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Elsewhere, I defined the Hemoclysm as that string of interconnected barbarities which made the Twentieth Century so fascinating for historians and so miserable for real people. Here, I have listed the sources for determing the body count for the biggest of these, the events that probably killed more than 5 million apiece.

Congo Free State (1886-1908): 8,000,000 [ make link ]

Roger Casement's original 1904 report estimated that as many as 3 million Congolese had died of disease, torture or shooting since 1888 (cited in Gilbert's History of the Twentieth Century ; also in Colin Legum, Congo Disaster (1972)).

; also in Colin Legum, (1972)). E.D. Morel estimated that the Congo’s population began with an original 20 or 30 million, and bottomed out at a mere 8 million. Morel, The Black Man's Burden, 1920, Chapter 9 ("[W]hen the country had been explored in every direction by travellers of divers nationalities, estimates varied between twenty and thirty millions. No estimate fell below twenty millions. In 1911 an official census was taken. It was not published in Belgium, but was reported in one of the British Consular dispatches. It revealed that only eight and a half million people were left."). This estimate also appears in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, "Congo Free State," v.3, p.535 Bertrand Russell, Freedom and organization 1814-1914 (first published, George Allen & 1934) p.453 in the 2001 Routledge ed., citing Sir H. H. Johnston, The Colonization of Africa (Cambridge Historical Series) p. 352 Fredric Wertham A Sign For Cain : A Exploration of Human Violence (1966): the population of the Congo dropped dropped from 30M to 8.5M, a loss of 21.5 million

Peter Forbath, The River Congo (1977) p.375: "at least 5 million people were killed in the Congo."

(1977) p.375: "at least 5 million people were killed in the Congo." John Gunther ( Inside Africa (1953)): 5-8 million deaths.

(1953)): 5-8 million deaths. Adam Hochschild ( Leopold's Ghost , (1998)): 10 million, or half the original population.

, (1998)): 10 million, or half the original population. Rummel: 2,150,000 democides, 19th Century (based on 10% of Wertham) 25,000 democides, 1900-1910.

AVERAGE: Median: ca. 8M Mean: ca. 8.5M

NOTE: Because this event began in 1886, it tend to get relegated to the 19th Century; however, 40% of it occured in the 20th Century, so we need to keep this in mind when splitting the death toll into century-based subtotals. Also, it took awhile for the atrocities to get up to speed, so the dying probably intensified as more time passed.

First World War (1914-18): 15,000,000 [ make link ]

WW1 Soldiers

This is the only major bloodletting which has pretty much the same body count no matter which source I check: 8,500,000 military deaths. It all goes back to a report issued by the U.S. War Dept. in Feb. 1924, amended by the Statistical Services Center, Office of the Secretary of Defense on 7 Nov. 1957, which everyone ("everyone" = Brzezinski, Britannica , Norman Davies, Encarta , Gilbert, Hammond, Small & Singer, Wallechinsky) more or less agrees with. Among my major sources, only Eckhardt and Urlanis diverge from the mainstream. In The Defeat of Imperial Germany 1917-1918 , Rod Paschall cites a study by Arthur Banks. I've also consulted John Ellis & Michael Cox, The World War I Databook ("E&C"): Austria-Hungary: 1,100,000 (Urlanis); 1,200,000 (everyone, Paschall); 2,300,000 (Eckhardt) E&C cite two different tables in the Austrian Official History, giving total killed as either 1,016,200 k. or 539,630 k. Neither includes 478,000 who died as POWs. Belgium: 13,716 (Britannica, Compton's, Daivies, Hammond, Tucker); 38,000 (Urlanis); 87,500 (S&S -- although it seems to me that they have confused "Belg." with "Bulg."; see 2 lines down.); 88,000 (Eckhardt) Britain & Empire: 908,371 (everyone); 997,000 (Paschall) Africans: 38,723 laborers and porters died in hospital in East Africa 1917-18 (E&C) Australia: 53,560 KIA + 6,300 other deaths = 59,860 (E&C); 60,000 (Eckhardt; Urlanis); 61,720 (AWM) Canada: 55,000 (Eckhardt); 61,000 (Urlanis); 58,990 KIA + 3,830 other deaths = 62,820 (E&C) India: 25,000 (Eckhardt); 54,000 (Urlanis) New Zealand: 16,000 (Eckhardt; Urlanis); 16,710 (E&C) UK: 702,410 (E&C); 715,000 (Urlanis); 1,000,000 (Eckhardt) South Africa: 7,000 (Urlanis); 7,120 (E&C: whites only) Bulgaria: 14,000 (S&S-c.f. Belgium); 28,000 (Eckhardt); 75,844 (Tucker); 87,500 (Britannica, Davies, Compton's); 88,000 (Urlanis); 90,000 (Hammond); 95,000 (Paschall); 77,450 KIA + >24,500 other deaths = 101,950 (E&C) France & Empire: 1,327,000 (Urlanis); 1,357,800 (everyone); 1,385,300 (E&C); 1,390,000 (Paschall); 1,630,000 (Eckhardt) French Colonies: 58,000 (E&C); 114,000 (Urlanis) Germany: 1,773,700 (everyone); 1,850,000 (Paschall); 2,037,000 (E&C, Urlanis); 2,400,000 (Eckhardt) Africans: 14,000 (E&C) Greece: 5,000 (everyone; Eckhardt, E&C); 26,000 (Urlanis) Italy: 460,000 (Paschall); 462,391 (Tucker); 462,400 (E&C); 578,000 (Urlanis); 600,000 (Hammond); 650,000 (Britannica, Davies, Compton's, S&S); 950,000 (Eckhardt) Japan: 300 (everyone) Montenegro: 3,000 (everyone) Portugal: 7,000 (Urlanis); 7,220 (E&C, incl. 5,550 in Africa); 7,222 (everyone); 13,000 (Eckhardt) Romania: 219,800 (E&C: incl. 70,500 who died as POWs); 250,000 (Urlanis); 340,000 (Paschall); 335,706 (everyone); 375,000 (Eckhardt) Russia: 1,700,000 (everyone, Paschall); 1,800,000 (E&C); 1,811,000 (Urlanis); 2,950,000 (Eckhardt) Serbia: 45,000 (Tucker, Hammond, Britannica, Compton's), 48,000 (S&S), 70,000 (Davies); 127,500 (E&C: incl. sickness); 128,000 (Eckhardt: "Yugoslavia"); 278,000 (Urlanis: "Serbia + Montenegro") Turkey: 236,000 (E&C); 325,000 (everyone); 350,000 (Paschall); 450,000 (Eckhardt); 804,000 (Urlanis) USA: 50,585 (Tucker, Hammond, Britannica); 51,822 (E&C); 53,407 (Compton's); 116,000 (Paschall); 53,402 KIA + 63,114 other deaths = 116,516 (DoD; 1991 Info. Please ); 126,000 (S&S; Eckhardt) TOTAL: 8,364,712 (E&C); 8,500,000 (everyone); 8,513,000 (Paschall); 9,442,000 (Urlanis); 12,599,000 (Eckhardt)

