Major battles of World War II. The bloodiest battle The bloodiest battle ever

The Second World War was the largest and bloodiest in the history of mankind. As a result of its deployment, colossal changes have taken place in the political, economic and even cultural life of the world community. Now we can say with full confidence that the events that took place seventy years ago completely changed the course of history. 61 states took part in the war. The total losses of the warring parties exceeded 65 million people. For a more complete understanding of the full significance of this historical period, it is worth considering the major battles of World War II in chronological order.

Battle of Britain

The largest air battle in World War II. It lasted from July 9 to October 30, 1940. After an unsuccessful attempt to conclude a peace treaty with Great Britain, Hitler orders a massive bombardment of the country. For these purposes, three air fleets were allocated under the overall command of Goering and Kesselring. The total number of Luftwaffe aircraft participating in the battle exceeded 4,000. The RAF forces consisted of half the machines, but they had the most serious support from ground-based air defense systems. As a result of heavy dogfights, the RAF nullified German attempts to gain air supremacy. This prevented the direct landing of German troops on the territory of the island. This is the first battle in which the Air Force and Air Defense Forces participated exclusively.

Battle for Moscow

The battle lasted from September 30, 1941 to April 20, 1942. During the defensive stage, the forces of the Red Army as part of the Western, Bryansk, Kalinin and Reserve Fronts under the command of Zhukov, Konev and Zakharov stubbornly resisted the advance of the German troops of Army Group Center under von Bock's command. As a result of the actions of the Red Army, the forces of the Third Reich were drained of blood, which allowed the Red Army to launch a counteroffensive on December 5-6, which grew into a full-scale offensive along the entire front in early 1942. In the period from January to April 1942, the forces of the Third Reich were thrown back 100-150 km back. The outcome of the battle for Moscow had a major impact on the course of events in the war. The plan of "blitzkrieg" failed, thereby dispelling the prevailing myth about the invincibility of the Nazi army.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

A surprise attack by Japanese aircraft aimed at the accumulation of American naval forces and aircraft located in the area of the Pearl Harbor harbor on the island of Oahu took place on December 7, 1941 under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. The attack included two air raids involving 353 Japanese aircraft. The goal of the operation was to destroy the forces of the US Navy in the Pacific Ocean, making Japan the only serious military force in the region. The attack on Pearl Harbor made it possible to conduct military operations against a number of countries in Southeast Asia. The losses of the American fleet were extremely heavy - almost all large ships were destroyed or damaged, aviation also suffered serious losses. Japanese military forces suffered very little. The attack caused the United States to enter World War II.

Battle of El Alamein

The largest battle in North Africa during World War II. It took place in two stages. The first battle of El Alamein lasted from July 1 to July 27, 1942. During the battle, the Allied forces under the command of Oinclek managed to stop the massive attack on Egypt by the German-Italian troops under the command of Rommel near the city of El Alamein. The result was a stalemate. During the second battle, which lasted from October 23 to November 5, 1942, British troops under the command of Montgomery defeated Rommel's army with considerable effort. Despite the huge numerical superiority of the British, Rommel held out to the last. The order to retreat was given only after the loss of almost all the equipment. The outcome of the second battle radically changed the balance of power in North Africa in favor of Great Britain.

Battle of Stalingrad

It lasted from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The Battle of Stalingrad is considered the bloodiest battle in the history of the world. Its end is a turning point in the entire war. From the side of the Red Army participated in the battle
troops of the Stalingrad and Don fronts under the command of Zhukov, Vasilevsky, Vatutin, Timoshenko and Rokossovsky. The troops of the Third Reich were represented by Army Group B (in particular, the 6th Army) and the Don Amii Group under the command of Weichs, von Manstein and Paulus. The Battle of Stalingrad can be divided into two stages. During the first four months, the Red Army fought fierce defensive battles on the outskirts of the city, and then in Stalingrad itself. As a result, the fascist German troops were badly exhausted and were forced to go over to the defensive. Over the next two months, Soviet troops launched an active counter-offensive, as a result of which a large group of German troops was surrounded and liquidated, the 6th Army was almost completely destroyed, and its commander, Field Marshal Paulus, was captured. Subsequently, the Third Reich was never able to recover from such a serious defeat.

