Dataset Description
This dataset provides information on military and civilian deaths from wars, drawn from the chapter by Eckhardt (1991).
What years and countries are covered? 1500 – 1990.
Which conflicts are covered? War, domestic or international, involving at least one state.
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Threshold for a war: "War—any armed conflict involving one or more governments and causing the death of 1,000 or more people per year" (Eckhardt 1991: 25).
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"Location refer to country which was principal battleground, except for two World Wars for which location refers to participating country" (Eckhardt 1991: 25).
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Also included: "Intervention—overt military action by foreign forces, at the invitation of the government in power" (Eckhardt 1991: 25).
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Also included: "Invasion—armed attack by foreign country, including air attack without land invasion" (Eckhardt 1991: 25).
Which deaths and casualties are covered? Deaths; total, military, or civilian.
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"War-Related Deaths" (Eckhardt 1991: 22).
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"Civilian [—] Military [—] Total" (Eckhardt 1991: 22).
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"Incomplete; breakdown of civilian and military deaths not available in all cases" (Eckhardt 1991: 25).
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"World War area-wide deaths are in addition to those which could be located by country, and are shown under the country of origin" (Eckhardt 1991: 25).
How did we construct it?
- We extracted conflicts as well as deaths and casualties from the list in this book.
- There seems to be an affordable used edition available in the UK that we could buy if we wanted more information; alternatively, this book by Eckhardt may have more details in chapter 9.