, Norman Davies, , Gilbert, Hammond, Small & Singer, Wallechinsky) more or less agrees with. Among my major sources, only Eckhardt and Urlanis diverge from the mainstream. In , Rod Paschall cites a study by Arthur Banks. I've also consulted John Ellis & Michael Cox, ("E&C"): Individual Battles: 2nd Aisne 2nd Arras Belleau Wood Caporetto Frontiers, Battle of the Gallipoli Jutland Lemberg 1st Marne 2nd Marne Meuse-Argonne Passchendaele Somme Tannenburg Verdun 1st Ypres



WW1 Civilians

Civilian casualty estimates are spread wider, and are usually offered without source or detail. (Some of these civilian estimates may include all or part of the Russian Civil War and Armenian massacres -- it's difficult to decide where WW1 ends and these begin, or whether these are distinct and separate events at all) Brzezinski: 13,000,000 civilians

Britannica : 13,000,000

: 13,000,000 Encyclopedia Americana (2003), "Twentieth Century": 12.5M civilians

(2003), "Twentieth Century": 12.5M civilians Encarta : close to 10,000,000

: close to 10,000,000 Hammond: 9,000,000

Urlanis: 9,000,000 (based on increased mortality during the war years) Russia: 1,500,000 Italy: 1,021,000 Austria-Hungary: 700,000 Germany: 692,000 France: 500,000 Serbia: 450,000 Romania: 430,000 Britain: 292,000 Greece: 150,000 Bulgaria: 100,000 Belgium: 92,000 Turkey: unknown

MEDIAN: 6.6-9.0M

Tucker ( European Powers in the First World War -- the source of the data on my map): 6,642,633 Turkey: 2,150,000 Russia: 2,000,000 Germany: 760,000 Serbia: 650,000 Austria-Hungary: 300,000 Bulgaria: 275,000 Romania: 275,000 Greece: 132,000 France: 40,000 Britain: 30,633 Belgium: 30,000

-- the source of the data on my map): 6,642,633 Dictionary of Military History (1994): 6,600,000

(1994): 6,600,000 Wallechinsky: 6,500,000

Eckhardt: 6,493,000 Nation by nation, Eckhardt and Tucker agree -- with three exceptions: Russia: 3,000,000 Turkey: 1,000,000 UK: 31,000 (Eckhardt explicitly excludes the Armenian massacres and Russian Civil War from these numbers.)

John Ellis & Michael Cox, The World War I Databook : 6,458,886 Turkey: 2,000,000 (mainly Armenian) Russia: 2,000,000 Germany: 700,000 Serbia: 600,000 Romania: 265,000 to 500,000 [=ca. 382,500] Austria-Hungary: 300,000 Bulgaria: 275,000 Greece: 130,000 France: 40,000 Belgium: 30,000 Britain: 1,386 (in air raids)

: 6,458,886 Davies ( Europe A History ): 5,000,000

): 5,000,000 ATROCITIES: Belgian civilians massacred by Germans, Aug. 1914 (John Keegan, The First World War , 1998): 211 at Andenne, 384 at Tamines, 612 at Dinant. McDougall [ http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/heads/footnotes/dirtyhands.html ] Belgian civilians k. by German army: 5,500 Lusitania sunk by Ger.: 1,200 k. Germans d. of starvation under wartime blockade: 763,000 Armenians: 1,000,000+



The big massacres occured in 1915, but there were rumblings before and after: 1909: Rummel: 30,000 Eckhardt: 6,000 1915-18 (generally included in the Death Tolls for World War One) Britannica : 600,000 Dict.Wars: 600,000 died of starvation, disease and exhaustion Steven Katz in Is the Holocaust Unique? (Rosenbaum, ed.): 475,800 - 775,800 Encarta : 800,000 Kuper: 800,000 Sabrina Tavernise, “Nearly a Million Genocide Victims, Covered in a Cloak of Amnesia”, New York Times , March 8, 2009. “According to a long-hidden document that belonged to the interior minister of the Ottoman Empire, 972,000 Ottoman Armenians disappeared from official population records from 1915 through 1916.” [ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/world/europe/09turkey.html ] Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century : 1,000,000 Eckhardt: 1,000,000 civ. Robert Melson in Is the Holocaust Unique? : 1,000,000 Christopher Walker, Armenia : The Survival of a Nation (1980): 1,000,000 (in Turkey, 1915-16), plus an additional 50-100,000 (invasion of the Caucasus, 1918) Alan Palmer, The Decline & Fall of the Ottoman Empire (1992) Official Turkish est.: 300,000 max. Armenian claims: 2M probable: >1,300,000 during war and aftermath Porter: 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 Rummel: 1,404,000 domestic, 83,000 foreign War Annual 8 (1997): 1,500,000 The Turkish Government denies that the Armenians were massacred, and instead, accuses the Armenians of massacring some 23,100 Turks. [ http://www.kultur.gov.tr/portal/default_en.asp?belgeno=3338 ] MEDIAN of these 17 estimates is 1M Individual massacres Trebizond Bitlis 1919-23: C. Walker: 250,000 (in Turkey, 1919-22) Robert Melson in Is the Holocaust Unique? : 500,000 Rummel: 440,000 domestic, 175,000 foreign



Russian Civil War (1917-22): 9,000,000 [ make link ]

Eckhardt: 500,000 civ. + 300,000 mil. = 800,000

Readers Companion to Military History , Cowley and Parker, eds. (1996) [ http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/mil/html/mh_045400_russiancivil.htm ]: Combat deaths: 825,000 Ancillary deaths: 2,000,000 TOTAL: 2,825,000

, Cowley and Parker, eds. (1996) [ ]: Davies, Norman ( Europe A History , 1998) Civil War and Volga Famine (1918-22): 3,000,000 to 5,000,000

, 1998) Brzezinski, Z: 6 to 8 million people died under Lenin from war, famine etc.

Mastering Twentieth Century Russian History by Norman Lowe (2002) TOTAL: 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 Red Army Battle: 632,000 Disease: 581,000 Whites: 1,290,000 battle + disease White Terror: "tens of thousands" Red Terror Executed: 50-200,000 Died in prison or killed in revolts: 400,000 Typhoid + typhus 1919: 890,000 1920: >1M

by Norman Lowe (2002) Urlanis: Military deaths: 800,000 Battle deaths, all sides: 300,000 Dead of wounds: 50,000 Disease: 450,000 Civilians: 8,000,000 TOTAL: 8,800,000

Dyadkin, I.G. (cited in Adler, N., Victims of Soviet Terror , 1993) 9 million unnatural deaths from terror, famine and disease, 1918-23

, 1993) Richard Pipes, A concise history of the Russian Revolution (1995): 9 million deaths, 1917-1922 Famine: 5M Combat: 2M Reds: 1M Whites: 127,000 Epidemics: 2M not incl. Emigration: 2M Birth deficit: 14M

(1995): 9 million deaths, 1917-1922 Rummel: Civil War (1917-22) War: 1,410,000 (includes 500,000 civilian) Famine: 5,000,000 (50% democidal) Other democide: 784,000 Epidemics: 2,300,000 Total: 9,494,000 Lenin's Regime (1917-24) Rummel blames Lenin for a lifetime total of 4,017,000 democides.

