The Fallen of World War II

Summary

This video script explores the staggering human cost of World War II, tallying the millions of military and civilian lives lost across various countries. It compares these figures to other historical conflicts and highlights the unprecedented peace among great powers in the post-war era, known as 'The Long Peace.' The script also examines the decline in battle deaths relative to the world population, suggesting a significant shift towards peace despite ongoing conflicts.

Takeaways

• 📊 The average lifespan of an American is 80 years, and an 80-year-old today would have been 10 when World War II ended, highlighting the urgency to capture stories from survivors before their memories are lost.
• 🏹 This project focuses on the tally of lives lost in World War II, rather than individual stories or survivors, emphasizing the scale of the conflict's impact.
• 🔢 The script provides a detailed count of both soldiers and civilians who died during World War II, with figures representing 1,000 individuals each.
• 🌍 It notes the distinction between military and civilian casualties, with the latter coming from all walks of life and the former being predominantly men with an average age of 23.
• ⚔️ For every 1,000 soldiers killed in battle, over a thousand more were injured, illustrating the broader impact of war beyond fatalities.
• 🇺🇸 Over 400,000 American soldiers died in World War II, with the majority of deaths occurring in the European theater against the Nazis and a quarter in the Pacific against the Japanese.
• 🗺️ The script outlines the timeline of the war, highlighting the heaviest casualties at the end of the conflict, especially during D-Day and the Battle of Okinawa.
• 🇩🇪 Germany's invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II, and the script details the military losses of various European countries, including Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom.
• 🕊️ The Holocaust is emphasized as a significant part of civilian deaths, with 6 million Jewish people killed, along with other non-Jewish groups such as Roma and people with disabilities.
• 🌐 The script compares World War II's death toll to other wars and atrocities in history, showing the unprecedented scale of loss during the six-year period.
• 📉 Post-war conflicts have seen a significant decline in battle deaths relative to the world population, suggesting a trend towards peace among great powers and a decrease in interstate wars.

Q & A

What is the average lifespan of an American according to the script?

The script states that the average lifespan of an American is 80 years.

How old would a soldier who saw battle in World War II be today, if the war ended when they were 10?

If World War II ended when a soldier was 10 years old, they would be in their late 80s today.

What is the focus of the project mentioned in the script?

The project focuses on tallying up the tens of millions of people whose lives were cut short by World War II and comparing these numbers to other wars in history.

How are military and civilian deaths represented in the script's visual data?

Each figure in the script's visual data represents 1,000 people who died, with civilians coming from all walks of life and military deaths being almost entirely men.

What was the average age of soldiers who died in most battles during World War II?

The script mentions that the average age of soldiers who died in most battles during World War II was about 23.

How does the script differentiate between military and civilian casualties?

The script differentiates by stating that military casualties were almost entirely men, while civilians were of all walks of life. It also notes that for every 1,000 soldiers killed, more than a thousand were injured.

How many American soldiers died during World War II according to the script?

Over 400,000 American soldiers died during World War II, as mentioned in the script.

What was the significance of D-Day in terms of American casualties?

D-Day was significant because the script states that 2,500 Americans fell at Omaha Beach, which is about the same number of US soldiers who died in the entire 13 years of the recent war in Afghanistan.

What was the approximate number of German soldiers who died in the invasion of Poland and the subsequent battles?

The script indicates that Germany lost 16,000 soldiers in the invasion of Poland and about half a million soldiers fighting the US and Britain in the Western Front.

How many Nazi soldiers died in Stalingrad according to the script?

The script states that half a million Nazi soldiers would ultimately die in Stalingrad.

What was the approximate number of Soviet military deaths during World War II?

The script provides an official tally of 8.7 million Soviet military deaths, but some studies have calculated as many as 14 million dead.

What is the script's final estimate of the total number of deaths in World War II?

The script concludes with a grand total of approximately 70 million deaths for World War II, depending on who's counting and what civilian deaths get included.

How does the script describe the trend in post-World War II conflicts?

The script describes a trend known as 'the long peace,' where there has been an absence of conflict between the nuclear powers and a significant reduction in the number of wars, especially between rich countries.

