TRUTH@POINT BLANK RANGE...THE ANTI-JFK OLIGARCHY OF INSIDERS ARE STILL IN CHARGE AS A RULING CLASS, WORLD-WIDE.The right decision, move, policy, can always be foiled by the vicious evil wrongdoer and enemy if ever he has the power to do so, and he has the power of Monetary Fraud. So, don’t waste your time with the right decision until the invisible enemy is powerless to foil righteousness. There's no left, nor right. It's 1% of Insiders versus 99% of Outsiders.
ECONOMICAL+PANDEMICAL+DECLASS-ATTEMPTED COUP. THE BRITISH ROGUE EMPIRE STILL BREATHES IN THE SWAMP
PENCE: PENCE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS LUCEFERIAN ON THIS PLANET AT THIS MOMENT. THE PLOY TO EXIT THE KHASARIAN DEEP STATE INTO A PÁPAL DEEP STATE.
ALL CHAOS AROUND THIS PLANET POINTS TO PENCE.
A PONZI CAPITALIST IN POWER WHO IS CLUELESS OF THE REAL WORLD OF SHEEP.
ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS, JEWS, MOSLEMS AND HINDUS BEWARE.
IT WAS THE PENCE HENCHMEN WHO SET THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA ABLAZE AND THE MERCILESS SLAUGHTER OF HYPATIA.
IT'S LIKE BEING BACK TO THE MIDDLE AGES AND WITH A BLACKOUT IN VENEZUELA UNDER SIEGE UNTIL SURRENDER, AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS SENT TO THE STAKE.
Moscow Airport Mayhem: US Embassy Employee Tries To Bring Mortar Shell On Flight
A US Embassy employee flying out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport is said to have triggered a major security incident when he tried to travel with "an object resembling a mortar shell with a fuse" on Saturday morning, according to Russia's state-owned RT.
A bomb squad inspected the object and found it to be inert, which the man said he had bought for his "private collection."
The embassy employee, traveling to New York, missed his flight and was allowed on the next US-bound plane - without his mortar shell. While the Russian Foreign Ministry has called the incident a "provocation" and demanded explanations, RT is having a laugh at the whole thing.
In other failed plane boardings, a Florida man was busted last week for trying to bring an unassembled rocket-propelled grenade launcher (RPG) fom Lehigh Valley Airport in Allentown, PA to Orlando, Florida, when his checked baggage set off a security alarm.
TSA agents opened the luggage to discover parts to make a "military-grade rocket-propelled grenade launcher," that turned out to be a replica.
.@TSA officers detected the unassembled parts of a military rocket propelled grenade launcher in a man's checked bag at @FLYLVIA yesterday. When assembled, the launcher was determined to be non-functioning and the grenade an inert replica. (Thank goodness!)
Meanwhile, a man arrested in January 2017 at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Ontario, Canada was fined $20,000 on February 20 for transporting seven undeclared test tubes containing deadly animal viruses (Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus, Newcastle Disease Virus, Duck Adenovirus 1, and Parainfluenza Virus 5).
Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects sheep and goats. Heavy losses can be seen, especially in goats, with morbidity and mortality rates sometimes approaching 80 percent to 100 percent. At one time, PPR was thought to be restricted to the Middle East and limited areas of Africa and Asia.
Newcastle disease is caused by virulent strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), which causes substantial morbidity and mortality events worldwide in poultry. The virus strains can be differentiated as lentogenic, mesogenic, or velogenic based on a mean death time in chicken embryos.
Duck adenovirus 1 is a species of hemagglutinatingadenovirus that’s been associated with egg drop syndrome.
Parainfluenza Virus 5 is a possible cause of severe respiratory disease in calves in China. It is an infectious respiratory disease that has been prevalent in weaning calves.
The Canadian government considered the viruses a "serious threat to animals," requiring strict regulation over their transport.
Today, the practice of torture as a form of punishment is forbidden in most parts of the world, but the dark legacy of the middle ages is still here to remind of the cruelty we are capable of.
Over centuries people have invented all sorts of torture devices, but when it comes to pain-inflicting design nobody was as “creative” as those Middle Age torturers. Here is a selection of some of the most terrible torture devices that were ever made.
