What Weapon Killed the Most People in World War 2?

Humans have used arrows, bows, and even stones to devastating effect since the beginning of time against opponents in warfare. By the time Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, military tactics had undergone a near complete revolution. This revolution encompassed both military strategy and weaponry. Stones had given way to machine guns; arrows, to B-25 Bomber aircraft; and bows, to armored tanks.

World War II has gone down in history as the deadliest war. It involved more than 50 countries, was fought on land, sea, and air, and caused between 60 to 80 million deaths. These included 6 million Jews who died in various Nazi concentration camps and up to 55 million civilians from virtually every continent on the globe. But which weapon was the deadliest?

Weapons Used In World War II

Numerous weapons were used in World War according to major categories highlighted below.

Tanks

Tanks are armored combat vehicles that move on two metal chains. Tanks were used to achieve breakthroughs, target enemy strong points, draw enemy fire, and provide mobile cover. Examples of tanks used in the Second World War include the M4 Sherman Tank, the main battle tank designed and built by the United States, the Soviet T-34 tank, which Adolf Hitler was said to have feared, the Panzer IV German tanks, which were quite successful until challenged by Soviet T-34, the Panzer V German tanks, which were developed to counter Soviet T-34, and the Sturmgeschütz, the deadliest German armored fighting Vehicle in the war.

Artillery

Artillery includes gun-powder-based weaponry with a caliber greater than small arms or infantry weapons. Artillery weapons use an exploding propellant charge to shoot a projectile along an unpowered trajectory. Examples of artillery weapons used in the Second World War include mortars, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns, rocket artillery, and field and mountain guns. That said, the term “artillery” is best understood as a system — not an isolated component. While the gun is the most conspicuous part, the whole system must work well. Otherwise, the gun will not be effective.

Small Arms

For perspective, according to the U.S. Department of Defence, small arms are weapons of .60-caliber, 15-mm, or smaller bore. Examples of small arms used in the Second World War include various types of handguns, submachine guns, rifles, machine guns, and shotguns. A good example is the .45-caliber Colt M1911 pistol, the standard-issue sidearm for U.S. servicemen since 1911. There was also the Russian PPS43, arguably the best submachine gun in the war — as well as the Sturmgewehr 44, also called STG44, the world’s first assault rifle.

Nuclear Weapons

The Second World War saw the United States deploy nuclear weapons against the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The United States remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons in combat. It was a result of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret, 5-year U.S. government program to develop and deploy nuclear weapons.

Other weapons used in the Second World War included poison gases, which were used in Nazi concentration camps and by the Japanese in Asia — and land mines used by Nazi Germany.

Were Atomic Bombs the Deadliest Weapons?

Determining the deadliest weapon in World War 2 is not a stroll in the park. For perspective, the world has yet to determine the actual number of people killed during the war. And it is not even close. Estimates range from 60 to 80 million. If the number of World War II casualties is still uncertain, knowing the deadliest weapon will not be easy either. That said, because of their dramatic effect, some claim the nuclear weapons dropped in Japan’s two cities were the deadliest weapons in the war. However, a closer look at the fatalities dispels this seductive myth.

It is estimated that between 70,000 and 135,000 Japanese died in Hiroshima. On the flip side, between 60,000 and 80,000 people are estimated to have perished in Nagasaki. On the higher side, therefore, the atomic bombs caused the death of 215,000, not counting those who died later of radiation poisoning. Picking 60 million as the total World War II fatalities, which is on the lower side, deaths caused by the atomic bombs represent a measly 0.3% of the total World War II deaths. So yes, while the atomic bombs were deadly and made Japan surrender, they were not the deadliest weapons in the campaign.

Identifying the Deadliest World War II Weapon

Some fairly accurate estimates were gleaned from records examining American deaths. For instance, small arms caused 14%, 23.4%, and 30.7% of total deaths in the Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theaters, respectively. On the flip side, artillery and mortar fire caused 69.1%, 64%, and 47% of total deaths in the Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theaters, respectively. While this report examines only American casualties, the pattern is likely to hold out irrespective of the particular country. Therefore, we can safely assume that artillery killed the most in World War 2.

Another way to identify which weapon killed the most in World War II is to determine the most deadly front in the war and the country that suffered the highest number of fatalities. While the data is not ironclad, historians agree that the Soviet Union suffered the highest number of deaths in the Second World War and that the Eastern Front was the deadliest. According to estimates, up to 24 million Soviets died in the Second World War, a figure that includes both civilian and military deaths. China follows close with 20 million fatalities.

If one considers that artillery caused more deaths in the Second World War than small arms, the next logical step is to specify Germany’s deadliest artillery in the war. According to several accounts of the war, the German 88-mm gun was the most lethal weapon used in the Second World War.

We may never know the exact number of people who died in World War II. Even if we do, finding out what exactly killed them is probably an impossible task. However, our best estimates point to the German 88-mm gun, also known as Flak, as the most likely weapon to claim the title of the deadliest of the Second World War.