What is the significance of the 'long peace' mentioned in the script?

The 'long peace' signifies a period of peace between the so-called great powers that hasn't been seen since the Roman Empire, indicating a significant shift in global conflict patterns.

How does the script compare the number of battle deaths in World War II to post-World War II conflicts?

The script shows that more people died in World War II than in all the wars since, when scaled to the proportion of the world population, highlighting a downward trend in battle deaths.

Outlines

00:00

📊 World War II Casualty Analysis

This paragraph discusses the scale of World War II, focusing on the number of lives lost, both military and civilian. It emphasizes the urgency of recording these stories before the last survivors pass away. The script mentions the average lifespan of an American and the age of a World War II soldier today, highlighting the dwindling number of direct witnesses. It provides statistics on American soldiers' deaths, particularly in the European and Pacific theaters, and notes the heavy casualties at the end of the war. The paragraph also explains the distinction between military deaths and casualties, which include injuries and other factors that take soldiers out of service.

05:02

🏰 European Military and Civilian Losses in World War II

This section delves into the devastating impact of World War II on European countries, detailing the military losses of Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union, and other nations. It describes the Battle of Stalingrad as a pivotal moment with massive casualties on both sides. The paragraph also covers the civilian deaths, particularly focusing on the Holocaust, where 6 million Jewish people were killed. It discusses the methods of extermination, including concentration camps and mobile killing groups. The summary also touches on the intentional killing of civilians by warring parties, including the UK and the US, and the significant civilian losses in countries invaded by the Nazis.

10:02

🌏 Global Impact of World War II: Asia and Beyond

The paragraph explores the extensive military and civilian casualties in the Asian theater of World War II, with a focus on China and Japan. It discusses the Chinese government's extreme measures to halt Japanese advancement, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The paragraph also addresses the significant number of Japanese civilian deaths caused by American firebombing and nuclear attacks. The script provides a global perspective on the war's death toll, comparing it to other historical conflicts and atrocities, and highlights the unprecedented scale of World War II in terms of both total and proportional deaths.

15:03

🕊️ The Long Peace and Decline in War Deaths

This final paragraph reflects on the post-World War II era, known as the 'Long Peace,' where there has been an absence of conflict between nuclear powers and a significant decline in interstate wars. It outlines the different categories of wars that have occurred since 1945 and shows a downward trend in battle deaths when adjusted for the world population. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of recognizing and appreciating the growing peace in the world, while acknowledging the uncertainty of whether this trend will continue.

Keywords

💡Lifespan

The term 'lifespan' refers to the maximum length of life that a member of a species can expect to live. In the video, it is used to provide a historical context, noting that an 80-year-old today would have been a child during World War II. This helps to frame the discussion on the aging survivors of the war and the urgency to document their stories before they are lost.

💡World War II

World War II is the global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945, involving many of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances. The video uses this term to discuss the impact of the war on the lives of millions of people, both soldiers and civilians, and to compare the scale of this conflict with other wars in history.

💡Casualties

In the context of war, 'casualties' generally refers to military losses, including both deaths and injuries. The script clarifies that for the purposes of the video, only deaths are counted, which is a significant distinction in understanding the scale of loss during World War II. The term is used to discuss the heavy toll of the war, particularly highlighting the high number of casualties in battles such as D-Day and Okinawa.

💡Holocaust

Highlights

The average lifespan of an American is 80 years, and an 80-year-old today would have been 10 when World War II ended.

Few generals, political leaders, and decision-makers of WWII are still alive, emphasizing the urgency to capture stories from survivors.

This project focuses on tallying the millions of lives cut short by WWII, comparing these numbers to other wars in history.

Casualty figures include both soldiers and civilians, with a distinction made between the two groups.

The average age of soldiers who died in WWII was about 23, with over 1,000 injured for every 1,000 killed.

Over 400,000 American soldiers died in WWII, with the majority in the European theater against the Nazis.

D-Day saw a significant increase in casualties, with 2,500 Americans falling at Omaha Beach.

The battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest in the Pacific, with 12,500 American deaths over 82 days.