Battle of Kursk

It lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943. According to the plan of the German generals, the troops of Army Group Center and Army Group South under the command of von Kluge and Manstein, with the support of elite SS tank divisions equipped with new technical means, were to surround and destroy the troops Central and Voronezh fronts. The forces of the Red Army under the command of Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Vatutin and Konev were ready to take the blow. The German offensive was uncertain, and after the largest tank battle in the history of Prokhorovka, which took place on July 12, it completely bogged down. The next day, the Red Army launched a large-scale counterattack, which turned into a strategic offensive, as a result of which a significant part of the territory occupied by German troops was liberated.
As a result of the Battle of Kursk, the offensive initiative finally passed to the side of the Soviet troops.

Battle of Monte Cassino

The Battle of Rome, or the Battle of Monte Cassino, is a sequence of four major battles. It lasted from January 17 to May 19, 1944. All the battles were fought by the allies in order to capture the line of fortifications called the Gustav Line, which was under the control of the troops of the Third Reich. At first, the Allies made a series of attempts to take possession of the line, which ultimately failed. Then attention was turned to the ancient abbey of Monte Cassino, on the slopes of which the German troops had organized a defense. Although the abbey was not occupied by the Wehrmacht, the Allied command assumed the presence of observation posts there, and Monte Cassino was destroyed by American air strikes. Immediately after this, the ruins were occupied by German paratroopers, as a result of which a serious defense was organized. On the fourth attempt, the Allied troops still managed to break through the Gustav line. The road to Rome was open.

Landing in Normandy

The Normandy operation began on June 6, 1944 and ended on August 31, 1944. The mass landing of the allied Anglo-American troops on the territory of Normandy and their advance deep into the occupied territories, carried out during the operation, led to the opening of the Western Front, which became the key in the entire war. The allied forces were commanded by Montgomery and Eisenhower. The operation was carried out in two stages. During the first, code-named Operation Neptune, an amphibious landing was made on the coast in order to capture the continental bridgehead. During the second stage, called Operation Cobra, the German line of defense of the defense line was breached, followed by an offensive deployed on French territory. The landing in Normandy is considered the largest amphibious operation in history - the total number of its participants exceeded 3 million people.

Belarusian operation

The operation to liberate Belarus, also known as Operation Bagration, lasted from June 23 to August 29, 1944. During the battles, the troops of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts, as well as the 1st Baltic Front under commanded by Zhukov, Bagramyan, Zakharov, Rokossovsky and Chernyakhovsky dealt a severe blow to Army Group Center under the command of Model. The Red Army broke through the enemy defenses and launched a massive offensive surrounded and destroyed large enemy forces in the Vitebsk region. At the same time, there was an advance in the western direction, during which part of the Baltic was liberated. Soviet troops entered occupied Poland, thereby transferring hostilities beyond the borders of the USSR. The advance to the borders of Germany was begun. According to a number of historians, the battle in Belarus is the biggest defeat of the Wehrmacht.

Storming Berlin

The assault on the capital of Nazi Germany lasted from April 25 to May 2, 1945. On the first day of the operation, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Zhukov joined forces with the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front, led by Konev, surrounding Berlin in a dense ring, which began to rapidly shrink. The defense of the city was carefully prepared and included numerous strongholds, becoming ever denser towards the center of the capital. Despite this, the Soviet troops confidently marched towards their goal, and entering the city they began to lead heavy street, which somewhat slowed down their advance. On May 1, the Reichstag fell, and on May 2, the head of the garrison, General Weidling, with his closest associates, surrendered. The resistance of the remnants of the German army, who did not want to surrender, was quickly crushed. The fall of Berlin ended World War II in Europe.

