this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
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What with north korean soldiers fighting for Russia in Ukraine, where is the line drawn?

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[–] StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 2 hours ago (3 children)

Callously, when the survivors look back and decide to call it one. As far as I know there isn’t an agreed upon definition.

WW1 was originally called the War to End All Wars, I think, by many at the time. WW2 eclipsed it by taking place on at least 3 continents and across every ocean. Both are also known by other names that depend on the region. The US Civil War eclipsed both in the number of casualties. The Ukraine war isn’t likely to break records like that.

[–] myopic_menace@reddthat.com 7 points 2 hours ago (1 children)
  • American casualties, not total
[–] Muehe@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Ohhh, that's what they meant. Thanks for clearing that up, I was really confused by that unexpected US defaultism.

[–] StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

@myopic_menace@reddthat.com

Could very well be American casualties only. I didn’t look it up. I was remembering a history class where we were discussing the effects of illness and disease during wars some 20 - 25 years ago. I do remember that our teacher’s statement did not include those killed in the concentration camps, but did include those lost to illness and disease.

Of course, Alabama school, it’s entirely possible that the lesson was complete nonsense.

[–] Muehe@lemmy.ml 2 points 30 minutes ago

Of course, Alabama school, it’s entirely possible that the lesson was complete nonsense.

Nah, from a solely US perspective it's correct. There were ~1.6 million military casualties in the civil war, and ~1.07 million in WW2. But there were a few more parties involved in WW2, so it's kind of weird to frame it as less bloody. If you include civilians, estimates range from 70 to 85 million dead worldwide (not including the >20 million wounded soldiers and unknown number of wounded civilians).

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago

The US Civil War eclipsed both in the number of casualties

[–] Muehe@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

The US Civil War eclipsed both in the number of casualties.

Uhh what? Wikipedia says ~1.6 million casualties (including wounded, ~650k dead) in the civil war, while WW2 has 24 million military deaths alone.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 hour ago

When will you savages learn that non-Americans are not people.