Statistics of Wars, Oppressions and Atrocities of the Nineteenth Century

(the 1800s)

List of Recurring Sources

Alphabetical Index

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Over 1,000,000 killed

1. Napoleonic Wars (1803-15)
   • NOTE: The era of almost continuous warfare that followed the overthrow of the French monarchy is traditionally split into three parts:
     1. The Revolution itself (including all internal conflicts)
     2. The Revolutionary Wars during which France fought international wars as a Republic
     3. The Napoleonic Wars, during which France fought international wars as an Empire.
     The numbers here generally refer only to the international wars of the Imperial period, but not always.
   • The Napoleonic Empire, 2d ed (1991, 2003) Geoffrey Ellis (citing Esdaile)
     • KIA, Died of Wounds + Camp Disease, France Proper: 1,400,000 during the period 1792-1815, incl. 916,000 [65%] under the Empire.
     • Total war dead among all Eur. armies: 3 million [65% or 1.95M under the Empire?]
     • Civilians: 1 million
   • Samuel Dumas, Losses of Life Caused By War (1923) cites:
     • Taine: 1,700,000 French
     • Delbrück: 2,000,000 military deaths, all armies (¼ of them French)
     • Hodge:
       • UK Navy, 1804-15:
         • KIA: 6,663
         • Shipwrecks, drownings, fire: 13,621
         • Disease: 72,102
         • TOTAL: 92,386
       • UK Army, 1804-15:
         • KIA: 25,569
         • Disease: 193,851
         • TOTAL: 219,420
     • Fröhlich: 5,925,084 dead (1801-1815), including 1M Fr+Ger civilians and 160,000 dead in Sainte-Domingue.
     • Danzer's Arme-Zeitung, KIA in major battles:
       • Austria: 376,000
       • Prussia: 134,000
       • Russia: 289,000
       • TOTAL: 799,000 (Dumas suggests that multiplying this total by 3 to include disease deaths and small skirmishes might be appropriate. Urlanis claims that these number are for killed and wounded, not just killed.)
   • Gaston Bodart, Losses of Life in Modern Wars (1916)
     • French
       • French battle deaths: 306,000
       • KIA among French allies: 65,000
       • TOTAL: 371,000 KIA
       • Disease deaths among same: ca. 400,000
       • Combined French military deaths, both battle and disease: 1M
     • Enemy deaths: about the same [1M]
     • TOTAL: 2 Million
   • Urlanis
     • K. in Battle: 560,000
     • Military. Killed and died: 3,105,000
       • French: 1,200,000
       • Russian: 450,000
       • German: 400,000
       • Austrian: <200,000
       • Spanish: >300,000
       • British: 243,000
       • Italians: 120,000
   • Clodfelter
     • French and Allies (1805-1815): 370,750
       • French: 306,000 KIA (same as Bodart above)
       • French allies: 65,000 KIA
       • "most" estimate that 1.3-2.0M Fr. d. 1792-1815
     • UK
       • UK Navy (same as Hodge/Dumas above)
         • KIA: 6,663
         • Shipwrecks, drownings, fire: 13,621
         • Disease: 72,102
         • TOTAL: 92,386
       • UK Army, 1793-15:
         • KIA: 920 officers + 15,392 men
         • Died of wounds: 8,174
         • Missing and presumed dead: 2,003
         • [TOTAL: 26,489]
   • A History of Spain and Portugal, Vol. 2, Stanley G. Payne: "Altogether, the war may have cost the lives of a quarter-million Portuguese."
   • Levy, War in the Modern Great Power System
     • Battle deaths: 1,869,000
   • Eckhardt: 1,000,000 civ. + 1,380,000 mil. = 2,380,000
   • Sorokin:
     • TOTAL (1803-14): 1,991,284 ("losses". i.e. killed + wounded. Killed alone would be approx 1/4 to 1/3 of that, or 500-660,000)
   • MEDIAN
     • Military deaths (all sides, all causes): of the eight estimates listed here, the middle three are 2 million ±
     • Civilian deaths: all three estimates listed here: 1 million
   • BATTLES:
     • Arcis-Sur-Aube
     • Aspern-Essling
     • Austerlitz
     • Bautzen
     • Berezina
     • Borodino
     • Dresden
     • Eckmühl
     • Lâon
     • Leipzig
     • Ligny
     • Lützen
     • Quatre Bras
     • Talavera
     • Trafalgar
     • Viasma
     • Wagram
     • Waterloo
     • Wavre
     • Wurschen
   • ATROCITIES:
     • Chartrand, The Portuguese Army of the Napoleonic Wars: 2,969 people reported murdered by French near Coimbra, Port.
     • Rothenburg, The Napoleonic Wars: After fall of Jaffa, Nap. had 2,500 POWs shot.
   • see also: French Revolutionary Wars
2. Mfecane (1818-1840), and the reign of Shaka (1816-1828)
   • Eugene Walter, Terror and Resistance (1969) cites the following, but admits it might be lower:
     • Henry Francis Flynn: more than 1,000,000 deaths caused by Shaka's wars.
     • George Theal, History of South Africa (1915): 2,000,000
   • Britannica, "Shaka": 2,000,000
   • Hanson, Carnage and Culture: "Shaka ... slaughtered 50,000 of his enemies in battle.... As many as 1 million native Africans had been killed and starved to death as a direct result of Shaka's imperial dreams."
   • NOTE: These numbers are controversial in South Africa. Afrikaaners claim that Shaka depopulated much of southern Africa leaving it conveniently empty and free for the taking when the Boers moved in. Africans, on the other hand, deny this and claim that the death toll is wildly exaggerated. But one or two million is the only actual number I've seen.
3. 19th Century Slave Trade
   • Atlantic slave trade: ca. 1.6M transported and 2.5M deaths.
   • Islamic slave trade: ca. 2M transported and 3M died.
4. Venezuela, power struggles (1830-1903)
   • Scheina, Latin America's Wars: "during these seventy-four years of conflict some 300,000 combatants and 700,000 civilians were killed directly (battlefield deaths and assassinations) or indirectly (wounds, sickness, starvation, and imprisonment.)"
     • This includes the Federal War, 1859-63
5. Taiping Rebellion (1850-64)
   • Guinness Book of World Records calls this the bloodiest civil war in history with 20-30 million dead.
   • Colin McEvedy, Atlas of World Population History "China" (1978): 25,000,000
   • Alan McFarlane, The Savage Wars of Peace: England, Japan and the Malthusian Trap (2003): 20M
   • Britannica, 15th ed. (1992): 20M
     • 100,000 k. at Nanking.
   • Encarta: 20,000,000
   • PGtH: 20,000,000
   • Small & Singer: 20,000,000
   • Eckhardt: 2,000,000
   • COWP: 2,000,025, incl. 25 UK
   • see also Miao, Nien and Moslem Rebellions, 1860-77
6. Colonial El Niño Famines (1876-1900)
   • Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World (2001) argues that the business policies of the imperial European landlords, merchants and bureacrats in the face of El Niño drought intensified these famines and thereby caused millions of deaths. If true, this accusation could easily create a moral equivalence between these famines and the devastating Communist famines of the 20th Century, but so far, Davis is the only major authority I found who tackles this question.
   • Estimated death tolls:
     • 1876-79 Famine
       • India
         • est. by Digby: 10.3 M
         • est. by Maharatna: 8.2 M
         • est. by Seavoy: 6.1 M
       • China
         • Broomhall: 20 M
         • Bohr: 9.5-13 M
       • Brazil: 0.5-1.0 M (Cunniff)
     • 1896-1900 Famine
       • India
         • The Lancet: 19.0 M
         • Maharatna: 8.4 M
         • Seavoy: 8.4 M
         • Cambridge: 6.1 M
       • China: 10 M (Cohen)
       • Brazil: 1.0-1.5 M (Smith)
     • TOTAL: 31,700,000 to 61,300,000 (midpoint: 46.5M)
7. Congo Free State (1886-1908)
   • Approximately 4,500,000 deaths during the 19th C.
   • See the 20th Century