1. The bloodiest naval battle At Cape Scrofa in the Gulf of Patras near the Greek peninsula of the Peloponnese in 1571, two warring forces clashed: the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League - an alliance of Catholic states that existed in 1571-1573. It is noteworthy that the Holy League was created specifically for the purpose of fighting against Ottoman expansion. The coalition owned the most numerous European fleet, which consisted mainly of Venetian and Spanish galleys. In total, the fleet consisted of about 300 ships. On the morning of October 7, the enemies unexpectedly met 60 km from the Greek city of Lepanto (the current name of Nafpakt). The Spanish-Venetian fleet was the first to see the enemy and inflicted a crushing defeat on him. More than 500 ships participated in this battle on both sides. Presumably, the total number of those killed is about 30 thousand, of which 20 thousand belonged to the Turkish fleet. This battle marked a turning point in the history of Ottoman dominance in the Mediterranean. It turned out that the Turks, who were considered invincible, can be defeated. It also became an important event in the life of 24-year-old Miguel de Cervantes, who commanded a platoon of Spanish soldiers on the Marquis galley. During the battle, the future Spanish writer was wounded twice, and when he returned home, he was captured by Algerian pirates. The author of Don Quixote spent five years in slavery.

2. The bloodiest religious war

In 1850, in the Chinese province of Guangxi, the 37-year-old rural teacher Hong Xiuquan once again failed to pass the imperial exams. According to statistics, only 5% of the “lucky ones” passed this test, which opened the door for them to the society of the scientific elite. Disappointed by his failure, Hong Xiuquan fell into a prolonged depression, during which he came across a pamphlet by Protestant Christian missionaries. Apparently, this brochure greatly impressed the teacher, because after reading it, he proclaimed himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ. The newly minted messiah convinced the Chinese people of his superiority, claiming that he was sent to rid China of the "devils", that is, the then ruling Manchu empire of Qing with its corrupt feudal system. With his followers, Xiuquan created an independent Chinese "heavenly state of great prosperity" or Taiping tianguo, which gave its name to the Taiping Rebellion. His followers sold property, thus supporting the Taipings. In total, Xiuquan's "good intentions" were supported by about 30 million people. From 1850 to 1868, a colossal uprising broke out throughout the empire, claiming an unthinkable number of lives: according to various estimates, from 20 to 100 million people died. The British and French intervened in the peasant war (the Taipings banned the sale of opium, which dealt a blow to European trade) on the side of the Qing army, as a result, the Taiping rebellion was suppressed. Xiuquan himself committed suicide by ingesting poison.

3. The most bloody creation of an empire

For two centuries, from the 13th to the 14th, the population of the Earth decreased by 17%. The reason for this was the Mongol invasion devastating the Eurasian continent, which began in 1206 with a series of conquests in Central and Western Asia. The first resounding victory of the Mongols was the war with the Jurchen state of Jin, as a result of which the north of modern China was captured. The resulting Mongol Empire occupied a total of territories from the Danube to the Sea of Japan (the territories of the Middle East, China, Central Asia, South Siberia, Eastern Europe). With cruelty unprecedented at that time, the conquerors mercilessly slaughtered entire cities in their path. Previously, Europe did not know such cruelty and terror as the conquests of the army of Genghis Khan and his descendants. According to estimates, between 30 and 70 million people died during the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Historians consider the Mongol conquests one of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of mankind. In terms of the number of victims, it is second only to the Second World War. There is a hypothesis that, along with bloody clashes, the Mongols brought plague to Europe. In 1347, during the siege of the Crimean city of Kaffa (present-day Feodosia), they threw infected bodies over the fortress walls. The disease entered Italy along with the sailors who left Caffa. Subsequently, from 30 to 60% of the people who inhabited Europe died from the plague. It can be considered that this was the first case in the history of the use of biological weapons.

