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Philosophers and social scientists have frequently noted the propensity of humans to commit violent acts not only as individuals but as groups. The twentieth century is a legacy of the ability of humanity to engage willingly in acts of warfare and atrocity.
Matthew White (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/atrox.htm) has conducted a study, based on figures quoted from a number of divergent and reliable sources (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstats.htm) to arrive at a conservative estimate of nearly 170 million lives lost to war and major atrocities in the last century. Because fatality statistics are subject to a great deal of uncertainty in turbulent times, White has opted to conservatism in his reporting of statistics. He also employs a commonly-used statistical strategem which forces extreme values at the upper and lower ends of the data field to cancel each other out, resulting in a value closer to the probable mean.
Using existing data, White categorizes these twentieth century events according to most reliable fatality data. While "minor" atrocities and civil conflicts will add to the number, this table compiles those conflicts whose death tolls are close to or exceed half a million souls.
These figures are subject to the usual margins of error. They also include a number of collateral fatalities: civilian casualties of war, democide, famine, and other hardships caused by the social and economic disruption of large-scale conflict.
External links
Twentieth Century Atlas - Top-ranked Atrocities (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/atrox.htm)
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