0:00:04.140,0:00:07.960 The average life span of an American[br]is eighty years, 0:00:08.140,0:00:13.030 and an eighty year old today was ten when[br]World War 2 ended; four when it began. 0:00:15.493,0:00:19.253 A soldier who saw battle would have to be[br]in his late eighties, at least, today. 0:00:20.589,0:00:25.229 Generals, political leaders - the decision[br]makers of the war: few are still with us. 0:00:27.353,0:00:32.463 Over the past few decades, we've seen[br]authors and filmmakers. 0:00:32.463,0:00:36.668 rush to capture stories from survivors,[br]before this connection of memory is lost. 0:00:43.860,0:00:48.750 This project is not about individual war[br]stories, and it's not about survivors. 0:00:49.574,0:00:52.954 We are going to tally up the tens of[br]millions of people 0:00:52.954,0:00:55.744 whose lives were cut short by the war, 0:00:55.744,0:00:59.044 and see how these numbers stack up[br]to other wars in history, 0:00:59.044,0:01:02.264 including trends in recent conflicts. 0:01:07.404,0:01:11.094 We'll be counting soldiers[br]and civilians separately. 0:01:11.366,0:01:14.756 Each of these figures will represent[br]1000 people who died. 0:01:15.956,0:01:19.536 Civilians were of all walks of life. 0:01:20.383,0:01:24.793 Military deaths were almost entirely men -[br]the average age was about 23. 0:01:27.631,0:01:30.811 In most battles, for every[br]1000 soldiers killed, 0:01:30.811,0:01:34.031 there were more than 1000[br]who were injured. 0:01:34.031,0:01:37.498 The word casualty can be confusing because[br]in military speak, it often includes both 0:01:37.498,0:01:40.798 deaths and injuries, and any thing[br]that takes a soldier out of service. 0:01:40.821,0:01:45.221 Here we are just counting the deaths,[br]and we'll begin with American soldiers. 0:01:55.978,0:01:59.208 Over 400,000 died. 0:02:01.344,0:02:05.344 Most of the deaths occurred in the[br]European theater - fighting the Nazis - 0:02:06.073,0:02:10.073 and about a quarter were in the Pacific,[br]fighting the Japanese. 0:02:11.097,0:02:14.207 When you put them on the timeline,[br]you see that the casualties were heaviest 0:02:14.207,0:02:16.957 at the end of the war. 0:02:16.957,0:02:21.447 The war began on September 1, 1939,[br]but the U.S. wasn't willing 0:02:21.447,0:02:25.447 to join the fight until Pearl Harbor[br]2 years in. 0:02:26.305,0:02:30.305 The deaths increased drastically on D-Day,[br]when the allies invaded Normandy. 0:02:31.271,0:02:35.271 One of the most tragic moments of the war[br]was on D-Day at Omaha Beach, 0:02:35.271,0:02:38.511 where 2,500 Americans fell. 0:02:40.386,0:02:43.386 About the same[br]number of U.S. soldiers died 0:02:43.386,0:02:46.196 on this single beach landing as[br]the entire 13 years 0:02:46.196,0:02:49.056 of the recent US war in Afghanistan. 0:02:53.054,0:02:57.054 The bloodiest battle in the Pacific[br]was Okinawa, which lasted 82 days, 0:02:57.054,0:03:01.054 during which 12,500 Americans died. 0:03:03.503,0:03:07.503 About 5,000 of these deaths were at sea[br]from Kamikaze attacks. 0:03:11.613,0:03:15.613 Now let's look at some other countries,[br]starting with Europe. 0:03:19.161,0:03:23.161 Germany started World War 2[br]when it invaded Poland. 0:03:23.340,0:03:27.340 Poland ultimately lost over[br]200,000 soldiers in the war, 0:03:27.726,0:03:30.626 most died after the invasion 0:03:30.626,0:03:34.626 while the country was occupied by[br]Germany and the Soviet Union. 0:03:36.649,0:03:40.649 Germany meanwhile lost just 16,000[br]in the invasion of Poland. 0:03:41.594,0:03:44.944 The Nazis went on invade and conquer[br]other countries including 0:03:44.944,0:03:48.944 Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands,[br]France, Greece, and Yugoslavia. 0:03:49.624,0:03:53.624 France surrendered, but after losing[br]92,000 soldiers in the Battle of France. 