The Hidden Victims: Civilian Casualties of the Two World Wars

Cormac Ó Gráda; Cormac Ó Gráda

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The Hidden Victims

Civilian Casualties of the Two World Wars

Cormac Ó Gráda and Cormac Ó Gráda

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2024

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About this book

A staggering new account of the civilian death toll of the world wars—and what it reveals about the true nature and cost of modern war

Soldiers have never been the only casualties of wars. But the armies that fought World Wars I and II killed far more civilians than soldiers as they countenanced or deliberately inflicted civilian deaths on a mass scale. By one reputable estimate, 9.7 million civilians and 9 million combatants died in World War I, while World War II killed 25.5 million civilians and 15 million combatants. But in The Hidden Victims, Cormac Ó Gráda argues that even these shocking numbers are almost certainly too low. Carefully evaluating all the evidence available, he estimates that the wars cost not 35 million but some 65 million civilian lives—nearly two-thirds of the 100 million total killed. Indeed, he shows that war-induced famines alone may have killed 30 million people, making them the single largest cause of death.

The Hidden Victims is the first book to attempt to measure and describe the full scale of civilian deaths during the world wars, from all causes, including genocide, starvation, aerial bombardment, and disease. While nations went to great lengths to record military casualties, they often didn’t count or deliberately obscured civilian deaths. Getting the numbers right is important. It reveals much about the true human costs of the wars, the nature of modern warfare, and the failure of efforts to stop civilian casualties. It also makes it possible to argue with those who try to deny, minimize, or exaggerate wartime savagery.

Author / Editor information

Cormac Ó Gráda is an Irish economic historian and professor emeritus at University College Dublin. His many books include Famine: A Short History and Black ’47 and Beyond: The Great Irish Famine in History, Economy, and Memory (both Princeton).

Reviews

"A reference work extraordinary in its range and seriousness."---Richard Bessel, Journal of Modern History --- "The Hidden Victims: Civilian Casualties of the Two World Wars is an ambitious book that enumerates civilian suffering across the era of the world wars. It is engagingly written, accessible, and holds the reader’s interest as it traverses this world of war, narrating the horrors inflicted both 'accidentally' and 'deliberately' on civilians. . . . There are so few one-volume histories that connect the two world wars in meaningful ways. Cormac Ó Gráda thus deserves high praise."---Maartje Abbenhuis, Diplomatic History --- "[The Hidden Victims] a recommended reading for anyone interested in the fate of civilians during the two world wars. Hopefully, this book will motivate scholars to reevaluate our understanding of victims in all armed conflicts: the short and longterm impacts of wars on populations and the response of societies facing death, violence and atrocities against individuals who are not responsible for wars. An understanding still important today."---Jean-Michel Turcotte, Canadian Military History --- "[The Hidden Victims] is a valuable book for scholars of the World Wars who take the time and effort to immerse themselves in this study. . . . Highly recommended." --- "A timely publication. . . . Ó Gráda’s formidable talent as an economic historian brings us an extremely valuable and accessible work which is about more than numbers for the sake of numbers."---Laurence Marley, The Irish Times --- "A work of great moral as well as of historical importance. One of Ireland’s greatest historians scrupulously sifts the evidence from the first and second World Wars and their ‘collateral damage’ of genocide, famine, aerial bombing and disease. . . .The resonances for the present are profound: this book is a potent warning against amnesia and evasion."---Fintan O’Toole, Irish Times --- "First-rate. . . . This important book will make my best non-fiction of the year list."---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

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Frontmatter
i

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CONTENTS
v

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Introduction
1

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1 Mobilization, Relief, and Famine
18

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2 Hunger and Famine
60

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3 The Demography of World War Famines
125

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4 The Genocides of World War I
154

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5 The Jewish Holocaust
166

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6 Civilian Deaths by Aerial Bombing
224

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7 Migration, Displacement, and Ethnic Cleansing
277

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8 No quieren RAPE DURING WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II
319

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9 Atrocities and Other Horrors of War
341

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10 Panic and Morale, Trauma and Resilience
368

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11 A Conclusion without an End
392

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Epilogue
400

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
405

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NOTES
407

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
447

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INDEX
505

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

August 28, 2024

eBook ISBN:

9780691258744

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691258744

eBook ISBN: 9780691258744

Keywords for this book

bombing; Civilian Casualties of the Two World Wars; Cormac Ó Gráda; crimes against humanity; dark figures of war; genocide; international law; rape; resilience; The Hidden Victims; War; Civilians; Deaths; Famine; WW2; Food; WW1; Jews; Population; Soviet; Nazi; Jewish; Military; Refugees; Victims; Troops; Germans; Holocaust; Japanese; Authorities; Rapes; Bombs; Survivors; Health; Starvation; Casualties; Atrocities; Soldiers; Blockade; Leningrad; Labour; Disease; Ethnic; Violence; Death toll; Russian; Wartime; Widespread; Greek; Civilian deaths; Malnutrition; Aerial bombing; Historian; Aircraft; Civilian casualties; Economic; Trauma; Bengal; Russia; Civil; Poles; Rice; Cannibalism; Potatoes; Destruction; Auschwitz; Campaign; Belgian; Civilian population; Concentration camps

Audience(s) for this book

For a non-specialist adult audience

The Hidden Victims

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Mobilization, Relief, and Famine

2 Hunger and Famine

3 The Demography of World War Famines

4 The Genocides of World War I

5 The Jewish Holocaust

6 Civilian Deaths by Aerial Bombing

7 Migration, Displacement, and Ethnic Cleansing

8 No quieren RAPE DURING WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II

9 Atrocities and Other Horrors of War

10 Panic and Morale, Trauma and Resilience

11 A Conclusion without an End

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Bibliographic data