Figes, Orlando ( A People's Tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution , 1997) 10 million deaths from war, terror, famine and disease. Including... Famine (1921-22): 5 million Killed in fighting, both military and civilian: 1M Jews killed in pogroms: 150,000 Not including... Demographic effects of a hugely reduced birth-rate: 10M Emmigration: 2M

, 1997) McEvedy, Colin ( Atlas of World Population History , 1978) War deaths: 2M Other excess deaths: 14M Reduced births: 10M Emmigration: 2M

, 1978) MEDIAN: Of these ten estimates that claim to be complete, the median is 8.8M-9.0M.

PARTIALS: Small & Singer (battle deaths, 1917-21) Russian Civil War (Dec.1917-Oct.1920) Russians: 500,000 Allied Intervention: Japan: 1,500 UK: 350 USA: 275 France: 50 Finland: 50 Russian Nationalities War (Dec.1917-Mar.1921) USSR: 50,000 Bruce Lincoln, Red Victory: a History of the Russian Civil War 1918-1921 Death sentences by the Cheka: ca. 100,000 Pogroms: as many as one in 13 Jews k. out of 1.5M in Ukraine [i.e. ca. 115,000] (citing Heifetz) Nevins, citing Heifetz and the Red Cross: 120,000 Jews killed in 1919 pogroms [ http://www.west.net/~jazz/felshtin/redcross.html ] Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997): Cheka responsible for maybe 250,000+ violent deaths. Paul Johnson 50,000 death sentences imposed by the Cheka by 12/20 100,000 Jews killed in 1919 Green, Barbara (in Rosenbaum, Is the Holocaust Unique? ) 4 to 5 million deaths in the famine of 1921-23 Max Boot, The Savage Wars of Peace North Russia: 244 USAns d. incl. 144 k.battle Siberia: 160 USAns KIA + 168 other d. [US Total: 304 KIA + 268 other = 572 d.] Czech Legion: 13,000 dead.



There are basically two schools of thought when it comes to the number who died at Stalin's hands. There's the "Why doesn't anyone realize that communism is the absolutely worst thing ever to hit the human race, without exception, even worse than both world wars, the slave trade and bubonic plague all put together?" school, and there's the "Come on, stop exaggerating. The truth is horrifying enough without you pulling numbers out of thin air" school. The two schools are generally associated with the right and left wings of the political spectrum, and they often accuse each other of being blinded by prejudice, stubbornly refusing to admit the truth, and maybe even having a hidden agenda. Also, both sides claim that recent access to former Soviet archives has proven that their side is right.

Here are a few illustrative estimates from the Big Numbers school: Adler, N., Victims of Soviet Terror , 1993 cites these: Chistyakovoy, V. ( Neva , no.10): 20 million killed during the 1930s. Dyadkin, I.G. ( Demograficheskaya statistika neyestestvennoy smertnosti v SSSR 1918-1956 ): 56 to 62 million "unnatural deaths" for the USSR overall, with 34 to 49 million under Stalin. Gold, John.: 50-60 million. Davies, Norman ( Europe A History , 1998): c. 50 million killed 1924-53, excluding WW2 war losses. This would divide (more or less) into 33M pre-war and 17M after 1939. Solzhenitsyn, Gulag Archipelago , Intro to Perennial Classics Edition by Edward Ericson: Solzhenitsyn publicized an estimate of 60 million. Aleksandr Yakovlev estimates perhaps 35 million. Page 178: citing Kurganov, 66 million lives lost between 1917 and 1959 Rummel, 1990: 61,911,000 democides in the USSR 1917-87, of which 51,755,000 occurred during the Stalin years. This divides up into: 1923-29: 2,200,000 (plus 1M non-democidal famine deaths) 1929-39: 15,785,000 (plus 2M non-democidal famine) 1939-45: 18,157,000 1946-54: 15,613,000 (plus 333,000 non-democidal famine) TOTAL: 51,755,000 democides and 3,333,000 non-demo. famine William Cockerham, Health and Social Change in Russia and Eastern Europe : 50M+ Wallechinsky: 13M (1930-32) + 7M (1934-38) Cited by Wallechinsky: Medvedev, Roy ( Let History Judge ): 40 million. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr: 60 million. MEDIAN: 51 million for the entire Stalin Era; 20M during the 1930s.

And from the Lower Numbers school: Nove, Alec ("Victims of Stalinism: How Many?" in J. Arch Getty (ed.) Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives , 1993): 9,500,000 "surplus deaths" during the 1930s. Cited in Nove: Maksudov, S. ( Poteri naseleniya SSSR , 1989): 9.8 million abnormal deaths between 1926 and 1937. Tsaplin, V.V. ("Statistika zherty naseleniya v 30e gody" 1989): 6,600,000 deaths (hunger, camps and prisons) between the 1926 and 1937 censuses. Dugin, A. ("Stalinizm: legendy i fakty" 1989): 642,980 counterrevolutionaries shot 1921-53. Muskovsky Novosti (4 March 1990): 786,098 state prisoners shot, 1931-53. Gordon, A. ( What Happened in That Time? , 1989, cited in Adler, N., Victims of Soviet Terror , 1993): 8-9 million during the 1930s. Ponton, G. ( The Soviet Era , 1994): cites an 1990 article by Milne, et al., that excess deaths 1926-39 were likely 3.5 million and at most 8 million. MEDIAN: 8.5 Million during the 1930s.

As you can see, there's no easy compromise between the two schools. The Big Numbers are so high that picking the midpoint between the two schools would still give us a Big Number. It may appear to be a rather pointless argument -- whether it's fifteen or fifty million, it's still a huge number of killings -- but keep in mind that the population of the Soviet Union was 164 million in 1937, so the upper estimates accuse Stalin of killing nearly 1 out of every 3 of his people, an extremely Polpotian level of savagery. The lower numbers, on the other hand, leave Stalin with plenty of people still alive to fight off the German invasion.

Although it's too early to be taking sides with absolute certainty, a consensus seems to be forming around a death toll of 20 million. This would adequately account for all documented nastiness without straining credulity: In The Great Terror (1969), Robert Conquest suggested that the overall death toll was 20 million at minimum -- and very likely 50% higher, or 30 million. This would divide roughly as follows: 7M in 1930-36; 3M in 1937-38; 10M in 1939-53. By the time he wrote The Great Terror: A Re-assessment (1992), Conquest was much more confident that 20 million was the likeliest death toll. Britannica , "Stalinism": 20M died in camps, of famine, executions, etc., citing Medvedev Brzezinski: 20-25 million, dividing roughly as follows: 7M destroying the peasantry; 12M in labor camps; 1M excuted during and after WW2. Daniel Chirot: "Lowest credible" estimate: 20M "Highest": 40M Citing: Conquest: 20M Antonov-Ovseyenko: 30M Medvedev: 40M Courtois, Stephane, Black Book of Communism (Le Livre Noir du Communism) : 20M for the whole history of Soviet Union, 1917-91. Essay by Nicolas Werth: 15M [ Ironic observation: The Black Book of Communism seems to vote for Hitler as the answer to the question of who's worse, Hitler (25M) or Stalin (20M). ] John Heidenrich, How to Prevent Genocide: A Guide for Policymakers, Scholars, and the Concerned Citizen (2001): 20M, incl. Kulaks: 7M Gulag: 12M Purge: 1.2M (minus 50,000 survivors) Adam Hochschild, The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin : directly responsible for 20 million deaths. Tina Rosenberg, The Haunted Land: Facing Europes Ghosts After Communism (1995): upwards of 25M Time Magazine (13 April 1998): 15-20 million.

