I have also been reading about the American civil war. Even I initially thought it was a small war that barely killed anyone. But losing 2% of your population seems significant, especially given that it was a local affair.
The American Civil War was in some ways the prelude to WWI in terms of introducing the kind of mass-slaughter battles enabled by increasingly industrialized firepower. There were some very brutal engagements, Gettysburg being the most famous.
Imagine if Gatling had invented his multi-barreled, rotary rifle a few years earlier.
Too bad his sales reps couldn't demonstrate its usefullness and superiority sooner.
Say, used by the National Guard against striking miners in Pittsburgh or something.
Enough of them in Unionist hands and Ghettysburg would have been over in a few hours instead of three days.
And so would the ACW.
Dixie's young and upright wheat mowed down in hours.
A grand metapher for the Union victory.
And industrialism, of course.
Now perhaps you understand why the Russians are a little bit obsessed about their losses at our last tour to Moscow.
I already said, their history breeds and select paranoia.
So to say, they lived Grove's Motto long ago, only the paranoid survive.