Between 100,000 and 1,000,000

1. United States, eradication of the American Indians (1775-1890)
   • Russel Thornton, American Indian Holocaust and Survival (1987)
     • Overall decline
       • From 600,000 (in 1800) to 250,000 (in 1890s)
     • Indian Wars, from a 1894 report by US Census, cited by Thornton. Includes men, woman and children killed, 1775-1890:
       • Individual conflicts:
         • Whites: 5,000
         • Indians: 8,500
       • Wars under the gov't:
         • Whites: 14,000
         • Indians: 30-45,000
       • TOTAL:
         • Whites: 19,000
         • Indians: 38,500 to 53,500
         • TOTAL: 65,000 ± 7,500
   • William Osborn: The Wild Frontier: atrocities during the American-Indian War from Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee (2000)
     • Deaths caused by specific settler atrocities: 7,193 (1623-1890)
     • Deaths caused by specific Indian atrocities: 9,156 (1511-1879. Incl. Indian vs. Indian)
     • Osborne basically defines an atrocity as murder or torture of civilians and prisoners. Most of your outright massacres are counted, but the Trail of Tears, for example, isn't.
   • Trail of Tears (1838-39)
     • Trager, The People's Chronology: 4,000 out of 14,000 Cherokee die on route.
     • Osborne: anywhere between 1,846 and 18,000 Indians died, in total.
2. Australia (1788-1921)
   • Mark Cocker, Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold (1998)
     • Australian mainland
       • Ongoing frontier war: 2,000-2,500 whites and 20,000 Aborignies KIA ("best guess", probably higher)
       • General population decline: from 1M (1788) to 50,000 (ca. 1890) to 30,000 (1920s)
   • Jared Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee (1993)
     • Decline of the Aborgines
       • From 300,000 (in 1788) to 60,000 (in 1921)
     • Extermination of the Tasmanians
       • From 5,000 (in 1800) to 200 (in 1830) to 3 (in 1869) to none (1877)
   • Clodfelter: 2,500 Eur. and 20,000 Aborignies k. in wars, 1840-1901
   • Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country (2001): 20,000 Aboriginies intentionally killed by whites.
3. New Zealand (1800s)
   • Mark Cocker, Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold (1998)
     • Maori pop: 240,000 (pre-contact) to 40,000 (1896)
   • Clodfelter, Maori War (1860-72)
     • UK, NZ: 700 k.
     • Maori: 2,000
4. India, Thuggee (1800-1838)
   • ca. 500,000 ritual murders in first third of the century.
5. Russo-Turkish War (1806-12)
   • Urlanis: 225,000 soldiers killed and died
   • Eckhardt: 45,000 military
   • OnWar.com
     • Russia: 70,000
     • Turkey: 100,000
     • TOTAL: 170,000
6. New Spain (Mexico), War of Independence (1810-21)
   • Clodfelter: 400,000-500,000 violent deaths, Mexicans and Spanish
   • Scheina, Latin America's Wars: 250,000-500,000 k.
7. New Grenada (Grand Colombia), Wars of Independence (1810-23)
   • Clodfelter: population of Venezuela dropped by 100,000 (from 300,000) in the 15 years following 1810.
   • Scheina, Latin America's Wars: pop. of Ecuador decreased from 600,000 to 480,000 [a loss of 120,000]
   • Eckhardt: 37,000 total
8. Greek Revolution (1821-28)
   • Eckhardt: 105,000 civ. + 15,000 mil. = 120,000
   • COWP: 15,000 state, 120,000 total
   • Urlanis: 60,000
   • Singer: 15,000 Turks k.
   • Carolyn Bain, Lonely Planet Greece
     • Psara: Turks killed all but 3,000 of the 20,000 inhabitants
     • 1824 Kasos: 7,000 inhabs. massacred by Turks.
9. Javanese War (1825-30)
   • Uprising against the Dutch
     • Rudolf von Albertini, European Colonial Rule, 1880-1940: 200,000
     • Clodfelter (dead, mostly from disease)
       • Dutch: 8,000
       • Loyalist natives: 7,000
       • Javanese: 200,000, no more that one-tenth in battle [ca. 20,000 KIA]
     • Singer: 15,000 Netherlanders k.
10. Russo-Turkish War (1828-29)
    • Singer, COWP:
      • Russia: 50,000
      • Turkey: 80,000
      • TOTAL: 130,000
    • Eckhardt: 61,000 civ. + 130,000 mil. = 191,000
    • Urlanis:
      • K. in Battle: 25,000
      • Military. Killed and died: 205,000
11. Spain, 1st Carlist War (1832-40)
    • Clodfelter: up to 140,000 d., incl. 65,000 govt. + 60,000 Carlists
    • Singer
      • 30,000 Spanish
      • Outsiders:
        • UK: 2,500
        • France: 100
        • Portugal: 50
      • TOTAL: 32,650
    • Eckhardt: 33,000
    • COWP
      • States
        • 65,000 Spanish
        • France: 7,700
        • UK: 2,479
        • Portugal: 50
      • TOTAL: 135,229
    • Urlanis: 50,000
12. Algeria, French Conquest (1839-47)
    • COWP: 300,000 total, incl.15,000 French
13. Ireland, Famine (1845-48)
    • Encyclopedia Americana (2003), "Ireland": 750,000
    • NOTE: Some people blame the British government for this. Some don't. See letter.]
14. Mexico (1847-55)
    • Govt vs. Yucatan Maya
      • COWP: 300,000
15. Crimean War (1854-56)
    • Bodart:
      • Russia: 40,000 KIA + 60,000 disease = 100,000
      • France: 20,240 KIA + 75,375 dis. = 95,615
      • Turkey: ca. 35,000 dead
      • UK: 4,602 KIA + 17,580 dis. = 22,182
      • Piedmont: 28 KIA + 2,166 dis. = 2,194
      • [TOTAL: 277,173]
    • The Crimean War (Essential Histories, No 2) by John Sweetman
      • UK
        • KIA: 2,755
