The Great War Was NOT the Bloodiest War in History to That Point

The Rebel Army of the "Heavenly Kingdon"
at a Victorious Moment

Fifty years before World War I  broke out, southern China was torn apart by an even bloodier conflict. Conservative estimates of the dead in the 14-year Taiping Rebellion start at between 20 million and 30 million. Around 17 million soldiers and civilians were killed during World War I.

The origins of the Taiping Rebellion lay some years prior in the First Opium Wars fought between the British and the Qing Empire of China from 1839 to 1842.  In the Opium Wars  the British, being militarily superior to the Chinese, were able to force China to accept the British importation of the highly addictive drug. The defeat in the First Opium War (1842) was a national humiliation for China and its leaders.

Main Fighting Area (Solid) and Earlier
Abandoned Area (Hatched)

The 1850–1864 revolt against the Ching Dynasty was led by Hung Hsiu-chuan, a delusional visionary who evolved a political creed including elements derived from Protestantism. Believing from his dreams that he was the son of the Christian God, Hung intended to found a new dynasty, called the "Taiping" or "Great Peace."  He seemed dedicated to bringing heaven to earth. After an attempt to seize Beijing was repelled, Hung chose to cease conquest and concentrate on building an administration in Nanjing. Over the next 11 years, Taiping soldiers carried out widespread massacres of Manchus, the ethnic minority of the ruling Imperial House. Meanwhile, the Ching government also engaged in massacres, most notably against the civilian population of the Taiping capital, Nanjing. The greatest killers in the rebellion, however, were the famine and plagues induced by the fighting and massive dislocations. In addition to the rebellion, the Ching army was fighting the British and French in the Second Opium War (1856–1860), further dividing their resources.

The rebels were finally defeated by new provicial armies and through the involvement of western powers. A Chinese army led by British General Charles G. "China" Gordan successfully defended Shanghai in a critical operation. Hung was found dead in May 1864, believed to have been poisoned, though it’s unknown whether it was suicide or assassination. Nanjing was put under siege and fell several months later. The Taiping occupiers were massacred, with some gathering in crowds and immolating themselves. Hung’s son was named the new King of Heaven but was later executed.

Source:  Dan Snow via BBC; Today in History, Columbia Encyclopedia