AVERAGE: Of the 17 estimates of the total number of victims of Stalin, the median is 30 million.

Of the 17 estimates of the total number of victims of Stalin, the median is 30 million. Individual Gulags etc. Kolyma Kuropaty Vorkuta Bykivnia

Comments received: Letter #1 Letter #2 Letter #3

Letter #1 Letter #2 Letter #3 Famine of 1926-38, including the Holodomor : [make link] Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997): 4.2M in Ukraine + 1.7M in Kazakhstan Green, Barbara ("Stalinist Terror and the Question of Genocide: the Great Famine" in Rosenbaum, Is the Holocaust Unique? ) cites these sources for the number who died in the famine: Nove: 3.1-3.2M in Ukraine, 1933 Maksudov: 4.4M in Ukraine, 1927-38 Mace: 5-7M in Ukraine Osokin: 3.35M in USSR, 1933 Wheatcraft: 4-5M in USSR, 1932-33 Conquest: Total, USSR, 1926-37: 11M 1932-33: 7M Ukraine: 5M

: [make link]

Second World War (1939-45): 66,000,000 [ make link ]

Total

It's the most intensively studied event of the 20th Century, so the margin of error is not quite a wide here as for most of the other wars and oppressions on this page. Most historians agree that the death toll was about 50 million (including wartime atrocities). If you don't believe me, here's just a sampling of the books I have on hand: Haywood: Atlas of World History (1997): 50M

(1997): 50M Keegan, J., The Second World War (1989): 50M

(1989): 50M Messenger, The Chronological Atlas of World War Two (1989): 50M

(1989): 50M The Times Concise Atlas of World History (1988): 50M

(1988): 50M J.M. Roberts, Twentieth Century (1999): >50M

(1999): >50M Urlanis: 50M Soldiers: 22.0M Civilians In camps, from Fascist terror: 12.0M From hostilites, blockade, epidemics, hunger: 14.5M From bombing: 1.5M

Dictionary of Military History (1994): 41M

(1994): 41M Wallechinsky: 40-55M

Kinder, The Anchor Atlas of World History (1978): 55M

(1978): 55M Hammond: 55M

Guiness World Records: 56.4M [ http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=46252 ]

] Sivard, Ruth Leger, World Military and Social Expenditures 1986 (11th ed.): 38,351,000 (1939-45), not incl. 1.8M in Sino-Japanese War (1937-41)

(11th ed.): 38,351,000 (1939-45), not incl. 1.8M in Sino-Japanese War (1937-41) Brzezinski: Military: 19M Civilians, "actual byproduct of hostilities": 20M Civilians, Sino-Japanese War: 15M Hitler's murders: 17M TOTAL: 71M

Rummel: European War Dead (1939-45): 28,736,000 Sino-Japanese War Dead (1937-45): 7,140,000 War-related Democides Hitler: 20,946,000 Stalin: 13,053,000 Japanese: 5,964,000 Chinese Nationalist: 5,907,000 Allied Bombing: 796,000 Croatian: 655,000 Tito: 600,000 Romanian domestic democide: 484,000 Chinese Communist: 250,000 Hungarian democide in Yugoslavia: 78,000 [TOTAL: 48,733,000] [TOTAL (1937-45): 84,609,000]

My Estimate: 65.6 million

AVERAGE The MEDIAN of these estimates is 50M. If we add up the country-by-country medians (of total death tolls) we get: LEVEL 1: 47.35M USSR: 20.0M China: 10.45M Poland: 5.8M Germany: 5.5M India: 2.15M Japan: 1.9M Yugoslavia: 1.55M LEVEL 2: ca. 3.8M LEVEL 3: ca. 0.25M TOTAL: 51.4M The country-by-country medians for military personnel killed in the war are: USSR: 10.0M Germany: 3.5M China: 2.05M Japan: 1.5M USA: 0.4M Romania: 0.3M Yugoslavia: 0.3M UK: 0.28M Italy: 0.23M France: 0.21M Hungary: 0.14M Poland: 0.125M TOTAL: 19.0M



Who to Blame:

Most history books break their WW2 numbers down according to whether the dead are military or civilian and which country they came from. Since I've done that elsewhere, let's try to break it down by guilt. Here are various estimates by various experts of the number of superfluous, non-military deaths during the Second World War.

My own estimates are in this chart, which should show the relative evil and suffering of the participants of World War Two by listing how many millions of people were killed, by whom, outside of battle. I have ignored any death toll under a quarter million as small change. Numbers don't add up exactly because there's overlap and a lot of unknowns. Click the links for general sources and details. See my book for a more complete discussion. (in millions) Perpetrators TOTAL Non-Battle Deaths Germans Japanese Soviets UK US Nationalist Chinese Romanians Croats Civilians POWs Victims Soviets 17.0 16.9 3.3 China 4.0 0.6 8.0 0.5 Poland (pre-war) 5.5 6.0 Jews (all nations) 5.5 0.3 5.5 East Indies 4.0 4.0 India 1.5 3.0 Vietnam 2.0 2.0 Germans 1.4 0.6 1.6 0.4 Yugoslavia 0.5 0.3 1.2 Gypsies 0.5 0.5 Japan 0.4 0.4 France 0.3 0.4 Romania 0.3 Greece 0.3 0.3 Hungary 0.3 0.3 Czechoslovakia 0.3 0.3 TOTAL 24.0 11.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 0.6 0.5 0.3 45.0 4.2

Holocaust Extermination of the Jews: [make link]: Reitlinger, Gerald, The Final Solution (1953): between 4,194,200 and 4,851,200 (this number is accepted by Kinder, The Anchor Atlas of World History (1978)) Brzezinski: 5,000,000 Chirot: 5,100,000 3,000,000 in death camps. 1,300,000 massacred. 800,000 by dis./maln. in ghettos David E. Stannard, “The Politics of Genocide Scholarship,” in Alan S. Rosenbaum, ed., Is the Holocaust Unique? Perspectives on Comparative Genocide (1996), p. 178. By one estimate, 2.4 million of the 5.1 million victims of the Holocaust died of disease in ghettos and concentration camps. Rummel: 5,291,000 Grenville: 5-6M Davies, Europe A History (1998): avg. c. 5,571,300 (puts the minimum at 4,871,000 and the maximum at 6,271,500.) MEDIAN: ca. 5.6M Nuremberg indictment: 5,700,000 (accepted by Britannica ) Gutman, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (1990): 5,596,029 to 5,860,129 P. Johnson: 5,800,000 Wallechinsky: "nearly" 6,000,000 Urlanis: 6M Country-by-country Individual Camps, Massacres etc. Auschwitz Babi Yar Belzec Chelmno Majdanek Mauthausen Odessa Sobibor Treblinka