1 Breast Ripper
This instrument of torture, also known as the Iron Spider, was usually used on women who had committed adultery or performed an abortion.
It was also used to hurt women that were accused of heresy, blasphemy or witchcraft. The Breast Ripper was made to rip-off the breasts of the woman who were sinners.
A Breast Ripper from the 15th-century Photo credit
Often heated up to high temperatures, the four claws of the Ripper would slowly rip apart the poor woman’s breast. If the victim didn’t die from the excruciating pain and inflicted wounds, she remained disfigured for the rest of her life. Another form of this device, called the Spider, was attached to a wall, with the woman’s breasts attached to it; then she was pulled away from the wall until her breasts were torn apart.
2 Stocks
Medieval stocks at Belstone in Dartmoor Photo credit
The Stocks were a public torture device that immobilized the feet of the punished person. They were usually placed in public spaces like marketplaces or squares where people could throw rotten food or other objects at the immobilized person. People were also allowed to kick, spit and insult the person that was being punished.
The Stocks, similar to the Pillory device, were made of two large hinged wooden boards, between which the feet of the victim were locked. In some cases, the hands of the person were also chained. The hinged boards were placed around the ankles, and the feet of the person were usually bare. That made the humiliation even greater. The Stocks were always placed outdoors, so the victim was exposed to the elements for days.
3 Wooden horse (Spanish Donkey)
The Wooden Horse is the device on the left (picture taken at the Inquisitor’s Palace, in Birgu) Photo credit
This painful torture device is also known as Cavaletto or Squarciapalle (depending on the country where it was used). It came in varieties, both of which caused pain using the victims own weight while spreading the legs. The victim (usually a woman) was tied with ropes hanging from the ceiling, slowly lowered down over the device.
The device itself consisted of a triangularly shaped piece of wood (with sharp edges) that was placed over a sawhorse with an edge of the triangle pointing upward toward the victim. The person that was being punished was then forced to straddle the “horse.” If this wasn’t painful enough, the torturers tied weights to the legs of the victim, to pull the down even harder. Although the device was designed mainly for women, there are accounts that it was also used on men.
4 Scold’s Bridle
This mask-like head enclosing device was a terrible public humiliation tool from medieval times.
Also known as Witch’s Bridle, a Brank’s Bridle, or Branks, this torture device was usually used on women that were accused of being loud, rude, or “common scolds.” Often, those women were also under suspicion of witchcraft.
This device was used to stop them speaking and prevent them spreading “gossips or scolds.” or enchant people. The Scold’s Bridle had an iron muzzle held by an iron frame that was made to fit around the head. A 2 inches long and 1-inch broad metal harness went inside the mouth of the woman and pressed down her tongue, making her unable to speak. Some of the Sold’s Bridles also had a bell attached at the top so that the punished person could attract more attention while walking around in public places. That caused even greater humiliation.
5 Iron Maiden
No, it is not the famous heavy metal band but the medieval torture device that has the same name. The Iron Maiden is probably one of the most famous torture devices, mostly because of its wide usage in pop culture.
The original Iron Maiden (Eiserne Jungfrau in German) was made sometime around the 14th century, in the German town of Nuremberg and its design reminded of an Egyptian mummy sarcophagus. The Iron Maiden is an iron cabinet that opens to reveal a spike-covered interior.
It is shaped to fit an average person inside. It is said that it was used for slow and painful executions. Most of the stories concerning the Iron Maiden were invented in the 19th century, by a man called Johann Philipp Siebenkees. He claimed that the Iron Maiden was first used on August 14th, 1515, for the execution of a coin forger.
Today, several Iron maidens from the 19th century can be seen in museums around the world, but none of them were used as actual torture devices. The original Nuremberg Iron Maiden which was destroyed in the Allied bombing of Nuremberg in 1944.
6 Pillory
A Pillory device
Similar to the already mentioned Stocks, the pillory was a torture device made for public humiliation of criminals and culprits in marketplaces, Crossroads, and other public places. The word originates from Old French “pellori,” or the Latin “pelloria” and it is probably a diminutive form of the Latin “pila,” meaning “pillar, stone barrier.” This was a popular method of public humiliation in many countries until the 19th century. The Pillory was usually made out of two hinged wooden boards with holes for the head and limbs.
