Civil War (1861-1865)
The Civil War in America took place through the
years of 1861-1865. In the Civil War, 558,052 men lost their lives.
More men died in the Civil War than in all other wars up until World War
II. The Civil War began because the south believed that their rights
were being violated and they broke away from the union. In turn,
the north didn't really care too much for what the south did. It
wasn't until later that the North made it a crusade for the slaves.
The war was very deadly because of disease. More men died from infected
wounds from the battle field. Eventually the north won
the war but not until hundreds of thousands of men lost their lives.
Written by John Kula
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World War II
(1939-1945)
World War
II was the second war on a world wide scale in the 20th century.
In terms of lives lost and destruction of material, W.W.II was the most
devastating war ever. The war featured six main belligerent and many
other minor players. With the development and improvement in weapons
and strategies, W.W.II brought civilians into the line of fire. The
entire territory of your enemy was now open for battle and this raised
the number of casualties. The Soviet Union, with estimates of over
20 million deaths, paid the highest toll in lives and much of their land
was destroyed. Atrocities committed, like the Holocaust, raised the
casualties even higher. One estimate of the total deaths in W.W.II
is 55 million, 30 million of deaths were civilian.
Written by John
Witt
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Korean War (1950-1955)
The Korean War conflict began in June 1950 between
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of South Korea,
in which an estimated 3,000,000 people lost their lives. The United
Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the
war on the the side of South Korea, and the People's Republic of China
eventually came to North Korea's aid. After exceptional vicissitudes, the
war was ended inconclusively in July 1953; it established a precedent for
United States intervention to contain Communist expansion.
Written by Tony Lee
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World War I (1914-1918)
World War I began on July 28, 1914, with the declaration
of war by Austria Hungary on Serbia, and ended with the signing of the
armistice at Compiegne between Germany and the allies on terms laid down
by the allies at 5 a.m. on November 11, 1918. Casualties in the land
forces amounted to more than 37 million with $186 billion in direct war
costs, and close to 10 million deaths among the civilian populations.
By the beginning of November 1918, the defeat of the German army had domestic
political repercussions that were catastrophic to the established German
government. The German fleet mutinied; an uprising dethroned the
king of Bavaria; Emperor William II abdicated and fled to the Netherlands,
and the German republic proclaimed on November 9. The defeated central
powers declared their acceptance of President Wilson's 14 points as the
basis for the armistice and expected the allies to utilize them as the
foundation for peace treaties. However, the Allies came to the peace
conferences with the determination to demand from the central powers
the entire cost of the war, and to distribute among themselves territories
and possessions of the defeated nations as secretly agreed during the years
1915 to 1917 (before the entry of the United States into the war).
President Wilson at first insisted that the Paris Peace Conference accept
the full program laid out in the 14 points, but finally, in order to secure
the support of the allies for the creation of an association of nations
(the League of Nations), he abandoned his insistence on some of the other
points. The peace treaties that emerged from the conferences at Versailles,
Saint Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, and Sevres were on the whole inadequately
enforced by the victorious powers, leading to the resurgence of militarism
and aggressive nationalism in Germany and to social disorder throughout
much of Europe.
Written by Guillermo Mora
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Vietnam War (1955-1975)
The Vietnam War can be described as being an extremely
prolonged and unsuccessful attempt by South Vietnam and the United States
to prevent the communists of the North Vietnam from uniting South Vietnam
with North Vietnam with North Vietnam under their leadership. The
war finally ended when on July 2, 1976 the country was officially united
as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with its capital in Hanoi. The
outcome of this long and horrific war was harsh for all sides that were
involved (North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and the United States).
Over 47,000 Americans were killed in action, close to 11,000 died of other
causes, while more than 303,000 were wounded in the war. Estimates
of the Southern Vietnamese casualties ranged from 185,000 to 225,000 killed
and 500,000 to 570,000 wounded. The North Vietnamese suffered about
900,000 casualties and an unknown amount of troops wounded. In addition
to all the troops killed, over 1,000,000 North and South Vietnamese civilians
lost their lives during the war. By the end of the war, the majority
of Southern Vietnam's population had become refugees seeking an escape
from the fighting. What was once a beautiful country now had been
decimated by the intense amount of fighting. The landscape of Vietnam
had been scared by bombs, towns and cities were left heavily damaged and
lifeless, and all aspects of the countries economy had been extremely disrupted.
The total cost of the war is estimated to be around $200 billion dollars.
Written by Joel Bobier
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The American War of Independence
(1775-1783)
The American Revolution was fought from 1775 until
1783. Thirtten British colonies fought their parent country, Great Britian,
over policies and actions seen as unfair. The revolution began as a small
movement and grew into a large conflict. The colonies were made up of people
who were for independence, loyal to Great Britian, and those who wished
to remain neutral. The French allied themselves with the colonies when
it was apparent the colonists had a chance at victory. With France's help,
the American colonies were able to win enough battles to convince Great
Britian to agree to independence. By not losing the war, the Americans
gained freedoom. The Americans lost 4,435 soldiers in battle. Other deaths
during war were not available.
Written by John Witt
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The Boer War (1899-1902)
The Boer War between the Dutch-descended population-Afrikaners,
or Boers- and British settlers was in part the result of gold being discovered
in 1884 in the Witwatersrand (southern Transvaal) luring thousands of British
miners and prospectors to settle in the area. These British settlers-Uitlanders,
or foreigners-were severely taxed and denied voting rights by the Afrikaners
who were primarily farmers. Revolts took place against the Afrikaner government,
and negotiations to solve the problem were unfruitful. Finallyon October
12, 1899, Transvaal (South African Republic) and the Orange Free State
(now South Africa) declared war against Britain The Afrikaner forces were
initially successful, but the British commander in chief general Frederick
S. Roberts fought back capturing Johannesburg and Pretoria in 1990. Boer
leaders launched contra-offensive actions for the next year, but they were
not successful. Negotiations for peace began on March 23, 1902, and on
May 31 Afrikaner leaders signed the Treaty of Vereeniging. The settlement
provided for the end of hostilities and eventual self-government to the
Transvaal and the Orange Free State as colonies of the British Empire.
In addition, Britain agreed to pay a £3 million indemnity for rehabilitation,
and granted amnesty and repatriation to Afrikaner soldiers who pledged
their loyalty to the British monarch. British losses totaled about 28000
men while Afrikaner losses were about 4000 men, plus more than 20000 civilians
who died from disease in concentration camps. Thousands of black Africans
also died in the camps.
Written by Guillermo Mora
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The War of 1812
The war of 1812 started in 1812 and lasted till 1814.
This was the final battle for America against the British. It also confirmed
America's independence once and for all. America however failed to capture
Canada. It was also the beginning of many victories for the American navy
against the best navy in the world, England. This war also saw 2,000 deaths.
Written by John Kulo
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Russo-Turkish Wars
The Russo- Turkish wars were a series of wars between
Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which spanned three centuries. The wars
took place in 1676-81, 1687, 1689, 1695-96, 1710-12 (part of the Great
Northern War), 1735-39, 1768-74, 1787-91, 1806-12, 1828-29, 1853-56 (part
of the Crimean War), and 1877- 78. The initial Russo- Turkish Wars were,
for the most part, ignited by Russia's attempts to establish a warm-water
port on the Black Sea, which was located within Turkish lands. As a result
of these wars, Russia was able to extend its European frontiers southward
to the Black Sea, southwestward to the Prut River, and south of the Caucasus
Mountains in Asia.
Written by Joel Bobier
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