Warfare has greatly changed within the last several hundred years, and is no longer decided by several large battles, but is now lasting much longer, and is much less intense. Warfare is becoming more of a slow grind, with lots of struggles between civilians and the occupying military. The amount of civilian casualties has greatly increased over the past one hundred and fifty years going from 15% to almost 90%. This page will study a few wars, and see how the amount of civilian casualties has increased, and why it is increasing.
Study of a Few Wars
In 1861-1865, when the American civil war was taking place, there was over 750,000 combatant casualties, and 50,000 civilian deaths. Most of the conflicts that occurred in this war were fought in large fields, or were attacks on forts. Thanks to this, there was a civilian to combatant ration of 15% (15% of the deaths were civilians).
The Mexican revolution occurred from 1910-1920. Mexico's longest serving leader, Porfirio Díaz was overthrown. New leaders continued to take control of Mexico, just to be killed, and replaced. Thanks to disease, famine, and several other indirect results of the war, over 1 million people died. The amount of combat deaths was 250,000, 125,000 of which were civilian deaths. The civilian to combatant ratio of this war was 50% as the amount of civilians killed by the indirect results of war are unknown.. Some of the battles (like the overthrow of Madero) were fought in the streets of Mexico, causing lots of civilians to be killed.
World War 1 occurred around the same time as the Mexican revolution did. Approximately 17 million people died. As can be seen in the graph below, 44 percent of the casualties were civilians. Chemical weapons were widely used, leading to over 260,000 civilian deaths. Hundreds of thousands were killed by bombing runs. Millions of civilians were killed by famine, and disease.
The Mexican revolution occurred from 1910-1920. Mexico's longest serving leader, Porfirio Díaz was overthrown. New leaders continued to take control of Mexico, just to be killed, and replaced. Thanks to disease, famine, and several other indirect results of the war, over 1 million people died. The amount of combat deaths was 250,000, 125,000 of which were civilian deaths. The civilian to combatant ratio of this war was 50% as the amount of civilians killed by the indirect results of war are unknown.. Some of the battles (like the overthrow of Madero) were fought in the streets of Mexico, causing lots of civilians to be killed.
World War 1 occurred around the same time as the Mexican revolution did. Approximately 17 million people died. As can be seen in the graph below, 44 percent of the casualties were civilians. Chemical weapons were widely used, leading to over 260,000 civilian deaths. Hundreds of thousands were killed by bombing runs. Millions of civilians were killed by famine, and disease.
World War 2 lasted from 1939 to 1945, and is the war which caused the most deaths. Overall, over 70 million people died. The civilian to combatant ratio is unknown, but is thought to be from 60 to 70%. Most of these deaths were caused by even stronger bombs, and more powerful weapons than the previous wars which likely caused the massive amount of deaths. Millions of civilians were killed by holocaust, or other ethnic cleansing actions.
The Korean war occurred between 1950 and 1953. It was a battle between North and South Korea, but was very lopsided as the United States was on South Korea's side. Over 8 million people, or 20% of the total Korean population was lost in this civil war. This war had a civilian to combatant ratio of 2:1, or 67%.
Jumping ahead about 50 years, in 1999, NATO intervened with the Kosovo war. According to the military historian Michael Oren, around 75% of the casualties were civilians. The powerful bombs that were used on Yugoslavia caused most of these civilians casualties. The bombing runs were not very well planned, and hit populated areas.
The Chechen wars occurred between 1994-1996 and 1999-2009. 87% of the casualties in this war were civilians. The bombing tactics that were used by the Russians lead to lots of these deaths. Largely populated areas were bombed to kill small numbers of soldiers. Children were slaughtered in massacres and made up over 40% of the casualties. The Russians refused to listen to all of the organizations telling them to focus more on combatants. Large surface to surface rockets were used, and now many parts of Chechnya are now a wasteland.
Important Note: The exact amount of civilian casualties in most of these wars are unknown. The invading army will usually report very low amounts of civilian casualties, while the defenders will report very high numbers. Finding an unbiased source is very hard, so I usually took the more recognized amount of civilian casualties.
Jumping ahead about 50 years, in 1999, NATO intervened with the Kosovo war. According to the military historian Michael Oren, around 75% of the casualties were civilians. The powerful bombs that were used on Yugoslavia caused most of these civilians casualties. The bombing runs were not very well planned, and hit populated areas.
The Chechen wars occurred between 1994-1996 and 1999-2009. 87% of the casualties in this war were civilians. The bombing tactics that were used by the Russians lead to lots of these deaths. Largely populated areas were bombed to kill small numbers of soldiers. Children were slaughtered in massacres and made up over 40% of the casualties. The Russians refused to listen to all of the organizations telling them to focus more on combatants. Large surface to surface rockets were used, and now many parts of Chechnya are now a wasteland.
