This talk interrogates how wars have been central in the creation of our concept of “human dignity.” It draws on key wars and episodes from the French Revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union. Using these historical periods, the talk explores themes like: (1) how revolutionary wars selectively defined who had dignity and who did not, (2) how capital and empire created new forms of dehumanization, (3) how the world wars have denied human dignity through bureaucracy and technology, and (4) how expanding definitions of human rights have provoked backlash. The talk takes inspiration from Eric Hobsbawm’s tetralogy on world history (The Age of Revolution, Capital, Empire, and Extremes) and invites conversations on historically situating the concept of human dignity.