>>18481384
Candide is a satire on the idea that we live in the best of all possible worlds which was put forward by Leibniz. The whole book is full of misfortune and atrocities simply to dunk on this idea. Read an actual history book if you'd like to find out how real European people lived. For Non-Euros, we don't have nearly as much in terms of written records but the archaeology shows us their lives were much more savage and barbaric even.
Not to say getting pillaged after a loss in war wasn't absolutely brutal. That happened all over the world. It only decreased starting in the 18th century because of cultural norms established by, you guessed it, Europeans.