+
+
+Graph Replication
+Loading Libraries and Data
+
+
+
+Data Preparation
+
+
+
+
+set.seed(123)
+data <- data |>
+ mutate( # calculating average deaths for sizing
+ avg_deaths = (war_deaths_low + war_deaths_high) / 2,
+ deaths_millions = avg_deaths / 1000000,
+ war_type = ifelse(civil_war == "Civil war", "CIVIL WARS", "INTERSTATE WARS"),
+ war_type = factor(war_type, levels = c("INTERSTATE WARS", "CIVIL WARS")),
+
+ y_manual = case_when( # here i manually assign a 'y_manual' value to each war to ensure exact spread, each war gets a specific y-coordinate (0-10 scale)
+
+ # INTERSTATE WARS (positioned around y = 4.0)
+ war_name == "Second Maratha War" ~ 4.17,
+ war_name == "Napoleonic Wars" ~ 4.7,
+ war_name == "Anglo-Turkish War" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "Russo-Turkish War" ~ 3.67,
+ war_name == "Russo-Persian War" ~ 4.17,
+
+ war_name == "War of 1812" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Wahhabi War" ~ 4.3,
+ war_name == "Neapolitan War" ~ 3.87,
+ war_name == "Gurkha War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Bombardment of Algiers" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Third Maratha War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "Durrani Empire-Sikh War" ~ 3.7,
+ war_name == "Fifth Cape Frontier War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "Turko Persian War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Ashanti-British War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "First Anglo-Burmese War" ~ 3.78,
+ war_name == "Siege of Bharatpur" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Argentine-Brazilian War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "Vientiane-Siam War" ~ 3.6,
+ war_name == "Second Russo-Persian War" ~ 3.9,
+ war_name == "Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29" ~ 4.3,
+ war_name == "Gran Colombia-Peru War" ~ 4.05,
+ war_name == "French-Algerian War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "Siamese-Vietnamese War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Afghan-Sikh War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Afghan-Persian War" ~ 3.78,
+ war_name == "War of the Confederation" ~ 4.17,
+ war_name == "First Opium War" ~ 4.23,
+ war_name == "Bolivia-Peru War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Sino-Sikh War" ~ 3.78,
+ war_name == "Siamese-Vietnamese War II" ~ 4.35,
+ war_name == "Gwalior War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Anglo-Baluch War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Franco-Moroccan War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "Mexican-American War" ~ 3.78,
+ war_name == "Second Dominican War" ~ 4.23,
+ war_name == "Seventh Cape Frontier War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "First Anglo-Sikh War" ~ 3.53,
+ war_name == "Austro-Sardinian War of 1848" ~ 4.33,
+ war_name == "First Schleswig-Holstein War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "First Egba-Dahomey War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Eighth Cape Frontier War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "La Plata War" ~ 4.23,
+ war_name == "Tukolor-Tamba War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Crimean War" ~ 4.6,
+ war_name == "Tukolor-Bambara War of 1855" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Tibet-Nepalese War" ~ 3.75,
+ war_name == "Fourth Dominican War" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "Central American National War" ~ 4.25,
+ war_name == "Anglo-Persian War" ~ 4.03,
+ war_name == "Franco-Tukulor War" ~ 4.23,
