Wars have decimated populations throughout history. The total number of Americans who have died in wars is estimated to be 1,314,000. The Civil War (1861–65) claimed the most (623,026), with World War II (1941–45) the second highest (407,316). World War I (1917–18) claimed 116,708, while the Vietnamese War (1964–1973) recorded 58,169 deaths; in the Korean War (1950–53) the death toll reached 36,914. These numbers do not include those who were injured.
Worldwide, Eleven million died during World War I. Fifty-five million people died as a result of World War II. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the world population at the time of World War II was 2.3 billion people. According to these figures, 2.4 per cent of the world’s population died during that war. With the exception of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, these wars were fought with conventional weapons.
The death statistics do not reflect the millions of non-fatal injuries incurred by populations during these wars, nor does it reflect the miserable living conditions under which the survivors had to live.
To date, smaller regional conflicts have continued to be fought with conventional weapons. However, when rouge states have access to NBC weapons, their use in these regional conflicts seems inevitable.
