100 Years Since The End Of WWI: How Europe's Borders Changed And 5 More Things We Need To Know

WWI began in 1914 and ended in 1918, with dozens of countries participating. The end of the war found many empires and countries losing their grounds, while new nations were created. Of course, this changed Europe's borders to a great extent, as you will see in the video below:

Apart from the changes in Europe's borders, there are important historical facts about World War I that we all need to know. On November 11th, 2018, we celebrated 100 years from WWI's end, a war that cost the life of approximately 10 million soldiers and up to 10 million civilians.

Here are five facts about WWI:

1) This was the number of deaths as a % of the pre-war population

As you can see in Statista's map below, there are countries whose population shrank by at least 10%.

The Ottoman Empire had the most significant losses, but not concerning soldiers. Its population shrinking by approximately 15% is related to a great extent with the minorities' "cleansing," most notable being the Armenian Genocide, the Genocide of the Greeks of Asia Minor and the Assyrian Genocide.

According to Britannica encyclopedia, those killed in the Armenians' genocide numbered above 1 million. The Pontic Greeks' genocide was also significant, with notable losses estimated in at least 200.000.

The Serbian army also had to face the most frightening losses: 130.000 killed and 135.000 wounded, which means the 3/4 of the total forces. 1/4 of the country's population was killed in total, not only in the battlefields but also due to starvation and typhus.

Greece only entered the war in 1917, so the number of deaths was quite low compared to other countries'. The number of killed soldiers is estimated to be around 5.000.

2) More than 70 countries participated

The number is symbolic, as most of these countries were not independent by that time. From the one side, there was Entente Powers, including the British Empire, France, the Russian Empire, the Kingdoms of Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Italy, and Greece, Belgium, Portugal, USA, Japan, and the Chinese Republic. From the other side, there was the Central Powers: the German Empire, Austro-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire.

Of course, not all countries entered the war at the same time.>

3) 70 million soldiers were recruited

Approximately 20 million people were recruited from countries at the beginning, but the number was constantly increasing to reach 70 million.

Specifically, more than 8 million people were recruited in France, 13 million in Germany, 9 million in Austro-Hungary, 9 million in Great Britain (and its colonies), 18 million in Russia, 6 million in Italy, and 4 million in the USA.

4) 10 million soldiers were killed

There were 10 million soldiers killed and 20 million soldiers wounded in total.

The breakdown by country is:

• Russia: 2 million killed (5 million wounded)
• Germany: 2 million (4,2 million)
• France: 1,4 million (4,2 million)
• Austro-Hungary: 1,4 millionο (3,6 million)
• Great Britain and its empire: 960.000 (2 million)
• Italy: 600.000 (1 million)
• Ottoman Empire: 800.000

5) There were millions of killed civilians

According to some historians, there were approximately 5 to 10 million killed civilians, including 1,2 to 1,5 million Armenians (the number is doubted) in the Ottoman Empire.

More information:

• 6 million captives
• 20 million civilians under occupation
• 10 million refugees in entire Europe
• 3 million widows and 6 million orphans
• 1,3 billion shells dropped during the war
• 10 billion letters as well as packages shipped between soldiers and their families

The cost of the war was 3 to 4 times the European countries' GDP.