+ war_name == "Second Opium War" ~ 4.03,
+ war_name == "Hispano-Moroccan War" ~ 3.78,
+ war_name == "Two Sicilies Insurrection" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Papal States War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Tukulor-Bambara War of 1860" ~ 4.43,
+
+ war_name == "Central American War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Ecuadorian-Colombian War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Second Schleswig-Holstein War" ~ 3.67,
+ war_name == "Second Egba-Dahomey War" ~ 4.04,
+ war_name == "Franco-Mexican War" ~ 3.4,
+ war_name == "Russia-Khokandian War" ~ 3.87,
+ war_name == "Sino-Kuchean Muslim War" ~ 4.23,
+ war_name == "Sino-Khokandian War" ~ 4.06,
+ war_name == "Russia-Bukhara Khanate War" ~ 3.77,
+ war_name == "Austro-Prussian War" ~ 3.5,
+ war_name == "Paraguayan War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "British Abyssinian Expedition" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Franco-Prussian War" ~ 4.5,
+ war_name == "Sino-Jahriyya Order War" ~ 3.55,
+ war_name == "Ottoman Conquest of Arabia" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Kashgaria-Urumchi Dungan War" ~ 4.05,
+
+ war_name == "Anglo-Ashanti War" ~ 4.17,
+ war_name == "Egypt-Abyssinian War" ~ 3.55,
+ war_name == "Russia-Khokand Khanate War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "First Central American War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Sino-Kashgarian War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78" ~ 4.3,
+ war_name == "Ninth Cape Frontier War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "British-Zulu War" ~ 3.77,
+ war_name == "Second Anglo-Afghan War" ~ 4.23,
+ war_name == "Russo-Turkomen War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "War of the Pacific" ~ 3.77,
+ war_name == "Anglo-Egyptian War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Sino-French (Tonkin) War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "Second Central American War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Serbo-Bulgarian War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Ethiopian-Mahdi War" ~ 3.73,
+ war_name == "War of Dogali" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Mahdi-Egyptian War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "Franco-Dahomean War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Franco-Mandingo War V" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Congo Arab War" ~ 4.37,
+ war_name == "Bornu Empire-Rabah Empire War" ~ 3.75,
+ war_name == "France-Tukolor Empire War" ~ 4.05,
+ war_name == "Melilla War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Mahdist-Italian War" ~ 3.9,
+ war_name == "First Matabele War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "First Sino-Japanese War" ~ 3.9,
+ war_name == "Japanese Invasion of Taiwan" ~ 4.3,
+ war_name == "Portugal-Gaza Nguni War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Second Franco-Hova War" ~ 4.01,
+ war_name == "First Italo-Abyssinian War" ~ 3.73,
+ war_name == "British-Mahdi War" ~ 3.85,
+ war_name == "Spanish-American War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "Franco-Mandingo War VIII" ~ 4.07,
+ war_name == "Second Anglo-Boer War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "War of the Golden Stool" ~ 4.27,
+ war_name == "British-Sokoto Caliphate War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Franco-Rabah Empire War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "Boxer Rebellion" ~ 4.05,
+ war_name == "Russo-Japanese War" ~ 4.3,
