Most lethal battles in world history

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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.

1 Classical formation battles
2 Sieges and urban combat
3 Major operations
4 Notes

[edit] Classical formation battles

These refer to battles of the old era, where armies met on a single field of battle and fought. In most cases these lasted one day or up 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.^{[citation needed]}

Battle	Conflict	Casualties	Year
Battle of Salsu	Goguryeo-Sui Wars	0,153,000 300,000 casualties	#612
Battle of Fei River	Former Qin-Eastern Jin wars, Sixteen Kingdoms	0,200,000 200,000+ killed	#0383
Battle of Granada	Reconquista	0,153,000 153,000 casualties	#1492
Battle of Vercellae	Cimbrian War	0,140,000 140,000 killed	!9898 101 BC
Battle of Aphek	Kingdom of Israel-Aram Damascus wars	0,127,000 127,000 killed ^[1]	!9153 c. 846 BC
Battle of Red Cliffs	Three Kingdoms	0,120,000 120,000-300,000+ killed	#0208
Battle of Kōan	Mongol invasions of Japan	0,120,000 120,000 killed	#1281
Battle of Arausio	Cimbrian War	0,115,000 115,000 killed	!9894 105 BC
Battle of Plataea	Greco-Persian Wars	0,110,000 110,000+ killed	!9520 479 BC
Battle of Ilipa	Second Punic War	0,100,000 ~100,000 killed	!9793 206 BC
Battle of Pliska	Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars	0,100,000 ~100,000 killed	#0811
Battle of Aquae Sextiae	Cimbrian War	0,091,000 91,000 killed	!9897 102 BC
Battle of Anchialus	Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars	0,090,000 90,000 killed	#0917
Battle of Borodino	Napoleonic Wars	0,080,000 80,000–120,000 killed	#1812
Battle of Gaugamela	Wars of Alexander the Great	0,080,000 80,000-84,000 killed	!9668 331 BC
Battle of Watling Street	Boudica's Uprising	0,080,000 80,000 killed	#0061
Battle of Beresteczko	Khmelnytsky Uprising	0,080,000 80,000 killed	#1651
Battle of Guandu	Three Kingdoms	0,080,000 80,000+ casualties	#0200
Third battle of Panipat	Imperial Maratha Conquests	0,075,000 75,000 casualties	#1761
Battle of Wagram	Napoleonic Wars	0,074,000 74,000 casualties	#1809
Battle of az-Zallaqah	Reconquista	0,070,000 ~70,000 killed	#1086
Battle of Cannae	Second Punic War	0,067,000 67,000–70,000+ killed	!9783 216 BC
Battle of Heunghwajin	Third Goryeo-Khitan War	0,060,000 60,000–70,000+ killed	#1018
Battle of Jena-Auerstadt	Napoleonic Wars	0,050,000 50,000 killed	#1806
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa	Reconquista	0,050,000 50,000 killed	#1212
Battle of Dresden	Napoleonic Wars	0,050,000 50,000 killed	#1813
Battle of Kosovo Polje	Ottoman-Serbian conflict in 1389	0,050,000 ~50,000 killed	#1389
Battle of "The Saw"	Mercenary War	0,045,000 45,000+ killed	!9760 239 BC
Battle of Lützen	Napoleonic Wars	0,045,000 ~45,000 killed	#1813
Battle of Aspern-Essling	Napoleonic Wars	0,045,000 ~45,000 casualties	#1809
Battle of Telamon	Roman-Gaulish Wars	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	!9775 224 BC
Battle of Legnica	Mongol invasions in Poland	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	#1241
Battle of Vaslui	Moldavian-Ottoman Wars	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	#1475
Battle of Manzikert	Byzantine-Seljuk wars	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	#1071
Battle of Sekigahara	Sengoku period of Japan	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	#1600
Battle of Alesia	Gallic Wars	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	!9947 52 BC
Battle of Lepanto	Ottoman wars in Europe	0,040,000 40,000 killed	#1571
Battle of Bautzen	Napoleonic Wars	0,040,000 ~40,000 killed	#1813
Battle of Kulikovo	Mongol Invasion of Rus	0,040,000 ~40,000 casualties	#1380
Battle of Malplaquet	War of the Spanish Succession	0,037,000 37,000 killed or wounded	#1709
Battle of Seneffe	Franco-Dutch War	0,035,000 ~35,000 casualties	#1674
Battle of Blenheim	War of the Spanish Succession	0,032,000 32,000 killed, drowned or wounded	#1704
Battle of Crecy	Hundred Year's War	0,031,000 31,000 dead or wounded	#1346
Battle of Hattin	Crusades	0,030,000 30,000+ killed	#1187
Battle of Chalons	Wars of Attila	0,030,000 30,000+ killed	#0451
