MOST LETHAL BATTLES IN WORLD HISTORY

The following is a list of the 'most lethal battles' in world
history. This list will include both sieges (not technically battles
but usually yielding similar combat-related deaths) and civilian deaths
during the battles.
'Note': Battle casualties are almost impossible to calculate
precisely. Many of these figures are estimates, and some have been
heavily criticized. Some figures may also mean killed or wounded while
others may just mean killed – since this is the list of most
lethal battles, number of killed is used where it is known. This
list does not include most bombing runs or missile strikes (such as the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), which despite
potentially massive casualties are not typically classified as
"battles," since they are usually one-sided engagements. Tactical or
strategic strikes, however, may form part of larger engagements which
are themselves battles.

Classical formation battles

These refer to battles in which armies met on a single field of battle and fought, generally for one to several days. With more advanced weapons, military formations lost their impact and this type of battle died out in favor of grander military operations. As a general rule, this happened in the late 19th / early 20th century. The last war to have been fought on a battle-by-battle as opposed to campaign basis is generally held to be the Second Boer War. Many of these battles are ancient, and in many cases, the few historical records differ, sometimes wildly, on casualties. The figures used are what the contributors believe to be the most plausible compromise estimate.
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Battle
!Conflict
!Casualties
!Year
|-
|Battle of Yarmouk
|Muslim conquest of Syria, Byzantine-Arab Wars
|120,000 casualties^[1]^[2]
|636
|-
|Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
|Reconquista
|~102,000 casualties
|1212
|-
|Battle of Cannae
|Second Punic War
|92,000+ casualties^[3]
|216 BC
|-
|Battle of Salsu
|Goguryeo-Sui Wars
|~80,000 casualties^[4]
|612
|-
|Battle of Arausio
|Cimbrian War
|80,000+ casualties^[5]^[6]^[7]
|105 BC
|-
|Battle of Plataea
|Greco-Persian Wars
|77,000 casualties^[8]
|479 BC
|-
|Third Battle of Panipat
|Imperial Maratha Conquests
|75,000+ killed
|1761
|-
|Battle of Wagram
|Napoleonic Wars
|74,000 casualties
|1809
|-
|Battle of Ullais
|Muslim conquest of Persia
|71,000+ killedA. I. Akram (1970).
''The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns''.
National Publishing House, Rawalpindi. ISBN 0-71010-104-X.
|633
|-
|Battle of Valea Albă
|, Moldavian-Ottoman Wars
|70,000+ casualties
|1476
|-
|Battle of Guandu
|Three Kingdoms
|70,000+ casualties
|200
|-
|Battle of Pliska
|Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars
|70,000+ casualties
|811
|-
|Battle of Watling Street
|Boudica's Uprising
|70,000+ casualties
|61
|-
|Battle of Siffin
|First Islamic civil war
|70,000 casualties
|657
|-
|Battle of Anchialus
|Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars
|70,000 casualties
|917
|-
|Battle of az-Zallaqah
