WORLD WAR I: “THE WAR TO END ALL WARS”

The Human Cost Of War FROM THE FIRST GUNSHOT FIRED IN ANGER IN 1914 UNTIL THE 11TH HOUR OF THE 11TH DAY ON THE 11TH MONTH IN 1918, THE GREAT WAR TOOK ITS TOLL ON HUMAN LIFE. OF THE 65 MILLION MEN WHO FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR 1: 8 MILLION MEN WERE KILLED IN BATTLE. 2 MILLION DIED OF ILLNESS AND DISEASE. 21.2 MILLION WERE WOUNDED. 7.8 MILLION WERE TAKEN PRISONER OR WENT MISSING IN ACTION. 6.6 MILLION CIVILIANS WERE KILLED. FROM EVERY NATION WHO TOOK PART IN THE COMBAT THERE BARELY WAS A FAMILY WHO HADN'T LOST A RELATIVE IN THE WAR: A BROTHER, A SON, A FATHER, A NEPHEW, AN UNCLE… SOME TOWNS AND VILLAGES LOST ALL OF THEIR MALE POPULATION OF FIGHTING AGE.

The Financial Cost of War THE WAR TOOK ITS TOLL ON THE WHOLE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY. FINANCIALLY EUROPE WAS ON ITS KNEES. MANY INDUSTRIES THAT WERE THRIVING IN PEACE TIME WERE RETOOLED FOR WAR PRODUCTION WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER GOVERNMENTS DIDN'T HELP THEM RETOOL BACK TO WHAT THEY USED TO PRODUCE. THEREFORE MANY WENT BROKE. ALSO BECAUSE OF THE HIGH DEATH TOLL AND NUMBERS OF WOUNDED, MANY VILLAGES WERE ROBBED OF SKILLED TRADESMAN SUCH AS PRINTERS, SMITHS, and CARPENTERS, SKILLS THAT TOOK A LONG TIME TO LEARN. REBUILDING REQUIRED MANY OF THESE PEOPLE BUT THERE WERE NO SKILLED CRAFTSMEN LEFT! THIS FACT RUINED THE STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS PRACTICES OF THE LOCAL VILLAGES AND CRIPPLED MANY RURAL AREAS.

World War I was also the major cause of World War II!