Soviet Prisoners of War killed: Urlanis: 3,912,000 12 March 1995 Times-Picayune : nearly 3.5M Our Times : 3,300,000 Rummel: 3,100,000 MEDIAN: 3.0-3.1M Mazower, Dark Continent : 3M Harper Collins Atlas of the Second World War : 3,000,000 Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960): 2,000,000 dead and 1,000,000 never accounted for, presumed dead. Britannica: 2,600,000

Roma (Gypsies): Hammond: 250,000. Rummel: 258,000. Mazower, Dark Continent : 200,000-500,000. Porter: 500,000 Brzezinski: 800,000 Ian Hancock, "Responses to the Romani Holocaust" in Is the Holocaust Unique? (A. Rosenbaum, ed.) cites these: US Holocaust Memorial Museum: 250,000 "several published estimates": >1,000,000 Pauwels and Bergier: 750,000 Financial Times (London): 500-750,000 in death camps and another million shot outside.

Homosexuals: Chirot: 10-15,000 Rummel: 220,000

Euthanasia of Handicapped: Hugh G. Gallagher: 275,000, citing Breggin (in Century of Genocide , Samuel Totten, ed., (1997)) Johnson: 70,000 insane and incurable Germans k. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Historical Atlas of the Holocaust : 70,000 k.in initial phase, 1939-41. 275,000 total k, acc. to Nuremburg Tribunal.

Air Raids Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997): "an estimated 500,000 Soviet citizens died from German bomb attacks." Belgrade London Stalingrad

Victims of Wehrmacht: Acc2 historical exhibit curated by Hannes Heer: The common soldiers of the Wehrmacht murdered 1.5M Jews, 3.3M POWs + 5-7M non-Jewish civilians (17 May 1995 Agence France Presse ; 22 Feb. 1997 AP )

Soviet civilians, generally: The Cambridge History of Russia by Dominic C. B. Lieven, Maureen Perrie, Ronald Grigor Suny, p.226 Premature deaths under German occupation: 13.7M, including "killed in hot or cold blood": 7.4M, incl. "taken to Germany and worked to death": 2.2M "died of overwork, hunger and disease": 4.1M

General political prisoners: Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century (1998): over one million died in concentration camps, not counting those deliberately targeted for extermination. Rosenburg, The Haunted Land : 26,000 political death sentences passed by German courts.

HITLER TOTAL: Courtois: 25,000,000 Rummel: 20,946,000 democides Heidenrich, How to Prevent Genocide: 17,000,000 (p.6) Brzezinski: 17,000,000 Urlanis: 15-16,000,000 (11-12M civilians + 3.9M POWs) MEDIAN: ca. 15.5M Our Times : 13,000,000 (6M Jews + 7M others) Compton's : 12,000,000 Grenville: 10,000,000, including 2M children. NOTE: These numbers only include outright murders, but keep in mind that some 28M civilians and 14M soldiers died in the European War. That's 42,000,000 deaths which can probably be blamed on Hitler to one extent or another.



In China and Korea Nanking Massacre, 13 Dec. 1937-Feb. 38: Spence, The Search for Modern China : 42,000 Gilbert: >200,000 civilians and 90,000 POWs Dict.Wars: 200,000 Rummel: 200,000 P. Johnson: 200-300,000 27 Aug 2001 Newsweek, quoting Japanese textbook: "The number of dead is said to be over 100,000 and it is estimated to be over 300,000 in China." Palmowski, Dictionary of 20th Century World History : "perhaps as many as" 400,000 Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking (1997) cites these: Liu Fang-chu: 430,000 James Yin & Shi Young: 400,000 Sun Zhaiwei: 377,400 corpses disposed of Wu Tien-wei: 340,000 District Court of Nanking: 300,000 International Military Tribunal of the Far East: 260,000 Fujiwara Akira: 200,000 John Rabe: 50,000-60,000 Hata Ikuhiko: 38,000-42,000 [Median: 260,000] Unit 731, Manchukuo (bio-warfare center: 1937-45) Discovery Channel: "as many as 200,000 people  Chinese soldiers, private citizens and prisoners of war  had died" [ http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/spotlight/bioterror/history/history2.html ] Global Security: Up to 3,000 died in this facility. Perhaps as many 200,000 Chinese died from germ war campaign in Yunnan Province, Ningbo, and Changde. [ http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/japan/bw.htm ] Bombing: 71,105 Chinese k. by Japanese bombing (Clodfelter)

South East Asia and East Indies Bataan Death March, 1942 Burma-Siam Railroad, worker deaths (1941-43) Johnson: 16,000 POWs Our Times , also Gilbert: 50,000 Burmese civilians and 16,000 Allied POWs Grenville: 100,000 Asians and 16,000 Europeans 7 February 2002 AP: 50,000 Asian laborers and 16,000 Allied POWs Manila Massacre, 1944-45 East Timor James Dunn, in Century of Genocide , Samuel Totten, ed., (1997)): 70,000 died under Japanese occupation 19 May 2002 San Gabriel Valley Tribune: "January 1942: Japan occupies the entire island. With support from the local people, Australian commandos in East Timor battle Japan. Japanese reprisals kill 60,000 civilians 13 percent of East Timor's population." Dutch East Indies: 25,000 Dutch d. out of 140,000 imprisoned (3 Feb. 1998 Agence France Presse) Singapore, citizens (mostly Chinese) massacred, 1942 Japan Economic Newswire/Kyodo News Service 16 June 2004: 50,000-100,000 13 Aug. 1984: Report by Allies after WW2 est. 5,000 k. Families claim 40,000-50,000 Associated Press 30 July 1995: "The Japanese military said 6,000 were killed. Singaporeans put the death toll at 50,000." 12 Sept 1995: 30,000-40,000 National Archives of Singapore: 8,600 reported. "[T]here were many more." [ http://www.s1942.org.sg/dir_defence7.htm ] Grenville: 5,000 LC: 5,000-25,000 [ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sgtoc.html ] [ANALYSIS: There's no consensus. I have 5 low estimates ranging from 5,000-8,600. I have 5 high estimates ranging from 25,000-100,000. Three sources hedge their bets by offering both a low estimate and a high estimate. Two give a low estimate exclusively, and two give a high estimate exclusively.]