The punished person was locked between the boards. The position in which he was placed, bent forward with his hands and head in front, was very uncomfortable. When a person was put in a pillory, people from all around town would gather and commence the humiliation by taunting, teasing and insulting the man. The idea was to make the experience as painful and bad as possible for the victim. People would then start throwing rotten food, mud, animal corpses and excrement towards the person. At the end of the humiliation, the criminal was left very dirty and smelly, with his pride injured. In some cases, people were even killed on the pillory. Violent crowds sometimes threw lethal objects such as rocks and bricks towards the victim. As a legacy of this device, the modern English vocabulary has the verb “to pillory,” which means to humiliate someone in front of witnesses.
7 Heretic’s Fork
This simple yet dangerous and painful device had the word “abiuro” (“I recant”) engraved on it. Those who were tortured with it recanted very quickly. The Heretic’s Fork was an iron rod which had bi-pronged forks on both sides.
The middle of the iron rod had a buckle through which a belt was attached. It was made to be placed between the breastbone and throat just under the chin. It was then tied around the neck with a leather belt. The person being tortured with this terrible device was never allowed to lie down; instead, he was suspended in an upright position. The device made the victim unable to talk. The slightest movement caused huge pain. Also, sleep was out of the question for the victim.
If a person fell asleep, the forks would pierce its throat troat or chest causing pain. People were left sleep-deprived for days in this agonizing position, and a confession was almost always guaranteed. The Inquisition used the heretic’s fork on blasphemers and liars or other people who spoke the name of God in vain.
8 The Spanish Boot (foot press)
The Spanish Boot was not the latest fashion of footwear that was popular in medieval streets; it was a gruesome torture tool.
One variety of this device called the Foot Press had two horizontal iron plates that were designed to squeeze around a foot with a crank mechanism. At one point, they would press enough and crush the poor person’s foot bones. Another model of the same device had sharp spikes coming out of the upper plate.
They held the foot in place and caused additional pain and destruction. A similar device from Venice had a drill attached to the crank mechanism too. The drill would run trough the foot while the press crushed the bones. This would leave the victim with an entirely crushed foot. This torture device often came with different extensions, some of those were designed for crushing ankles, some of them for calf and knees. The foot press often left the toes visible and open so that additional damage could be done to them with different torture methods.
9 Death by sawing
A depiction of death by sawing on a 15th-century print
This torture (or rather execution) method is pretty much self-explanatory. A saw was used to cut the victim in half. In some cases, it was done horizontally (splitting the body in half at the stomach area), while in other cases vertically (cutting the body along the spine). Although many of the stories about death by sawing are mythological and legendary, there are reports from all over the world that give detailed explanations of how this gruesome act was done.
Different methods have been mentioned throughout history. Usually, the “death by sawing” was done lengthwise, either from the groin upwards or from the skull downwards. In one case, it is mentioned that a person was hanged upside down and sawn vertically from the groin to the head. Some of the more detailed accounts even explain that the victims were fastened to one or two wooden boards before being cut.
The breaking wheel is another terrible method of capital punishment. This form of punishment was used over many centuries, probably up until the early 19th century. The breaking on the wheel involved crushing the bones of a criminal by hitting him to death with a blunt object.
The historical artifacts show that the breaking wheels were usually big wooden wagon wheels with many radial spokes. Those that were to receive the punishment were tied on the wheel and then beaten with a club or some other kind of blunt weapon. The gaps in the wheel allowed for the victim’s bones to be broken while he was beaten. Another method involved the criminal being spread and tied down on a big wooden cross in an X shape (saltire). After he had been crushed on the saltire, he was then publically displayed on the wheel. According to some medieval accounts, the victim could survive for a few days after being broken. A 14th-century murderer was supposedly alive for three days after he was punished on the wheel.
The Legenda Sanctorum (The Golden Legend) speaks about the execution of St. Catherine of Alexandria. After St. Catherine refused to renounce her Christian faith, she was sentenced to be broken on the wheel. The wheel miraculously broke when she touched it. Because of her, the breaking wheel is also called Catherine Wheel.
