How many people died in the last Cold War? 94 million?

I Googled this and it is sort of a strange answer because there was no figure from the Cold War. Instead I found a figure from: "How many people died from Communism and this answer is 94 million people.

Here are the figures:
USSR-20 million
China-65 milion
Vietnam-1 million
N.Korea-2 million
Cambodia-2 million
Eastern Europe-1 million
Africa-1.7 million
Afghanistan-1.5 million
Latin America 150,000

Total 94 million people
Source(s)
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire
Brian Crozier

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How many people died during the cold war?

Can anyone give me a reasonable figure as to how many people died between 1945 and 1990 as a result of the cold war and in Americas fight by proxy against communism...taken into account Vietnam, Korea, South America etc? I have heard that the figure is greater than the total of who died in both world wars put together...hardly surprising given the length of it..I need a link too if you have it thanks.

Update : Sorry ...it's a debate I am having elsewhere and can't find any info anywhere on the net...thought you historian folks would be able to give me a link....

I am basically arguing over a fact i saw in a documentary once on the beeb..entitled "americas secret war"..and i repeated it and basically need to back it up..with a link.

Best AnswerAsker's Choice

• gary c answered 7 years ago

Good question and probably impossible to answer.

BUT, I doubt more than both world wars together. WW2 killed some 55 million people worldwide. I don't think it would approach that.

I am not sure there are any accurate figures how many Chinese died in the Korean War, how many North Koreans, how many Viet Cong in Viet Nam. Who was counting? Can the numbers be trusted? It has recently been revealed that ALL Chinese planes flown in the Korean War were piloted by Russians! But they deny it, so how many Russians were killed? They say, officially, none.

Here is another monkey wrench for you. It has been argued that the Korean and Viet Nam wars were NOT part of the cold war, but "loose ends" from WW2. Makes sense. Viet Nam started immediately after WW2, actually before WW2 ended with the French. OUR involvement may have been "cold war" based, but it was originally a fight for independence from France. Korea was left in a vacuum after WW2 and you know what they say about vacuums. The world was so ready for the war to be over, they said "good enough" and left many loose ends (and technically the Korean War is not "over" it is just a 55 year "cease fire")

How many were killed in covert operations? How many Cubans in the Bay of Pigs invasion? Do you include Grenada? Panama? USSR/Afghanistan? Iran/Iraq war? And what about all the revolutions throughout this time? How many killed in Prague in 1968? How many in Budapest in 1956? What about the Suez war in 1956? The numerous wars in the middle east? All were fought by USA/USSR by proxy. What about the tremendous turmoil in Africa during that period? Mostly all, in some way, backed by either the USA or USSR or UK?

It becomes very difficult to say what, exactly, was the "cold war" and what was just the usual (and ongoing) conflicts. There may be a link that gives a figure, but could it possibly be accurate?

Sorry if I wasn't a help, but it is an interesting question

Asker's rating & comment

thanx for the answers folks..

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Other Answers (5)

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  Warren answered 7 years ago

  Many died during the cold war but VERY, VERY few died because of it.
  
  The wars you mentioned were largely wasted killings. Korea: MacArthur extended the war by attacking into North Korean territory against Truman's directive and so brought the Chinese into the war. Kennedy, and then Johnson, pointlessly involved the U.S. in what was a post-colonial war for self-determination, believing that the conflict in Vietnam was about international communism. South America? All the conflicts there during the second half of the twentieth century were, at best, tangentially linked to the Cold War.

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  34th B.G. - USAAF answered 7 years ago

  Again - this is worth at least three University credits.
  Give us what you've been able to come up with and we'll help you if we can.
  
  I think Gary C. has given you the best, most well reasoned answer. There really is no way we'll ever know.

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  Primus Pilus answered 7 years ago

  Let me see, there was the wars:
  -Korean War
  -Vietnam War
  -Angolan war
  -Berlin Airlift
  -Attack on Afghanistan by the USSR
  -And countless other smaller wars
  
  I think a figure between 2-5 million would be reasonable.

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  paul answered 7 years ago

  Death toll from communism
  
  USSR - 20 million
  China - 65 million
  Vietnam - 1 million
  N.Korea - 2 million
  Cambodia - 2 million
  E.Europe - 1 million
  Africa - 1.7 million
  Afghanistan - 1.5 million
  Latin America - 150,000
  
  
  Total:
  94 million

  Source(s):

  "The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire"
  - Brian Crozier 

  end quote from:

  https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080304152412AAAUDjF

   

  If this is true and since it is also listed here as 55 million or more people died in World War II then it could be said that 40 million people died from Communism and the Cold War Proxy wars more than World War II in the Cold War from the end of World War II until the present.

   

  However, the biggest problem at present the world is dealing with is not communism it is Islamic Terrorism and a very upset Russia through Putin about the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.