4. The bloodiest one-day battle

Borodino is considered the bloodiest one-day battle in history. During it, every hour on the battlefield, about 6 thousand people died or were injured, according to the most conservative estimates. During the battle, the Russian army lost about 30% of its composition, the French - about 25%. In absolute numbers, this is about 60 thousand killed on both sides. But, according to some reports, up to 100 thousand people were killed during the battle and died later from wounds. Not a single one-day battle that took place before Borodino was so bloody. At the same time, the one-day battles that took place in the 20th century were still less bloody than the Battle of Borodino. Perhaps the bloodiest battle took place on July 1, 1916 during the First World War. That day, in the Battle of the Somme, the British alone lost 21,000 soldiers killed and 35,000 wounded. In total, according to various sources, about 70 thousand people were killed and wounded. However, if we consider not only battles, but also the killing of civilians, then, for example, during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a total of 150 to 240 thousand people died. History also stores data on the period of the Warring States (from the 5th century BC to 221 BC). In that era in China, the army of the Qin kingdom, which, according to its military doctrine, had to constantly fight in order not to lose combat effectiveness, devoted this year to operations against one of the most combat-ready opponents - the kingdom of Zhao. The Zhao troops were concentrated on fortified positions in Changping (in the current Chinese province of Shanxi). In an attack on them, the Qin commander Bai Qi for the first time used tactics that, several decades later, would bring success (and, despite a much smaller scale, greater world fame) to Hannibal in the battle of the Carthaginians with the Romans at Cannae. Briefly, Bai Qi's tactics can be described as a simulated retreat that lured the Zhao to the fortifications he had prepared in advance, to a valley cut off from the rest of the theater of operations by passes, with a further blow to their troops from the flanks and rear. The Zhao troops were surrounded and could not break through the passes, even though they were outnumbered by the Qin troops guarding them. After 46 days, famine began in the army, and the Zhao people laid down their arms in exchange for the promised mercy. However, Bai Qi did not keep his word, and up to four hundred thousand soldiers were executed. Only 240 young fighters were sent home to tell the shocked Zhao kingdom about what had happened. Modern historians question the possibility of the existence of hundreds of thousands of armies mentioned in the chronicles at that time. However, even several times smaller number of victims makes it possible to mention the battle in Changping among the bloodiest short-term battles in world history. The Qin dynasty was able to further develop its successes and united all of China under its rule from 221 to 206 BC.

5. The bloodiest war between countries that did not change the "status quo"

The Iran-Iraq War became the longest full-scale war between the two states of the 20th century, lasting about 8 years from September 22, 1980 to August 20, 1988. Despite the fact that the death toll on both sides amounted to about 900 thousand people, the borders of countries in 1988 did not change compared to the beginning of the decade (and neither country paid any reparations to the other). The war was the only confirmed case of the use of weapons of mass destruction (Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran and against its own Kurdish population) in the second half of the last century. Against the backdrop of the size of the losses, it is all the more surprising that almost until the very end of the conflict, the countries did not break off diplomatic relations and did not close their embassies on the territory of the enemy. Other features of the conflict include the use by the parties against each other of ballistic missiles (with warheads with "traditional" explosives), the first ever "duel" of helicopters and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

6. The bloodiest war in the last half century

The bloodiest war in the history of modern African history lasted almost 5 years, from 1998 to 2003. However, the conflict did not subside until 2008. During this time, the Second Congolese War, according to various estimates, claimed from 2.5 to 5.4 million lives due to disease, starvation and bloody clashes. Also known as the "Great African War", it began a year after the first Congo war and was accompanied by massacres of civilians. Nine states and more than twenty different armed groups were involved in the pan-African conflict. The prerequisites were the civil strife between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples, which began since the time of the genocide in Rwanda, as well as the desire of neighboring countries to gain control over the rich mineral resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the number of victims, the Second Congolese War is called the deadliest conflict since the Second World War.

7. The most bloody sacking of the city

In 1258, the troops of the Mongol ruler Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, approached Baghdad, which at that time was the capital of the Arab Abbasid Caliphate. In total, more than 150,000 people gathered under the banner of Hulagu. After a siege that lasted only two weeks, the city fell. The number of those killed during its plunder is estimated by modern historians as ranging from 100,000 to a million people. Arab sources estimate the total number of victims as high as two million. In addition to the city, the Mongols inflicted enormous damage on the irrigation system of Mesopotamia, destroying the canal system built up over the previous millennia. Western historians cite the fall of Baghdad as one of the main reasons why the Arab world lost its role as the "heir to the ancient states" as the main world center for the development of science and arts.

Human life is priceless. And dryly statistically counting other people's deaths is not very humane. And, nevertheless, on the eve of May 9, we allow ourselves to publish terrible figures. After all, they remind what peace can cost if a war is unleashed.

1. Battle of Stalingrad

July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943

Most historians call it the turning point of hostilities. And all - the bloodiest battle on land in the history of mankind. At the cost of their lives, more than one and a half million Soviet soldiers managed to stop the offensive of the Wehrmacht. The German troops finally lost the strategic initiative and were never able to restore resources. Losses in tanks and vehicles amounted to a six-month production in Germany, in artillery - three months, in rifle and mortars - two months. But in general, they caught up with all the losses for the entire previous period of fighting on the Soviet-German front.