        • Died of wounds: 2,019
        • Died of disease: 16,323
        • Total: 21,097
      • France
        • KIA: 10,240
        • Died of wounds: 20,000
        • Died of disease: 75,000
        • [Total: 105,240]
      • Sardinia: 2,050 (all causes)
      • Turkey: unkn.
      • Russia: 110,000+
      • TOTAL: Paul de la Gorce est. >300,000 "may not be far wrong"
    • 1911 Britannica
      • Battle deaths:
        • Allies: 70,000
        • Russians: 128,700
        • TOTAL: 198,700
      • Dead from all causes
        • Allies: 252,600 (including 5,000 English)
        • Russians: 256,000
        • TOTAL: 508,000
    • Urlanis
      • K. in Battle: 53,000
      • Military. Killed and died: 309,000
    • Singer, COWP:
      • Russia: 100,000
      • France: 95,000
      • Turkey: 45,000
      • UK: 22,000
      • Sardinia: 2,200
      • TOTAL: 264,200
    • Eckhardt: 264,000 military
    • MEDIAN: Of the six estimates, the median falls between 277,000 and 300,000
16. Venezuela, Federal War (1859-63)
    • Scheina, Latin America's Wars: 100,000 d. of all causes, incl. 30,000-50,000 combat deaths
    • Singer, COWP: 20,000
17. China, lesser rebellions (1850-77)
    • Small & Singer
      • Miao Rebellion (1860-72): 75,000
      • Nien Rebellion (1860-68): 75,000
    • Eckhardt
      • Moslem Rebellions (1860-72): 300,000
    • COWP
      • Miao Rebellion (1860-72): 75,000
      • Nien Rebellion (1860-68): 75,000
      • Moslem Rebellions (1863-77): 300,000
    • see also Taiping Rebellion
18. American Civil War (1861-65)
    • [Sources listed in rough chronological order]
    • Regimental Losses In the American Civil War - William F. Fox, 1889 [http://www.civilwarhome.com/foxs.htm] , also, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion - Frederick H. Dyer, 1908 [http://www.civil-war.net/searchstates.asp?searchstates=Total]
      • Killed and Mortally Wounded: 110,070
      • Died of Disease: 199,720
      • In Confederate prisons: 24,866
      • Drowning: 4,944
      • Accidents: 4,114
      • Total Deaths, all causes: 359,528
    • Dumas:
      • USA
        • KIA: 67,038
        • Died of wounds: 43,000
        • Disease: 224,586
        • Accident, murder, suicide, etc.: 24,872
        • TOTAL: 359,496
    • Urlanis (1971)
      • K. in Battle: 134,000
      • Military. Killed and died: 538,000
    • Trager, The People's Chronology, "1865"
      • United States: 360,222
        • k. in battle: 110,000
      • Confederacy: 258,000
        • k. in battle: 94,000
      • TOTAL: 618,222
        • k. in battle: 204,000
    • Singer, Eckhardt: 650,000
    • McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988)
      • United States: 360,000
      • Confederacy: 260,000
      • TOTAL: 620,000
      • Civilians: 50,000
    • Britannica (1992)
      • United States: 359,528
      • Confederacy: 258,000
      • TOTAL: 617,528
    • DoD (USA only)
      • Battle deaths: 140,414
      • Other deaths: 224,097
      • TOTAL: 364,511
    • COWP: 650,000 total, incl. 364,511 USA
    • Encyclopedia Americana (2003)
      • United States: 360,222
        • k. in battle: 67,058
        • d. of wounds: 43,012
        • [Total battle deaths: 110,070]
      • Confederacy: 258,000
        • k. in battle: 94,000
      • [TOTAL: 618,222]
        • [Battle deaths: 204,070]
    • Battles
      • Antietam
      • Bull Run: 1st, 2nd
      • Chancellorsville
      • Chattanooga
      • Chickamauga
      • Cold Harbor
      • Corinth
      • Franklin
      • Fredericksburg
      • Gettysburg
      • Manassas: 1st, 2nd
      • Prairie Grove
      • Seven Days
      • Shiloh
      • Spottsylvania C.H.
      • Murfreesboro
      • Perryville
      • Wilderness
19. Paraguay, War of the Triple Alliance (1864-70)
    • Britannica
      • 11th ed. (1911): The counted population of Paraguay dropped from 1,337,439 to 28,746 men + 106,254 women + 86,079 children [=221,079 for a loss of 1,116,360 (83%)]
      • 15th ed. (1992): The population of Paraguay population dropped from 525,000 to 221,000 for a loss of 304,000 (58%)
      • [I don't know why the two editions have a different starting population for Paraguay. I suspect (but can't confirm) that the 15th edition measures the before-and-after population of only those provinces that remained part of Paraguay after the war, while the 11th edition (maybe) begins with the population inside the pre-war borders and ends with the population inside the post-war borders. If so, neither set of numbers are a proper measure of the decline of the orginal Paraguayan population. The 15th edition would be too low, and the 11th edition too high.
    • The population loss is also described as 50% (Wilgus, Latin American History; Encarta) or 70% (Anchor Atlas)
    • Urlanis
      • military losses: 300,000 (citing Mulhall)
      • Paraguayan population decline from 1.3M to .3M (1M or 80%)
    • Reader's Companion to Military History [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/mil/html/mh_054500_tripleallian.htm]
      • Allied losses: 190,000 dead, of whom 100,000 were Brazilian.
      • Paraguay: 220,000
    • Eckhardt: 300,000 civ. + 310,000 mil. = 610,000
    • Scheina, Latin America's Wars
      • Allies: 180,000 "lost" (implied dead)
