The Top 10 Bloodiest Battles of the Second World War

A sequel to yesterday's thread which highlighted the ten bloodiest battles of the First World War, this thread will countdown the Top 10 deadliest battles of the Second World War. Once again, we will be dealing with total combined casualties (killed, wounded, captured/missing) and will also be including civilian casualties as they oftentimes were just as involved in engagements as their military counterparts were.

The Second World War was the deadliest conflict in human history, killing between 60-80 million people over the course of six years of warfare. While the traditional start date for the Second World War is listed as September 1, 1939, it must be mentioned that the Second Sino-Japanese War (begun on July 7, 1937) would eventually merge into World War II when Japan attacked British and American interests in the Pacific in December 1941. With that being said, the years 1937 and 1938 will also be included in this thread as part of the Second World War.

Spoiler alert: nine of the 10 battles on this list were fought on the Eastern Front. With that said, expect a list of the Top 10 Bloodiest (non-Eastern Front) Battles of the Second World War to appear in the near future.

Now...onto the countdown:


10. Ichi-Go Offensive (April 19-December 31, 1944) - 850,000 total casualties

This Japanese offensive, waged in mainland China, which began in the spring and lasted through the winter of 1944 ended in a smashing victory for Japan over the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek.

9. First Battle of Smolensk (July 8-September 10, 1941) - 895,633 total casualties

In the early days of Operation Barbarossa, German forces under Fedor von Bock stopped an attempted counterattack by the Red Army which led to the German capture of the vital city of Smolensk.

8. Battle of Berlin (April 16-May 2, 1945) - 1,183,367 total casualties

The final battle of World War II in Europe resulted in the suicide of Adolf Hitler, the surrender of the Wehrmacht and the collapse of Nazi Germany.

7. Battle of Kursk (July 5-August 23, 1943) - 1,206,464 total casualties

Adolf Hitler's last ditch gamble to reverse his losses in the East and bring the Soviet Union to the negotiating table ended with a decisive Red Army victory and the largest tank battle in military history.

6. Byelorussian Offensive (June 22-August 19, 1944) - 1,220,888 total casualties

Josef Stalin's massive offensive meant to support the Allied landings in Normandy broke the German armed forces' back on the Eastern Front. Losses in men and material were unrecoverable on the side of Nazi Germany.

5. Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941-January 7, 1942) - 1,354,234 total casualties

The German Army's drive on Moscow is stopped just miles short of the gates of Moscow and pushed back by a massive Soviet counteroffensive. Prior to the Soviet attack, advanced German units could easily see the spires of Moscow through their binoculars.

4. Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive (December 24, 1943-May 6, 1944) - 1,489,216 total casualties

After driving German forces from the east bank of the Dnieper River, the Red Army launched an offensive to drive the Wehrmacht away from the western bank of the river and into the Carpathian Mountains that lie on the border with Ukraine and Hungary.

3. Battle of Stalingrad (August 23, 1942-February 2, 1943) - 1,997,993 total casualties

Characterized by bloody house-to-house and street-by-street fighting, this battle in the city along the Volga River went on to become the turning point of the Second World War on the Eastern Front. The German 6th Army, the Romanian 3rd and 4th armies, the Italian Army of Russia, and the Hungarian 3rd Army were all wiped off the map.

2. Battle of the Dnieper (August 26-December 23, 1943) - 2,049,058 total casualties

In this series of battles along the Dnieper River, the Red Army regained control of the entirety of the east bank of that river as well as the recapture of Kiev and the Donets Basin.

1. Siege of Leningrad (September 8, 1941-January 27, 1944) - 4,016,051 total casualties

In a siege which claimed north of four million military and civilian casualties, Leningrad held out against constant German bombardment and infantry assaults for some 900 straight days. Over 800,000 of these casualties were civilian deaths due to starvation. Another 200,000 were killed by air and artillery bombardments.