Human losses: USSR - 1 million 130 thousand people; Germany and allies - 1.5 million people. According to various sources, 91-110 thousand German soldiers were captured.

2. Battle for Moscow

September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942

Hitler considered the capture of Moscow ("Operation Typhoon") as one of the main military and political goals of Operation Barbarossa. After all, the capture of the capital of the USSR would provide the Wehrmacht with a moral and strategic advantage over the Allied forces. Moreover, according to the blitzkrieg plan, the white-stone was supposed to fall in the first 3-4 months of the war. Blitzkrieg failed, and the battles for Smolensk, Leningrad and Kyiv significantly weakened the German troops. “The peculiarity of the country and the originality of the character of the Russians gave the campaign a special specificity. The first serious enemy (Franz Halder, Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces in 1938-1942).

Human losses: USSR - 926.2 thousand people; Germany - 581.9 thousand people

July 17 - September 26, 1941

The defeat near Kyiv was a heavy blow for the Red Army, it opened the way for the Wehrmacht to Eastern Ukraine, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the Donbass. But at the same time, the diversion of the 2nd Panzer Group of the Wehrmacht from the central direction to the south slowed down the advance of Army Group Center and significantly weakened the enemy, which allowed the Soviet command to prepare for the defense of Moscow.

Human losses: USSR - 627.8 thousand people; Germany - 128670 thousand people (based on own reports)

4. Battle for the Dnieper

August 24 - December 23, 1943

One of the largest battles in world history. Up to 4 million people took part in the battle for the liberation of Kyiv on both sides, and the battle front stretched for 1400 km. Front-line writer Viktor Astafiev recalled: “Twenty-five thousand warriors enter the water, and three thousand, maximum five, come out on the other side. And after five or six days, all the dead surface. Can you imagine? . Almost all of Left-bank Ukraine was liberated, and with it the most important industrial regions of Donbass and metallurgical centers. Despite the great destruction, the restoration of industrial enterprises immediately began, and a few months later, a rapid increase in the output of military products began in the liberated regions.

Human losses: USSR - 417 thousand people; Germany - 400 thousand killed (according to other sources, up to 1.2 million people).

5. Battle of Kursk

July 5 - August 23, 1943

About two million people, six thousand tanks, four thousand aircraft collided in the largest tank battle in history. After the end of the battle, the strategic initiative finally passed to the side of the Red Army, which continued to liberate the country from the German invaders. Until the end of the war, Soviet troops were already conducting mainly offensive operations, and not defense. “If the battle of Stalingrad foreshadowed the decline of the Nazi army, then the battle of Kursk put it in front of a catastrophe” .

But, retreating, the Wehrmacht used the tactics of "scorched earth", destroying any objects of industrial, agricultural, civilian purposes so that they would not go to the enemy.

Human losses: USSR - 254 thousand people; Germany - 500 thousand people (according to German data, 103.6 thousand people).

6. Operation "Bagration"

June 23 - August 29, 1944

One of the largest military operations in the history of mankind, during which the forces of the 1st Baltic, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts defeated the German Army Group Center and liberated Belarus. To demonstrate the significance of success, after the battle, more than 50,000 German prisoners captured near Minsk were paraded through the streets of Moscow.

Human losses: USSR - 178.5 thousand people; Germany - 255.4 thousand people

January 12 - February 3, 1945

During the strategic offensive of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, the territory of Poland west of the Vistula was liberated from German troops and a bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder was captured. The bridgehead on the Oder was subsequently used in the attack on Berlin.
This battle also entered the history of mankind as the most rapid offensive - for 20 days, Soviet troops advanced at a distance of 20 to 30 km per day.

Human losses: USSR - 43.2 thousand people; Germany - 480 thousand people (150 thousand taken prisoner).

8. Battle for Berlin

April 16 - May 8, 1945

The last battle of Soviet troops in Europe. For the sake of storming the capital of the Third Reich, the forces of the 1st Ukrainian, 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts were combined, divisions of the Polish Army and sailors of the Baltic Fleet took part in the battles. Already on the morning of May 1, the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was raised over the Reichstag, but the battle for the Reichstag continued all day and only on the night of May 2 did the Reichstag garrison capitulate. The last remnants of the German units were destroyed or captured by May 7th. With the completion of the Berlin operation, favorable conditions were created for the encirclement and destruction of the last large enemy groupings on the territory of Austria and Czechoslovakia.

