WORLD WAR I: STATISTICS

I. Casualties of World War I, 1914-1918

* casualty = a member of the armed forces lost to service through death, wounds, sickness, capture, or because the soldier’s whereabouts could not be determined

Countries / Total Mobilized / Killed & Died / Wounded / Prisoners & Missing / Total Casualties / Casualties % Mobilized
Allied Powers
Russia / 12,000,000 / 1,700,000 / 4,950,000 / 2,500,000 / 9,150,000 / 76.3
France / 8,410,000 / 1,357,800 / 4,266,000 / 537,000 / 6,160,800 / 76.3
British Empire / 8,904,467 / 908,371 / 2,090,212 / 191,652 / 3,190,235 / 35.8
Italy / 5,615,000 / 650,000 / 947,000 / 600,000 / 2,197,000 / 39.1
United States / 4,355,000 / 126,000 / 234,300 / 4,500 / 364,800 / 8.2
Japan / 800,000 / 300 / 907 / 3 / 1,210 / 0.2
Romania / 750,000 / 335,706 / 120,000 / 80,000 / 535,706 / 71.4
Serbia / 707,343 / 45,000 / 133,148 / 152,958 / 331,106 / 46.8
Belgium / 267,000 / 13,716 / 44,686 / 34,659 / 93,061 / 34.9
Greece / 230,000 / 5,000 / 21,000 / 1,000 / 17,000 / 11.7
Portugal / 100,000 / 7,222 / 13,751 / 12,318 / 33,291 / 33.3
Montenegro / 50,000 / 3,000 / 10,000 / 7,000 / 20,000 / 40.0
Total / 42,188,810 / 5,152,115 / 12,831,004 / 4,121,090 / 22,104,209 / 52.3
Central Powers
Germany / 11,000,000 / 1,773,700 / 4,216,058 / 1,152,800 / 7,142,558 / 64.9
Austria-Hungary / 7,800,000 / 1,200,000 / 3,620,000 / 2,200,000 / 7,020,000 / 90.0
Turkey / 2,850,000 / 325,000 / 400,000 / 250,000 / 975,000 / 34.2
Bulgaria / 1,200,000 / 87,500 / 152,390 / 27,029 / 266,919 / 22.2
Total / 22,850,000 / 3,386,200 / 8,388,448 / 3,629,829 / 15,404,477 / 67.4
Grand Total / 65,038,810 / 8,538,315 / 21,219,452 / 7,750,919 / 37,508,686 / 57.6

II. Financial Costs of World War I, 1914-1918

Allied Powers / Cost in Dollars in 1914-18
United States / 22,625,253,000
Great Britain / 35,334,012,000
France / 24,265,583,000
Russia / 22,293,950,000
Italy / 12,413,998,000
Belgium / 1,154,468,000
Romania / 1,600,000,000
Japan / 40,000,000
Serbia / 399,400,000
Greece / 270,000,000
Canada / 1,665,576,000
Australia / 1,423,208,000
New Zealand / 378,750,000
India / 601,279,000
South Africa / 300,000,000
British Colonies / 125,000,000
Others / 500,000,000
Total of all Allied Power Costs / 125,690,477,000
Central Powers / Cost in Dollars in 1914-18
Germany / 37,775,000,000
Austria-Hungary / 20,622,960,000
Turkey / 1,430,000,000
Bulgaria / 815,200,000
Total of all Central Power Costs / 60,643,160,000

III. Employment of Women in the Workforce in Britain, 1914-1920

Percentage of Women
to men in employment / Industry
% / Transport
% / Agriculture
% / Commerce
% / All Workers
%
July, 1914 / 26 / 2 / 9 / 27 / 24
July, 1918 / 35 / 12 / 14 / 53 / 37
July, 1920 / 27 / 4 / 10 / 40 / 28

IV. Colonial Troop Death Statistics for the British, French, & German Empires, 1914-1918

BRITISH COLONIES:

Total colonial military dead = 161,700

Australia 59,000; India 43,000; Tanzania 20,000; New Zealand 17,000; South Africa 7,000; Gold Coast (Ghana) 1,200; Kenya 2,000; Malawi 3,000; Nigeria 5,000; Sierra Leone 1,000; Uganda 1,500; Zambia 2,000.

Britain recruited Indian, Chinese, native South African, Egyptian and other overseas labor to provide logistical support in the combat theaters. Included with casualties in East Africa are the deaths of 44,911 recruited laborers.

FRENCH COLONIES:

Total colonial military dead = 82,000

Morocco 15,000; Niger 15,000; Indochina (Vietnam) 12,000; Mali 10,000; Senegal 6,000; Algeria 5,000; Guinea 2,500; Madagascar 2,500; Benin 2,000; Burkina Faso 2,000; Congo-Brazzaville 2,000; Ivory Coast 2,000; Tunisia 2,000; Chad 1,500; Central African Republic 1,000; Gabon 500.

GERMAN COLONIES:

Total colonial military dead = 17,000

Namibia 10,000; Cameroon 5,000; Togo 2,000

QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS

  1. What factors likely contributed to the high casualty statistics for most nations?
  1. US $1 in 1918 had the approximate value of US $15.68 in 2015. What is the approximate total cost of World War I in today’s approximate monetary value?
  1. What likely accounts for the trends of employment for women in the workforce during the war? What likely accounts for the trend following the war?
  1. Explain the link between the statistics for colonies found in item IV and the rise of nationalism in colonies and their increased demands for self-determination after the war?