+ war_name == "Third and Fourth Central American War" ~ 4.05,
+ war_name == "Second Spanish-Moroccan War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "Greco-Turkish War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Wadai War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Italo-Turkish War" ~ 4.15,
+ war_name == "Second Balkan War" ~ 3.7,
+ war_name == "First Sino-Tibet War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "World War I" ~ 1.65,
+ war_name == "Second Sino-Tibet War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Polish-Ukrainian War" ~ 4.5,
+ war_name == "Czech-Polish War" ~ 4.3,
+ war_name == "Hungarian Adversaries War" ~ 3.75,
+ war_name == "Third Anglo-Afghan War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Soviet-Polish War" ~ 3.5,
+ war_name == "Waziristan Campaign" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Franco-Turkish War" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Turkish-Armenian War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Azeri-Armenian War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Polish-Lithuanian War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Soviet-Georgia War" ~ 3.7,
+ war_name == "Hejaz War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ war_name == "Second Sino-Japanese War" ~ 4.4,
+ war_name == "Third Sino-Japanese War" ~ 2.85,
+ war_name == "World War II" ~ 7.9,
+ war_name == "Sino-Soviet War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Chaco War" ~ 3.7,
+ war_name == "East Turkestan Kashgar War" ~ 4.25,
+ war_name == "Saudi-Yemeni War" ~ 4.01,
+ war_name == "Second Italo-Abyssinian War" ~ 3.9,
+ war_name == "Battle of Lake Khasan" ~ 4.01,
+ war_name == "Battle of Khalkhin Gol" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "Peruvian-Ecuadorian War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "East Turkestan Gulja Incident" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "India-Pakistan War of 1947" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Operation Polo" ~ 4.2,
+ war_name == "1948 Palestine War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Korean War" ~ 4.6,
+ war_name == "Suez Crisis" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "Second Taiwan Strait Crisis" ~ 4.09,
+
+ war_name == "Sino-Indian War" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "India-Pakistan War of 1965" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "Six Day War" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "Vietnam War" ~ 3.22,
+ war_name == "Football War" ~ 3.95,
+ war_name == "War of Attrition" ~ 4.09,
+ war_name == "Yom Kippur War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "North Vietnam-South Vietnam War" ~ 4.25,
+ war_name == "Vietnamese-Cambodian War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Uganda-Tanzania War" ~ 4.09,
+ war_name == "First Sino-Vietnamese War" ~ 3.8,
+ war_name == "Yemen Border War II" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Falklands War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Lebanese War of 1982-84" ~ 4.09,
+ war_name == "Iran-Iraq War" ~ 3.6,
+ war_name == "Toyota War" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "Second Sino-Vietnamese War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Iraq-Kuwait War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Persian Gulf War" ~ 4.25,
+ war_name == "Nagorno-Karabakh War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "US-Afghan" ~ 4.25,
+ war_name == "Ethiopian-Eritrean War" ~ 3.7,
