Special Feature

Special Feature: The Great War in Numbers

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Captured German weapons

The Great War in Numbers was contributed by Michael E. Hanlon

This section is adapted from About the Great War by Michael E. Hanlon, El Sobrante, CA, THC Publishing, 1992. It is used here with permission.


The Great War in Numbers

1 . . . . .  Still unexploded mine shaft at Messines [Yes, today]
2 . . .Officers of Gen. Pershing's staff to win Nobel Peace Prize
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Members of Central Powers
5 . . . . .  Capital ships lost by Britain and Germany at Jutland
7 . .German armies invading Northern France under Schlieffen Plan


11 . . . . . . . Italian offensives on the Isonzo River,1915-1918 12 . . Air Aces of all nations with more than 50 aircraft downed 23 . . . . . . . . . .Allied vessels sunk by German cruiser Emden 24 . . Nations declaring war on one or more of the Central Powers 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . Range in yards of German Flammenwerfer 38 . . . . . Length in miles of Voie Sacree, Bar le Duc to Verdun 50 . . . . . . Seconds of machine gun fire available to typical fighter plane 51 . . . . . German warships scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919 55 . . . . . . Mutineers actually executed by French Army in 1917 68 . . . . . Average daily British advance in yards, 3rd Ypres - Passchendaele, 31 July-7 Dec 1917 80 . . . . . . . . Distance fired in miles by German Paris guns 81 .Jastas (fighter squadrons) avail. German Air Service Mar 1918
103 . . . . . . German airship and bomber raids on Great Britain 120 . . American infantry regiments in action, 2nd week, Oct 1918 123 . . . . . . Zeppelin and similar airships produced by Germany 132 . . . . . . German soldiers captured by Sgt. York 8 Oct 1918 136 . . . . . . . Russian divisions on Eastern Front, Spring 1916 174 . . American killed in action in Northern Russia and Siberia 178 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . German U-Boats lost in action 200 . . Estimated Allied soldiers helped to escape by nurse Edith Cavell before her execution by the German Army 324 . . . . . . . .British tanks in service at Battle of Cambrai 394 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Survivors of 'Lost Battalion' 420 . .Diameter in millimeters of Ger. 'Big Bertha' siege mortars 450 . . . . . . . . .Rounds per minute fired by Lewis machine gun 452 . .Distance in miles Tipperary, Ireland to Armentiers, France 466 . . . . . . . Length of Western Front in miles October 1914 634 . . . . . . . . . .Victoria Crosses awarded in the Great War 675 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allied air raids on Germany
1,000 . Daily ave. caloric intake German adult civilians Jan 1918 2,600 . . . . . . . . . . . . Allied ships sunk by German U-Boats 3,500 . . . Distance in miles of Lettow-Vorbeck's African 'Trek' 4,278 . . .Trains required to mobilize French Army in August 1914 5,200 . . . . .US Casualties per sq. mile, Belleau Wood June 1918 5,400 . . . . . Sopwith Camel fighter planes produced by Britain 8,237 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tanks produced by all combatants 13042 . . . . . . . .Code identifying group on Zimmerman Telegram
16,500 . . . Distance in yards of initial opening fire at Jutland 17,000 . . . . . . . . . . . 75-mm field guns produced by France 56,000 . . . . . . . . Mines laid by US Navy in North Sea barrage 58,000 . . . . Estimated British casualties, 1st day on the Somme 75,000 . . . . . . . .Japanese troops deployed to Siberia in 1918
100,000 . . . Size of German Army allowed under Versailles Treaty 116,000 . . . . . . . . . . .American military killed, all causes 275,000 . . . . . . . . . . .Italian prisoners taken at Caporetto 325,000 . . . . . . . . .Turkish military killed in the Great War 460,000 . . . . . . . . .Italian military killed in the Great War 529,808 . . . . . . . . British and Commonwealth military killed: neither identified nor found 584,996 . . . . . . . . British and Commonwealth military killed: identified and buried
1,200,000 . . . Austro-Hungarian military killed in the Great War 1,385,000 . . . . . . . . French military killed in the Great War 1,700,000 . . . . . . . .Russian military killed in the Great War 1,808,000 . . . . . . . . German military killed in the Great War 7,000,000 . . . Estimated combatants maimed for life, all nations 8,000,000 . . . Est. civilians killed in Great War: Non-influenza 8,300,000 . . . . . . . Estimated combatants killed, all nations
19,536,000 . . . . . . . Estimated wounded soldiers, all nations 21,500,000 . . . . Min. deaths in 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic 32,000,000 . Estimated artillery shells fired in Battle of Verdun 61,526,000 . Soldiers mobilized by all belligerents in Great War
23,000,000,000 . Reparations demanded by Allied Powers in dollars 82,400,000,000 . .Direct Cost of war to belligerents-1913 dollars
???????????? . . .All costs of the Great War, 1914-present, incl: ???????????? Debt servicing, veterans and surivors bene- fits, lost human capital and productivity, reconstruction requirements, expenses due to subsequent catastrophes caused by the Great War, etc., etc.