Battle of Königgrätz	Austro-Prussian War	0,030,000 30,000–35,000 killed or wounded	#1866
Battle of Prague	Seven Years' War	0,030,000 30,000 killed	#1757
Battle of Mars-la-Tour	Franco-Prussian War	0,029,000 29,000 casualties	#1870
Battle of Montgisard	Crusades	0,027,000 28,100 killed	#1177
Battle of Friedland	Napoleonic Wars	0,028,000 28,000 casualties	#1807
Battle of Gravelotte	Franco-Prussian War	0,028,000 28,000 casualties	#1870
Battle of Sedan	Franco-Prussian War	0,025,000 25,000 killed and wounded	#1870
Battle of Adrianople	The Gothic War	0,025,000 ~10-25,000 killed	#0378
Battle of Trebia	Second Punic War	0,025,000 ~25,000 casualties	!9781 218 BC
Battle of Mohács	Ottoman wars in Europe	0,024,000 24,000-30,000 killed	#1526
Battle of Denain	War of the Spanish Succession	0,023,000 23,000+ killed	#1712
Battle of Waterloo	Napoleonic Wars	0,022,000 22,000 killed	#1815
Battle of Zama	Second Punic War	0,021,500 21,500 killed	!9797 202 BC
Battle of Versinikia	Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars	0,020,000 20,000–45,000+ killed	#0813
Battle of Thermopylae	Persian Wars	0,020,000 20,000–40,000+ killed	!9519 480 BC
Battle of Towton	Wars of the Roses	0,020,000 20,000–30,000 killed	#1461
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest	Germanic Wars	0,020,000 20,000–25,000+ killed	#0009
Battle of Carrhae	Roman-Persian Wars	0,020,000 20,000+ killed	!9946 53 BC
Battle of the Bosnian Highlands	Croatian-Bulgarian War of 927	0,020,000 20,000+ killed	#0927
Battle of Sluys	Hundred Years War	0,020,000 20,000+ killed	#1340
Battle of the Kalka River	Mongol Invasion of Rus	0,020,000 ~20,000 killed	#1223
Battle of Ulm	Napoleonic Wars	0,018,000 18,000 killed	#1805
Battle of Salamanca	Napoleonic Wars	0,018,000 18,000 casualties	#1812
Battle of Oudenarde	War of the Spanish Succession	0,018,000 18,000 casualties	#1708
Battle of the Hydaspes River	Wars of Alexander the Great	0,016,680 16,680 killed	!9673 326 BC
Battle of Lake Trasimene	Second Punic War	0,016,500 16,500 killed	!9782 217 BC
Battle of Austerlitz	Napoleonic Wars	0,016,000 16,000 killed or wounded	#1805
Battle of Ramillies	War of the Spanish Succession	0,015,500 15,500+ killed	#1706
Battle of Narva	Great Northern War	0,015,000 15,000 killed	#1700
Battle of Fontenoy	War of the Austrian Succession	0,015,000 15,000 killed	#1745
Battle of Assaye	Second Maratha War	0,013,000 13,000 killed	#1803
Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)	Thirty Years' War	0,013,000 13,000 killed	#1631
Battle of Hohenfriedberg	War of the Austrian Succession	0,013,000 13,000 casualties	#1745
Battle of Custoza	Austro-Prussian War	0,013,000 13,000 casualties	#1866
Battle of Vitoria	Napoleonic Wars	0,012,500 12,500 casualties	#1813
Battle of Tours	Muslim Conquests	0,012,000 ~12,000 killed	#0732
Battle of Pultusk	Napoleonic Wars	0,012,000 12,000 casualties	#1806
Battle of Flodden Field	War of the League of Cambrai	0,011,500 11,500 killed	#1513
Battle of Grunwald or Battle of Tannenberg	Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War	0,010,000 10,000–15,000 killed	#1410
Battle of Ascalon	First Crusade	0,010,000 10,000–12,000 killed	#1099
Battle of Villiers	Franco-Prussian War	0,010,000 10,000–12,000 killed	#1870
Battle of Issus	Wars of Alexander the Great	0,010,500 10,500+ killed	!9666 333 BC
Battle of Mons Graupius	Roman Conquest of Britain	0,010,500 10,500+ killed	#0083
Battle of Omdurman	The Mahdist War	0,010,000 10,000 killed	#1898
Battle of Schellenberg	War of the Spanish Succession	0,010,000 10,000 killed or drowned	#1704
Battle of Rocroi	Thirty Years' War	0,009,500 9,500 killed	#1643
Battle of Lund	Scanian War	0,009,000 9,000 killed	#1676
Battle of Kesselsdorf	War of the Austrian Succession	0,009,000 9,000 killed	#1745
Battle of Gettysburg	American Civil War	0,008,000 8,000 killed	#1863
Battle of Cynoscephalae	Second Macedonian War	0,008,000 ~8,000 killed	!9802 197 BC
Battle of Isandlwana	Anglo-Zulu War	0,007,300 7,300 killed	#1879
Battle of Tuyutí	War of the Triple Alliance	0,007,000 7,000 casualties	#1866
Battle of Dettingen	War of the Austrian Succession	0,006,500 6,500 casualties	#1743

