The Deadliest War You've Never Heard Of Killed 20 Million People

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Did you know the deadliest war in human history wasn't World War I or II, but a Chinese civil war most people have never heard of? The Taiping Rebellion killed over 20 million people between 1850 and 1864. It was led by Hong Xiuquan, a failed exam student [music] who had a mental breakdown and became convinced he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ.

[00:00:20][music] Hong declared himself the heavenly king and promised to create a Christian paradise on Earth. His followers captured massive chunks of southern China, including the [music] wealthy city of Nanjing, which became their capital. For 14 years, this apocalyptic war tore through [music] the Qing Empire. Entire provinces were depopulated. Cities burned for months.

[00:00:42]The Yangtze River reportedly ran red with blood. The rebellion only ended when foreign powers helped the Qing government crush Hong's kingdom. By then, the death toll exceeded the entire population of many countries. Yet, while we learn about smaller Western conflicts in school, this catastrophic war that reshaped the world's most populous nation [music] remains largely forgotten. Sometimes the biggest tragedies hide in history's shadows.

[00:01:06][music]