10 DEADLIEST Mistakes in Human History

10-Deadliest-Mistakes-in-Human-History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at ten horrible choices from human history that had disastrous - and deadly - consequences.

Russia Invades Ukraine (2022-)

Eight years after annexing Crimea in 2014, Russia followed up with a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin expected the war to end in a matter of days or hours. Instead, as of 2024, it is still dragging on. The death toll of Russian troops is staggering; some estimates suggest that more than 100,000 soldiers have been killed. The attrition rate has forced Russia to conscript new fodder for the war machine. Economically, Russia faces severe sanctions and a crippling recession. Russia has been forced to seek economic aid and military armament from China and North Korea. Western aid to Ukraine has allowed their military, in 2024, to launch the first significant military incursion into Russian territory since World War II.

The Wanggongchang Explosion (1626)

Gunpowder has been used by China since the 9th century. Despite centuries of use and refinement, Beijing officials were criminally negligent in the spring of 1626. It never seemed to occur to anyone in power that the center of a densely populated city wasn't the best choice for storing volatile materials. Late on the morning of May 30th, for reasons which remain unclear, the Wanggongchang armory exploded. Everything within four square kilometers was all but obliterated and debris was launched across the length of the city. Somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people were killed, and large swaths of the city were utterly destroyed.

American Invasion of Iraq (2003-11)

The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was driven by the deadly combination of misleading claims and poor assumptions. The U.S. government convinced their allies that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had links to terrorism. The Bush Administration's assertions were later proven false. No WMDs were ever found, nor was any evidence linking Iraq to Al-Qaeda. By some estimates, the invasion led to over a million deaths and casualties, as well as widespread destruction and regional instability. The U.S. invasion also ultimately played a crucial role in the rise of ISIS. The economic cost to Americans is hard to pin down, though some experts believe that the war cost taxpayers between one and two trillion dollars.

A Mistranslation May Have Caused America’s Nuclear Attacks (1945)

After the fall of Hitler's Germany, the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding Japan's unconditional surrender. The declaration came with a warning: refusal would result in "prompt and utter destruction." The culture of Imperial Japan couldn't tolerate public consideration of surrender. They responded with a statement including the word 'mokusatsu.' The Allies interpreted this as an outright rejection of the Potsdam Declaration. 'Mokusatsu,’ they believed, meant ‘to ignore with silent contempt.’ They acted accordingly, dropping two nuclear bombs. However, some believe foreign minister Tōgō was counseling circumspection and patience. He hoped that the Soviets would mediate a better deal. In the years after the nuclear attack on Japan, people have argued that, by mokusatsu, Japanese leaders just meant “withholding comment.”

Moctezuma II Welcomes the Spanish (1519)

Moctezuma II, the Aztec emperor, received Hernán Cortés and his conquistadors in 1519 with a mix of curiosity and apprehension. According to some historians, Moctezuma, influenced by a prophecy suggesting that a god would return in the form of a pale-skinned man, initially saw the Spaniards as divine. Cortés, he thought, could be the incarnation of the Aztec god Quetzalcóatl. He sought to appease them by offering gifts and hospitality, believing this would prevent conflict. Instead, his decision invited invasion. Cortés and his men exploited Moctezuma's hospitality to gather intelligence, gain political leverage, and incite dissent among the Aztecs. The Spaniards spread disease and formed alliances with rivals to the Aztecs. Combined with their superior weaponry, they easily conquered the Aztec Empire completely by 1521.

The Wrong Turn That Triggered WWI (1914)

World War I is infamous in history as an accidental war. The assassination of one man - when combined with a series of interwoven alliances - were a string of dominoes that dragged the world into armed conflict. But did you know that Archduke Ferdinand was killed thanks to a wrong turn? The morning of the assassination, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his motorcade managed to avoid a bombing by his would-be assassins. They continued their day, until his driver accidentally made a wrong turn. He attempted to pull the car back in reverse, stalling the car. Unfortunately, he did so right in front of Gavrilo Princip, who happened to be on that wrong street at a cafe and took advantage of the situation to shoot Ferdinand.

Insulting Genghis Khan (1218)
Genghis Khan knew that diplomacy was as useful a tool as conquest. To that end, in response to the killing of a caravan of his merchants in Khwarazm, Khan sent a diplomatic mission to Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad II of the neighboring Khwarezmian Empire. His envoys were not greeted warmly. The Shah - ruler of a vast empire - dismissed the power of the Mongols. He accused the envoys of espionage and had them executed. The Great Khan did not take this slight well. He launched a savage and devastating campaign against the Khwarezmian Empire. He systematically pulled Khwarazm apart battle by battle and city by city. The war utterly decimated the population. As a result, the empire was brought to utter ruin by 1221.

Stalin’s Terror Famine (1932-33)

To this day, the Holodomor is considered one of the greatest tragedies of Ukrainian history. From 1932-1933, Joseph Stalin pushed a brutal campaign of forced collectivization and grain requisitioning in Soviet Ukraine. Unfortunately, the country was already in the middle of a food shortage, exacerbated by Stalin's policies. As a result, Ukraine fell into a terrible famine. By the end of 1933, somewhere between 3.5 and 5 million Ukrainians perished due to hunger and related diseases. Stalin refused to provide aid, although Russia continued to export grain. The Holodomor devastated Ukrainian agriculture and local economies, ripping families to pieces and traumatizing a nation.

Hitler Invading Russia (1941)

One problem with narcissistic dictators is that their arrogance often prevents them from learning the lessons of history; they think themselves special, able to achieve what those in the past could not. That is one of many reasons why Adolf Hitler repeated Napoleon's classic blunder: invading Russia. In 1812, the French emperor pulled together a massive army from his conquests in Europe and sent this merry band into the frozen Russian winter. They were almost completely destroyed. In 1941, Hitler betrayed his erstwhile ally Joseph Stalin. Operation Barbarossa was a massive Nazi mobilization to the east. The Germans saw major victories in Ukraine until they reached Moscow in the winter of 1941. Their backs were broken and were forced to retreat west.

Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958-62)

Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward, launched in 1958, aimed to rapidly industrialize China. Like Stalin before him, Mao embarked on a massive forced collectivization effort and large scale agricultural and construction projects like dams. The campaign was a disaster. Mao's production targets were utterly unrealistic. Mao led his nation into the jaws of a deadly and widespread famine. The deaths caused by the Great Leap Forward are estimated to be somewhere between 15 and 55 million people. This failed effort hampered China's economy and agricultural output for decades. The impact was even felt in 1975 with the Banqiao Dam disaster. The dam - built during the Great Leap Forward - was poorly constructed and ultimately collapsed thanks to torrential rains. As many as 240,000 people died.

Did we make a huge mistake and leave one of history’s deadliest blunders off of our list? Let us know in the comments below.