Germany initiated WWII with the invasion of Poland, resulting in significant military and civilian losses across Europe.

The Soviet Union suffered the highest number of military deaths, with 8.7 million soldiers killed, a number disputed by some studies.

The Holocaust resulted in 6 million Jewish deaths, with half being Polish and the majority killed in concentration camps.

Non-Jewish groups, including Roma and people with disabilities, were also victims of the Holocaust, with significant numbers killed.

Civilian deaths in WWII were not just collateral damage; intentional killings by warring parties were widespread.

The UK and the US were spared land invasions but still suffered civilian losses, mainly from air raids.

The Asian theater of WWII saw the majority of military deaths coming from China and Japan, with significant civilian losses attributed to Japanese war crimes.

China had the second-highest death count after the Soviet Union, with the government showing a willingness to sacrifice its own people.

World War II resulted in a total of 70 million deaths, more than any other war in history.

Post-WWII conflicts have seen a significant decline in the number of battle deaths, especially when scaled to the world population.

The 'Long Peace' theory suggests an absence of conflict between nuclear powers and a shift in the nature of warfare since the Cold War.

The project encourages viewers to support and engage with the content for further exploration of historical data and trends.

Transcripts

the average lifespan of an American is

80 years and an 80-year-old today was 10

when World War II ended four when it

began a soldier who saw battle would

have to be in his late 80s at least

today generals political leaders the

decision makers of the war few are still

with us and over the past few decades

we've seen authors and filmm makers rush

to capture stories from survivors before

this connection of memory is

lost this project is not about

individual War Stories and it's not

about

survivors we're going to tally up the

tens of millions of people whose lives

are cut short by the war and see how

these numbers stack up to other Wars in

history including Trends in recent

conflicts

[Music]

we'll be counting soldiers and civilians

separately each of these figures

represents 1,000 people who

died civilians were of all walks of

life whereas military deaths were almost

entirely men the average age was about

23 in most battles for every 1,000

soldiers killed there are more than a

thousand who were injured the word

casualty can be confusing because in

military speak it often includes both

deaths and injuries and anything else

that takes a soldier out of service here

we're just counting the deaths and we'll

begin with American

[Music]

soldiers over 400,000 died

most of the deaths occurred in the

European theater fighting the

Nazis and about a quarter were in the

Pacific fighting the

Japanese when you put them on the

timeline you see that casualties were

the heaviest at the end of the war The

War Began on September 1st

1939 but the US wasn't willing to join

the fight until Pearl Harbor 2 years

in the deaths increased drastically on

dday when the Allies invaded Normandy

one of the most tragic moments of the

war was on D-Day at Omaha Beach where

2500 Americans

fell so about the same number of US

soldiers died on this single Beach

Landing as the entire 13 years of the

recent war in

Afghanistan the bloodiest battle in the

Pacific was okanawa which lasted 82 days

during which 12,500 Americans died

about 5,000 of these deaths were at Sea

from kamakazi

[Music]

attacks now let's look at some other

countries starting with

Europe Germany started World War II when

it invaded Poland Poland ultimately lost

200,000 soldiers in the

war most died after the invasion while

the country was occupied by Germany in

the Soviet

Union Germany meanwhile lost just 16,000

in the invasion of

Poland the Nazis went on to invade and

Conquer other countries including

Denmark Belgium the Netherlands France

Greece and

Yugoslavia France surrendered but after

losing 92,000 soldiers in the Battle of

France over 200,000 ultimately fell

which includes deaths in P camps French

colonies and other fights

Yugoslavia suffered almost half a

million military deaths the initial

Invasion brought relatively few

casualties on both sides but the deaths

mounted under Nazi occupation due to

Guerilla fighting civil conflict and

mass

executions the Nazi invasions were Swift

with relatively few German losses even

the Nazi commanders expressed surprise

at their

success and then we have the United

Kingdom in the United States who are not

invaded but took the fight to the Nazis

Britain lost about the same number of

soldiers as the US which includes the

British colonies Germany lost about half

a million soldiers fighting the US and

Britain in what is known as the Western

Front which took place in France and

[Music]

