Arthur L. Frothingham
Handbook of War Facts and Peace Problems

CHAPTER XI.

Tonnage of Warship Losses.

Estimated Mercantile and Warship Losses.

Another estimate issued by the Rudder, March, 1918, places the total Allied tonnage sunk at over fifteen million tons, consisting of about 5,000 vessels, with a money loss of eight billion dollars. The lost tonnage of the United States from all causes was 911,854.

War Casualties.

The following list of casualties is largely based on official documents. The most complete and exact are those of the United States and Great Britain. Next, those of France, where only the number of prisoners is approximate. The German list must be regarded as almost accurate. The Austrian, Rumanian, Serbian, and Turkish estimates are very approximate. The Russian hardly more than reasonable guess-work. To show more completely the human losses from the war, the deaths among the civilian populations due to massacres, disease and famine (purposely inflicted by the Turks, Germans, Austrians and Bulgarians) are given in a separate table. These figures are extremely approximate but are those given by special representatives of each nation best qualified to know. The massacres of civilians in Belgium and Northern France are not included. (See Walter Littlefield, in N. Y. Times Current History, Feb., '19.)

Army Casualties.

Total number of men mobilized, about 60,000,000.
Total war casualties, about 33,500,000.

Civilian Casualties (Rough Estimate).

(Massacred, Died of Hunger, Exposure and Disease)

The Committee for Armenian and Syrian relief places the number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and Syrians massacred by the Turks at a total of about 4,100,000.

Comparative Strength of Armed Forces.

The approximate maximum number of troops in service at any one time (the new classes replacing losses) were as follows:

N. B.---It should be remembered that the Allied forces never reached this total at any one time, because the United States furnished no contingents until Russia was entirely out of the war.

Comparative Rifle Strength, April-November, 1918.

By the "rifle strength" of an army is meant the number of men standing in the trench ready to "go over the top." The U. S. War Department has issued the figures of the rifle strength on both sides on the Western front during the eight months before the armistice.

When Germany started her last great offensive in the Spring of 1918 she had over a million and a half men so classified against an Allied strength of a million and a quarter, a superiority of about 320,000 men, or about 25%. The Allied force steadily increased from April to September. America's contribution rose from 65,000 in April to about 350,000 in October. The relative rifle strength of the Allies during June was French 778,000, British 515,000, and Americans 254,000. Beginning in July the Allied forces attained to an ever-increasing numerical superiority, as Germany was unable to replace her losses. By November the German rifle strength was almost exactly one-half of what it had been on June 1.

(From report of the U. S. General Staff to the War Department and published Feb. 5, '19.)

Prisoners.

Of about 2,000,000 Russian prisoners in Germany, about 1,000,000 are said to have been murdered or killed by hunger or disease. About 800,000 German prisoners were kept in England and France, and nearly 700,000 Austrian and German prisoners in Italy. There were over 500,000 British and French prisoners in Germany. About 800,000 Russians remained in Germany early in 1919, as the Bolsheviki refused to let them enter Russia.

Diplomatic Dates (Country Acting Given First).

War Declarations.

Severing Diplomatic Relations.

European Neutrals.

Armistice Dates.

Peace Dates.

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Appendices

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