        • Brazil: 100,000 "casualties"
        • Argentina: 20,000 "lost"
        • Uruguay: 1,400 KIA/DOW
      • Paraguay: 300,000
      • [TOTAL: 480,000]
    • Clodfelter
      • Allied "casualties": 190,000, incl...
        • Allied combat deaths: 30,000, incl.
          • Brazil: 24,000 d.
        • Argentina & Uruguay: up to 30,000 dead (80% of which disease)
      • Paraguay: >200,000 dead, incl ca. 100,000 in combat
      • TOTAL: 350,000 (as stated in section on Taiping Reb.)
    • OnWar.com:
      • Argentina: 10,000.
      • Brazil: 100,000.
      • Paraguay: 304,000
      • Uruguay: 10,000
      • TOTAL: 424,000
    • LC [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pytoc.html]
      • Brazil: 150,000 dead
      • Executed by Lopez: 500 foreigners + thousands in military
    • Small & Singer (partial)
      • Brazil: 100,000
      • Argentina: 10,000
    • COWP
      • Paraguay: 200,000
      • Brazil: 100,000
      • Argentina: 10,000
      • TOTAL: 310,000
    • MEDIANS
      • Paraguay: 304,000
      • Brazil: 100,000
20. Ten Years War, Cuba (1868-78)
    • Encarta: 200,000
    • Scheina, Latin America's Wars
      • Cuban Revolutionaries: 100-150,000 d.
      • Spain: 200,000 "casualties, mostly from disease"
    • Dale Walker, The Boys of '98: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders: 200,000 Cubans
    • Stanley Payne, Politics and the Military in Modern Spain (1967): more than 50,000 Spanish soldiers killed.
      • cited by Payne:
        • Gen. Jovellar: 140,000 d
        • Galego: 3,660 KIA + 54,754 deaths by disease and wounds
    • Clodfelter
      • Spain (dead of all causes)
        • Soldiers: 81,097
        • Marines: 3,240
        • Sailors: 1,758
        • Cuban volunteers: 5,000
        • [TOTAL: 91,095]
      • Cubans: 50,000 d.
    • Singer: 100,000 Spanish battle deaths.
    • Eckhardt: 100,000 civ. + 100,000 mil. = 200,000
    • COWP: 100,000 Spain, 200,000 total
21. Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)
    • Gaston Bodart, Losses of Life in Modern Wars (1916)
      • France
        • battle deaths: 60,000 KiA+DoW
        • other deaths
          • As prisoners of Germany: 17,000
          • Interned in Switzerland: 2,000
          • Disease: 61,000
          • [Total: 80,000]
        • Total: 140,000
      • Germany
        • KIA: 1,046 officers + 16,539 men [= 17,585]
        • Died of Wounds: 671 officers + 10,050 men [=10,721]
        • Accidents: 9 + 281 [=290]
        • Suicide: 3 + 26 [=29]
        • Disease: 207 + 11940 [=12,147]
        • MIA: 3 + 4,006 [= 4,009]
        • Total: 1,939 + 42,842 [= 44,781]
      • Excess deaths among French civilians, 1870-71: 590,000
      • [TOTAL: 774,781, incl...]
        • [Battle deaths: 88,306]
        • [Military, all causes: 184,781]
    • Singer:
      • France: 140,000
      • Prussia: 40,000
      • Bavaria: 5,500
      • Baden: 1,000
      • Wurtemberg: 1,000
      • TOTAL: 187,500
    • Eckhardt: 62,000 civ. + 188,000 mil. = 250,000
    • COWP
      • FRN: 152,000
      • GMY: 44,781
      • BAV: 5,600
      • BAD: 956
      • WRT: 976
      • TOTAL: 204,313
    • Urlanis
      • K. in Battle: 57,000
      • Military. Killed and died: 188,000
      • French civilians: 300-400,000 excess deaths, incl. 47,000 in siege of Paris
      • German civilians: 200,000 excess deaths, half in smallpox epidemic spread by French POWs
      • [TOTAL: 738,000 ± 50,000]
    • see also Paris Commune
22. Russo-Turkish War (1877-78)
    • Samuel Dumas, Losses of Life Caused By War (1923)
      • Russian:
        • Killed: 30,000
        • Dead of wounds: 4,742
        • Dead of disease: 81,166
        • Dead of frostbite or accident: 1,713
        • TOTAL: 117,621
    • Urlanis
      • K. in Battle: 34,000
      • Military. Killed and died: 190,000
      • Russian civilians: 300-400,000 excess deaths
    • Clodfelter
      • Russian:
        • Killed or D. of wounds: 34,742
        • Dead of disease: 81,166
      • Turks: 30,000 in battle and possibly twice that from disease
      • Bulgarians + Romanians: 10,000
      • [TOTAL: ca. 215,000]
    • Singer, COWP:
      • Russia: 120,000
      • Turkey: 165,000
      • TOTAL: 285,000
    • Eckhardt: 285,000
23. Cuban Revolution (1895-98)
    • Clodfelter
      • Spain
        • battle: 9,413
        • disease: >40,000
      • Cubans: 300,000 d. incl...
        • battle: 5,180
        • disease: 3,437 insurgents
    • Scheina, Latin America's Wars: 300,000 Cubans d.
    • Eckhardt:
      • Cuba vs Spain (1895-98): 250,000 civ. + 50,000 military = 300,000
    • COWP: 50,000 Spain; 300,000 total
    • Leslie Bethell, Cuba: a short history (1993, 1998): population declined from 1,850,000 (1894) to 1,689,600 (1898). [a loss of 160,400]
    • Hugh Thomas, Cuba, or, the pursuit of freedom (1971, 1988): Spanish losses in Cuba, 1895-98
      • KIA and died of wounds: 9,303
      • Deaths by disease: 53,440
24. Somalia (1899-1920)
    • See the 20th Century
25. Colombia, War of a Thousand Days (1899-1902)
    • See the 20th Century
26. Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901)
    • See the 20th Century
27. Philippine-American War (1899-1902)
    • See the 20th Century

