Title: How Many People Died in the First World War? | History Hit
Headings: How Many People Died in the First World War?
How Many People Died in the First World War?
Peter Curry
Loss of life in Britain
Outside Europe

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Over 1,000,000 Poles are believed to have died in the war in the armies of Russia, Austria and Germany. This represents one of the largest bodies of casualties among nations which at the time were not recognised as such. Serbia was probably the worst hit country. Depending on the sources you accept, Serbia’s death rate during the war could have been as high as 27.78% of the population, or up to 1.25 million people. A simple look at the numbers tends to blind us to the sheer scale of the loss of life. So many men died in the battlefields of World War One that the postwar media spoke of a ‘lost generation’ and showed an active concern for women who would apparently not be able to marry. A German prisoner helps British wounded make their way to a dressing station near Bernafay Wood following fighting on Bazentin Ridge, 19 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. Credit: Ernest Brooks / Commons.