[edit] 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.

Siege	Conflict	Casualties	Year
Battle of Stalingrad	Eastern Front, World War II	1,530,000 1,530,000+ killed or wounded	#1942-43
Siege of Leningrad	Eastern Front, World War II	1,500,000 1,500,000 killed	#1941-44
Siege of Betar	Bar Kokhba's revolt	0,500,000 500,000 casualties	#0135
Warsaw Uprising	World War II	0,250,000 250,000+ killed	#1944
Battle of Berlin	Eastern Front, World War II	0,230,000 230,000+ killed	#1945
Siege of Tenochtitlan	Spanish Conquest of Mexico	0,220,000 220,000+ killed	#1521
Battle of Shanghai	Second Sino-Japanese War	0,200,000 200,000+ killed	#1937
Battle of Budapest	Eastern Front, World War II	0,158,000 158,000-350,000 killed (inc. civilians)	#1944-45
Battle of Alesia	Gallic Wars	0,150,000 150,000–200,000 killed	!9947 52 BC
Battle of Baghdad	Mongol invasions	0,140,000 140,000–1,000,000 killed (inc. civilians)	#1258
Battle of Manila	Pacific War, World War II	0,120,000 120,000 killed	#1945
Occupation of Izmir	Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)	0,100,000 100,000 killed	#1919-22
Third Battle of Nanking	Taiping Rebellion	0,100,000 100,000 killed	#1864
Fall of Constantinople	Ottoman-Byzantine conflict in 1453	0,090,000 90,000 killed	#1453
Siege of Carthage	Third Punic War	0,079,000 79,000 casualties	!9850 149 BC
Siege of Sevastopol	Crimean War	0,070,000 70,000 killed	#1854-55
Siege of Jerusalem (70)	First Jewish-Roman War	0,060,000 60,000–1,100,000 killed or wounded (inc. civilians)	#0070
Second Siege of Jinju	Imjin War	0,060,000 60,000+ killed	#1593
Second Siege of Saragossa	Peninsular War	0,050,000 50,000+ killed	#1809
Siege of Pleven	Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78	0,050,000 50,000 killed	#1877-78
Siege of Jerusalem	First Crusade	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	#1099
Siege of Kazan	Russo-Kazan Wars	0,040,000 40,000-50,000+ killed	#1552
Siege of Paris	Franco-Prussian War	0,036,000 36,000	#1870-71
Battle of Odessa	Eastern Front, World War II	0,034,307 34,307 killed	#1941
Siege of Szigetvár	Ottoman wars in Europe	0,025,000 25,000+ killed	#1566
Siege of La Rochelle (1572-1573)	French Wars of Religion	0,020,000 20,000+ killed	#1572-1573
Siege of Sarajevo	Bosnian War	0,012,000 12,000 killed (inc. civilians)	#1992-95
Battle of Vukovar	Croatian War of Independence	0,010,000 10,000–15,000 killed (inc. civilians)	#1991

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Major operations

This list includes major operations, i.e. prolonged battles or offensive operations fought over a large area.