Between 10,000 and 100,000

1. India, Sati (1800-29)
   • Somewhere around 17,500 widows burned during the 19th Century.
2. Egypt (1805-11)
   • Muhammad Ali v. Ottomans
     • OnWar.com
       • Britain: 5,000
       • Egypt: 39,000
       • Rebels: 3,000
       • Ottomans: 9,000
       • TOTAL: 56,000
3. Anglo-American War of 1812 (1812-15)
   • Dept.of Defense; 1984 World Almanac
     • USA: 2,260 KIA
   • Eckhardt: 4,000 military
   • Clodfelter
     • USA: 2,260 KIA + 15,000 disease
     • UK: ca. 3,000
   • Donald Hickey, The War of 1812 (1989)
     • USA:
       • KIA: 2,260
       • Executions: 205
       • Deaths by disease: 17,000
       • TOTAL: approx 20,000
     • UK:
       • No British numbers available. Hickey suggests there were probably more battle deaths and fewer disease deaths.
   • William Osborn: The Wild Frontier: atrocities during the American-Indian War from Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee (2000)
     • Deaths caused by specific settler atrocities (1812-15): 58
     • Deaths caused by specific Indian atrocities (1812-15): 1,325
4. 1st Anglo-Burmese War (1823-26)
   • Singer: 15,000 UK
   • Eckhardt: 5,000 civ. + 15,000 mil. = 20,000
5. Turkey, massacre of the Jannisaries (1826)
   • PGtH: 20,000
   • Trager, People's Chronology: 6-10,000
   • Eckhardt: 14,000 civ. + 6,000 mil. = 20,000
6. Portugal (1829-34)
   • Govt. vs. Conservatives
     • Singer: 20,000, plus 100 British
     • Eckhardt: 20,000
7. Polish Insurrection (1830-32)
   • Singer: 15,000 Russians
   • Clodfelter
     • Russians: 15,000
     • Poles: many more
   • Eckhardt: 6,000 civ. + 15,000 mil. = 21,000
   • Urlanis: 70,000 total
8. 1st Syrian War (1831-32)
   • Singer: Turkey lost 10,000 k
   • Eckhardt: 8,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 18,000
9. 1st British-Afghan War (1838-42)
   • Singer: UK lost 20,000 k.
   • Eckhardt: 20,000 mil.
10. 2nd Syrian War (1839-40)
    • Singer: Turkey lost 10,000 k.
    • Eckhardt: 2,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 12,000
11. Argentina (1841-51)
    • Govt. vs. Unitarios
      • Singer: 10,000 (plus 100 UK and 100 France)
12. Vietnam, Persecution of Christians (ca. 1832-1887)
    • LC [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/vntoc.html]: Punitive bombardment of Da Nang by French warships, 1847: ca.10,000 Vietnamese k.
    • GEM [http://www.pitt.edu/~ibcmod/gem/vietnamdata.htm] Christians executed 1848-60
      • 25 European priests
      • 3,000 Vietnamese priests
      • >30,000 Vietnamese Catholics
    • Catholic Encyclopedia [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07765a.htm]
      • Killed 1857-62
        • 40,000 Christians d. of ill-treatment, starvation, etc.
        • 115 VN priests + 100 VN nuns
      • Christians killed, 1885, partial
        • E. Cochin China: 24,000
        • S. Cochin China: 8585 massacred in Quang-tri
        • S. Tong-king: 4799 executed + 1181 of hunger and misery
        • (1883-4): 400+
        • [Est. Total: >40,000]
13. 1st Sikh War (1845-46)
    • Battle of Sobraon: 10,000 k.
14. Mexican-American War (1846-48)
    • Singer, OnWar.com :
      • USA: 11,000
      • Mexico: 6,000
      • TOTAL: 17,000
    • Eckhardt: 4,000 civ. + 17,000 military = 21,000
    • Winders, Mr. Polk's Army (1997), citing Henry Scott, Military Dictionary
      • USA:
        • KIA: 1,548
        • Illness: 10,970
        • Mortal wounds: 505
        • TOTAL: 13,023
    • Bauer, The Mexican War: 1846-48 (1974)
      • USA:
        • KIA: 1,192
        • Illness: 11,155
        • Mortal wounds: 529
        • TOTAL: 12,876
    • Clodfelter: ca. 5,000 Mexicans KIA
    • Douglas Mead, The Mexican War 1846-1848: 12-15,000 Mexican battle "losses" [deaths?] and "thousands" of indirect civilian deaths.
    • Dept. of Defense (also 1984 World Almanac):
      • USA: 1,733 KIA + 11,550 other deaths = 13,283
    • My Guess:
      • USA: The median (and official) count is 1,733 KIA.
