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World War I casualties

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The number of World War I casualties, both military and civilian, was over 40 million — 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. This includes 9.7 million military deaths and about 10 million civilian deaths. The Entente Powers (also known as the Allies) lost more than 5 million soldiers and the Central Powers about 4 million.

Classification of Casualty Statistics

Estimates for World War I casualty numbers vary to a great extent. Military casualty statistics listed here include combat related deaths as well as losses caused by accidents, disease and prisoner of war deaths. The table lists total deaths; the footnotes give a breakout between combat and non-combat losses.
Most civilian deaths during World War I were due to war related famine and disease. Civilian deaths due to the Spanish flu have been excluded from these figures, whenever possible. Furthermore, estimates of civilian deaths include the Armenian Genocide, and it is debated to which degree - or if at all - this event should be included.
The data listed here is from official sources, whenever available. These sources are cited below.

Casualties by country

Entente Powers Population Millions Military Deaths Civilian Deaths Total Deaths Military Wounded
Australia 4.5 61,928 61,928 152,171
Belgium 7.4 42,987 62,000 104,987 44,686
Canada 7.2 64,944 2,000 66,944 149,732
France 39.6 1,397,800 300,000 1,697,800 4,266,000
Greece 4.8 26,000 150,000 176,000 21,000
India 315.1 74,187 74,187 69,214
Italy 35.6 651,010 589,000 1,240,010 953,886
Japan 53.6 415 415 907
Montenegro .5 3,000 3,000 10,000
New Zealand 1.1 18,050 18,050 41,317
Newfoundland .2 1,204 1,204 2,314
Portugal 6.0 7,222 82,000 89,222 13,751
Romania 7.5 250,000 430,000 680,000 120,000
Russia 158.9 1,811,000 1,500,000 3,311,000 4,950,000
Serbia 4.5 275,000 450,000 725,000 133,148
South Africa 6.0 9,463 9,463 12,029
United Kingdom 45.4 885,138 109,000 994,138 1,663,435
United States 92.0 116,708 757 117,465 205,690
Total (Entente Powers) 789.9 5,696,056 3,674,757 10,353,813 12,809,280
Central Powers Population Millions Military Deaths Civilian Deaths Total Deaths Military Wounded
Austria-Hungary 51.4 1,100,000 467,000 1,567,000 3,620,000
Bulgaria 5.5 87,500 100,000 187,500 152,390
Germany 64.9 2,036,897 426,000 2,462,897 4,247,143
Ottoman Empire 21.3 800,000 4,200,000 5,000,000 400,000
Total (Central Powers) 143.1 4,024,397 5,191,000 9,415,397 8,419,533
Neutral nations
Denmark 2.7 722 722
Norway 2.4 - 1,892 1,892
Sweden 5.6 - 877 877
Grand Total 941.0 9,720,453 8,869,248 19,772,701 21,228,813

Table sources

The main sources used for military and civilian deaths (unless stated otherwise in the footnotes below) are:

  • The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2006-2007 is the source of the military dead for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and India. The war dead totals listed in the report are based on the research by the CWGC to identify and commemorate Commonwealth war dead. The totals include those killed or missing in action and died of wounds as well as deaths due to disease, accidents; deaths of prisoners of war, military deaths outside of combat theaters and war related deaths during 1919-1921. The report is available online at

  • Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914-1920, The War Office March 1922 -This report lists the deaths of 908,371 soldiers killed or missing in action; died of wounds; and POW deaths in the combat theaters from to 1914-18. The figures from the War Office report for the UK and Dominion nations are listed in the footnotes.The losses of Bulgaria and Portugal were also listed in the War Office report.

  • Casualties and Medical Statistics, 1931, the final volume of the Official Medical History of the War, gives a breakout of British Empire Army losses by cause of death. Total losses in combat theaters from 1914-1918 were 876,084, which included 418,361 killed, 167,172 died of wounds, 113,173 died of disease or injury, 161,046 missing and presumed dead and 16,332 prisoner of war deaths . These losses were not broken out for the UK and each Dominion..

  • Huber Michel,La Population de la France pendant la guerre, Paris 1931, This study published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace lists official data for war related military deaths and missing of France and its colonies.

  • Mortara, Giorgo. La Salute pubblica in Italia durante e dopo la Guerra, New Haven: Yale University Press 1925. The official government Italian statistics on war dead are listed here. A brief summary of data from this report can be found online at - (go to Vol 13, No. 15).

  • Urlanis, Boris Wars and Population, Moscow, 1971, Lists the military dead of Russia, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro.. Estimated combat related casualties; killed and missing in action or died of wounds are detailed for each nation. These figures are listed in the footnotes.