+ war_name == "Kargil Conflict" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "US-Iraq War" ~ 4.0,
+ war_name == "Israel-Hezbollah War" ~ 4.0,
+
+ # CIVIL WARS (positioned around y = 5.0)
+ war_name == "Argentine War of Independence" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Venezuelan War of Independence" ~ 5.3,
+ war_name == "Chilean War of Independence" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Ecuadorian War of Independence" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Peruvian War of Independence" ~ 4.8,
+ war_name == "Brazilian War of Independence" ~ 5.2,
+ war_name == "November Uprising" ~ 5.3,
+ war_name == "Second Turko-Egyptian War" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Farroupilha Revolution" ~ 5.3,
+ war_name == "First Anglo-Afghan War" ~ 4.8,
+ war_name == "Hungarian War of Independence" ~ 4.52,
+ war_name == "War of the Roman Republic" ~ 5.3,
+ war_name == "Montenegrin-Ottoman War" ~ 4.86,
+ war_name == "Indian Rebellion of 1857" ~ 5.3,
+ war_name == "Austro-Sardinian War of 1859" ~ 4.9,
+ war_name == "Nien (Nian) Rebellion" ~ 5.2,
+ war_name == "Taiping Rebellion" ~ 4.1,
+ war_name == "American Civil War" ~ 4.7,
+ war_name == "Boshin War" ~ 4.9,
+ war_name == "Satsuma Rebellion" ~ 5.47,
+ war_name == "Thousand Days' War" ~ 5.45,
+ war_name == "Xinhai Revolution" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Finnish Civil War" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Lithuanian-Soviet War" ~ 5.35,
+ war_name == "Latvian War of Independence" ~ 4.73,
+ war_name == "Estonian War of Independence" ~ 4.35,
+ war_name == "Russian Civil War" ~ 6.85,
+ war_name == "Warlord Era Wars" ~ 6.15,
+ war_name == "Spanish Civil War" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Chinese Civil War" ~ 5.0,
+ war_name == "Nigerian-Biafran War" ~ 4.9,
+ war_name == "Black September War of 1970" ~ 4.9,
+ war_name == "Bangladesh War" ~ 5.15,
+ war_name == "Ogaden War" ~ 4.95,
+ war_name == "Angolan Civil War" ~ 5.85,
+ war_name == "Dniestrian Independence War" ~ 5.27,
+ war_name == "Bosnian War" ~ 4.4,
+ war_name == "Rwanda War 1994" ~ 5.5,
+ war_name == "Yemen Civil War" ~ 5.15,
+ war_name == "Second Congo War" ~ 5.3,
+ war_name == "Sri Lanka-Tamil War II" ~ 5.37,
+
+ war_type == "INTERSTATE WARS" ~ runif(n(), 3.85, 4.15), # default y-position for interstate wars
+ war_type == "CIVIL WARS" ~ runif(n(), 4.85, 5.15), # default y-position for civil wars
+ TRUE ~ 5.0
+),
+
+
+ y_plot = scales::rescale(y_manual, to = c(0.5, 1.5), from = c(0, 10)), # rescale: convert 0-10 scale to 0.5-1.5 for plotting
+ x_plot = midpoint # x-coordinate is the midpoint of war years (variable from dataset)
+)
+
+data <- data |>
+ mutate(
+ region = recode(region,
+ "Cross-Regional" = "Multiple regions",
+ "North Africa and Middle East" = "North Africa & Middle East")
+ )
+
+max_deaths <- max(data$avg_deaths)
+min_deaths <- min(data$avg_deaths)Details for Visualization (Colors, Fonts and Labels)
+
+
+
+
+region_colors <- c(
+ "Multiple regions" = "#AF1B45",
+ "Americas" = "#E46E5A",
+ "Asia" = "#58AB8B",
+ "Europe" = "#FAAF3B",
+ "North Africa & Middle East" = "#79B6F2",
+ "Sub-Saharan Africa" = "#4C6A9B"
+)
+
+font_add(family = "Castoro",
+ regular = "/Users/adelasolisolis/Data Visualization/dataviz/Castoro/Castoro-Regular.ttf") # custom font from google fonts
+
+showtext_auto()
+showtext_opts(dpi = 96)
+
+
+# manual positioning for labels (INTERSTATE)
+interstate_labels <- tribble(
+ ~war_name, ~label_y, ~formatted_name,
+ "Napoleonic Wars", 5.7, "Napoleonic Wars",
+ "Crimean War", 5.5, "Crimean War",