      • Mexico: Looking at the battle-by-battle statistics, [http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/mwstats.htm] it appears that, on average, the Mexicans suffered 4.7 times as many casualties as the USAns. That indicates some 8,000 KIA all told.
    • Civilians:
      • According to Encarta: The American bombardment of Veracruz killed 1000-1500 Mexicans, military and civilian. Civilian deaths outnumbered military 2:1. That would come to 666-1,000 civilians killed. [http://encarta.msn.com/text_761559370___9/Mexican_War.html]
15. Revolutions of 1848 (1848-49)
    • France
      • Clodfelter: 1,460 Parisians k., incl 150 after surrender
      • Singer (Govt. vs. Republicans): 3,000
    • Austria
      • Clodfelter (Vienna): 19 officers + 200 soldiers + 3,000 citizens
      • Singer (Govt. vs. Liberals): 3,500
    • Austro-Sardinian Wars (1848-49)
      • Singer
        • Austria: 5,600
        • Sardinia: 3,400
        • TOTAL: 9,000
      • Clodfelter
        • 1st: 1,030 Austrians KIA
        • 2nd
          • Austrians: 857 KIA + 2,000 marsh fever
          • Sardinia: 2,400
        • [TOTAL: >6,287]
    • 1st Schleswig-Holstein War (1848-49)
      • Singer
        • Prussia: 2,500
        • Denmark: 3,500
        • TOTAL: 6,000
      • Clodfelter (dead, mostly disease.)
        • Prussia, allies: 2,500
        • Denmark: 3,500
        • [TOTAL: 6,000]
    • Hungarian Revolt (1848-49)
      • Urlanis: 100,000
      • Clodfelter: 60,000
        • Habsburgs: 16,600 k. or wounded
        • Russia: 903 KIA + 13,554 disease
    • Two Sicilies (1848-49)
      • Singer (Govt. vs. Liberals): 1,000
    • Roman Republic (1849)
      • Singer
        • France: 500
        • Two Sicilies: 100
        • Papal States: 1500
        • Austria: 100
        • TOTAL: 2,200
    • TOTAL
      • [Clodfelter: ca. 77,000]
      • [Singer: 24,700]
16. Persia (1848-54)
    • 16 Dec. 1979 Washington Post: 20,000 Babis (Baha'is) massacred. (also http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babis)
17. Nicaragua, Walker Filibuster (1856-57)
    • Scheina, Latin America's Wars
      • American mercenaries: >1,000, mostly of disease
      • Costa Rica
        • Out of army of 2,500, only 400 lived to return home.
        • 10,000 C.R. civilians d. of cholera spread by army.
    • Clodfelter
      • Americans: 1,000 died, mostly of disease
      • four opponent Central America nations: 5,800 killed and wounded [maybe 1,450 k.?] + 5,000 died of disease
18. Zulus (1856)
    • Hanson, Carnage and Culture: In a civil war, Cetshwayo killed >7,000 warriors and 20,000 rival family members incl. women, children.
19. South Africa, Xhosa self-destruction (1857)
    • LC: Following a prophecy, Xhosa sacrificed almost all of their cattle and grain. 40,000 starved. [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/zatoc.html]
20. India, Sepoy Mutiny (1857)
    • Clodfelter
      • UK soldiers: 2,034 KIA and massacre + 8,987 by disease etc.
    • Eckhardt: 15,000 = 11,000 civ. + 4,000 mil.
    • OnWar.com
      • UK: 2,000
      • India: 8,000
      • Total: 10,000
    • Some guy on Internet: 150,000 k. incl. 100,000 civilians [http://members.tripod.com/~INDIA_RESOURCE/1857.html]
21. War of Italian Unification (1859)
    • Singer:
      • France: 7,500
      • Sardinia: 2,500
      • Austria: 12,500
      • TOTAL: 22,500
    • Bodart (KIA + died of wounds):
      • France: 5,500
      • Piedmont: 1,500
      • Austria: 8,000
      • TOTAL: 15,000
22. Ottoman Empire, Lebanon (1860)
    • War Between Christians and Druses
      • 1975 Britannica
        • Christians massacred in battle: 11,000
        • Died in destitution: 4,000
      • 1911 Britannica: >3,000 Christians k.
23. Franco-Mexican War (Emp. Maximilian, 1862-67)
    • Rene Chartrand, The Mexican Adventure 1861-67: 32,000 Republican soldiers KIA, executed, died of disease.
    • 1978 Britannica "Mexico, history of": >50,000 people k.
    • Clodfelter
      • Mexicans: 31,962 KIA (both sides, including 5,671 monarchists)
      • French: 1,729 KIA+DoW. 4,925 by disease
    • Scheina, Latin America's Wars: "taking into consideration the ... duration ... yellow fever, the lack of sanitation and medical services, and the brutality practised on both sides, one might estimate ..."
