Scale of deaths and civilian targeting

Summary

World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing approximately 60–75 million deaths among military personnel and civilians. Civilians constituted the majority of those killed, with deaths resulting from combat, massacres, starvation, disease, forced displacement, and genocides, most notably the Holocaust. The war’s global scale and emphasis on total war blurred the distinction between military and civilian targets. Civilian populations were deliberately targeted or exposed to extreme violence across multiple theatres. Examples included the Nanjing Massacre, Japanese bombing of Chinese cities, the Three Alls scorched-earth policy in occupied China, the siege of Leningrad, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These actions demonstrate how occupation, racial ideology, strategic bombing, blockade, starvation, and genocide made civilians central victims of the conflict.

Key Points

• 1

  An estimated 60–75 million people died in World War II, and most of the victims were civilians.

• 2

  Civilians died through massacres, starvation, disease, genocide, occupation policies, and large-scale bombardment.

• 3

  The Holocaust and other genocidal campaigns were major causes of civilian deaths.

• 4

  Examples of civilian targeting included the Nanjing Massacre, attacks on Chinese cities, the Three Alls policy, the siege of Leningrad, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.