|Reconquista
|~70,000 casualties
|1086
|-
|Battle of Berestechko
|Khmelnytsky Uprising
|60,000+ killed
|1651
|-
|Battle of Heunghwajin
|Third Goryeo-Khitan War
|60,000–70,000 casualties
|1018
|-
|Battle of Walaja
|Muslim conquest of Persia
|55,000+ killed
|633
|-
|Battle of Firaz
|Muslim conquest of Persia,
Byzantine-Arab Wars
|55,000+
killed^[9]
|634
|-
|Battle of Ilipa
|Second Punic War
|54,000 casualties
|206 BC
|-
|Battle of Königgrätz
|Austro-Prussian War
|53,000 casualties
|1866
|-
|Battle of Gettysburg
|American Civil War
|51,000 casualties
|1863
|-
|Battle of Ajnadayn
|Muslim conquest of Syria, Byzantine-Arab Wars
|51,000+ killed^[10]
|634
|-
|Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
|Napoleonic Wars
|50,000 killed
|1806
|-
|Battle of Dresden
|Napoleonic Wars
|50,000 killed
|1813
|-
|Battle of Kosovo
|Ottoman wars: Expansion into Europe
|~50,000 killed
|1389
|-
|Battle of Borodino
|Napoleonic Wars
|49,000 killed^[11]
|1812
|-
|Battle of "The Saw"
|Mercenary War
|45,000+ killed
|239 BC
|-
|Battle of Lützen
|Napoleonic Wars
|~45,000 killed
|1813
|-
|Battle of Aspern-Essling
|Napoleonic Wars
|~45,000 casualties
|1809
|-
|Battle of Telamon
|Roman-Gaulish Wars
|40,000+ killed
|224 BC
|-
|Battle of Legnica
|Mongol invasions in Poland
|40,000+ killed
|1241
|-
|Battle of Vaslui
|, Moldavian-Ottoman Wars
|40,000+ killed
|1475
|-
|Battle of Manzikert
|Byzantine-Seljuk wars
|40,000+ killed
|1071
|-
|Battle of Sekigahara
|Sengoku period of Japan
|40,000+ killed
|1600
|-
|Battle of Alesia
|Gallic Wars
|40,000+ killed
|52
BC
|-
|Battle of Lepanto
|
|40,000 killed
|1571
|-
|Battle of Gaugamela
|Wars of Alexander the Great
|40,000 casualties
|331 BC
|-
|Battle of Solferino
|Second Italian War of Independence
|40,000 casualties
|1859
|-
|Battle of Bautzen
|Napoleonic Wars
|~40,000 casualties
|1813
|-
|Battle of Kulikovo
|Mongol invasion of Rus
|~40,000 casualties
|1380
|-
|Battle of Malplaquet
|War of the Spanish Succession
|37,000 killed or wounded
|1709
|-
|Battle of Seneffe
|Franco-Dutch War
|~35,000 casualties
|1674
|-
|Battle of Blenheim
|War of the Spanish Succession
|32,000 killed or wounded
|1704
|-
|Battle of Crécy
|Hundred Years' War
|31,000 dead or wounded
|1346
|-
|Battle of Hattin
|Crusades
|30,000+ killed
|1187
|-
|Battle of Chalons
|Wars of Attila
|30,000+ killed
|451
|-
|Battle of Prague
|Seven Years' War
|30,000 killed
|1757
|-
|Battle of Mars-la-Tour
|Franco-Prussian War
|29,000 casualties
|1870
|-
|Battle of Montgisard
|Crusades
|28,100 killed
|1177
|-
|Battle of Friedland
|Napoleonic Wars
|28,000 casualties
|1807
|-
|Battle of Gravelotte
|Franco-Prussian War
|28,000 casualties
|1870
|-
|Battle of the Hydaspes River
|Wars of Alexander the Great
|25,000 killed and wounded
|326 BC
|-
|Battle of Sedan
|Franco-Prussian War
|25,000 killed and wounded
|1870
|-
|Battle of the Trebia
|Second Punic War
|~25,000 casualties
|218 BC
|-
|Battle of Mohács
|
|24,000–30,000 killed
|1526
|-
|Battle of Denain
|War of the Spanish Succession
|23,000+ killed
|1712
|-
|Battle of Waterloo
|Napoleonic Wars
|22,000 killed
|1815
|-