Another very popular medieval torture device was the so-called rack. The rack was constructed of a rectangular, iron or wooden, frame that was positioned at a particular angle from the ground. The frame had a wooden roller at one or sometimes at both ends. The person that was being interrogated was tied down over the frame; his wrists on one roller and his ankles on the other. During the torturous interrogation, a handle was pulled by the interrogator, which increased the tension of some chains. As the chains tightened, the body of the victim stretched, causing a lot of pain. The roller could also twist around its axis and additionally strain the ropes. Ultimately, the joints of the victim were dislocated or even separated. Even thinking about this torture method causes shivers around the body.
When the rack was being extremely stretched, besides the excruciating pain, the victim would also hear the popping noises produced by the snapping of his cartilage, ligaments and the breaking of his bones. Victims of the rack were usually left with separated shoulders and hips and dislocated elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles.
12 Head Crusher
Another device whose name is self-explanatory. The Head Crusher was only used in Germany, where it was known as “Kranz” or “Schneiden.” It consisted of a metal plate that was positioned beneath the jaw of the tortured person, connected to a head cap with a twisting handle.
As the handle was turned, the head cap was pushing against the skull, slowly crushing it. If this process continued long enough, the whole skull, together with the teeth, jaw and facial bones was destroyed, resulting in death. On the other hand, if the interrogator stopped turning the handle before the person was dead, he would probably end up with a huge facial damage. His jaw would be crushed, and his eyes popped out from the sockets. The head crusher was a device that was often used to extract information from dangerous criminals.
This awful torture device resembles the wooden horse, and it was made to penetrate a person in a highly painful way. The Judas cradle was made of a pyramidal piece of wood that was attached on four wooden legs. According to some old accounts, the tortured person would be placed in a specially designed waist harness which was hanging from the ceiling, and then slowly lowered “into position.”
The tip of the pyramid was inserted into a person’s “opening,” stretching it and causing unbelievable pain. At some point, the muscle tissue around the victim’s opening would tear apart and, ultimately, kill the impaled person. Although similar to the Wooden Horse torture device, the Judas cradle wasn’t made only to rupture the skin and hurt; it was made to mutilate the genitals of a person.
This medieval torture device was designed with only one purpose – to destroy people’s thumbs and toes. The thumbscrew was a simple small device in which the tortured person’s thumbs or toes were placed and slowly crushed. The metal bars that crushed the thumbs were sometimes “decorated” with small spikes that caused much pain to the victim (especially in its nail beds).
15 Strappado
An illustration of a strappado torture device
The Strappado may look like some sort of a medieval bungee jumping contraption, but, of course, it’s not. If it were, it wouldn’t be found on this list. The Strappado, or the Corda, as it was also known, was a Medieval method of torture which tied the hands of a person behind his back and suspend him in the air, using a rope that was attached to the wrists.
This practice left the victim with some dislocated shoulders. In many cases, weights were attached to the body of the tortured person. The additional weight increased the pain. Usually, sessions on the Strappado lasted for an hour and were repeated again if necessary. If a person were left to hang like that for a longer period without rest, death would probably occur. When it was “properly” done, Strappado caused some permanent and visible damage on the body of the victim. Strappado was a method which was mostly used by the Inquisition.
16 Shrew’s Fiddle
A model of a person trapped in a shrew’s fiddle device Photo credit
This device, known as shrew’s fiddle or neck violin, is similar to the pillory, but instead of being immobilized, the person trapped inside was able to move. The fiddle had two wooden boards with a hinge which locked the both together. It had three holes, one for the head and two smaller holes for the wrists which were placed in front of the face. The shrew’s fiddle was a device used to punish women that were fighting or arguing. It was predominantly used in Germany and Austria. There was also a bigger version of the fiddle, made to fit two women facing each other. The entrapped women were released from the contraption only after their argument was settled.
17 Pear of Anguish
Although credited as being invented in medieval times, the true origin and use of the pear of anguish is still not precisely determined.
The Pear of Anguish is made of a pear-shaped metal body which can be separated (spread) into a few spoon segments by turning a screw located on the handle of the device. According to some descriptions, the pear was probably used for one of these two reasons: to gag people and prevent them from speaking, or as a torture tool made to penetrate into the mouth of a person. According to one 19th century account, the Pear of Anguish was used by Dutch robbers.