TOTAL: Chalmers Johnson: "...the Japanese slaughtered as many as 30 million Filipinos, Malays, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Indonesians and Burmese, at least 23 million of them ethnic Chinese." [ http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n22/john04_.html ] Rummel blames the Japanese for 5,964,000 democides POWs: 539,000 (400,000 Chinese) Forced Labor: 1,010,000 (142,000 Chinese) Massacres: 3,608,000 (2,850,000 Chinese) Bombing/CB warfare: 558,000 (all Chinese) Imposed Famine: 250,000 (none in China) Rummel also estimates that General/Prime Minister Tojo Hideki was responsible for a lifetime total of 3,990,000 democides. Some guy on Internet [ http://www.jca.apc.org/JWRC/exhibit/Index.HTM ] Nanjing Massacre: 155,337 dead bodies Chinese official estimate: >300,000 Japanese scholars:100-200,000 Datong Coal Mine, China: 60,000 slave laborers killed Forced labor camps in Japan: 6,830 imported workers died Singapore: 5,000 Chinese k -- another estimate: 50,000-60,000 k. Burma-Siam RR: 12,400 POWs + 42,000 Asian wkrs



Stalin during WW2 [make link]:

Deported nationalities: Aleksandr Nekrich, The Punished Peoples (1978): Net population losses, 1939-59, after allowance for wartime losses. Chechens: 590,000 Kalmyks: 142,000 Ingush: 128,000 Karachai: 124,000 Balkars: 64,000 [TOTAL: 1,048,000] Kenneth Christie, Historical Injustice and Democratic Transition in Eastern Asia and Northern Europe: Ghosts at the Table of Democracy (2002) Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonians (1940-41): 85,000 deported, of which 55,000 killed or died Baltics executed during reconquest (1944-45): 30,000 Postwar partisan war Lithuanians: 40-50,000 k. Latvian: 25,000 Estonians: 15,000 [TOTAL: 170,000 ± 5,000] Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997) citing Rummel: 530,000 Chechens and other Black Sea/Caucasus minorities died citing NKVD archives: 231,000 deaths, 1943-49 Harff and Gurr: Chechens, Ingushi, Karachai, Balkars, Kalmyks: 230,000 d. (1943-57) Meskhierians, Crimean Tatars: 57,000 - 175,000 d. (1944-68) Davies: 1,000,000 Volga Germans, Chechens, Ingush, Crimean Tatars, etc. NewsHour: some 200,000 Chechens died during the exile [ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/chechnya/history.html ] The Cambridge History of Russia by Dominic C. B. Lieven, Maureen Perrie, Ronald Grigor Suny, p.226: a quarter million died during the deportation of ethnic groups.

Enemy POWs never returned: Brzezinski: 1,000,000 total d. (incl. 357,000 Germans, 140,000 Poles) Davies: 1,000,000 d. Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997): official figures released under glasnost Germans: 2,388,000 POWs taken, of which 356,000 died Hungarians, Romanians, etc.: 1,097,000 taken, of which 162,000 died Japanese: 600,000 taken, of which 61,855 died [Total: 4,085,000 taken, of which ca. 580,000 died] Katyn Massacre (April-May 1940): Dictionary of 20C World History : 14,000 Polish officers systematically killed. 4,500 bodies discovered by Germans. 30 July 2000 Sunday Telegraph [London]: 15,000 k. Paul Johnson: 15,000 -- a third at Katyn, the rest in Sov. conc. camps. Gilbert: 15,000 Polish POWs sent to 3 camps - Starobelsk, Kozelsk, Ostashkov - all killed. 4,400 from Kozelsk killed at Katyn.

Returning Soviet POWs killed after the war: Harff and Gurr: 500,000 - 1,100,000 repatriated Soviet nationals killed (1943-47) Harper Collins : 1,000,000 POWs Davies: 5-6M deaths, screening of repatriates and inhabitants of ex-occupied territory

Soviet soldiers executed: Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997) "latest Russian estimates put the figure as high as 158,000 sentenced to be shot." "442,000 were forced to serve in penal batallions." [These were assigned suicidally dangerous tasks, and the only way out was death or wounds, so figure maybe half dead, half crippled.]

Gulag during the war years: Richard Overy, Russia's War (1997): 2.4M sent to Gulag; 1.9M freed. "Official figures show 621,000 deaths in the Gulag" during WW2 The Cambridge History of Russia by Dominic C. B. Lieven, Maureen Perrie, Ronald Grigor Suny, p.226: heightened mortality three quarters of a million inmates.

Total killed by Stalin during the war years: Davies: 16-17,000,000 non-war-dead Rummel: 18,157,000 democides My Very Rough Estimate (based largely, but not entirely, on Overy, who seems well-informed and sensible.) In tenths of millions. Axis POWs: 0.6M Soviet Soldiers during war: 0.4M Gulag: 0.6M Black Sea/Caucasus Minorities: 0.2M Baltic Minorities: 0.2M Repatriated Soviets after the war: 1.0M Germans who died fleeing the advancing Red Army: 1.0M TOTAL: 4.0M



Others

Anglo-American Allies [make link]: Bombing of Germany: 1945 US Strategic Bombing Survey: >305,000 Hammond: 400,000 Rummel: 410,000, 100% democidal Clodfelter: 499,750 Keegan: 593,000 Grenville: 593,000 (citing "official Germany") P. Johnson: 600,000

Bombing of Japan: Conventional bombing: Clodfelter: 260,000 (citing an Official US est.) or 299,484 (citing Japanese source) Keegan: 260,000 Paul Johnson: 260,000 Large, Showa Japan : [183,637] Tokyo: 97,301 all other cities: 86,336 Nuclear bombing: Keegan: 103,000 died outright Messenger: 130,000 outright Large, Showa Japan : [210,000] Hiroshima: 140,000 Nagasaki: 70,000 Our Times : 120,000 outright, 140,000 later P. Johnson: 175,000 outright, 100,000 later Total: 1945 US Strategic Bombing Survey: 330,000 Keegan: 363,000, not including post-war radiation sickness Rummel: 374,000, incl. 337,000 democidal P. Johnson: 435,000 Harper Collins Atlas of the Second World War : 500,000 Large, Showa Japan : [393,637]

Bombing of Romania & Hungary: 50,000 (Rummel)

Individual air raids Berlin Dresden Hamburg Hiroshima Nagasaki Tokyo Yokahama: 5,000 (1945 US Strategic Bombing Survey)

Mistreatment of Axis POWs [I myself don't find these accusations credible, but FWIW, here they are.] James Bacque, Other Losses (1989) made the first accusation that Americans deliberately starved German POWs, killing about a million. Bacque [ http://www.corax.org/revisionism/misc/970920bacques.html ] Bacque's 2nd book, Crimes & Mercies , expands the body count to 9.3-13.7M Germans killed by the Allies after the end of the war, incl. some 2.1-6.0M civilians who died being expelled from the East. [ http://codoh.com/review/revcrimes.html ] Stephen Ambrose dismisses these claims as sloppy research. He explains that the total number of German POWs who died from all causes in US hands was 56,000 out of some 5M held. [see also http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi?people/b/bacque.james/ ] (56,000 might seem like a lot, but this would include those who were captured wounded.) The 1956 Maschke Commission counted 4,537 deaths. [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinwiesenlager or http://www.cyberussr.com/hcunn/for/us-germany-pow.html ] [Letter]

Mussolini (r. 1922-1943) Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century (1998): total of 29 death sentences passed on political prisoners before 1939.