|Battle of Zama
|Second Punic War
|21,500 killed
|202 BC
|-
|Battle of Antietam
|American Civil War
|~21,000 killed or wounded
|1862
|-
|Battle of Versinikia
|Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars
|20,000–45,000 killed
|813
|-
|Battle of Towton
|Wars of the Roses
|20,000–30,000 killed
|1461
|-
|Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
|Germanic Wars
|20,000–25,000 killed
|9
|-
|Battle of Carrhae
|Roman-Persian Wars
|20,000+ killed
|53
BC
|-
|Battle of the Bosnian Highlands
|Croatian-Bulgarian War of 927
|20,000+ killed
|927
|-
|Battle of Sluys
|Hundred Years' War
|20,000+ killed
|1340
|-
|Battle of the Kalka River
|Mongol invasion of Rus
|~20,000 killed
|1223
|-
|Battle of Thermopylae
|Greco-Persian Wars
|20,000 casualtiesHerodotus
(440 BC). ''Histories''.
|480 BC
|-
|Battle of Ulm
|Napoleonic Wars
|18,000 killed
|1805
|-
|Battle of Eckmühl
|Napoleonic Wars
|18,000 casualties
|1809
|-
|Battle of Salamanca
|Napoleonic Wars
|18,000 casualties
|1812
|-
|Battle of Oudenarde
|War of the Spanish Succession
|18,000 casualties
|1708
|-
|Battle of Lake Trasimene
|Second Punic War
|16,500 killed
|217 BC
|-
|Battle of Austerlitz
|Napoleonic Wars
|16,000 killed or wounded
|1805
|-
|Battle of Tuyutí
|War of the Triple Alliance
|~16,000 killed or wounded
|1866
|-
|Battle of Ramillies
|War of the Spanish Succession
|15,500+ killed
|1706
|-
|Battle of Narva
|Great Northern War
|15,000 killed
|1700
|-
|Battle of Fontenoy
|War of the Austrian Succession
|15,000 killed
|1745
|-
|Battle of Assaye
|Second Anglo-Maratha War
|13,000 killed
|1803
|-
|Battle of Breitenfeld
|Thirty Years' War
|13,000 killed
|1631
|-
|Battle of Hohenfriedberg
|War of the Austrian Succession
|13,000 casualties
|1745
|-
|Battle of Custoza
|Austro-Prussian War
|13,000 casualties
|1866
|-
|Battle of Vitoria
|Napoleonic Wars
|12,500 casualties
|1813
|-
|Battle of Tours
|Muslim conquests
|~12,000 killed
|732
|-
|Battle of Pultusk
|Napoleonic Wars
|12,000 casualties
|1806
|-
|Battle of Flodden Field
|War of the League of Cambrai
|11,500 killed
|1513
|-
|Battle of Bannockburn
|First War of Scottish Independence
|11,000+ killed
|1314
|-
|Battle of Issus
|Wars of Alexander the Great
|10,500+ killed
|333 BC
|-
|Battle of Mons Graupius
|Roman conquest of Britain
|10,500+ killed
|83
|-
|Battle of Adrianople
|Gothic War (376–382)
|~10,000–25,000 killed
|378
|-
|Battle of Grunwald
|Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War
|10,000–15,000 killed
|1410
|-
|Battle of Ascalon
|First Crusade
|10,000–12,000 killed
|1099
|-
|Battle of Villiers
|Franco-Prussian War
|10,000–12,000 killed
|1870
|-
|Battle of Omdurman
|Mahdist War
|10,000 killed
|1898
|-
|Battle of Schellenberg
|War of the Spanish Succession
|10,000 killed or drowned
|1704
|-
|Battle of Rocroi
|Thirty Years' War
|9,500 killed
|1643
|-
|Battle of Lund
|Scanian War
|9,000 killed
|1676
|-
|Battle of Kesselsdorf
|War of the Austrian Succession
|9,000 killed
|1745
|-
|Battle of Cynoscephalae
|Second Macedonian War
|~8,000 killed
|197 BC
|-
|Battle of Isandlwana
|Anglo-Zulu War
|7,300 killed
|1879
|-
|}