Human losses: USSR with allies - 81 thousand people; Germany - about 400 thousand people.

9. Battle of Monte Casino

January 17 - May 19, 1944

The bloodiest battle involving the Western Allies, during which the Americans and the British broke through the German defensive line ("Gustav Line") and took Rome.

Human losses: USA and allies - more than 100 thousand people; Germany - about 20 thousand people.

10. Battle for Iwo Jima

February 16 - March 26, 1945

The first military operation of US forces against Japan on land, which became the bloodiest battle in the Pacific theater of operations. It was after the assault on this small island 1250 km from Tokyo that the US command decided to carry out a demonstrative atomic bombing before landing on the Japanese islands.

Human losses: Japan - 22.3 thousand people; USA - 6.8 thousand people

The results of many battles could be different without.

Throughout the history of mankind, various political entities have resolved emerging disputes with the help of force. The development of military affairs contributed to the fact that in each subsequent era more people died on the battlefields than in the previous one. The 19th and 20th centuries saw the bloodiest battles in history. Each of them claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Read also:

Battle of Stalingrad

The battle of Stalingrad is considered the bloodiest and longest in the history of mankind. It lasted for about two hundred days. The losses of the parties, including those killed and wounded, according to various estimates, amounted to from 1.5 to 3 million people. The Battle of Stalingrad became one of the decisive episodes of World War II, after which the Red Army launched a counteroffensive on all fronts.

Although the forces of the USSR and the allies managed to finally defeat Nazism only two years after the victory at Stalingrad, it was the Battle of Stalingrad that became the turning point of World War II. The battle that took place in a large city was also a major humanitarian disaster: before the start of the defense of Stalingrad, the civilian population was not completely evacuated. A negligibly small part of the city's civilians survived the 200-day battle.

"Verdun meat grinder"

The Battle of Verdun is the most famous episode of the First World War. She was passing February to December 1916 between French and German troops. Each side unsuccessfully tried to break through the enemy's defenses and launch a decisive offensive. During the nine months of the battle, the front line remained virtually unchanged. Neither side achieved a strategic advantage. It was not by chance that contemporaries called the battle of Verdun a "meat grinder". 305,000 soldiers and officers from both sides lost their lives in a useless confrontation. The total losses of the parties, including those killed and wounded, amounted to more than a million people.

From the point of view of military affairs, the Battle of Verdun was an important milestone: for the first time in history, ground attack aircraft were systematically used in it, and cars were used to quickly regroup troops.

Battle of the Somme

Simultaneously with the Battle of Verdun, the Anglo-French coalition launched an operation on another sector of the Western Front. English paratroopers landed on the coast of the French region of Pas de Calais, who, together with the French army, were to strike at German positions and force the enemy to flee. Only on the first day of the campaign, July 1, 1916 The English landing lost 60,000 men. The operation, planned as lightning, dragged on for five months. The number of divisions participating in the battle increased from 33 to 149. In the battle of the Somme, large tank units were used for the first time. During the battle, the parties lost about 600 thousand people killed, and the total combat losses amounted to more than a million people.

Nanjing Massacre

AT December 1937 The Japanese occupation troops carried out an offensive operation to capture Nanjing, the then capital of the Republic of China. By December 7, the Chinese government had evacuated the capital's institutions from the city and completed the defense organization. The defense of the former capital lasted less than two weeks. On December 13, Japanese troops took control of Nanjing and launched an operation against the civilian population. Over the next two weeks, Japanese soldiers took revenge on Chinese civilians for the resistance that the Chinese army had previously offered. By the end of December, between 200,000 and 500,000 civilians, including women and children, had been killed. The losses of the Japanese military near Nanjing amounted to no more than 8 thousand people. In China and Taiwan, the victims of the Nanjing Massacre are commemorated at annual state mourning events.

09.05.2013

Every victory comes at a heavy cost. The website of the Military History Monthly magazine has collected five large-scale battles of all time, which were more than paid for with the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers, the number of which is amazing.