They would force it inside the mouth of a victim and then turn the key. When the internal springs would release the spoons in the mouth, the device could be released only by the proper key.
However, it remains unclear whether that was its real purpose.
This uncomfortable chair is purposely made to cause all sorts of pain. It has many different names and models depending on the country where it was used and made: the Chinese torture chair, the torture chair, or the Iron Chair.
The one pictured above was made with hundreds of little spikes spread all over the sitting and leaning surface. This kind of chairs had from 500 to 1500 spikes. The victims were usually tied to one of these chairs and gradually pushed closer to a blazing fire, being slowly roasted alive while the spike penetrated their body.
Scavenger’s Daughter (or Skevington’s Daughter) was a device made by Sir Leonard Skevington, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, and son of Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland. This A-frame metal rack was designed to do the opposite of the rack (which was also known as the Duke of Exeter’s Daughter).
Instead of spreading the body of the tortured man, Scavenger’s Daughter compressed the body of a person to its limits. The metal A-frame was designed so that the head could be tied to the top of the A, the hands at the middle, and the legs could be tied at the bottoms of the frame. The head was then forced down, the knees up, and the whole body compacted so that blood could get out from the nose and ears. Not much is known about this device because it was probably rarely put into action.
Sieges are an unavoidable part of warfare, as outnumbered forces are much more likely to be able to defend themselves from a fortified position. However, without proper supplies or adequate weaponry, the soldiers, as well as the civilians, can be slowly destroyed by starvation and disease.
Szigetvár was a fortress on the eastern edge of what was the Holy Roman Empire, and was the scene of Suleiman the Magnificent’s last battle (he was already over 70 years old). With a force of a little less than 3,000 men, the governor of Croatia, Nikola Zrinski, defied the Ottoman orders to surrender, declaring that he would stand as the last defense for Vienna, even though he was outnumbered by about fifty to one.
On August 6, the siege began and Suleiman threw his forces against the city, only to be repelled by the defenses. After a month of fighting, only 300 Croatian soldiers, along with their families, survived. Suleiman offered Zrinski the position of leader of the country if he surrendered, but Zrinski refused, replying: “No one shall point his finger on my children in contempt.”
Realizing the end was near, Zrinski ordered the soldiers to slay their wives and children to spare them the horrors awaiting them if they were captured. The men obliged and, once the deed was done, the Croatians fought to the last man, until the Ottomans overwhelmed the city and mercilessly butchered the remaining survivors. However, Suleiman never saw the victory, for he had succumbed to dysentery four days earlier. In addition, the battle cost the Ottomans nearly 30,000 soldiers, which meant they couldn’t continue their conquest, and they were forced to return home. Though ultimately unsuccessful in protecting the citizens of Szigetvár, this stand by the Croatians is considered by some to be one of the defining moments in Christian history, saving most of Europe from Muslim influence.
9Siege Of Nuremberg (1632) 40,000–50,000 Killed
Nuremberg, one of the greatest Protestant cities in the world at the time, was also home to one of the bloodiest sieges during the Thirty Years’ War. Swedish forces, led by Gustav Adolf, retreated to the city of Nuremberg because of the pursuit of the Holy Roman army, which was under the command of Albrecht von Wallenstein. Adolf had nearly 150,000 soldiers, over 30,000 more than Wallenstein, but he neglected to bring adequate supplies to the city, which was eventually successfully blockaded by the Holy Roman Empire.
However, Wallenstein didn’t bring enough supplies either, and both armies suffered from starvation and disease, especially typhus. During the nearly-80-day siege, Adolf actually tried to break the other line in the Battle of the Alte Veste (“Old Fortress”), but the maneuver failed and he eventually fled the city once he realized his men would ultimately succumb to starvation. When the dust settled, nearly 40,000 soldiers had perished, though most of them had been killed by disease rather than the sword.
