While 2020 was the worst year most people in many countries can remember, there were much worse years in the past. What was the worst
year in history? Was it a very long time ago, or was it as recently as the first half of the twentieth century?
1177BC
Towards the end of the bronze age, civilization collapsed. Cities were abandoned, and many civilizations permanently disappeared. Not even
the fall of the roman empire 1600 years later was as dramatic.
The late bronze age collapse is not yet well understood. It took place all over the eastern Mediterranean and was the end of an era. New
civilizations slowly replaced the old ones.
There may not have been a single cause. Invasions, earthquakes, crop failures, and famines may have occurred at around the same time.
Many catastrophes occurred at once, and civilization could not withstand them.
States fell, and urban centers were abandoned. We do not know how many died, but it is clear that the population declined, Only the rulers of
Egypt and Assur managed to keep their kingdoms intact, and even they lost much of their power.
536 AD
An enormous volcanic eruption is something that can not only create chaos in the local area but on a whole continent or more. Some volcanic
eruptions are enormous – so much that they dim the sun all over a whole hemisphere. Without proper sunlight. temperatures drop, plants die.
crops fail, and people starve.
The volcanic eruption in 536 was so destructive that temperatures dropped all over Europe and Asia for more than a year. This was the
beginning of a terrible decade, one of the worst in history. Since hunger and disruption can lead to disease, the Justinian plague came along
and wiped out much of the population.
Records from the time show that 536 was a terrible year. The sun was weak, strange fog covered everything, and crops failed. The two volcanic
eruptions (in 536 and in 540 or 541) put so much dust in the atmosphere that the decade was the coolest in 2000 years.
If 536 was not the worst year ever, it could have been one of the years in the decade that followed. In 541-543. the Justinian plague struck the
roman empire.
More than a third to more than half of the population of the eastern roman empire died. While the plague of the 500s is not nearly as well known
as the plague of the 1300s, it was enormously destructive. 541, 542, and 543 were some of the worst years in history.
1347
1347 was the beginning of the black plague. The plague was so destructive that it is still infamous. Even today, the words “black plague” still
bring up a frightening mental picture.
The medieval black plague was so destructive that it is hard to estimate how many people died. Numbers vary a lot – from as few as 25 million
to as many as 200 million. Something like 30 percent of the European population died, and it might have been 60 percent.
The plague was devastating in Asia and North Africa as well as Europe. After first killing millions in East Asia, the plague reached Europe by
ship.
The day when the plague reached Europe may be remembered. In the year 1347, some ships reached Sicily. carrying mostly dead crews, a
gruesome disease having killed the rest. People quickly started dying of the disease, and this was the beginning of one of the worst years of all
time.
The plague was more devastating than anything anyone could remember. so they saw it as divine punishment. The plague even led to
religious violence, as people killed those who they considered heretics and thought responsible for the sickness.
People remember the plague partly because of the painful deaths it caused. The plague caused boils to appear all over a victim’s body and
swell up. A high fever eventually led to death. which was at least quick even though it was painful.
1816
Large volcanic eruptions have many times put enough dust into the air to dim the sun and cause many humans to starve. From tens of
thousands of years ago to today, volcanoes have made food scarce and led to countless deaths.
The last time this happened was as recently as 1816. An enormous eruption on an Indonesian island led to the “year without a summer,” which
caused famines in many countries.
One of the hardest-hit countries was China, where flooding and famine killed countless people. Famines also hit Western Europe and parts of
North America hard. Europe had not had time to recover from the Napoleonic wars before the famine hit. It was the worst famine to hit Europe in
the 19th century.
Cholera broke out in India and spread as far as Moscow. There was abnormal weather everywhere. Monsoons failed in India, and there was
flooding in Europe.
1918
Not only did very many people die in the last year of world war one, but 1918 was the beginning of a plague that killed even more people than
the entire war.
Even in the last year of the war, it seemed like Germany might be able to win. Russia had already surrendered, and they launched a massive
spring offensive to end the war quickly.
However. the spring offensive failed to defeat France, so there was time for a massive American force to move into Europe. A series of defeats
during the last few months of the war convinced Germany to surrender.
Unfortunately, most of the deaths were yet to come. Soldiers returning to their home countries brought a deadly new virus with them. 50 or 100
million people died of the virus in total.
1943
1943 was the bloodiest year of world war two and one of the most violent years in history. A huge number of soldiers died in the battles of Kursk
and Stalingrad. two of the bloodiest battles in history.
lt was also one of the worst years of the holocaust, with countless people dying in extermination camps. On the plus side, it may have been the
year when the tide turned against the axis. Hitler was defeated at both Stalingrad and Kursk, and after that, new experimental weapons such as
V2 rockets were not enough to stop the allies.
Another possibility might be 1945. While this was the end of the war. itis also the year when the atomic bomb was first used. While we have
managed to avoid nuclear war so far, civilization has been under threat every year since then.
Hopefully, the future is bright. 2020 showed us that modern medicine does not make us invulnerable to infectious diseases. A new disease
came out of nowhere and defeated attempts to stop it for a long time. However, the poorer half of the world is getting richer, and the future will
be much better than the past if we can avoid catastrophe.