0:03:54.024,0:03:57.004 Over 200,000 ultimately fell, 0:03:57.004,0:04:01.004 which includes deaths in POW camps,[br]French colonies, and other fighting. 0:04:01.844,0:04:05.284 Yugoslavia suffered almost half a million[br]military deaths. 0:04:05.284,0:04:08.384 The initial invasion brought relatively[br]few casualties on both sides, 0:04:08.384,0:04:11.064 but the deaths mounted[br]under Nazi occupation 0:04:11.064,0:04:15.064 due to gorilla fighting, civil conflict,[br]and mass executions. 0:04:17.959,0:04:21.959 The Nazi invasions were swift with[br]relatively few German losses. 0:04:21.959,0:04:25.960 Even the Nazi commanders expressed[br]surprise at their success. 0:04:26.808,0:04:30.048 And then we have United Kingdom[br]and the United States, 0:04:30.048,0:04:33.718 who were not invaded, but took the fight[br]to the Germans. 0:04:33.910,0:04:36.090 Britain lost about the same number[br]of soldiers as the US, 0:04:36.090,0:04:38.540 which includes the British colonies. 0:04:38.540,0:04:41.540 Germany lost about half a million soldiers[br]fighting the U.S. and Britain 0:04:41.540,0:04:45.540 in what known as the Western front,[br]which took place in France and Belgium. 0:04:51.843,0:04:55.523 But most German soldiers died[br]in the Eastern Front 0:04:55.523,0:04:59.153 Germany's unsuccessful invasion[br]of the Soviet Union. 0:04:59.153,0:05:02.653 The numbers are staggering. 0:05:04.129,0:05:07.109 The most famous battle of the Eastern[br]Front, and perhaps THE turning point 0:05:07.109,0:05:09.759 of the European war was Stalingrad. 0:05:09.759,0:05:12.839 The German 6th Army successfully took[br]Stalingrad, but then got surrounded 0:05:12.839,0:05:16.039 by the Soviets and cut off from food[br]and ammunition. 0:05:16.049,0:05:19.639 Half a million German soldiers would[br]ultimately die in Stalingrad. 0:05:20.189,0:05:24.189 Another 100,000 were taken prisoner,[br]of which 6,000 would ever return. 0:05:26.403,0:05:30.403 POWs had a low survival rate throughout[br]WW2, and it was particular grim in East. 0:05:33.268,0:05:37.268 When you include these POWs, roughly[br]the same number of Germans died in 0:05:37.268,0:05:41.268 Stalingrad as the all the Western front[br]fighting France, the UK, and the US. 0:05:42.391,0:05:45.481 Though Stalingrad was a victory[br]for the Soviets, 0:05:45.481,0:05:49.481 they suffered more losses than Germany. 0:05:54.867,0:05:58.867 The Soviet Union would eventually defeat[br]the once unstoppable German army, 0:05:58.867,0:06:02.647 killing 2.3 million German soldiers. 0:06:05.062,0:06:09.062 But winning the war came at a cost. 0:06:47.528,0:06:53.224 8.7 million is the official tally by the[br]Russian military, a hotly disputed number. 0:06:53.224,0:06:56.915 Some studies have calculated as many[br]as 14 million dead. 0:06:59.202,0:07:02.706 To complete the count of European[br]military deaths, 0:07:02.706,0:07:06.546 we need to add German deaths from other[br]fronts, including the North and Africa, 0:07:06.546,0:07:09.576 as well as deaths from the other axis[br]powers allied with Nazis - 0:07:09.586,0:07:12.629 Hungary, Romania, and Italy. 0:07:14.838,0:07:18.008 When you put these European military[br]deaths on the timeline, 0:07:18.008,0:07:21.141 it looks something like this. 0:07:21.141,0:07:24.191 You can now interact with the chart[br]to learn more. 0:07:24.191,0:07:27.441 Pause the narration if you would like[br]more time. 0:07:32.617,0:07:36.617 Now we'll switch over to civilian deaths[br]in Europe. 0:07:44.327,0:07:48.327 6 Million Jewish people were killed[br]in the holocaust. 0:07:50.652,0:07:54.652 If you separate this by country you see[br]about half, 2.7 million, were polish. 0:07:55.700,0:07:59.700 700,000 were Soviets, Followed by Hungary[br]and 17 other countries. 0:08:06.658,0:08:09.638 Broken down another way,[br]about half of the 6 million 0:08:09.638,0:08:13.188 were killed in the concentration camps. 