8Siege Of Kiev (1240) 48,000 Killed
Kiev, one of the oldest cities in Europe and the capital of modern-day Ukraine, was home to one of the most savage sieges ever undertaken by the Mongol hordes. Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, initially sent envoys to the city, demanding its surrender. Voivode Dmytro, who was appointed as the leader of the city’s resistance, ordered the execution of the messengers, angering Khan. On November 28, the Mongols began their siege of the city, beginning with several days of catapult bombardment.
On December 5, the walls of the city were breached and Khan and his army flooded into Kiev, slaughtering everyone as they went. A large number of civilians fled to the Church of the Tithes, built nearly 300 years prior, but it collapsed and killed many of them. Out of 50,000 inhabitants, only 2,000 survived the battle, including Dmytro, who was spared by Khan because of the courage he showed. By December 6, the Mongols were done sacking the city and they departed, leaving behind an unbelievable amount of destruction. Archbishop Giovanni da Plano Carpini, arriving six years after the siege, wrote: “this city had been extremely large and very populous . . . now it has been reduced to nothing.”
7Siege Of Ostend (1601–1604) Over 65,000 Killed
Ostend, located in present-day Belgium, was home to one of the longest sieges in history, as well as the bloodiest battle of the Eighty Years’ War. Recently fortified, Ostend represented a great place to defend, and the combined Dutch and English forces under the leadership of General Francis Vere felt great about their chances against Spain and Archduke Albrecht. The siege commenced on July 5, with the defenders eventually having nearly 50,000 men at their command. The Spanish, on the other hand, had a horde numbering close to 80,000 soldiers, with most on foot.
As the siege dragged on, both sides began to turn to more treacherous acts to try and expedite the finish. Albrecht almost successfully convinced a traitor to help turn some of the more persuadable soldiers against Vere, but the plot was found out and he was whipped out of town. Vere himself was accused of leading Spain into a false negotiation of peace, pulling out at the last moment, although it may have just been a simple misunderstanding on Albrecht’s side.
After a long and bloody siege, the Dutch and English forces surrendered on September 20, and Albrecht triumphantly entered the city with his wife Isabella, who wept at the destruction she witnessed. Shortly thereafter, negotiations opened up and a 12-year truce was established.
6Siege Of Baghdad (1258) Over 200,000 Killed
Unsurprisingly, another Mongol siege makes the list. This time the horde was led by Hulegu Khan, another of Genghis Khan’s grandsons, and his siege took place against the city of Baghdad, Iraq. Determined to eradicate what he perceived to be the biggest threat to his rule, Khan intended to destroy one of the largest and most well-known cities of Islam. More than 100,000 Mongols marched on Baghdad after its caliph, Al-Musta’sim, refused to surrender. The Monguls were aided by Shiite Muslims, who were offended by Musta’sim. The siege began on January 29 and it officially ended on February 10.
Once the Mongols entered the city, they wantonly slaughtered everyone in sight, except for Baghdad’s Christians, who were cordoned off in a church by Khan (or perhaps his wife). Musta’sim was said to have been rolled up into a carpet and trampled to death by a horse. The House of Wisdom, one of the most prominent intellectual centers of its time, was especially targeted by Khan for destruction. An inestimable amount of knowledge was lost during the sacking, as the Mongols threw nearly every book in the city into the river. It was said by witnesses that so many writings were in the Tigris that a horse could walk across it.
5Siege Of Sevastopol (1854–1855) Over 200,000 Killed
Taking place during the Crimean War, the Siege of Sevastopol pitted a combined force of British, French, and Turkish troops against the Russian army. Featuring some of the earliest examples of trench warfare, the siege was an 11-month-long struggle for survival on both sides. Once the Russians realized they couldn’t defeat their opponents in open battle, they diverted most of their troops to the city and entrenched themselves in defensive positions. For a while, the battle raged during the day. The Russians were taking damage via bombardment, then refortifying their positions each night.
Unfortunately for the siegers and the besieged alike, the winter was extremely harsh and many men on both sides succumbed to disease, namely cholera and dysentery. It affected the French army most of all; nearly all of their casualties were due to the illnesses the soldiers contracted. After successfully defending the fortress, the Russians were eventually forced to retreat, allowing the allied forces to enter the city on September 9. The war ended shortly afterward. A number of artists tried to memorialize the siege, with Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” probably among the most famous examples.