(1998): total of 29 death sentences passed on political prisoners before 1939. Rummel, democides by Fascist govt. of Italy: Ethiopia and Libya: 200,000 [before WW2] Yugoslavia: 15,000 Greeks: 9,000 Italians, domestically: 250 TOTAL: 224,250

Yugoslavia: 2 March 1999 Agence France Presse Number killed in Croatian-run death camp at Jasenovac Acc2 Croatian press: 85,000 Official Yugoslav estimate: 700,000 Simon Wiesenthal Centre: 500,000

Alex Dragnic, Serbs & Croats (1992) k. by Ustase Serbs: est. range 300,000 to 1,000,000, but 500-700,000 is "generally accepted" Jews: 50,000 Gypsies: 20,000 Massacre by Germans, Oct. 1941: 4-7,000

(1992) John Lampe, Yugoslavia as History (1995) 300,000 Serbs k. by Ustasha 26,000 Jews k. by Ustasha 9,000 Slovenes executed by Italians, summer 1941 Killed by Tito, 1945-46: 100,000

(1995) Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: a Short History (1994) Muslims k. by Chetniks in Foca-Cajnice: Aug. 1942: 2,000 Feb. 1943: 9,000 Killed by Tito, 1945-46: 250,000 in shootings, camps and marches.

(1994) Mennecke, "Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina," in Totten, Century of Genocide (2nd ed., 2004, p.422): more than 300,000 Serbs murdered

Mazower, Dark Continent Serbs k. by Ustase: at least 334,000. Collaborators k. by Tito, postwar: up to 60,000

9 July 1990 NY Times Communist partisans shot 70-100,000 without trial within weeks of the war's end. Anti-Communist emigres claim ca. 500,000 killed ("... exaggerations, said Darko Bekic, a historian in Zagreb...") "Total of 1,700,000 Yugoslavs were killed, both in combat and in atrocities and reprisals by and against civilians"

Rummel, democides by perpetrator: Axis occupying nations: 718,000 Chetnik partisans: 100,000 Communists: 100,000 as partisans, 500,000 shortly after coming to power Ustashi government of Croatia: 655,000 TOTAL: 2,073,000 democides (also 555,000 battle deaths, for a grand total of 2,628,000)

Fred Singleton, Twentieth-Century Yugoslavia (1976) 350,000 Serbs k. by Ustasha

(1976) Marcus Tanner, Croatia: a Nation Forged in War Bleiburg massacre: est. range from 30,000 to 200,000 returning POWs k. by Communists (The upper number being favored by Croat nationalists) Ustashe camps acc2 Communist govt: 600,000 k. in Jasenovas acc2 Banac 120,000 k. in all camps acc2 "others": 80,000 k. in all camps acc2 Pres. Tudjman: 60,000 k. in all camps Total war deaths (according to one study) Serbs: 487,000 incl. 215,000 in Nazi and Ustase camps Croats: 207,000 Muslims: 86,000 Jews: 60,000 TOTAL: 947,000

Johan Wüscht, Population Losses in Yugoslavia during World War Two (1963), estimates a total population shortfall of 2,210,000 in the 1948 census. After accounting for emmigration (700,000) and a drop in births (423,000), he reckons the total number of deaths caused by the war and its aftermath to be 1,100,000. He also points out that adding up all the accusations of atrocities commited during the war far exceeds this calculated number of deaths, so one of them is wrong.

(1963), estimates a total population shortfall of 2,210,000 in the 1948 census. After accounting for emmigration (700,000) and a drop in births (423,000), he reckons the total number of deaths caused by the war and its aftermath to be 1,100,000. He also points out that adding up all the accusations of atrocities commited during the war far exceeds this calculated number of deaths, so one of them is wrong. ANALYSIS: Among those events with several estimates, the medians are ... Serbs k. by Ustashe: 300,000 Postwar executions by Communists (and related deaths): 175,000 Jasenovac

Romania: Rummel: 484,000 democides under kings Carol & Michael (1938-48) incl. 302,000 Jews.

Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts (1993): 185,000 Jews from Bessarabia and Moldovia murdered in "the only non-German-run extermination camp in Europe". France: Collaborators killed after liberation: Grenville: 10,000 Mark Mazower, Dark Continent : 9-10,000 Our Times : 9,000 summarily, 700 after trial. David Drake, Intellectuals and Politics in Post-War France : 10,000 summary executions and 791 legal executions.

Other Western Nations, postwar purges: Mark Mazower, Dark Continent Italy: 10,000-15,000 Netherlands: 40 executions Norway: 25 executions



People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong's regime (1949-1975): 40,000,000 [ make link ]

[sources in alphabetical order] Agence France Press (25 Sept. 1999) citing at length from Courtois, Stephane, Le Livre Noir du Communism : Rural purges, 1946-49: 2-5M deaths Urban purges, 1950-57: 1M Great Leap Forward: 20-43M Cultural Revolution: 2-7M Labor Camps: 20M Tibet: 0.6-1.2M TOTAL: 44.5 to 72M

: Jasper Becker, Hungry Ghosts : Mao's Secret Famine (1996) Estimates of the death toll from the Great Leap Forward, 1959-61: Judith Banister, China's Changing Population (1984): 30M excess deaths (acc2 Becker: "the most reliable estimate we have") Wang Weizhi, Contemporary Chinese Population (1988): 19.5M deaths Jin Hui (1993): 40M population loss due to "abnormal deaths and reduced births" Chen Yizi of the System Reform Inst.: 43-46M deaths

(1996) Brzezinski: Forcible collectivization: 27 million peasants Cultural Revolution: 1-2 million TOTAL: 29 million deaths under Mao

Daniel Chirot: Land reform, 1949-56 According to Zhou Enlai: 830,000 According to Mao Zedong: 2-3M Great Leap Forward: 20-40 million deaths. Cultural Revolution: 1-20 million

Jung Chang, Mao: the Unknown Story (2005) Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries, 1950-51: 3M by execution, mob or suicide Three-Anti Campaign, 1952-53: 200,000-300,000 suicides Great Leap Forward, 1958-61: 38M of starvation and overwork Cultural Revolution, 1966-76: > 3M died violent deaths Laogai camp deaths, 1949-76: 27M TOTAL under Mao: 70M

(2005) Dictionary of 20C World History : around a half million died in Cultural Rev.

: around a half million died in Cultural Rev. Eckhardt: Govt executes landlords (1950-51): 1,000,000 Cultural Revolution (1967-68): 50,000

Gilbert: 1958-61 Famine: 30 million deaths.

Kurt Glaser and Stephan Possony, Victims of Politics (1979): They estimate the body count under Mao to be 38,000,000 to 67,000,000. Cited by G & P: Walker Report (see below): 44.3M to 63.8M deaths. The Government Information Office of Taiwan (18 Sept. 1970): 37M deaths in the PRC. A Radio Moscow report (7 Apr. 1969): 26.4M people had been exterminated in China. (NOTE: Obviously the Soviets and Taiwanese would, as enemies, be strongly motivated to exaggerate.)

