5 Worst moments in World History
Since the beginning of civilization, humans have witnessed and experienced a
tremendous set of ups and downs. Some of them have helped man reach the moon
whereas some have been extremely brutal and tantalizing. Here is the list of 5
worst moments in human history. These are the lows which have either made life
difficult for humans or fellow beings.
Rank 5 - Forced extinction of species
The Permian-Triassic extinction event at
one point threatened to completely annihilate life on earth. It occurred some
252 Million years ago and was the worst ever extinction witnessed by Earth. It
destroyed 97% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates. The
destruction was so severe that it took more than 10 million years for recovery
from it. Though this has been mostly a natural phenomenon, humans have also
contributed recently to extinction of a huge number of species right from
tigers to black rhinoceroses. For more information on Permian-Triassic
extinction, refer to:
Rank 4- The Black Death
The Black Death refers to the
Bubonic plague’s rise to power in 1346.This could be attributed to Europe’s
general belief on the existence of witches. This led to mass hunting down of
witches and cats (as cats were considered to be related to them). This led to
extreme increase in the number of rats which were infested by fleas. The fleas
carried yersinia pests, better known as plague.
Without treatment, plague is
one of only three known diseases with a mortality rate of 100%. The other two
are rabies encephalitis and HIV. Given the primitive medical knowledge of the
Middle Ages, the world didn’t have a chance.
It killed 40% of Egypt, 30% of
the Middle East, about half of the 100,000 people in Paris. The worst hit area
was Mediterranean Europe, including Italy, Spain, and southern France. There,
about 75% to 80% died. England suffered about 20% dead. The total average was
about 25% of the whole world, as evidence indicates plague deaths in
sub-Saharan Africa, India, and the Orient. As much as 66% of Europe and Asia
succumbed. Approximately 100,000,000 people died in 4 years.
Rank 3- Fanatical Terrorism
Terrorism is generally an act which is
meant to harm fellow humans either physically or emotionally. It has many forms
like bombings, hijackings, assassinations etc which are all meant to kill
fellow humans. It is a form of guerilla warfare against the existing systems
and governments. Over the past 20 years – 1990 to 2010, the world has witnessed
an extreme rapid rate of increase of terrorist activities. Besides, it is not
limited to only one part of the world but is experienced in almost every region
of the world. Besides the huge amount of human and material loss, these
activities have led to a huge amount of suspicion and caution in global
diplomacy.
Rank 2- World Wars - One and Two
The World War 1, 1914 makes it to the list since it
was one of the worst and most destructive wars in human history which engulfed
almost all of Europe and a huge amount of world. It was evident that every
country in Europe as harboring hatred for the other country and was looking for
a reason to invade.
About 15 million, military and
civilian, died, unless we include deaths from Spanish influenza, which was
itself a direct result of the War. That puts the estimate at about 65 million.
World War 2, 1939 was the next war which engulfed
almost the entire world leading to huge loss of human and material. It was
initiated by Germany and slowly engulfed the whole world in it.
After 6 years, 71 million people were dead. Rome,
Paris, Moscow, Leningrad, and London were smoldering. Dresden, Hiroshima,
Nagasaki, Stalingrad, and Manila were obliterated.
The most infamous aspect of
the War will forever remain the Holocaust. In this, they carried out the murder
of 6 million men, women, and children, by poisonous gas, shooting, beating,
torturing, “scientific” experiments, systematic starvation, and overwork. More
than 3 Million people were murdered in the camps simply because they were Jews.
Meanwhile, at least 750,000 soldiers and civilians died in 199 days in
Stalingrad. That was one of the battles of the war!
Rank 1- Crusades
The Crusades was a war based on religion.
Though religion has been one of the most common reasons for war, it was also
the reason for the bloodiest act in the history of human civilization – The Crusades.
It was a war between Christians and Muslims whose sole objective was
destruction of the other group in the bid to glorify their God. It lasted from
1063 to 1434 – Nearly 350 years!
The land which suffered this war was
Jerusalem. The sole objective of both Christian and Muslim extremists was to
capture this land and destroy all the religious observers of the other religion
staying on it. There were 9 wars and in every war Jerusalem changed hands
between Muslims and Christians. The war suffered severe loss of humans and also
acts of mass killings. It was in the name of religion, immense cruelty and
destruction was inflicted on fellow humans which led to extreme hatred which
has continued even today.
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