      • Monarchists: lost 33,000
        • France: 10,000
          • Army: 6,000
          • Foreign Legion: 2,000
          • Navy: 2,000
        • Austrian & Belgian mercenaries: 3,000
        • Mexican Conservatives: 20,000
      • Liberals: lost more
    • Singer:
      • Mexico: 12,000
      • France: 8,000
      • TOTAL: 20,000
    • Eckhardt: 20,000 mil.
24. Seven Weeks War (1866)
    • Bodart:
      • Prussia: 4,454 KIA
      • Italy: 1,633 KIA
      • Austria-Hungary: 21,488 KIA + MIA
      • Austrian allies: 348
      • TOTAL: 27,923
    • Urlanis
      • K. in Battle: 34,000
    • Singer:
      • Prussia: 10,000
      • Italy: 4,000
      • Austria-Hungary: 20,000
      • Saxony: 600
      • Hanover: 500
      • Bavaria: 500
      • TOTAL: 36,100
    • Eckhardt: 43,000 civ. + 36,000 mil. = 79,000
25. Paris Commune (1871)
    • PGtH: 17,000 k. in suppression of the Commune
    • Singer: 20,000
    • Eckhardt: 20,000
    • Urlanis: 20,000
    • Gabriel Jackson, The Spanish Republic and the Civil War 1931-39 (1965, 1972):
      • 17,000 to 25,000 Communards shot.
      • 3,000 deaths in prison.
    • see also: Franco-Prussian War
26. Spain, 3rd Carlist War (1872-76)
    • Clodfelter: 50,000
    • Singer: 7,000
27. Bulgaria (1876)
    • PGtH, also Britannica (1992 and 1911 eds.): 15,000 Bulgarians massacred by Turks in Philippopolis District, incl. 5,000 in town of Batak, acc2 British report.
    • Eckhardt: 30,000 civ. + 10,000 mil. = 40,000 (1875-77)
28. Japan (1877)
    • Govt. vs. Satsumas
      • Singer: 14,000
29. War of the Pacific (1879-83)
    • Singer:
      • Bolivia: 1,000
      • Chile: 3,000
      • Peru: 10,000
      • TOTAL: 14,000
    • Dumas (also Clodfelter):
      • Bolivia: 920
      • Chile: 3,276
      • Peru: 9,672
      • TOTAL: 13,868
30. South Africa, Anglo-Zulu War (1879)
    • Trager, The People's Chronology (also Clodfelter)
      • UK:
        • KIA: 76 officers + 1,007 men
        • Disease: 17 officers + 330 men
        • Natal Xhosa corpsman: 1,000
      • Zulus: 8,000
      • TOTAL: 10,430
    • Eckhardt: 1,000 civ. + 3,000 mil.
    • Battles
      • Isandlwana
31. Transvaal (1880-81)
    • Revolt vs UK
      • Ekhardt: 18,000
32. Sino-French War (1884-85)
    • Singer:
      • China: 10,000
      • France: 2,100
      • TOTAL: 12,100
33. Korea, Tonghak Rebellion (1894)
    • Clodfelter: 36,000 rebels k.
34. Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
    • Singer:
      • China: 10,000
      • France: 5,000
      • TOTAL: 15,000
35. Turkey (1895-96)
    • Massacre of Armenians:
      • Alan Palmer, The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire (1992): 30,000
36. Brazil, Canudos War (1896-97)
    • Singer: 5,000
    • Roelofse-Campbell: 30,000 [http://www.unisa.ac.za/dept/press/lar/112/canudos.html]
      • Govt: 5,000
      • Rebels: 25,000
37. Spanish-American War (1898)
    • Singer:
      • Spain: 5,000
      • USA: 5,000
      • TOTAL: 10,000
    • Eckhardt:
      • US vs Spain over Cuba & Phil (1898): 190,000 civ. + 10,000 military = 200,000 [190T civilians k. is very unlikely considering that the fighting lasted only some 5 months and involved small armies. E. might be conflating the Span-Am War with the Cuban or Philippine Insurrections]
    • Urlanis
      • K. in Battle: 5,000
      • Military. Killed and died: 16,000
    • Spanish deaths:
      • Stanley Payne, Politics and the Military in Modern Spain (1967)
        • KIA: 2,159
        • Deaths by disease: 53,000
      • Hugh Thomas, Cuba, or, the pursuit of freedom (1971, 1988): Spanish losses in Cuba, 1895-98
        • KIA and died of wounds: 9,303
        • Deaths by disease: 53,440
    • USA dead:
      • Dept. of Defense, 1991 Information Please, World Almanac 1984: 385 KIA + 2,061 disease = 2,446
38. Sudan (1898)
    • Battle of Omdurman: 11,000 Dervishes k. (Trager, People's Chronology)
39. Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902
    • see the 20th Century

