Special Report
These Countries Killed the Most Civilians During the 20th Century
Published:
There are currently genocidal acts being carried out in at least 10 countries, including Yemen, Myanmar, Syria, and Sudan, according to the multinational nonprofit alliance Genocide Watch. While some of these horrific acts of violence against particular ethnic, national, or religious groups are being committed by armed insurgents or warring factions, others are the direct actions of the governments of these nations.
To describe the intentional killings of unarmed civilians by a government, the late political scientist Rudolph Rummel coined the term “democide.” Democide can include genocide, politicide, and mass murder. Democide also includes deaths by forced labor or in concentration camps, purposeful killing of civilians – of the acting government’s country or another – during war, massacres, extrajudicial executions, forced deportations that lead to death, and starvation brought on by deliberate famines.
According to Rummel, 262 million people were killed by democides in the 20th century – which is more than the total killed in combat. (Also read: these are the rifles World War II was fought with.)
To find the countries that killed the most civilians in the 20th century, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the study “Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War” by Prof. Rummel, maintained by the University of Hawaii. We ranked each country based on the total number of people killed in democides, according to the study. There are some instances where a country is mentioned more than once because the democides took place at different times, often under different regimes.
Many of the deaths counted in the list took place during war and include not only the deaths of the country’s own civilian population but also civilians of other nations who were intentionally targeted.
A large part of these deaths were the result of the actions of authoritarian and totalitarian governments. These include communist regimes in the Soviet Union, China, Yugoslavia, Poland, Cambodia, Vietnam, and North Korea, as well as fascist and right-wing regimes in Germany, China, and Japan. (Also read: this is the death toll in each state from America’s post 9/11 wars.)
Click here to see the nations that killed the most civilians during the 20th century.
19. Russia
> Civilians killed by government: 1,065
> Years accounted for: 1900-17
[in-text-ad]
18. Indonesia
> Civilians killed by government: 729,000
> Years accounted for: 1965-87
17. Portugal
> Civilians killed by government: 741,000
> Years accounted for: 1926-82
16. United Kingdom
> Civilians killed by government: 816,000
> Years accounted for: 1900-87
[in-text-ad-2]
15. China (Warlord Era)
> Civilians killed by government: 910,000
> Years accounted for: 1917-49
14. Yugoslavia
> Civilians killed by government: 1,072,000
> Years accounted for: 1944-87
[in-text-ad]
13. Mexico
> Civilians killed by government: 1,417,000
> Years accounted for: 1900-20
12. Pakistan
> Civilians killed by government: 1,503,000
> Years accounted for: 1958-87
11. Poland
> Civilians killed by government: 1,585,000
> Years accounted for: 1945-48
[in-text-ad-2]
10. North Korea
> Civilians killed by government: 1,663,000
> Years accounted for: 1948-87
9. Vietnam
> Civilians killed by government: 1,670,000
> Years accounted for: 1945-87
[in-text-ad]
8. Cambodia
> Civilians killed by government: 2,035,000
> Years accounted for: 1975-79
7. Turkey
> Civilians killed by government: 2,761,000
> Years accounted for: 1909-23
6. China (Mao Soviets)
> Civilians killed by government: 3,468,000
> Years accounted for: 1923-49
[in-text-ad-2]
5. Japan
> Civilians killed by government: 5,964,000
> Years accounted for: 1936-45
4. China (KMT)
> Civilians killed by government: 10,075,000
> Years accounted for: 1928-49
[in-text-ad]
3. Germany
> Civilians killed by government: 20,946,000
> Years accounted for: 1933-45
24/7 Wall St.
2. U.S.S.R.
> Civilians killed by government: 61,911,000
> Years accounted for: 1917-87
1. China (PRC)
> Civilians killed by government: 76,702,000
> Years accounted for: 1949-87
Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts
Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.
It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.
We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today. Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
