Wars of the Twentieth century
We live in a very peaceful world considering that the last international conflict, which claimed more than 50,000 lives, ended in 1989. We live in a golden age and many don't know or appreciate it. Save Africa, which is a ruined continent, progress is unending and inevitable. There may be low-scale and low-intensity ethnic conflicts but it is pales in comparison to our past history and there are no tinders to World War 3. The citizens of the world have a benevolent hegemon and utopia seems to be within our grasp. What mars the human consciousness is the African continent and I would believe that the duty of the 21st century would be to embark on it's reconstruction.
Military Death Toll War Dates
1 20,000,000 Second World War 1937-45
2 8,500,000 First World War 1914-18
3 1,200,000 Korean War 1950-53
4 1,200,000 Chinese Civil War 1945-49
5 1,200,000 Vietnam War 1965-73
6 850,000 Iran-Iraq War 1980-88
7 800,000 Russian Civil War 1918-21
8 400,000 Chinese Civil War 1927-37
9 385,000 French Indochina 1945-54
10 200,000 Mexican Revolution 1911-20
10 200,000 Spanish Civil War 1936-39
12 160,000 French-Algerian War 1954-62
13 150,000 Afghanistan 1980-89
14 130,000 Russo-Japanese War 1904-05
15 100,000 Riffian War 1921-26
15 100,000 First Sudanese Civil War 1956-72
15 100,000 Russo-Polish War 1919-20
15 100,000 Biafran War 1967-70
19 90,000 Chaco War 1932-35
20 75,000 Abyssinian War 1935-36
There is a deluge of conflict and bloodshed but let's quantify the loss of life from each conflict and we'll see that they are virtually negligble. Israel Palestine dominates the headline but the loss on life has been intermittent and no more than 4000 over 3 years. That is a historical low and doesn't have the same devastating effects as of yore. The nature of warfare has fundamentally changed and the world has become a very peaceful place. What's happened is that there is a greater stress on the lives lost thereby reinforcing the .
Until 1990 with the onset of connectivity in the world things have changed completely and one can't conduct a war without impunity.
Zachary Latif 11:08 |
