The Fallen of World War II
Summary
TLDRThis 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
📊 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.
🏰 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.
🌏 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.
🕊️ 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Lifespan
💡World War II
💡Casualties
💡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
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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
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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
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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
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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]
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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
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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
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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
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Jews like with the gas Chambers men were
killed first to reduce the risk of
revolt
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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
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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
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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
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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
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