+ "Korean War", 1.5, "Korean War",
+ "Suez Crisis", 3.0, "Suez Crisis",
+ "Vietnam War", 1.0, "Vietnam War",
+ "Yom Kippur War", 5.3, "Yom Kippur War",
+ "Iran-Iraq War", 2.0, "Iran-Iraq War",
+ "Persian Gulf War", 5.8, "Persian Gulf War",
+ "Ethiopian-Eritrean War", 1.5, "Ethiopian-\nEritrean War", # line break
+ "Third Sino-Japanese War", 0.2, "Second Sino-\nJapanese War" # renamed (error in dataset) + line break
+) |>
+ left_join(data |> select(war_name, x_plot, war_deaths_low, war_deaths_high), # add death range estimate
+ by = "war_name") |>
+ mutate(
+ # use formatted_name in label
+ label_text = ifelse(
+ war_name == "Third Sino-Japanese War",
+ paste0(formatted_name, "\n",
+ floor(war_deaths_low/1000000 * 10) / 10, "–",
+ floor(war_deaths_high/1000000 * 10) / 10, "m"), # death range in millions
+ paste0(formatted_name, "\n",
+ floor(war_deaths_low/1000), "–",
+ floor(war_deaths_high/1000), "k") # death range in thousands
+ ),
+ label_y_plot = scales::rescale(label_y, to = c(0.5, 1.5), from = c(0, 10)) # rescaling
+ )
+
+# manual positioning for labels (CIVIL)
+civil_labels <- tribble(
+ ~war_name, ~label_y, ~formatted_name,
+ "Venezuelan War of Independence", 7.2, "Venezuelan War\nof Independence",
+ "American Civil War", 2.6, "American Civil War",
+ "Russian Civil War", 9.2, "Russian Civil War",
+ "Warlord Era Wars", 3.5, "Warlord Era Wars",
+ "Spanish Civil War", 6.6, "Spanish Civil War",
+ "Chinese Civil War", 1.8, "Chinese Civil War",
+ "Angolan Civil War", 7.6, "Angolan Civil War",
+ "Bosnian War", 1.6, "Bosnian War"
+) |>
+ left_join(data |> select(war_name, x_plot, war_deaths_low, war_deaths_high), # also add death estimate range
+ by = "war_name") |>
+ mutate(
+ label_text = ifelse(
+ war_name == "Chinese Civil War",
+ paste0(formatted_name, "\n",
+ floor(war_deaths_low/1000000 * 10) / 10, "–",
+ floor(war_deaths_high/1000000 * 10) / 10, "m"),
+ paste0(formatted_name, "\n",
+ floor(war_deaths_low/1000), "–",
+ floor(war_deaths_high/1000), "k")
+ ),
+ label_y_plot = scales::rescale(label_y, to = c(0.5, 1.5), from = c(0, 10)) # rescaling
+ )Create the Plot (Faceting, Color Scale, Size Scale, X / Y-Axis Scale, Labels and Theme Details)
+
+
+
+
+graph_interstate <- data |>
+ filter(war_type == "INTERSTATE WARS") |>
+ ggplot(aes(x = x_plot, y = y_plot)) +
+
+ # lines connecting circles to external labels (added first so that they appear behind the circles)
+ geom_segment(
+ data = interstate_labels |>
+ left_join(data |>
+ select(war_name, y_plot), by = "war_name"),
+ aes(x = x_plot,
+ y = y_plot,
+ xend = x_plot,
+ yend = label_y_plot),
+ color = "gray40",
+ linewidth = 0.3
+ ) +
+
+ # plot the circles that represent wars
+ geom_point(aes(size = avg_deaths,
+ color = region),
+ alpha = 1) +
+
+ # white labels for WWI and WWII (inside the circles)
+ geom_text(
+ data = data |> filter(war_name %in% c("World War II", "World War I")),
+ aes(label = paste0(war_name, "\n",
+ floor(war_deaths_low/1000000 * 10) / 10, "–",
+ floor(war_deaths_high/1000000 * 10) / 10, "m deaths")),
+ size = 2.7,
+ color = "white",
+ fontface = "bold",
+ lineheight = 0.9
+ ) +
+
+ # labels outside the circles for other wars
+ geom_text(
+ data = interstate_labels,
+ aes(x = x_plot, y = label_y_plot, label = label_text),
+ size = 2.9,
+ color = "black",
+ lineheight = 0.9
+ ) +
+
+ # "INTERSTATE WARS" panel title at top
+ annotate("text",
+ x = 1800,
+ y = 1.55,
+ label = "INTERSTATE WARS",
+ size = 5,
+ fontface = "bold",
+ hjust = 0) + # left-side
+
+ scale_color_manual(values = region_colors,
+ name = NULL,