4Siege Of Tenochtitlán (1521) Over 200,000 Killed
The siege of Tenochtitlán was the final, decisive battle between the defending Aztecs and the Spanish army, which was composed almost entirely of indigenous people who were angry at being oppressed. Hernán Cortés led his 200,000-man army against Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, determined to obliterate the Aztecsin order to claim the land and riches for Spain. The defending forces numbered nearly 300,000. However, the Spanish forces held a considerable technological edge, which helped turn the tide of battle in their favor.
For a while, it seemed as though the Aztecs would prevail, but their forces were stricken with a smallpox epidemic which severely weakened their defenses. Realizing a door-to-door invasion was impractical, Cortés bombarded the city, destroying nearly every building with his cannons until the Aztecs surrendered. The siege itself lasted a mere three months but resulted in a large number of deaths, especially among the civilians of the city, which may account for half of the total casualties.
As a side note, many believe that Montezuma and the Aztecs believed Cortés was the reincarnated form of their god Quetzalcoatl; however, most scholars believe that Montezuma, as well as many of his advisers, were fully aware that Cortés was just a man.
3Battle Of Carthage (149–146 BC) Over 460,000 Killed
Carthage, one of the most powerful cities in existence prior to the creation of the Roman Empire, was besieged by the Romans in one of their bloodiest battles. Attacked in three separate wars collectively known as the Punic Wars, the city remained independent until the Third Punic War, when the Romans attacked Carthage directly. The Roman forces, led by Scipio Aemilianus, had over 80,000 men; the Carthaginians had 90,000 soldiers, as well as a civilian population of over 400,000. The siege officially began after the Romans refused to accept the Carthaginian surrender, naming a list of requirements, which were refused.
The city quickly set to building weapons, since they had previously given up their existing inventory to the Romans, and they were able to repel the first Roman surge. After a lengthy blockade, the Carthaginians tried to push back against their enemy, but they were unsuccessful. Finally, after three years, the Romans managed to enter the city, wantonly killing and sacking everything. All of the 50,000 survivors were sold into slavery. Each and every building was razed to the ground, and the Romans left. There is also a story that the Romans salted the earth around Carthage, but it is unlikely to be true, as there is no contemporary evidence and the idea first arose in the 1800s.
2Siege Of Jerusalem (70 AD) 1,100,000 Killed
After a Jewish rebellion in 66 A.D., the Romans decided to quell the population once and for all. So Titus Flavius was sent with 70,000 men to siege the city, which had nearly 40,000 soldiers ready to defend it.
Surrounding the city with four legions in February, Titus tried to negotiate with the defenders, sending in the Jewish historian Josephus to talk with the leaders. However, he was wounded with an arrow, and the siege was on. The population of the city was slowly starved by the Roman blockade, and had to resort to eating whatever they could find, including leather and sewage. Some people even turned to cannibalism, with Josephus remarking on a mother who killed her own baby.
Eventually, the Roman forces breached the wall, utilizing a secret, late-night attack, and began slaughtering citizens as they marched through the city. A number of buildings were razed to the ground and looted, including the Second Temple, which was destroyed against Titus’ orders. Nearly all of the surviving civilians were rounded up and sold into slavery, although a large percentage of them were just murdered in the streets. By September 7, the city was officially under Roman control.
1Siege Of Leningrad (1941–1944) 1,000,000–2,500,000 Killed
One of the deadliest and longest sieges in history took place in the Eastern Front during WWII. Pitting the German army against the Russian army, the Siege of Leningrad was nearly as destructive as the more well-known battle of Stalingrad. Beginning on September 8, 1941, the siege was especially hard on the civilian population, as the German blockade was successful in minimizing any food which could make its way to the city. By the end of the siege, the soldiers were rationed only a quarter of a loaf of bread per day.
However, the city persisted in the face of starvation, and the German army was kept at bay by the Russian forces. Luckily, the nearby waters of Lake Ladoga froze over during the winter, enabling supplies to be brought into the city. This entryway also offered the chance to evacuate the sick and elderly, leading to its nickname of the “Road of Life.” Eventually, the Russians forces from the East pushed the Germans back and lifted the siege of Leningrad, much to the relief of the surviving population.
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