  • Heeres-Sanitätsinspektion im Reichskriegsministeriums, Sanitätsbericht über das deutsche Heer, (Deutsches Feld- und Besatzungsheer), im Weltkriege 1914-1918, Volume 3, Sec. 1, Berlin 1934.- The official German Army medical war history listed German losses.

  • Grebler, Leo and Winkler, Wilhelm The Cost of the World War to Germany and Austria-Hungary, Yale University Press, 1940, -This study published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace details the losses of Austria-Hungary and Germany in the war,

  • Erickson, Edward J. Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Greenwood 2001, ISBN 0313315167. The data published here for casualties is from official Ottoman sources

  • Hersch, Liebmann, La mortalité causée par la guerre mondiale, Metron- The International Review of Statistics, 1927, Vol 7. No 1. Detailed the demographic impact of the war on France, the UK, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Serbia, Romania and Greece.(This article is available for purchase from Metron )

The main source for military wounded (unless stated otherwise in the footnotes below) is:

  • Tucker, Spencer C. ed. The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, Garland Publishing, New York, 1996.

The source of population data is.

  • Haythornthwaite, Philip J., The World War One Source Book Arms and Armour, 1993, 412 pages, ISBN 1854091026.

Footnotes

See also

Main article

World War I

Other

References

  • -Everett, Susanne, World War I-An Illustrated History, Bison Books, 1980 ISBN 0671069330
  • -Nicolson, Colin, The Longman Companion to the First World War, Longman 2001, ISBN 0-582-28983-1
  • -Bird, Will R., The Communication Trench, Anecdotes & Statistics from The Great War 1914-1918. CEF Books, Ottawa, 2000. ISBN 1896979092
  • -Tucker, Spencer C. The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, Garland Publishing, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-8153-3351-X
  • -Hirschfeld, Gerhard (Ed.), Enzyklopaedie Erster Weltkrieg, Paderborn, 2004, ISBN 3506739131 (esp. article "Kriegsverluste" by Ruediger Overmans P. 663-666)
  • -Urlanis, Boris, Wars and Population, Moscow, 1971
  • -Urlanis, Boris, Bilanz der Kriege, Berlin, 1965.
  • -Heeres-Sanitaetsinspektion im Reichskriegsministeriums, Sanitaetsbericht über das deutsche Heer, (deutsches Feld- und Besatzungsheer), im Weltkriege 1914-1918, Volume 3, Sec 1. Berlin 1934.
  • -Dumas, Samuel, Losses of Life Caused by War, Oxford 1923
  • Michael Clodfelter. Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500-2000. 2nd Ed. 2002 ISBN 0-7864-1204-6.
  • -Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914-1920, The War Office March 1922 -Reprinted by Naval & Military Press- ISBN 1847346812
  • -"Huber M.,La Population de la France pendant la guerre, Paris 1931
  • -"Bujac, Jean. Les campagnes de l'armèe Hellènique, 1918-1922, Paris, 1930
  • -Edward J. Erickson, Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Greenwood 2001. ISBN 0313315167
  • -The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour Register.
  • -Grey, Randal Chronicle of the First World War, Vol II: 1917-1921, Facts On File, 1991. ISBN 0816025959
  • -Grebler, Leo- The Cost of the World War to Germany and Austria-Hungary, Yale University Press, 1940
  • Gilbert,Martin-Atlas of World War I, Oxford UP, 1994. ISBN 0195210778
  • Harries, Merion, Soldiers of the Sun-The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army,Random House, 1991 ISBN 0679753036
  • Mortara, G. La Salute pubblica in Italia durante e dopo la Guerra, New Haven: Yale University Press 1925.
  • Mitchell, T.J. Casualties and Medical Statistics of the Great War London 1931; Reprinted by Battery Press, 1997 ISBN 0898392632
  • James L.Gelvin The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521852890
  • L. Hersch, La mortalité causée par la guerre mondiale, Metron- The International Review of Statistics, 1927, Vol 7.
  • -Ellis, John World War I-Databook, Aurum Press, 1993 ISBN 1854107666
  • -Ayers, Leonard, The War With Germany- A Statistical Summary, US War Dept 1919.
  • -Österreichischen Bundesministerium für Herrswesen, Österreich-Ungarns letzer Kreig, 1914-1918. Vol. 7, Vienna 1938.
  • The Army Council. General Annual Report of the British Army 1912-1919. Parliamemtary Paper 1921, XX, Cmd.1193.
  • l'Annuaire statistique de la Belgique et du Congo Belge 1915-1919. Bruxelles 1922.
  • World War I casualties - from Twentieth Century Atlas
  • Horne, John and Kramer, Alan Kramer, German Atrocities, 1914 ISBN 0300089759

External links



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