Under 10,000

1. USA, Creek War (1813-14)
   • Clodfelter: 1,800 Creeks and 700 Americans (soldiers + civilians)
2. British-Mahabattan War (1817-18)
   • UK: 2,000 (Singer)
3. Spain, Civil War (1820-23)
   • Singer (Govt. vs. Royalists: 1821-23): 7,000
   • Urlanis: 100,000
4. Franco-Spanish War (1823)
   • Singer:
     • Spain: 600
     • France: 400
     • TOTAL: 1,000
5. Turkey (1826)
   • Govt. vs. Janissaries
     • Singer: 6,000
6. Russo-Persian War (1826-28)
   • Russia: 5,000 (Singer)
7. Navarino Bay (1827)
   • Singer:
     • Turkey: 3,000
     • UK: 80
     • Russia: 60
     • France: 40
     • TOTAL: 3,180
8. France, July Revolution (1830)
   • Govt. vs. Liberals
     • PGtH: 1,000
     • Singer: 1,700
     • Eckhardt: 2,000
9. Mexico (1832)
   • Govt. vs. Liberals
     • Singer: 4,000
10. USA, 2nd Seminole War (1835-42)
    • Clodfelter
      • US Army: 1466 d., incl 328 in combat
      • US Navy: 69, most by dis.
      • white non-combatants: 400
      • Seminloles: 700
11. Texan War (1835-36)
    • Clodfelter
      • Mexicans: ca. 1,500
      • Texans: 704
    • Scheina
      • Mexicans: 1,000 battle d.
      • Texans: 600
    • Singer: 1,000 Mexicans
    • Eckhardt: 1,000 civ. + 1,000 mil. = 2,000
12. Colombia (1840-42)
    • Govt. vs. Progressives
      • Singer: 4,000
13. Spain, 2nd Carlist War (1847-49)
    • Clodfelter: 10,000
    • Singer: 3,000 (1846-49)
14. Chile (1851)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 3,000
15. La Plata War (1851-52)
    • Singer:
      • Brazil: 500
      • Argentina: 800
      • TOTAL: 1,300
16. Peru (1853-55)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 4,000
17. Anglo-Persian War (1856-57)
    • Singer:
      • UK: 500
      • Persia: 1,500
      • TOTAL: 2,000
18. Peru (1856-58)
    • Govt. vs. Conservatives
      • Singer: 3,000
19. Mexico (1858-61)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 8,000
20. Spanish-Moroccan War (1859-60)
    • Clodfelter
      • Spain: 1,152 battle + 2888 disease = 4,040
      • Morocco: 6,000 d.
      • [TOTAL: 10,040]
    • Singer:
      • Spain: 4,000
      • Morocco: 6,000
      • TOTAL: 10,000
21. Italo-Roman War (1860)
    • Singer:
      • Sardinia: 300
      • Papal States: 700
      • TOTAL: 1,000
22. Italo-Sicilian War (1860)
    • Singer:
      • Sardinia: 600
      • Two Sicilies: 400
      • TOTAL: 1,000
23. Colombia (1860-62)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 2,500
24. Argentina (1863)
    • Govt. vs. Montoneros
      • Singer: 1,000
25. Ecuadorian-Colombian War (1863)
    • Singer:
      • Colombia: 300
      • Ecuador: 700
      • TOTAL: 1,000
26. 2nd Schleswig-Holstein War (1860)
    • Singer:
      • Prussia: 1,000
      • Austria-Hungary: 500
      • Denmark: 3,000
      • TOTAL: 4,500
27. USA, Reconstruction (1865-76)
    • 1998 World Book Encyc.: 5,000 southern blacks murdered by whites
    • Philip Dray, At the Hands of Persons Unknown : The Lynching of Black America, cites:
      • Phil Sheridan: 3,500 whites + blacks k. 1865-75
      • Ida Wells-Barnett: 10,000 blacks lynched 1865-1890s
      • Dorothy Sterling: 20,000 k. by KKK 1868-71
28. Spanish-Chilean War (1866)
    • Singer:
      • Peru: 600
      • Chile: 100
      • Spain: 300
      • TOTAL: 1,000
29. Argentina (1866-67)
    • Govt. vs. Federalists
      • Singer: 1,000
30. Venezuela (1868-71)
    • Govt. vs. Conservatives
      • Singer: 3,000
31. Spain (1868)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 1,600
32. Argentina (1870-71)
    • Entre Rios Rebellion
      • Singer: 1,500
33. Colombia (1876-77)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 1,000
34. Argentina (1880)
    • Buenos Aires Rebellion
      • Singer: 1,000
35. South Africa (1880-81)
    • Basuto Revolt vs UK
      • Eckhardt: 1,000
36. Tunisia (1881)
    • France v Tunisia
      • Eckhardt: 1,000
37. Sino-French War (1884-85)
    • Singer:
      • China: 10,000
      • France: 2,100
      • TOTAL: 12,100
38. Colombia (1884-85)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 1,000
39. Central American War (1885)
    • Singer:
      • El Salvador: 200
      • Guatemala: 800
      • TOTAL: 1,000
40. Chile (1891)
    • Govt. vs. Congressists
      • Singer: 5,000
41. Brazil (1893-94)
    • Govt. vs. Rio Grande do Sud
      • Singer: 1,500
42. Brazil (1893-94)
    • Govt. vs. Naval Royalists
      • Singer: 1,000
43. Peru (1894-95)
    • Govt. vs. Liberals
      • Singer: 4,000
44. Rhodesia, Matabele uprising (1896-98)
    • Laura Franey, Victorian Travel Writing and Imperial Violence: 600 Europeans + 9000 Shona and Ndebele k.
45. Greco-Turkish War (1897)
    • Singer:
      • Turkey: 1,400
      • Greece: 600
      • TOTAL: 2,000
    • Dumas: 1,300 Turks
46. USA, Lynching (1882-1962)
    • See the 20th Century

Total:

• EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY TOTAL:
  • Adding all the events listed here gives a very tentative total of 45 Million unnatural deaths during the 19th Century -- and I probably missed a lot.
  • You might want to add an additional 45M, depending on whether you feel that the El Niño famines of 1876 and 1896 were man-made or not. That would boost the total to 80M unnatural deaths for the 19th Century.
  • Using Table 1.2 of A Concise History of World Population, 2d by Massimo Livi-Bacci, I determined that there were 8661 million deaths between 1750 and 1950. As the 19th Century covers the middle half of that, let's assume roughly 4330 million deaths during the 1800s.
  • Another source would be "How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?" by Carl Haub [http://www.prb.org/Content/ContentGroups/PTarticle/0ct-Dec02/How_Many_People_Have_Ever_Lived_on_Earth_.htm]
    1. We can calculate the number of deaths between 1850 and 1900 as [1850_population] + [Births_1850-1900] - [1900_population] = [Deaths_1850-1900] = ca. 2509 million.
    2. We can calculate the number of deaths between 1750 and 1850 as [1750_population] + [Births_1750-1850] - [1850_population] = [Deaths_1750-1850] = ca. 3576 million.
    3. Adding [1] and half of [2] would give us some 4297 million deaths in the 19th Century.
  • Forty-five million unnatural deaths would be 1% of 4.3 billion deaths (or 1 out of every 96), considerably less than the percentage for the 20th Century. Counting the famines would bring the percentage to 2% or 1 out of 48.

List of Recurring Sources

to Table of Contents

Last updated January 2004

Copyright © 1999-2004 Matthew White