis troops and 3500 tanks were sent to the Soviet Union and this was one of the largest military operations in the history of mankind. Hitler anticipated this would be a swift victory and they did have some success in the beginning. They eventually failed due to attrition suffered by German forces, ruthless winter weather and as for the Soviets, they were determined not to give up. There were nearly 1.4 million fatalities that occurred during this battle and hundreds of thousands of them were civilians.
- German Spring Offensive
The German Spring Offensive happened during the final parts of the First World War from March 21st to July 18, 1918 and it was also known as the Ludendorff Offensive and Kaiser’s Battle. This was when the Germans launched a series of attacks on the Western Front. Most of the attacks were meant to divert the allied forces away from the primary target of Somme, while the most significant offensive called Michael was meant to outflank the British troops that defended the Somme. With British support, Canadian and Australian troops seized 500 guns and captured 50,000 Germans. The German troops retreated by late April because of heavy casualties and their inability to move reinforcements and supplies. This horrifying event in history ended with over 1.5 million people lost in battle.
- Battle of Dnieper
The Battle of Dnieper involved 4,000,000 troops on both sides and it spread through 1,400 kilometers in the Ukraine on the Eastern Front. This was one of the largest battles of all the World War Two operations and took place from August 24 to December 23, 1943. The Red Army was able to reclaim the eastern Bank of the Dnieper River from the German forces. There were 1.58 million lives lost including those that were missing in action.
- Brusilov Offensive
The Brusilov Offensive which was also known as the June Advance was the second most devastating battles in human history taking the lives of 1.6 million people. The Russians had been defeated many times at the hands of the Germans until this battle against the Austro-Hungarian forces that began in June of 1916 and ended September of 1916. This was the largest Russian assault during World War I as well as one of the deadliest in history. The Austro-Hungarian forces never recovered and Russian resources began to run out after General Brusilov imposed defeat on them.
- Mongol Sacking of Baghdad
Between January 29th and February 10th, 1258, the Mongol forces sacked the city of Baghdad and this was the most treacherous recorded battle in the history of the world in terms of death tolls. There were approximately 2 million casualties which included civilian and military lives. Mongke Khan the fourth khagan emperor of the Mongol empire initiated the orders for battle however, they were carried out by his brother Hulaga Khan. The battle began in order to convince the Caliph (Muslim ruler) Al-Musta’sim to surrender to the Mongol forces however, they refused to do so which led to the siege of the city. Baghdad became a bloodbath city and were forced to surrender to the Mongols.
