List of battles by casualties

The following is a list of the casualties count in battles or offensives in world history. The list includes both sieges (not technically battles but usually yielding similar combat-related or civilian deaths) and civilian casualties during the battles.

Large battle casualty counts are usually impossible to calculate precisely, but few in this list may include somewhat precise numbers. Many of these figures, though, are estimates, and, where possible, a range of estimates is presented. Figures display numbers for all types of casualties when available (killed, wounded, missing, and sick) but may only include number killed due to a lack of total data on the event. Where possible, the list specifies whether or not prisoners are included in the count.

This list does not include bombing campaigns/runs (such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Tokyo) or massacres such as the Rape of Nanjing, which, despite potentially massive casualties, are not typically classified as "battles", since they are usually one-sided engagements or the nation attacked is not officially at war with the attackers. Tactical or strategic strikes, however, may form part of larger engagements which are themselves battles, small campaigns or offensives.

Sieges and urban combat This list, sorted by year, includes sieges as well as modern battles fought primarily in urban areas. Major military operations that included city fighting are listed below this. SiegeYearConflictCasualties(High est.)(Low est.)Siege of Tyre 332 BCWars of Alexander the Great 39,000(including 13,000 civilians and 2,000 executed soldiers)34,000 Siege of Gaza 332 BCWars of Alexander the Great14,00011,000Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BC)213-212 BCSecond Punic War40,000 (including Archimedes)9,000Siege of Carthage 149-146 BCThird Punic War450,000 (including 50,000 civilians enslaved)200,000Siege of Athens and Piraeus 87–86 BCMithridatic Wars (First Mithridatic War)400,000 (including prisoners)200,000Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) 63 BCMithridatic Wars (First Mithridatic War)12,000+5,000Siege of Alesia 52 BCGallic Wars200,000100,000Siege of Constantinople626Sasanian–Byzantine wars95,00070,000Siege of Constantinople717–718Arab–Byzantine wars170,000130,000Siege of Yongqiu756An Lushan Rebellion100,00065,000Siege of Suiyang757An Lushan Rebellion200,000+160,000Siege of Yongzhou1076Lý-Song War140,00078,000Siege of Nicaea1097First Crusade11,0004,000Siege of Ma'arra1098First Crusade20,000(including civilians and soldiers executed and cannibalized)8,000Siege of Antioch1097-1099First Crusade20,0004,000Siege of Jerusalem1099First Crusade70,0003,000Siege of Tripoli1099-1102First Crusade10,0002,000Siege of Bukhara1220Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire30,00015,000Siege of Gurganj1221Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire1,200,00090,000Siege of Baghdad1258Mongol invasions and conquests2,000,00090,000Siege of Acre1291Fall of Outremer20,00010,000Siege of Caffa1345-1347Genoese–Mongol Wars60,00015,000Siege of Golubac1428Ottoman–Hungarian wars20,00010,000Siege of Constantinople1453Byzantine–Ottoman wars54,000+34,000+Siege of Vijaya1471Champa–Đại Việt War (1471)300,000+130,000+Siege of Tenochtitlan1521Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire240,000100,000Mann, p. 143HassigSiege of Szigetvár1566Ottoman wars in Europe33,00023,000Siege of Chittorgarh1567–1568Mughal-Rajput Wars (1558–1576)40,00035,000Siege of Ulsan1598Imjin War30,00013,000Siege of Nagykanizsa1601Long Turkish War37,00025,000Siege of Ostend1601–1604Eighty Years' War115,00090,000Siege of Osaka1614-1615Edo Period500,000110,000Siege of La Rochelle1627–1628Huguenot rebellions35,00027,000Capture of Maastricht1632Eighty Years' War14,0009,500Siege of Candia 1648–1669Cretan War149,739149,739Battle of Vienna1683Great Turkish War83,00099,000Siege of Buda (1686)1686Great Turkish War23,00023,000Siege of Jinji1690–1698Deccan wars16,000First siege of Anandpur1700Hill States-Sikh Wars150,000+150,000+Siege of Belgrade (1717)1717Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)50,00050,000Siege of Izmail1790Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)50,000+~41,500Siege of Toulon1793War of the First Coalition21,4007,400Battle of PragaOnly military casualties.1794Kościuszko Uprising27,000~21,500Siege of Mantua 1796–1797War of the First Coalition51,00051,000Siege of Genoa 1800War of the Second Coalition28,00028,000Siege of Danzig 1807War of the Fourth Coalition17,90017,900Second siege of Zaragoza1808–1809Peninsular War64,000Grant, p. 23064,000First siege of Sevastopol 1854–1855Crimean War230,000John Sweetman, Crimean War, Essential Histories 2, Osprey Publishing, 2001,230,000Third Battle of Nanking1864Taiping Rebellion100,000Third Battle of Nanking, p. 678100,000Siege of Petersburg1864–1865American Civil War70,000Grant, p. 23170,000Siege of Vicksburg1863American Civil War36,00020,000Battle of Gettysburg1863American Civil War50,00050,000Siege of Paris1871Franco-Prussian War332,142229,000Siege of Plevna1877Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)75,000Clodfelter M. Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000. McFarland, 2002. P. 22075,000Siege of Port Arthur1904–1905Russo-Japanese War100,000Grant, p. 252100,000Siege of Adrianople1912–1913First Balkan War93,282Hall, p. 11293,282Siege of Liege1914World War I25,3006,000Siege of Przemyśl1914World War I253,000253,000Siege of Maubeuge1914World War I94,00051,000Siege of Antwerp1914World War I58,00036,000Siege of Kut1915-1916World War I50,00036,000Battle of Taiyuan1937Second Sino-Japanese War130,000130,000Battle of Xinkou1937Second Sino-Japanese War200,000200,000Battle of Shanghai1937Second Sino-Japanese War426,140363,700First Battle of Changsha1939Second Sino-Japanese War80,000+80,000+Battle of Nanchang1939Second Sino-Japanese War75,32875,328Siege of Warsaw (1939)1939World War II206,000206,000Battle of Dunkirk1940World War II88,00088,000Siege of Malta (World War II)1940-1942World War II21,00021,000Battle of South Shanxi1941Second Sino-Japanese War120,000+120,000+Siege of Tobruk1941World War II18,60016,500Siege of Odessa1941World War II133,813Glantz (1995), p. 293133,813Battle of Kiev1941World War II761,783761,783Second siege of Sevastopol1941–1942World War II236,437236,437Third Battle of Changsha1942World War II84,86284,862First Battle of Voronezh1942World War II662,847662,847Battle of Stalingrad1942–1943World War II4,172,0001,250,000Grant, p. 308Battle of Changde1943World War II100,000100,000Battle of West Hubei1943World War II115,830115,830Siege of Leningrad1941–1944World War II4,000,000Glantz, David (2001), The Siege of Leningrad 1941–44: 900 Days of Terror, Zenith Press, Osceola, WI, . p. 178–1801,117,000Сведения городской комиссии по установлению и расследованию злодеяний немецко-фашистских захватчиков и их сообщников о числе погибшего в Ленинграде населения ЦГА СПб, Ф.8357. Оп.6. Д. 1108 Л. 46–47Warsaw Uprising1944World War II200,000+200,000+Siege of Budapest1944–1945World War II422,000422,000Grant, p. 318Battle of Berlin1945World War II1,286,367(including civilians)1,057,665Battle of Okinawa1945World War II240,000130,000Battle of Manila1945World War II500,000Connaughton, R., Pimlott, J., and Anderson, D., 1995, The Battle for Manila, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 100,000Battle of the Bulge1944–1945World War II218,900161,370Siege of Changchun1948Chinese Civil War425,000Chang, Jung; Halliday, Jon. 2006. Mao: The Unknown Story. London: Vintage Books. p383.78,808中国人民解放军军事科学院《中国军事百科全书》长春解放纪念碑烈士鲜血筑就的城市记忆 sina.com.cn 2007年05月22日09:04 东亚经贸新闻李发锁. "围困长春." 中国作家. 纪实 3 (2018): 4-161.Siege of Basra1987Iran–Iraq War85,00085,000First Battle of Grozny1994–1995First Chechen War33,19232,000Battle of Aleppo2012–2016Syrian Civil War45,00031,273Battle of Mosul2016–2017War in Iraq (2013–2017)71,35518,200Siege of Mariupol2022Russian Invasion of Ukraine85,2008,034Human Rights Watch/SITU/Truth Hounds, “Our City Was Gone” Russia’s Devastation of Mariupol, Ukraine, p. 147: "Based on an assessment of satellite imagery and photo and video analysis, we estimate that at least 10,284 people were buried in four of the city’s cemeteries and in Manhush cemetery between March 2022 and February 2023. We also estimate that around 2,250 people would have died of causes unrelated to war in Mariupol during that period, meaning the city saw at least an estimated 8,034 deaths above a peacetime rate. We are not able to determine how many of those buried in the city were civilians or military personnel, or how many were killed as a result of unlawful attacks."Battle of Bakhmut2022–2023Russian Invasion of Ukraine165,600146,050Battle of Avdiivka2023–2024Russian Invasion of Ukraine54,00021,000Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip 2023-2025Gaza War186,000 (June 2024)53,939 and 122,797 woundedSiege of El Fasher2023–2025Sudanese civil war150,00060,000

Major operations This list includes major operations and prolonged battles or operations fought over a large area or for a long time. The durations of some operations, like the Battle of Moscow, are disputed, so casualty numbers may differ for that reason alone.