The Loss of Life: From the First and Second World Wars to the So-called “Post-Cold War Era”
The Immediate Aftermath of World War II. Peace Was not Never an Objective of US Foreign Policy
First published in November 2018, minor edits, November 19, 2020
The Paris November 2018 commemoration of the End of World War I: The War to End All Wars acknowledges that 14 million lives were lost in the course of The Great War I (1914-18).
The largest casualties were incurred by Russia, France, Germany, Italy, the British Empire (including troops from Canada, Ireland and British colonies), and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The largest loss of life was incurred by Russia (1.7 million killed), France (1.4 million killed), Germany (1.7 million) Austro-Hungarian empire (1.2 million) (see table below)
More than a hundred years later, what the “international community” fails to address is that the US imperial project, the so-called “Long War” prevails. It’s ongoing. In many regards, it is an extension of World War II.
The overall loss of life during World War II and its aftermath (the so-called post war era) is significantly larger, not to mention the astronomical amounts of money currently allocated by national governments to the war economy, to the detriment of everything else, including health, education, housing, culture…
The US-NATO “killing machine” is considerably more advanced. In turn, today’s wars, in a twisted irony are upheld as peace-making endeavors [both by Trump and Joe Biden]
World War II
The loss of life in the course of the Second World War (1939-1945) was on a much larger scale: 60 million lives both military and civilian were lost during World War II. (Four times those killed during World War I).
The largest WWII casualties were incurred by China and the Soviet Union:
26 million killed in the Soviet Union,
China estimates its losses at approximately 20 million deaths.
Ironically, these two victim nations Russia and China (allies of the US during WWII) which lost a large share of their population during WWII are now categorized as enemies of America, allegedly threatening the Western World.
The Third Reich (Germany and Austria) lost approximately 8 million people during WWII, Japan lost more than 2.5 million people. Poland lost between between 5.6 and 5.8 million (these figures include the victims of Third Reich concentration camps located in Poland) and Yugoslavia lost between 1 million and 1.7 million.
In contrast, during WWII the UK lost 419,400 and the US 450,900.
The Immediate Aftermath of World War II. Peace Was not Never an Objective of US Foreign Policy
Barely six weeks after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945), while the US and the Soviet Union were allies:
the Pentagon released a secret plan (September 15, 1945) to:
Bomb 66 major urban areas of the Soviet Union with 204 nuclear bombs.
The (2012 declassified) documents confirm that the US was involved in the “planning of genocide” against the Soviet Union.
Let’s cut to the chase. How many bombs did the USAAF request of the atomic general, when there were maybe one, maybe two bombs worth of fissile material on hand? At a minimum they wanted 123. Ideally, they’d like 466. This is just a little over a month after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Of course, in true bureaucratic fashion, they provided a handy-dandy chart (Alex Wellerstein)
See: http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/1945-Atomic-Bomb-Production.pdf
For further details see;
By , October 27, 2018
The Post World War II Era
In the wake of WWII, we enter a period which is euphemistically called the post war era. This designation is a misnomer: this period is marked by a sequence of US led wars, ad hoc military incursions, military coups, intelligence ops, the triggering of so-called civil wars in which the US is indirectly involved.
According to a carefully documented review article by James A. Lucas more than 20 million lives were lost resulting from US sponsored wars and intelligence ops, etc. carried out by the United States since 1945.
For further details, see:
US Has Killed More Than 20 Million People in 37 “Victim Nations” Since World War II
, November 15 , 2018
What we are dealing with is a period of continuous US led warfare since 1945, the worldwide deployment of US military bases, coupled with ongoing US-NATO military threats.
Lucas itemizes 37 Victim Nations which were the object of direct or indirect US military/intelligence intervention.
Large scale theater wars and intel ops resulting in large casualties during the period 1945 to present included
The Korean War (1950-53), Up to 30% percent of the North Korean population were killed in the course of the Korean war.