Much of a soldier's life is spent waiting and preparing for war. When the moment comes to take action, everything happens bloody, confusing and extremely fast.

Often the fighting is not gaining large-scale momentum: a shootout, a reconnaissance patrol, an accidental collision with the enemy in the dark.

In other cases, fear will destroy an army, causing tough men to flee from a perceived threat of death before either side suffers serious casualties.

And finally, battles that exceed normal expectations in terms of death and destruction. This is precisely the case when neither side is ready to surrender, or - as is often the case - the general strategy is such that it leaves no hope of salvation for the enemy.

1. Battle of Stalingrad, 1942-1943

Opponents: Nazi Germany vs. the USSR

Losses: Germany 841,000; Soviet Union 1,130,000

Total: 1,971,000

Outcome: Victory of the USSR

The German advance began with a devastating series of Luftwaffe raids that left much of Stalingrad in ruins.

But the bombing did not completely destroy the urban landscape. As they advanced, the German army became embroiled in fierce street fighting with the Soviet forces.

Although the Germans took control of more than 90% of the city, the Wehrmacht forces were unable to dislodge the remaining stubborn Soviet soldiers from it. The cold began, and in November 1942, the Red Army launched a double attack of the 6th German Army in Stalingrad.

The flanks collapsed, and the 6th Army was surrounded, both by the Red Army and by the harsh Russian winter. Hunger, cold, and sporadic Soviet attacks began to take their toll. But Hitler did not allow the 6th Army to retreat.

By February 1943, after an unsuccessful German attempt to break through when food supply lines were cut, the 6th Army was defeated.

Opponents: France vs Austria, Prussia and Russia

Losses: 30,000 French, 54,000 allies

Total: 84000

Outcome: Victory of forces Kcoalitions

The Battle of Leipzig was the largest and most severe defeat suffered by Napoleon and the largest battle in Europe before the outbreak of the First World War.

Faced with attacks from all sides, the French army performed remarkably well, keeping the attackers at bay for more than nine hours before they were outnumbered.

Realizing the imminent defeat, Napoleon began to withdraw his troops in an orderly manner across the only remaining bridge. The bridge was blown up too soon.

Over 20,000 French soldiers were thrown into the water and drowned while trying to cross the river. The defeat opened the doors to France for the allied forces.

Opponents: Britain vs. Germany

Casualties: Britain 60,000, Germany 8,000

Total: 68,000

Outcome: Inconclusive

The British Army experienced the bloodiest day in its history in the opening stages of a battle that would last for several months.

More than a million people were killed as a result of the hostilities, and the original military tactical situation remained largely unchanged.

The plan was to pulverize the German defenses with artillery bombardment to the point where the attacking British and French forces could simply move in and occupy the opposite trenches. But the shelling did not bring the expected devastating consequences.

As soon as the soldiers left the trenches, the Germans opened fire from machine guns. Poorly coordinated artillery often covered their own advancing infantry with fire or was often left without shelter.

By nightfall, despite the massive loss of life, only a few targets were occupied. Attacks continued in this manner until October 1916.

Opponents: Rome vs. Carthage

Losses: 10,000 Carthaginians, 50,000 Romans

Total: 60,000

Outcome: Carthaginian victory

The Carthaginian commander Hannibal led his army through the Alps and defeated two Roman armies on Trebia and Lake Trasimene, sought to involve the Romans in the last decisive battle.

The Romans concentrated their heavy infantry in the center, hoping to break through the middle of the Carthaginian army. Hannibal, in anticipation of a central Roman attack, deployed his best troops on the flanks of his army.

As the center of the Carthaginian forces collapsed, the Carthaginian parties closed in on the Roman flanks. The mass of legionnaires in the back ranks forced the front ranks to march irresistibly forward, not knowing that they were driving themselves into a trap.

Eventually, the Carthaginian cavalry arrived and closed the gap, thus completely encircling the Roman army. In close combat, the legionnaires, unable to flee, were forced to fight to the death. As a result of the battle, 50 thousand Roman citizens and two consuls were killed.

Opponents: Union army vs. Confederate forces

Losses: Union - 23,000; Confederates - 23,000

Total: 46,000

Outcome: victory for the Union Army