Belgium but most Nazi soldiers died in

the Eastern

Front Germany's unsuccessful invasion of

the Soviet Union the numbers are

staggering the most famous battle of the

Eastern front and perhaps the turning

point of the European war was Stalingrad

the German 6th Army successfully took

Stalingrad but then got surrounded by

the Soviets and cut off from food and

ammunition half a million Nazis would

ultimately die in

Stalingrad another 100,000 were taken

prisoner of which 6,000 would ever

return PWS had a low survival rate

throughout World War III and it was

particularly Grim in the East when you

include these PS roughly the same number

of Germans died in Stalingrad as all the

Western Front fighting against France

the UK and the

US and though Stalingrad was a victory

for the Soviets they suffered almost

twice as many losses as

[Music]

Germany the Soviet Union would

eventually defeat the once Unstoppable

German Army killing 2.3 millon million

Nazi

soldiers but winning the war came at a

costume

[Music]

[Music]

8.7 million is the official tally by the

Russian military a hly disputed number

some Studies have calculated as many as

14 million

dead to complete the count of European

military deaths we need to add German

deaths from other fronts including the

North in

Africa as well as deaths from other Axis

Powers Allied of the Nazis Hungary

Romania and

Italy when you put these European

military debts on the timeline it looks

like this you can now interact with the

chart to learn more pause the narration

if you would like more time

and now we switch to civilian deaths in

[Music]

Europe 6 million Jewish people were

killed in the

Holocaust if you separate this by

country you see that about half 2.7

million were polish 700,000 were Soviets

followed by Hungary and 17 other

countries

[Music]

r broken down another way about half of

the 6 million were killed in the

concentration

camps over a million died in

osht most were killed in the gas

Chambers others died from starvation

exhaustion disease and other forms of

[Music]

execution the second most deadly Camp

was Tri blinka which was exclusively an

extermination camp set up to look like a

train

station mobile killing groups killed 1.4

million

[Music]

Jews like with the gas Chambers men were

killed first to reduce the risk of

revolt

[Music]

the Holocaust also includes non-jewish

deaths between 130,000 to 500,000 Roma

then called gypsies were killed the

numbers are

disputed about a quar million people

with disabilities were killed

homosexuals Catholics and other groups

were also exterminated but their numbers

were relatively small some historians

say that other civilian deaths should go

under the label of Holocaust about 2

million non-jewish poles were killed

under German occupation some of which

were sent to the gas Chambers at owitz

when you combine civilian and Military

deaths over 16% of the total polish

population died in World War II which is

the highest percentage of any

country but not the highest in total

death count the Soviet Union again tops

that list losing at least as many

civilians as it did soldiers somewhere

between 10 and 20 million a particularly

dark moment for the Soviet Union was the

sieg of Leningrad now St Petersburg

German forces surrounded Leningrad

before civilians could be evacuated

supplies including food were cut off for

2 and 1/2

years 1 and 1/2 million people died as a

result mostly from starvation mostly

civilians Stalin's cruelty towards his

own people is partly responsible for

these

numbers he often didn't allow civilians

to evacuate from cities thinking it

would cause the soldiers protecting them

to fight harder about a million Soviets

died in Stalin's own labor camps called

the

gulock just about every country suffered

civilian losses especially countries who

were invaded while many died as a result

of so-called collateral damage the

biggest numbers occurred when it was no

accident civilians were exterminated

purposely fired upon or bombed used as

human Shields or intentionally deprived

of

food the intentional killing of

civilians was done by most Waring

parties including the United Kingdom and

the United States the United Kingdom was

spared of a land Invasion but still lost

60,000 civilians largely from German Air

Raids or blitzes often directed at

civilian population

centers the UK did the same to German

cities at a much greater magnitude

causing about 10 times the number of

deaths but most German civilian deaths

came from the ground at the late stage

of the war when the Nazi regime

collapsed civilians living in occupied

regions had to desperately flee from the

advancing Soviet Army rapes were

widespread and death estimates ranged

from 600,000 to 3

[Music]