+ breaks = names(region_colors)) +
+
+ # circle area proportional to value
+ scale_size_area(max_size = 82,
+ limits = c(min(data$avg_deaths),
+ max(data$avg_deaths)),
+ guide = "none") +
+
+ scale_x_continuous(limits = c(1800, 2015), # x-axis scale
+ breaks = c(seq(1800, 2000, by = 20),
+ 2011), # marks every 20 years (+ 2011)
+ expand = c(0.01, 0),
+ position = "bottom") + # timeline at bottom of this panel
+ scale_y_continuous(limits = c(0.4, 1.6), # y-axis scale
+ expand = c(0, 0)) +
+
+ labs(title = "Combatant deaths in conventional wars, 1800–2011",
+ subtitle = "Number of combatants who died due to fighting in interstate and civil wars. This excludes civilian deaths, which can\nmake the death tolls much larger.",
+ x = NULL, y = NULL) +
+
+ theme_minimal() +
+ theme(
+ panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.major.x = element_line(color = "gray90", linewidth = 0.3),
+ axis.text.x = element_text(size = 11), # show x-axis numbers here (timeline)
+ axis.text.y = element_blank(), # no y-axis numbers
+ axis.ticks = element_blank(),
+ plot.title = element_text(size = 24, face = "bold", # font for title
+ family = "Castoro",
+ margin = margin(b = 5)),
+
+ plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 14, color = "gray30", # font for subtitle
+ family = "Castoro",
+ margin = margin(b = 15)),
+ plot.margin = margin(10, 10, 10, 10),
+ legend.position = "top",
+ legend.justification = "left",
+ legend.direction = "horizontal",
+ legend.text = element_text(size = 10)
+ ) +
+
+ # region legend
+ guides(color = guide_legend(
+ override.aes = list(shape = 15, # show colors as squares
+ size = 4.7),
+ nrow = 1
+ ))
+
+graph_civil <- data |>
+ filter(war_type == "CIVIL WARS") |>
+ ggplot(aes(x = x_plot, y = y_plot)) +
+
+ geom_segment(
+ data = civil_labels |>
+ left_join(data |> select(war_name, y_plot), by = "war_name"),
+ aes(x = x_plot, y = y_plot, xend = x_plot, yend = label_y_plot),
+ color = "gray40",
+ size = 0.3
+ ) +
+
+ geom_point(aes(size = avg_deaths, color = region), alpha = 1) +
+
+ geom_text(
+ data = civil_labels,
+ aes(x = x_plot, y = label_y_plot, label = label_text),
+ size = 2.9,
+ color = "black",
+ lineheight = 0.9
+ ) +
+
+ annotate("text", x = 1800, y = 1.55, label = "CIVIL WARS",
+ size = 5, fontface = "bold", hjust = 0) +
+
+ scale_color_manual(values = region_colors, name = NULL,
+ breaks = names(region_colors)) +
+ scale_size_area(max_size = 80,
+ limits = c(min(data$avg_deaths), max(data$avg_deaths)),
+ guide = "none") +
+
+ scale_x_continuous(limits = c(1800, 2015),
+ breaks = c(seq(1800, 2000, by = 20), 2011),
+ expand = c(0.01, 0)) +
+ scale_y_continuous(limits = c(0.4, 1.6), expand = c(0, 0)) +
+
+ labs(x = NULL, y = NULL, # remove axis labels
+ caption = "Note: Each circle is sized according to the war's lower death estimate. A conventional war is defined here as an armed conflict fought with differentiated militaries and clear frontlines that\ncaused at least 500 combatant deaths due to fighting over its duration. A civil war is a conflict between combatants that were previously part of the same state, with at least one group now\nseeking control or secession.\nSources: Lyall, Jason. 2020. Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War. Princeton University Press.\nOurWorldInData.org — Research and data to make progress against the world's largest problems. Licensed under CC-BY by the authors Bastian Herre, Christian Schwinehart and Klara Auerbach.") +
+
+ theme_minimal() +
+ theme(
+ panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.major.x = element_line(color = "gray90", size = 0.3),