0:08:13.188,0:08:17.188 Over a million died in Auschwitz. Most[br]were killed in the gas chambers. 0:08:17.214,0:08:21.214 Others died from starvation, exhaustion,[br]disease, and other forms of execution. 0:08:25.123,0:08:29.123 The second most deadly camp was Treblinka,[br]which was exclusively an extermination camp, 0:08:29.123,0:08:32.342 set up to look like a train station. 0:08:33.683,0:08:37.683 Mobile killing groups killed[br]1.4 million Jews. 0:08:41.096,0:08:45.096 Like with the gas chambers, men were[br]killed first to reduce the risk of revolt. 0:09:05.960,0:09:09.960 The Holocaust also included[br]non-Jewish deaths. 0:09:09.992,0:09:13.992 Between 130,000 to 500,000 Roma,[br]then called “Gypsies,” were killed. 0:09:13.992,0:09:17.562 The numbers are disputed. 0:09:17.562,0:09:20.902 About a quarter million people with[br]disabilities were killed. 0:09:20.902,0:09:24.152 Homosexuals, Catholics, and other groups[br]were also exterminated, 0:09:24.152,0:09:26.822 but their numbers were relatively small. 0:09:26.822,0:09:30.032 Some historians say that other civilian[br]deaths should go under the label Holocaust. 0:09:30.032,0:09:34.032 Another 2 million non-Jewish Poles were[br]killed under German occupation, 0:09:34.032,0:09:38.032 some of which were sent to the[br]gas chambers at Auschwitz. 0:09:38.032,0:09:42.032 When you combine civilian and military[br]deaths, over 16% the of total 0:09:42.032,0:09:46.032 Polish population died in World War 2,[br]the highest percentage of any country. 0:09:46.835,0:09:50.835 But not the highest in total death count.[br]Soviet Union again tops that list, 0:09:50.835,0:09:54.385 losing at least as many civilians[br]as it did soldiers. 0:09:54.385,0:09:57.645 Somewhere between 10 and 20 million. 0:09:58.184,0:10:01.364 A particularly dark event for the[br]Soviet Union was the Siege of Leningrad, 0:10:01.364,0:10:03.524 now Saint Petersburg. 0:10:03.524,0:10:06.844 German forces surrounded Leningrad before[br]civilians could be evacuated. 0:10:06.844,0:10:10.844 Supplies, including food, were cut off for[br]2 and a half years. 0:10:12.700,0:10:17.410 1.5 million people died as a result,[br]mostly from starvation, mostly civilians. 0:10:21.545,0:10:25.545 Stalin's cruelty towards his own people is[br]partly responsible for these numbers. 0:10:25.545,0:10:28.515 He often didn't allow civilians[br]to evacuate from cities, 0:10:28.515,0:10:32.155 thinking it would cause the soldiers[br]protecting them to fight harder. 0:10:32.155,0:10:36.155 About a million soviets died in Stalin's[br]own labor camps called the Gulag. 0:10:37.021,0:10:40.461 Just about every country suffered[br]civilian losses, 0:10:40.461,0:10:43.791 especially countries who were invaded. 0:10:43.791,0:10:47.431 While many died as a result of so-called[br]collateral damage, 0:10:47.431,0:10:50.261 the biggest numbers occurred when[br]it was no accident. 0:10:50.261,0:10:53.801 Civilian were exterminated, purposefully[br]fired upon or bombed, 0:10:53.801,0:10:57.571 used a human shields, or intentionally[br]deprived of food. 0:10:57.571,0:11:01.281 The intentional killing of civilians was[br]done by most warring parties, 0:11:01.281,0:11:04.631 including the United Kingdom and[br]the United Stated. 0:11:04.631,0:11:08.861 The United Kingdom was spared of a land[br]invasion, but still lost 60,000 civilians 0:11:08.861,0:11:12.741 largely from German air raids, or blitzes,[br]often directed at civilian populations. 0:11:13.433,0:11:17.433 The UK did the same to German cities,[br]at a much greater magnitude, 0:11:17.433,0:11:21.163 causing about 10x the number of deaths. 0:11:21.163,0:11:25.163 But most German civilian deaths came from[br]the ground at the late stage of the war. 0:11:25.163,0:11:29.163 When the Nazi regime collapsed, Germans[br]living in occupied regions 0:11:29.163,0:11:32.833 had to desperately flee from the advancing[br]Soviet Army. 0:11:32.833,0:11:36.833 Rapes were widespread, and death estimates[br]range from 600,000 to 3 million. 