(1979): Guinness Book of World Records : Although nowadays they don't come right out and declare Mao to be the Top Dog in the Mass Killings category, earlier editions (such as 1978) did, and they cited sources which are similar, but not identical, to the Glaser & Possony sources: On 7 Apr. 1969 the Soviet government radio reported that 26,300,000 people were killed in China, 1949-65. In April 1971 the cabinet of the government of Taiwan reported 39,940,000 deaths for the years 1949-69. The Walker Report (see below): between 32,2500,000 and 61,700,000.

: Harff and Gurr: KMT cadre, rich peasants, landlords (1950-51): 800,000-3,000,000 Cultural Revolution (1966-75): 400,000-850,000

John Heidenrich, How to Prevent Genocide: A Guide for Policymakers, Scholars, and the Concerned Citizen : 27M death toll, incl. 2M in Cultural Revolution

: 27M death toll, incl. 2M in Cultural Revolution Paul Johnson doesn't give an overall total, but he gives estimates for the principle individual mass dyings of the Mao years: Land reform, first years of PRC: at least 2 million people perished. Great Leap Forward: "how many millions died ... is a matter of conjecture." Cultural Revolution: 400,000, calling the 3 Feb. 1979 estimate by Agence France Presse, "The most widely respected figure".

Meisner, Maurice, Mao's China and After (1977, 1999), doesn't give an overall total either, but he does give estimates for the three principle mass dyings of the Mao years: Terror against the counterrevolutionaries: 2 million people executed during the first three years of the PRC. Great Leap Forward: 15-30 million famine-related deaths. Cultural Revolution: 400,000, citing a 1979 estimate by Agence France Presse.

(1977, 1999), doesn't give an overall total either, but he does give estimates for the three principle mass dyings of the Mao years: R. J. Rummel: Estimate: Democide: 34,361,000 (1949-75) The principle episodes being... All movements (1949-58): 11,813,000 incl. Land Reform (1949-53): 4,500,000 Cult. Rev. (1964-75): 1,613,000 Forced Labor (1949-75): 15,000,000 Great Leap Forward (1959-63): 5,680,000 democides War: 3,399,000 Famine: 34,500,000 Great Leap Forward: 27M famine deaths TOTAL: 72,260,000 Cited in Rummel: Li, Cheng-Chung ( Republic of China , 1979): 78.86M direct/indirect deaths. World Anti-Communist League, True Facts of Maoist Tyranny (1971): 64.5M Glaser & Possony: 38 to 67M (see above) Walker Report, 1971 (see below): 31.75M to 58.5M casualties of Communism (excluding Korean War). Current Death Toll of International Communism (1979): 39.9M Stephen R. Shalom (1984), Center for Asian Studies, Deaths in China Due To Communism : 3M to 4M death toll, excluding famine.

Walker, Robert L., The Human Cost of Communism in China (1971, report to the US Senate Committee of the Judiciary) "Casualties to Communism" (deaths): 1st Civil War (1927-36): .25-.5M Fighting during Sino-Japanese War (1937-45): 50,000 2nd Civil War (1945-49): 1.25M Land Reform prior to Liberation: 0.5-1.0M Political liquidation campaigns: 15-30M Korean War: 0.5-1.234M Great Leap Forward: 1-2M Struggle with minorities: 0.5-1.0M Cultural Revolution: .25-.5M Deaths in labor camps: 15-25M TOTAL: 34.3M to 63.784M TOTAL FOR PRC: 32M to 59.5M

(1971, report to the US Senate Committee of the Judiciary) "Casualties to Communism" (deaths): July 17, 1994, Washington Post (Great Leap Forward 1959-61) Shanghai University journal, Society : > 40 million Cong Jin: 40 million Chen Yizi: 43 million in the famine. 80 million total as a result of Mao's policies.

(Great Leap Forward 1959-61) Weekly Standard , 29 Sept. 1997, "The Laogai Archipelago" by D. Aikman: Between 1949 and 1997, 50M prisoners passed through the labor camps, and 15,000,000 died (citing Harry Wu)

, 29 Sept. 1997, "The Laogai Archipelago" by D. Aikman: WHPSI: 1,633,319 political executions and 25,961 deaths from political violence, 1948-77. TOTAL: 1,659,280

Analysis/Total: 40 million

If we line up the 14 sources which claim to be complete, the median falls around 39.9 million range, so you probably can't go wrong picking a final number from this neighborhood. Depending on how you want to count some of the incomplete estimates (such as Becker and Meisner) and whether to count a source twice (or thrice, as with Walker) if it's referenced by two different authorities, you can slide the median up and down the scale by many millions. Stephen R. Shalom (1984), Center for Asian Studies, Deaths in China Due To Communism : 3M to 4M death toll, excluding famine. A Radio Moscow report (1969): 26.4M John Heidenrich, How to Prevent Genocide : 27M death toll Brzezinski: 29M R. J. Rummel (1991): 34,361,000 democides, 1949-75 The Government Information Office of Taiwan (1970): 37M Current Death Toll of International Communism (1979): 39.9M Government of Taiwan cabinet report (1971): 39,940,000 deaths for the years 1949-69. Walker Report (1971): 32M to 59.5M [mean: 45.75M±] Glaser and Possony, Victims of Politics (1979): 38M to 67M [mean: 52.5M±] Courtois, Le Livre Noir du Communism : 44.5 to 72M [mean: 58.25M±] World Anti-Communist League, True Facts of Maoist Tyranny (1971): 64.5M Jung Chang, Mao: the Unknown Story (2005): 70M Li, Cheng-Chung ( Republic of China , 1979): 78.86M direct/indirect deaths.

Notice, however, that many of those sources are obviously the propoganda arms of enemy governments. Perhaps a better way of estimating would be to add up the individual components. Keep in mind, however, that official Chinese records are hidden from scrutiny, so most of these numbers are only slightly better that pure guesses. It's pointless to get attached to any one of them, because the real number could easily be half or twice any number here. The medians here are: Purges, etc. during the first few years: 2M (10 estimates) Great Leap Forward: 31-33M (14 estimates) Cultural Revolution: 1M (13 estimates) Ethnic Minorities, primarily Tibetans: 750-900T (8 estimates, see below) Labor Camps: 20M (5 estimates) This produces a total of some 54,750,000 to 56,900,000 deaths. The weak link in this calculation is in the Labor Camp numbers for which we only have 5 estimates.

Notice that many early body counts (such as Walker) completely miss the famine during the Great Leap Forward, which was largely unknown in the west until around 1980. There are two contradictory ways to assess those early estimates which ignore the famine: "If these are the numbers that they came up with without the famine, imagine how high the true number will be once you add the famine deaths." "Can we trust any of these numbers? After all, if they missed such a huge famine, they can't have known very much about what was going on inside China."

... so this line of reasoning will get us nowhere. In fact, the median of the 7 estimate that predate 1980 is 45.7M, which is almost the same as the median of the 7 estimates that post-date 1980 -- 58M. (At this scale, a 12M difference counts as "almost the same".)

Tibet (1950 et seq.): 300,000