The Vietnam War (1965-1975)
According to a Vietnamese government statement in 1995 the number of deaths of civilians and military personnel during the Vietnam War was 5.1 million. (2)
Since deaths in Cambodia and Laos were about 2.7 million (See Cambodia and Laos) the estimated total for the Vietnam War is 7.8 million.
The Virtual Truth Commission provides a total for the war of 5 million, (3) and Robert McNamara, former Secretary Defense, according to the New York Times Magazine says that the number of Vietnamese dead is 3.4 million. (4,5) (Lucas, op cit)
The Indonesian massacre sponsored by US Intelligence (1965)
Indonesian Army death squads in 1965 and checked them off as they were killed or captured. Martens admitted that “I probably have a lot of blood on my hands, but that’s not all bad. There’s a time when you have to strike hard at a decisive moment.” (1,2,3) Estimates of the number of deaths range from 500,000 to 3 million. (4,5,6)The so-called Soviet Afghan War (1979-1989) (Lucas op cit)
- The Afghan War (2001- ) led by the US and NATO,
- Ongoing War on Palestine
- The Iraq War (2003- ),
- The War on Lebanon (2006),
- The US proxy War on Syria (2011-),
- NATO’s War on Libya (2011-),
- The Saudi-UAE War on Yemen (sponsored by the US)
- US Military interventions in Angola (1970s),
- The Congo “Civil War”
- Sudan’s “Civil War” (1955-), Casualties in excess of 2 million
- The Rwanda “Civil War” (1990-1994)
- NATO’s wars on Yugoslavia (1991-1999)
- Military coups in numerous countries including Brazil, Bolivia, Panama, Chile, Grenada, Haiti, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, East Timor, Philippines, and many more.
The Casualties of “The Post War Era”
60 million lives lost during World War II and another 20 million lost during the “post war Era” according to estimates, total: more than 80 million lives.
What would happen if a Third World War were to break out?
While one can conceptualize the loss of life and destruction resulting from WWI, WWII as well as Iraq, Syria and Yemen, it is impossible to fully assess the devastation which would result from a Third World War, using the most advanced weapons systems until it actually occurs and becomes a reality, and then it is too late.
But a review and analysis of the nature of advanced weapons systems and their impacts on human life points to the unthinkable. the Worldwide loss of life would be devastating.
US/NATO possesses a diabolical gamut of REAL weapons of mass destruction (WMD) including nuclear, chemical, biological weapons systems, not to mention climatic warfare, cyber warfare, coupled with the instruments of trade and financial warfare, which serve to destabilize national economies and impoverish billions of people around the World.
Corporations invest in the art of destruction. It is a lucrative trade. Nuclear war has become a multi-billion dollar undertaking, which fills the pockets of US defense contractors. What is at stake is the outright “privatization of nuclear war”. A 1.3 trillion nuclear weapons program launched under Obama, and approved under Trump is ongoing.
A recent study suggests that the US post 9/11 war economy has sucked up 5.9 trillion dollars of tax payers money, enough to build tens of thousands of school and hospitals, not to mention the rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure.
United States Budgetary Costs of the Post-9/11 Wars: $5.9 Trillion Spent and Obligated
By , November 17, 2018
This agenda is profit driven. War propaganda provides a human face to America’s weapons of mass destruction. Modern warfare is intent upon “saving lives”. The “more usable” COSTLY “low yield” nukes are categorized as “harmless to civilians”.
Dangerous crossroads: The US and its allies have endorsed nuclear war in the name of world peace. “Making the world safer” is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.
US policy-makers including Trump, Pence, Bolton and Pompeo believe their own lies: for them, nuclear war is a peace-making endeavor. They haven’t the foggiest idea as to the devastating consequences of their decisions. They believe in their own propaganda.
If nuclear weapons are used, this could be the shortest war in the history of humanity?
In the words of Fidel Castro (2010),
“In a nuclear war the collateral damage would be the life of all humanity”
Let us have the courage to proclaim that all nuclear or conventional weapons, everything that is used to make war, must disappear!”
“It is about demanding that the world is not led into a nuclear catastrophe, it is to preserve life.” (Havana, October 2010)
See:
By , November 19, 2018
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