Important Note: The exact amount of civilian casualties in most of these wars are unknown. The invading army will usually report very low amounts of civilian casualties, while the defenders will report very high numbers. Finding an unbiased source is very hard, so I usually took the more recognized amount of civilian casualties.
Why is the Amount of Civilian Casualties Increasing?
With so much more awareness on this topic, dozens of organizations are devoted to lowering the amount of civilian deaths, and 25 billion US dollars is being paid yearly to aid civilians caught in war. Why then is the amount of civilian casualties still increasing?
First of all, groups are refusing to follow the rules of war. In 2014, over 150,000 people people died in conflict. A further 59 million people were displaced from their homes as they were bombed, or destroyed in other ways. Aid workers are sometimes caught up in the conflict, and are killed by accident, but now, humanitarian activities are being treated like military objectives. Relief conveys, health clinics, and feeding centers have now become targets in war. Whether through stealing their supplies, or killing the aid workers, this lack of these leads to lots of civilian deaths. From 1999 to 2007, the amount of attacks on humanitarian activities doubled. Humanitarian activities are targeted either for personal gain (stealing supplies for money), to prevent civilians from getting aid, or to send a message to the government/organization that is running the aid.
Watch the below video to see the rules of war regarding civilians. Watch until 1:45 as it gets away from this topic.
Watch the below video to see the rules of war regarding civilians. Watch until 1:45 as it gets away from this topic.
People are being manipulated through their religion/ethnicity to feel hatred toward the people they are fighting against. Not only will this make they fight harder, but they will view civilians, and children as targets.
Organizations are often biased in their aid. Even those who are committed to being fair, and helping both sides will usually help one more than the other. This will make the side feel like the organizations are against them, which will often lead to attacks on these organizations, or the people that they are helping.
Weaponry is evolving, and becoming much more destructive. New, and powerful bombs like nukes are being created that kill millions of civilians along with the combatants. Weapons like guns are becoming much more powerful, easy to make, and cheap. As seen in World War 1, chemical weapons are being developed that kill hundreds of thousands of civilians. This will be touched on more in the weapons section.
The rapid changes that occur before a war can destroy the economy, cause breakdowns in family support, and many other things that civilians depend on. A large portion of civilians who are killed, are killed by war related causes, instead of by combat. The most common of these are starvation, and disease. These are caused by disruptions in food supplies, polluted water sources, and terrible sanitation allowing disease to spread easily.
Organizations are often biased in their aid. Even those who are committed to being fair, and helping both sides will usually help one more than the other. This will make the side feel like the organizations are against them, which will often lead to attacks on these organizations, or the people that they are helping.
Weaponry is evolving, and becoming much more destructive. New, and powerful bombs like nukes are being created that kill millions of civilians along with the combatants. Weapons like guns are becoming much more powerful, easy to make, and cheap. As seen in World War 1, chemical weapons are being developed that kill hundreds of thousands of civilians. This will be touched on more in the weapons section.
The rapid changes that occur before a war can destroy the economy, cause breakdowns in family support, and many other things that civilians depend on. A large portion of civilians who are killed, are killed by war related causes, instead of by combat. The most common of these are starvation, and disease. These are caused by disruptions in food supplies, polluted water sources, and terrible sanitation allowing disease to spread easily.
In conclusion, the amount of civilian casualties is constantly increasing, despite all of the organizations trying to help. Something needs to be done to greatly lower this amount. In the "How to Help" section, you can learn more about what is being done, what should be done, and what a grade 9 student can do to help.
Images courtesy of:
Civilians In Conflict Logo. Digital image. Civilians in Conflict. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
Gascho, Mikael. Deaths in World War 1. Digital image. Pikto Chart, 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
Greta, Gabrielle. World War 2 Deaths. Digital image. World War 2. Blogspot.ca, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2017. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/WorldWarII-DeathsByCountry-Barchart.png/800px-WorldWarII-DeathsByCountry-Barchart.png>
Ssspark. 3d Man Showing Increase in Business. Digital image. Dreamstime. Dreamstime, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/d-man-showing-profit-graph-render-54580513.jpg>.
Civilians In Conflict Logo. Digital image. Civilians in Conflict. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
Gascho, Mikael. Deaths in World War 1. Digital image. Pikto Chart, 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
Greta, Gabrielle. World War 2 Deaths. Digital image. World War 2. Blogspot.ca, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2017. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/WorldWarII-DeathsByCountry-Barchart.png/800px-WorldWarII-DeathsByCountry-Barchart.png>
Ssspark. 3d Man Showing Increase in Business. Digital image. Dreamstime. Dreamstime, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/d-man-showing-profit-graph-render-54580513.jpg>.