Sieges and urban combat

This list includes sieges, as well as modern battles that were fought
almost exclusively in urban areas. Such battles were often very bloody,
resulting in high loss of life. Battles that involved sieges or attacks
on cities as secondary to the main operation are listed under
"operations".
This list is sortable. Click the box next to a column heading to sort
by that criteria.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Siege
!Conflict
!Casualties
!Year
|-
|Battle of Stalingrad
|Eastern Front, World War II
|1,530,000+ killed or wounded
|1942–1943
|-
|Siege of Leningrad
|Eastern Front, World War II
|1,500,000 killed
|1941–1944
|-
|Battle of Kursk
|Eastern Front, World War II
|1,100,000+ killed, wounded or captured
|1943
|-
|Battle of Berlin
|Eastern Front, World War II
|540,000+ killed
|1945
|-
|Battle of Wuhan
|Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
|540,000 casualties
|1938
|-
|Siege of Betar
|Bar Kokhba's revolt
|500,000 casualties
|135
|-
|Warsaw Uprising
|World War II
|250,000+ killed
|1944
|-
|Fall of Tenochtitlan
|Spanish conquest of Mexico
|220,000+ killed
|1521
|-
|Battle of Okinawa
|Pacific War, World War II
|218,000 killed (some missing)
|1945
|-
|Battle of Shanghai
|Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
|200,000+ killed
|1937
|-
|Battle of Budapest
|Eastern Front, World War II
|158,000–350,000 killed (inc. civilians)
|1944–1945
|-
|Battle of Alesia
|Gallic Wars
|150,000–200,000 killed
|52 BC
|-
|Battle of Baghdad
|Mongol invasions
|140,000–1,000,000 killed (inc. civilians)
|1258
|-
|Battle of Manila
|Pacific War, World War II
|120,000 killed
|1945
|-
|Third Battle of Nanking
|Taiping Rebellion
|100,000 killed
|1864
|-
|Fall of Constantinople
|Byzantine-Ottoman wars
|90,000 killed
|1453
|-
|Siege of Carthage
|Third Punic War
|79,000 casualties
|149 BC
|-
|Siege of Sevastopol
|Crimean War
|70,000 killed
|1854–1855
|-
|Siege of Jerusalem
|First Jewish-Roman War
|60,000–1,100,000 killed or wounded (inc.
civilians)
|70
|-
|Second Siege of Jinju
|Imjin War
|60,000+ killed
|1593
|-
|Second Siege of Saragossa
|Peninsular War
|50,000+ killed
|1809
|-
|Siege of Pleven
|Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
|50,000 killed
|1877–1878
|-
|Siege of Jerusalem
|First Crusade
|40,000+ killed
|1099
|-
|Siege of Kazan
|Russo-Kazan Wars
|40,000–50,000+ killed
|1552
|-
|Siege of Paris
|Franco-Prussian War
|36,000
|1870–1871
|-
|Battle of Odessa
|Eastern Front, World War II
|34,307 killed
|1941
|-
|Battle of Szigetvár
|
|25,000+ killed
|1566
|-
|Sack of Magdeburg
|Thirty Years' War
|25,000+ killed
|1630
|-
|Siege of La Rochelle
|French Wars of Religion
|20,000+ killed
|1572–1573
|-
|Siege of Sarajevo
|Bosnian War
|12,000 killed (inc. civilians)
|1992–1995
|-
|Second Siege of Danzig
|Napoleonic Wars
|11,400 casualties
|1807
|-
|}