+ axis.text.x = element_blank(), # no timeline here
+ axis.text.y = element_blank(),
+ axis.ticks = element_blank(),
+ plot.caption = element_text(size = 9.7, color = "gray50", hjust = 0, margin = margin(t = 15)),
+ plot.margin = margin(10, 10, 10, 10),
+ legend.position = "none"
+ )
+
+# combine interstate wars + civil wars
+combined_graph <- graph_interstate / graph_civil +
+ plot_layout(heights = c(7, 3))
+
+combined_graph
Graph Improvement
+Data Preparation
+
+
+
+
+# calculate average deaths from low and high estimates
+data <- data |>
+ mutate(
+ avg_deaths = (war_deaths_low + war_deaths_high) / 2,
+ deaths_thousands = avg_deaths / 1000,
+ deaths_millions = avg_deaths / 1000000,
+ war_type = ifelse(civil_war == "Civil war", "Civil war", "Interstate war"),
+
+ # recode regions
+ region = case_when(
+ region == "Americas" ~ "Americas",
+ region == "Asia" ~ "Asia",
+ region == "Europe" ~ "Europe",
+ region == "North Africa and Middle East" ~ "North Africa\n& Middle East",
+ region == "Sub-Saharan Africa" ~ "Sub-Saharan Africa",
+ TRUE ~ region
+ ),
+
+ # fix incorrect naming
+ war_name = ifelse(war_name == "Third Sino-Japanese War",
+ "Second Sino-Japanese War",
+ war_name)
+ ) Create the Plot
+
+
+
+
+# UPPER CHART: select top 10 deadliest wars per region (excluding World Wars)
+top_wars_by_region <- data |>
+ filter(!war_name %in% c("World War I", "World War II")) |>
+
+ # remove other second sino-japanese war
+ filter(!(war_name == "Second Sino-Japanese War" & avg_deaths < 100000)) |>
+ group_by(region) |> # top 10 per region
+ arrange(desc(avg_deaths)) |>
+ slice_head(n = 10) |>
+ ungroup()
+
+war_type_colors <- c(
+ "Civil war" = "#d73027",
+ "Interstate war" = "#4575b4"
+)
+
+# plot: bar chart
+upper_chart <- ggplot(top_wars_by_region,
+ aes(x = deaths_thousands,
+ y = fct_reorder(war_name, avg_deaths),
+ fill = war_type)) +
+
+ geom_col(width = 0.7, alpha = 0.9) +
+
+ # labels showing death counts
+ geom_text(
+ aes(label = ifelse(
+ deaths_thousands >= 1000,
+ paste0(round(deaths_millions, 1), "M"), # when millions "M"
+ paste0(round(deaths_thousands, 0), "k") # when thousands "k"
+ )),
+ hjust = -0.1, # position slightly to the right of the bar's end
+ size = 2.3,
+ fontface = "bold",
+ color = "gray20"
+ ) +
+
+ # each region gets its own panel (vertically)
+ facet_wrap(~region, scales = "free_y", ncol = 1, strip.position = "left") +
+
+ scale_fill_manual(values = war_type_colors, name = "War Type") +
+
+ scale_x_continuous(
+ breaks = seq(0, 2500, 500), # marks every 500k
+ labels = function(x) {
+ ifelse(x >= 1000,
+ paste0(x / 1000, "M"), # "M" if > = 1000k
+ paste0(x, "k")) # keep as "k" otherwise
+ },
+ expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.15))
+ ) +
+
+ labs(
+ title = "Deadliest Wars by Region, 1800–2011",
+ subtitle = "Top 10 conflicts with highest death toll per region (excluding World Wars)",
+ x = "Average Deaths",
+ y = NULL
+ ) +
+
+ theme_minimal() +
+ theme(
+ panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.major.x = element_line(color = "gray90", linewidth = 0.3),
+ strip.text.y.left = element_text(size = 14, face = "bold", color = "gray20", angle = 0,
+ hjust = 0, margin = margin(l = 0, r = 5)),
+ strip.background = element_rect(fill = NA, color = NA),
+ strip.placement = "outside",
+ panel.spacing.y = unit(0.5, "lines"), # spacing between facets
+ axis.text.y = element_text(size = 10, face = "bold"),
+ axis.text.x = element_text(size = 9),
+ plot.title = element_text(size = 18, face = "bold", margin = margin(b = 5)),
+ plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 10, color = "gray30", margin = margin(b = 10)),
+ legend.position = "top",
+ legend.box = "horizontal",
+ legend.title = element_text(size = 9, face = "bold"),
+ legend.text = element_text(size = 8),
+ plot.margin = margin(10, 10, 5, 5)
+ )
+
+# BOTTOM CHART: calculate TOTAL deaths per region and war type
+regional_summary <- data |>
+ filter(!war_name %in% c("World War I", "World War II")) |>
+ group_by(region, war_type) |>
+ summarise(
+ total_deaths = sum(avg_deaths),
+ n_wars = n(),
+ .groups = "drop"
+ ) |>
+ mutate(
+ # civil war values are negative so they extend LEFT
+ deaths_millions = ifelse(war_type == "Civil war",
+ -total_deaths / 1000000,
+ total_deaths / 1000000)
+ )
+
+# calculate total per region for ordering
+region_totals <- regional_summary |>
+ group_by(region) |>
+ summarise(total = sum(abs(deaths_millions)), .groups = "drop")
+
+bottom_chart <- ggplot(regional_summary,
+ aes(x = deaths_millions,
+ y = fct_reorder(region, abs(deaths_millions), .fun = sum),
+ fill = war_type)) +
+
+ geom_col(alpha = 0.9, width = 0.7) +
+
+ # vertical line at center
+ geom_vline(xintercept = 0, color = "gray30", linewidth = 0.5) +
+
+ # labels for civil wars (left side)
+ geom_text(
+ data = regional_summary |> filter(war_type == "Civil war"),
+ aes(label = ifelse(
+ abs(deaths_millions) >= 1,
+ paste0(round(abs(deaths_millions), 1), "M"),
+ paste0(round(abs(deaths_millions) * 1000, 0), "k")
+ )),
+ hjust = 1.1, size = 3.5, fontface = "bold", color = "gray20"
+ ) +
+
+ # labels for interstate wars (right side)
+ geom_text(
+ data = regional_summary |> filter(war_type == "Interstate war"),
+ aes(label = ifelse(
+ deaths_millions >= 1,
+ paste0(round(deaths_millions, 1), "M"),
+ paste0(round(deaths_millions * 1000, 0), "k")
+ )),
+ hjust = -0.1, size = 3.5, fontface = "bold", color = "gray20"
+ ) +
+
+ scale_fill_manual(values = war_type_colors) +
+
+ # custom x-axis to show absolute values
+ scale_x_continuous(
+ labels = function(x) paste0(abs(x), "M"), # show all values as positive
+ breaks = seq(-5, 5, 1),
+ limits = c(-5.5, 5.5)
+ ) +
+
+ labs(
+ title = "Total War Deaths by Region and Type",
+ subtitle = "All conflicts 1800–2011 (excluding World Wars) | Civil wars (left) vs Interstate wars (right)",
+ x = "Total Deaths",
+ y = NULL
+ ) +
+
+ theme_minimal() +
+ theme(
+ panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA),
+ panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.minor.x = element_blank(),
+ panel.grid.major.x = element_line(color = "gray90", linewidth = 0.3),
+ axis.text.y = element_text(size = 12, face = "bold"),
+ axis.text.x = element_text(size = 10),
+ plot.title = element_text(size = 16, face = "bold", margin = margin(b = 5)),
+ plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 11, color = "gray30", margin = margin(b = 10)),
+ axis.title.x = element_text(size = 12, face = "bold"),
+ legend.position = "none",
+ plot.margin = margin(10, 10, 10, 10)
+ )
+
+# using patchwork to stack the two plots vertically
+final_plot <- upper_chart / bottom_chart +
+ plot_layout(heights = c(4, 1)) + # upper plot 4 times taller than bottom plot
+ plot_annotation(
+ caption = "Source: Lyall, Jason. 2020. Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War. Princeton University Press.",
+ theme = theme(
+ plot.caption = element_text(size = 9, color = "gray50", hjust = 0, margin = margin(t = 10)),
+ plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#faf8f2", color = NA)
+ )
+ )
+
+final_plot