0:11:41.943,0:11:45.943 Let's step back and see where we are[br]with the totals. 0:11:46.837,0:11:50.837 We just counted about 20 million civilian[br]deaths in Europe. 0:11:50.837,0:11:54.837 If you add this to the the European[br]military deaths that we already covered, 0:11:54.837,0:11:58.497 it brings us to over 40 million. 0:12:00.026,0:12:03.036 Then we have the Asian Theater. 0:12:03.036,0:12:06.356 Here we see that the vast majority of[br]military deaths in Asia 0:12:06.356,0:12:09.396 came from China and Japan. 0:12:09.396,0:12:12.936 On the civilian side, about 6 million[br]deaths from China, Indonesia, Korea, 0:12:12.936,0:12:16.646 Indochina, and the Philippines can be[br]attributed to Japanese war crimes, 0:12:16.646,0:12:19.926 which are sometimes compared to [br]the Nazi atrocities, 0:12:19.926,0:12:23.246 due to the sheer scale of the cruelty. 0:12:23.246,0:12:26.616 China had the second highest death count[br]after the Soviet Union. 0:12:26.616,0:12:30.066 And like the Soviets, the Chinese[br]government demonstrated a stunning 0:12:30.066,0:12:33.266 willingness to sacrifice its own people. 0:12:33.266,0:12:36.416 Chinese Nationalists opened the dikes of[br]the yellow river 0:12:36.416,0:12:39.036 hoping the flood would halt the Japanese[br]advance. 0:12:39.036,0:12:42.176 Half a million Chinese civilians, or more,[br]were killed. 0:12:42.176,0:12:46.176 Which is 2 or 3 times the number who died[br]in all countries in the 2004 Asian tsunamis. 0:12:49.492,0:12:53.492 But the invasion of China only cost Japan[br]200,000 soldiers. 0:12:53.492,0:12:57.492 Most were killed fighting the US, China[br]and other allies in the Pacific War. 0:12:59.890,0:13:03.520 A significant portion of Japanese[br]civilians deaths were caused by 0:13:03.520,0:13:06.810 American firebombing and the[br]two nuclear attacks. 0:13:06.810,0:13:10.430 Contrary to official U.S. statements,[br]these airstrikes were directed at 0:13:10.430,0:13:14.130 civilian populations,not military targets. 0:13:14.130,0:13:17.610 When you add all the deaths[br]outside of Europe, 0:13:17.610,0:13:21.220 it brings us a grand total of 70 million[br]for the war - give or take, 0:13:21.220,0:13:25.220 depending on who's counting, and what[br]civilian deaths get included. 0:13:26.782,0:13:30.782 More people died in World War 2 than[br]in any other war in history. 0:13:30.782,0:13:34.782 For comparison, here are 20 or so of the [br]very worst wars and atrocities 0:13:34.782,0:13:38.782 we have on record. Some of these are[br]more of atrocities than wars, 0:13:38.782,0:13:42.782 but we've seen how that distinction[br]can get blurry. 0:13:42.782,0:13:46.782 Some of these spanned across centuries. [br]World War 2 has the highest body count, 0:13:46.782,0:13:50.782 and it all happened in just 6 years. 0:13:52.856,0:13:55.946 The world's population has[br]grown significantly 0:13:55.946,0:13:58.936 since the earliest atrocities[br]on this list. 0:13:58.936,0:14:02.516 If we want to compare them in terms what[br]percentage of the world died, 0:14:02.516,0:14:04.906 we can adjust the chart like this. 0:14:04.906,0:14:08.906 This rough approximation tells us that[br]there may have been more devastating wars 0:14:08.906,0:14:12.396 before WW2, proportionally speaking. 0:14:24.431,0:14:28.431 When we turn to post-war conflicts, it's hard[br]to say anything that isn't controversial. 0:14:29.932,0:14:33.932 But the data shows something quite[br]extraordinary has been happening. 0:14:36.969,0:14:40.599 In 1989 John Gaddis coined the phrase[br]the Long Peace, 0:14:40.599,0:14:44.599 to identify the absence of conflict between[br]the nuclear powers during the cold war. 0:14:45.290,0:14:49.290 25 year later, the cold war is over,[br]and the term still being used, 0:14:50.355,0:14:54.355 although its meaning may have shifted. 