Major operations

This list includes major operations, i.e. prolonged battles or
offensive operations fought over a large area.
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Operation
!Conflict
!Casualties
!Year
|-
|Operation Barbarossa
|Eastern Front, World War II
|2,700,000+ killed
|1941
|-
|Brusilov Offensive
|Eastern Front, World War I
|1,825,000 killed or wounded
|1916
|-
|Battle of Kursk
|Eastern Front, World War II
|1,338,000 killed or wounded
|1943
|-
|Battle of Moscow
|Eastern Front, World War II
|900,000-1,700,000+ killed
|1941–1942
|-
|Battle of Changping
|Warring States
|700,000+ killed
|260 BC
|-
|Battle of Lemberg
|Eastern Front, World War I
|500,000+ killed
|1914
|-
|Operation Bagration
|Eastern Front, World War II
|360,000 killed
|1944
|-
|Battle of Kiev
|Eastern Front, World War II
|313,600 killed or wounded
|1941
|-
|Battle of the Somme
|Western Front, World War I
|310,486 killed and missing
|1916
|-
|Battle of Verdun
|Western Front, World War I
|305,440 killed and missing
|1916
|-
|Battle of France
|Western Front, World War II
|185,000 killed or missing
|1940
|-
|Battle of Passchendaele
|Western Front, World War I
|130,000 killed and missing
|1917
|-
|Battle of Okinawa
|Pacific War, World War II
|125,000 killed and missing
|1945
|-
|Operation Mars
|Eastern Front, World War II
|~120,000–270,000 killed
|1942
|-
|Battle of Gallipoli
|Middle Eastern Theatre,
World War I
|115,000 killed
|1915–1916
|-
|First Battle of the Marne
|Western Front, World War I
|100,000 killed
|1914
|-
|Battle of Cambrai
|Western Front, World War I
|100,000 killed
|1917
|-
|Battle of Leipzig
|Napoleonic Wars
|90,000 killed
|1813
|-
|Invasion of Poland
|World War II
|83,639 killed
|1939
|-
|Battle of Normandy
|Western Front, World War II
|80,200 killed
|1944
|-
|Battle of Monte Cassino
|World War II
|74,000 casualties
|1944
|-
|Battle of Mărăşeşti
|World War I
|74,000 casualties
|1917
|-
|The Overland Campaign
|American Civil War
|70,139 casualties
|1864
|-
|First Battle of Ypres
|World War I
|60,000 killed
|1914
|-
|Battle of Doiran
|World War I
|55,000 killed
|1918
|-
|Meuse-Argonne Offensive
|Western Front, World War I
|54,000 killed
|1918
|-
|Battle of Gettysburg
|American Civil War
|51,000 casualties
|1863
|-
|Third Battle of Kharkov
|Eastern Front, World War II
|50,000 killed
|1943
|-
|Battle of Tannenberg
|Eastern Front, World War I
|~50,000 killed
|1914
|-
|Battle of Greece
|Balkans Campaign, World War II
|40,000+ killed
|1941
|-
|Battle of the Ebro
|Spanish Civil War
|36,000 killed
|1938
|-
|Battle of Mukden
|Russo-Japanese War
|36,000 killed
|1905
|-
|Battle of the Bulge
|Western Front, World War II
|35,120 killed
|1944
|-
|Guadalcanal campaign
|Pacific War, World War II
|35,000 killed
|1942–1943
|-
|Second Battle of El Alamein
|North African campaign, World War II
|30,000–35,000 killed
|1942
|-
|Battle of Suomussalmi
|Winter War
|28,000 killed
|1939–1940
|-
|Battle of Chosin Reservoir
|Korean War
|27,500 killed
|1950
|-
|Battle of Iwo Jima
|Pacific War, World War II
|27,000 killed
|1945
|-
|Operation Desert Storm
|Gulf War
|25,000–40,000 killed
|1991
|-
|Battle of Inchon
|Korean War
|15,000 killed
|1950
|-
|Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
|Second Balkan War
|15,000 killed
|1913
|-
|Battle of Kobarid
|World War I
|15,000 casualties
|1917
|-
|Battle of Turtucaia
|Romanian Campaign, World War I
|14,000 killed
|1916
|-
|Battle of Leyte Gulf
|Pacific War, World War II
|13,500 killed
|1944
|-
|}

References

1. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (915). ''History of the Prophets and Kings'', Vol. 2,
p. 596.
2. Al-Waqidi (8th century). ''Maghazi
Rasulillah''.
3. Leonard Cottrell (1965).
''Enemy of Rome''. Evans Bros. ISBN 0-237-44320-1.
4. ''Book of Sui'', Vol.
60.
5. Valerius Antias (1st
century BC). ''Manubiae''.
6. Albert A. Howard
(1906). "Valerius Antias and Livy", ''Harvard Studies in Classical
Philology'' '17', p. 161-182.
7. Canon Rawlinson
(1877). "On the Ethnography of the Cimbri", ''The Journal of the
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'' '6', p.
150-158.
8. Ctesias (4th century BC).
''Persica''.
9. Campaigns class=wikiexternal target=_blank>in Western Iraq, "Khalifa Abu Bakr", ''Companion of the
Prophet''. Virtual library of Witness-Pioneer.
10. Al-Waqidi (8th century).
''Maghazi Rasulillah'', Vol. 1, p. 42.
11. D. Smith (1998). ''The Greenhill
Napoleonic Wars Data Book''. Greenhill Books.

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MOST LETHAL BATTLES IN WORLD HISTORY

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Sieges and urban combat

Major operations

References

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