Operation	Conflict	Casualties	Year
Brusilov Offensive	Eastern Front, World War I	1,425,000 ~1,425,000 killed or wounded	#1916
Battle of Kursk	Eastern Front, World War II	1,338,000 1,338,000 killed or wounded	#1943
Battle of Moscow	Eastern Front, World War II	0,900,000 900,000+ killed	#1941-42
Battle of Changping	Warring States	0,600,000 600,000+ killed	!9739 260 BC
Battle of Lemberg	Eastern Front, World War I	0,500,000 500,000+ killed	#1914
Operation Barbarossa	Eastern Front, World War II	0,400,000 400,000+ killed	#1941
Operation Bagration	Eastern Front, World War II	0,360,000 360,000 killed	#1944
Battle of Kiev	Eastern Front, World War II	0,313,600 313,600 killed or wounded	#1941
Battle of the Somme	Western Front, World War I	0,310,486 310,486 killed or missing	#1916
Battle of Verdun	Western Front, World War I	0,260,000 260,000 killed	#1916
Battle of Passchendaele	Western Front, World War I	0,225,000 225,000 killed	#1917
Battle of France	Western Front, World War II	0,156,858 156,858 killed or missing	#1940
Battle of Okinawa	Pacific War, World War II	0,125,000 125,000 killed	#1945
Operation Mars	Eastern Front, World War II	0,120,000 ~120,000–270,000 killed	#1942
Battle of Gallipoli	Middle Eastern Theatre, World War I	0,115,000 115,000 killed	#1915-16
First Battle of the Marne	Western Front, World War I	0,100,000 100,000 killed	#1914
Battle of Cambrai	Western Front, World War I	0,100,000 100,000 killed	#1917
Battle of Leipzig	Napoleonic Wars	0,090,000 90,000 killed	#1813
Battle of Poland	World War II	0,083,639 83,639 killed	#1939
Battle of Normandy	Western Front, World War II	0,080,200 80,200 killed	#1944
First Battle of Ypres	World War I	0,060,000 60,000 killed	#1914
Battle of Doiran	World War I	0,055,000 55,000 killed	#1918
Meuse-Argonne Offensive	Western Front, World War I	0,054,000 54,000 killed	#1918
Third Battle of Kharkov	Eastern Front, World War II	0,050,000 50,000 killed	#1943
Battle of Tannenberg	Eastern Front, World War I	0,050,000 ~50,000 killed	#1914
Battle of Greece	Balkans Campaign, World War II	0,040,000 40,000+ killed	#1941
Battle of Ebro	Spanish Civil War	0,036,000 36,000 killed	#1938
Battle of Mukden	Russo-Japanese War	0,036,000 36,000 killed	#1905
Battle of the Bulge	Western Front, World War II	0,035,120 35,120 killed	#1944
Battle of Guadalcanal	Pacific War, World War II	0,035,000 35,000 killed	#1942-43
Second Battle of El Alamein	North African Campaign, World War II	0,030,000 30,000-35,000 killed	#1942
Battle of Suomussalmi	Winter War	0,028,000 28,000 killed	#1939-1940
Battle of Chosin Reservoir	Korean War	0,027,500 27,500 killed	#1950
Battle of Iwo Jima	Pacific War, World War II	0,027,000 27,000 killed	#1945
Operation Desert Storm	Persian Gulf War	0,025,000 25,000-40,000 killed	#1991
Battle of Inchon	Korean War	0,015,000 15,000 killed	#1950
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas	Second Balkan War	0,015,000 15,000 killed	#1913
Battle of Turtucaia	Romanian Campaign, World War I	0,014,000 14,000 killed	#1916
Battle of Leyte Gulf	Pacific War, World War II	0,013,500 13,500 killed	#1944
Battle of Dien Bien Phu	First Indochina War	0,010,000 10,000–15,000 killed	#1954

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Notes

^ Biblical battle accounted in 1 Kings 20:26ff: Israelite king Ahab defeated Ben-Hadad, king of Aram-Damascus, in Aphek. The Biblical figures account for the Aramaic casualties only, and nothing is told about the number of killed in the Israelite side. In any case, the Bible is not a reliable historical source, and figures are probably exaggerated.