million let's step back and see where we

are with the

totals we just counted about 20 million

civilian deaths in

Europe if you add this to the European

military deaths we already

covered it brings us to over 40

million then we have the Asian theater

here we see the vast majority of

military debts in Asia came from China

and

Japan on the civilian side about 6

million deaths from China Indonesia

Korea Indochina and the Philippines can

be attributed to Japanese war crimes

which are sometimes compared to the Nazi

atrocities due to the sheer scale of the

cruelty China had the second highest

death count after the Soviet Union and

like the Soviets the Chinese government

demonstrated a stunning willingness to

sacrifice its own people Chinese

nationalists open the Dyke at the Yellow

River hoping the flood would halt the

Japanese Advance half a million Chinese

civilians or more were

killed which is two or three times the

number who died in all countries in the

2004 Asian

tsunamis but the invasion of China only

cost Japan 200,000 soldiers most were

killed fighting the US and allies in the

Pacific

[Music]

War significant portion of Japanese

civilian deaths were caused by American

firebombing and the two nuclear attacks

contrary to official US statements these

air strikes were directed at civilian

populations not military

targets when you add all the deaths

outside Europe it brings us to a grand

total of 70 million for the war give or

take depending on who's counting and

what civilian deaths get

included more people died in World War

II than in any other war in history

for comparison here are 20 or so of the

very worst wars and atrocities we have

on

record some of these are more of

atrocities than Wars but we've seen how

that distinction can get

blurry some of these spanned across

centuries World War II had the highest

body count and it all happened in just 6

years the world's population has grown

significantly since the earliest

atrocities on this

list if you want to compare them in

terms of what percentage of the world

died we can adjust the chart to look

like this this rough approximation tells

us there may have been more devastating

Wars before World War II proportionally

[Music]

speaking when we turn to post-war

conflicts it's hard to say anything that

isn't controversial

but the data shows something quite

extraordinary has been

happening in 1989 John Gattis coined the

phrase the long piece to identify the

absence of conflict between the nuclear

powers during the Cold

War 25 years later the Cold War is Over

and the term is still being used

although its meaning may have

shifted European countries have not

fought each other except for this 10-day

war in 1956 when the Soviet Union

invaded

Hungary when we look at European Wars

before World War II it looks like this

they tend to be more frequent as they go

back though smaller in

scale and the largest 44 economies of

the world have not battled each other

since World War II rich countries have

fought poor countries like the US versus

Iraq but rich countries have not fought

other rich countries such a period of

peace between the so-called great Powers

hasn't been seen since the Roman Empire

to many peace is too strong of a word

Wars have occurred since World War II

and they can be grouped into these four

categories we don't see colonial wars

anymore we've already noted that

Interstate Wars between rich countries

have not occurred at all and here we see

wars involving smaller economies have

tapered off that leaves Civil Wars of

two types with and without foreign

intervention and this is what these

battle deaths look like alongside of

World War II more people died fighting

in World War II than in all the wars

since and again we can't forget about

world population which has almost

tripled since World War II if we scale

these numbers to show deaths in

proportion to world population showing

the likelihood that a person on Earth

dies in battle the downward Trend

becomes even more pronounced now this

isn't to infer anything about why this

trend is occurring that's a discussion

for another

day you can now interact with this chart

to explore what conflicts are behind the

totals now bear in mind we're just just

looking at Battle deaths here not

civilian deaths but those two are in

Decline peace is a difficult thing to

measure it's a bit like counting the

people who didn't die in wars that never

happened we give such importance to the

word piece but we don't tend to notice

it when it occurs or report on

it sometimes it takes reminding

ourselves of how terrible War once was

to see the peace that has been growing

around us

of course this trend may not continue

and it's not clear how looking at these

charts can help us make the right

decisions to ensure that it

does but the longer the long piece grows

the more significant it

becomes so if watching the news doesn't

make us feel hopeful about where things

are

heading watching the numbers might

[Music]

if You' like to support this project and

encourage new episodes please follow us

using one of the options below and

consider paying the suggested ticket

price for today's show thank you very

much

[Music]