Abstract
World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. Over 60 million people were killed, representing more than 2.5% of the world population at the time. This article attempts to develop a human and material toll of the war.
In 1945, many regions in Europe are destroyed and millions of people were killed or injured. The battles of the Second World War did not spare the neutral countries. The human toll is dramatic: between 60 and 80 million dead, millions injured 30 million Europeans déplacés1 due to boundary changes, especially in Eastern Europe. This conflict was the most costly in human lives in the history of mankind. About 45 million civilians died and the number of civilian casualties is higher than the military casualties.
In total, according to estimates, approximately 17,877,000 soldiers died on the battlefields of Europe, of which 10.774 million on the Allied side and 7103000 on the side of the Axis forces. The Red Army killed constitute 53% of total military casualties known in Europe, those of the Wehrmacht 31%, those of the United Kingdom 1.8%, those of France 1.4% and those of the army American 1.3%. Military casualties of the Soviet Union accounted for 88% of total Allied casualties in Europe (UK 3%, France 2.3%, U.S. 2.2%). Total only Germany and the Soviet Union combined military losses represent 84% of all military losses in Europe. Military casualties of the German-Soviet conflict are only 13,876,400 or 78% of total military losses in Europe.