0:14:55.150,0:14:59.150 European counties have not fought each[br]other except for this 10 day war in 1956 0:14:59.150,0:15:03.150 when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary. 0:15:03.215,0:15:07.215 When we look at European wars[br]before WW2 it looks like this - 0:15:07.215,0:15:11.215 they tend to be more frequent as you[br]go back, though smaller in scale. 0:15:11.235,0:15:15.235 And, the largest 44 economies of the world[br]have not battled each other since WWII 0:15:16.411,0:15:20.411 Rich countries have fought poorer[br]countries, like U.S vs Iraq, 0:15:21.418,0:15:24.818 but rich countries have not fought[br]other rich countries. 0:15:24.818,0:15:27.948 Such a period of peace between the[br]so-called great powers 0:15:27.948,0:15:31.358 hasn't been seen since the Roman Empire. 0:15:31.358,0:15:34.608 Too many, peace is too strong of a word. 0:15:34.608,0:15:37.858 Wars have occurred since World War 2,[br]and they can be grouped 0:15:37.858,0:15:40.258 into these 4 categories. 0:15:40.258,0:15:43.298 We don't see colonial wars any more. 0:15:43.298,0:15:46.288 We've already noted that interstate wars[br]between rich counties have not occurred 0:15:46.288,0:15:49.818 at all, and here we see wars involving[br]smaller economies have tapered off. 0:15:49.818,0:15:53.818 That leaves civil wars, of 2 types, with[br]and without foreign intervention. 0:15:55.024,0:15:58.804 This is what these battle deaths look like[br]along side of WW2. 0:15:58.804,0:16:02.804 More people died fighting in World War II[br]than in all the wars since. 0:16:03.369,0:16:06.789 And again we can't forget about[br]world population 0:16:06.789,0:16:09.779 which has almost tripled since[br]World War II. 0:16:09.779,0:16:13.269 If we scale these number to show deaths[br]in proportion to world population - 0:16:13.269,0:16:16.769 showing the likelihood that a person[br]on earth dies in battle, 0:16:16.769,0:16:20.149 the downward trend becomes even[br]more pronounced. 0:16:20.149,0:16:23.719 This isn't to infer anything about why[br]this trend is occurring - 0:16:23.719,0:16:26.809 that's a discussion for another day. 0:16:26.809,0:16:30.289 You can now interact with this chart to[br]explore what conflicts are behind the totals. 0:16:30.289,0:16:34.019 Bear in mind that we're just looking at[br]battle deaths here, not civilian deaths. 0:16:34.019,0:16:36.449 But those too are in decline. 0:16:36.449,0:16:40.449 Peace is a difficult thing to measure.[br]It's a bit like counting the people 0:16:40.449,0:16:44.109 who didn't die in wars that[br]never happened. 0:16:44.109,0:16:47.599 We give such importance to[br]the word peace, 0:16:47.599,0:16:50.979 but we don't tend to notice it[br]when it occurs. 0:16:50.979,0:16:54.979 Or report on it. Sometimes it takes[br]reminding ourselves of how terrible war 0:16:54.979,0:16:58.799 once was to see the peace that has been[br]growing around us. 0:16:58.799,0:17:02.799 Of course this trend may not continue. 0:17:02.799,0:17:06.799 And it's not clear how looking at these[br]charts can help us 0:17:06.799,0:17:10.799 make the right decisions[br]to ensure that it does. 0:17:11.779,0:17:14.949 But the longer the long peace grows, 0:17:14.949,0:17:17.969 the more significant it becomes. 0:17:17.969,0:17:21.079 So if watching the news doesn't make[br]us feel hopeful 0:17:21.079,0:17:24.378 about where things are heading, 0:17:24.378,0:17:28.378 watching the numbers might. 0:17:53.123,0:17:57.123 If you would like to support this project,[br]and encourage new episodes, 0:17:57.123,0:18:00.643 please follow us using one of[br]the options below, 0:18:00.643,0:18:04.303 and consider paying the suggested ticket[br]price for today's show. 0:18:04.303,0:18:08.303 Thank you very much.