Germany — WW1

Use countryKey (e.g., canada)

Context

The German Empire entered into the First World War both to satisfy its treaty obligations to Austria-Hungary who had earlier declared war, and also to satisfy its view of Lebensraum, or land, feeling that it was encircled by allied, and potentially hostile to Germany, countries.
German military planning, which ultimatly failed, emphasized rapid victory in the west before turning east to minimize a two front war.

Rationale used for numbers used on the war statistics page

Measure Selected value Selected source Rationale
Population (baseline) 64,900,000 ww1-source-book
The World War One Source Book

What sources report

Military deaths

Source Value Scope / notes Citation
ellis_cox_1993
The World War I Databook
John Ellis; Michael Cox • Aurum Press • 1993
medium
2,037,000
Ellis, John & Cox, Michael. The World War I Databook. London: Aurum

Mobilized / served

Source Value Scope / notes Citation
ellis_cox_1993
The World War I Databook
John Ellis; Michael Cox • Aurum Press • 1993
medium
13,400,000
Ellis, John & Cox, Michael. The World War I Databook. London: Aurum

Population (baseline)

CWVMP uses: 64,900,000 from ww1-source-book
Source Value Scope / notes Citation
ellis_cox_1993
The World War I Databook
John Ellis; Michael Cox • Aurum Press • 1993
medium
67,000,000
Ellis, John & Cox, Michael. The World War I Databook. London: Aurum
ww1-source-book
The World War One Source Book
Philip J. Haythornthwaite • Arms and Armour, London • 1993
medium
64,900,000
wikipedia-ww1
World War I casualties
2026
medium
64,900,000
Source link (accessed 2026-02-01)

POW

Source Value Scope / notes Citation
ellis_cox_1993
The World War I Databook
John Ellis; Michael Cox • Aurum Press • 1993
medium
993,800
Ellis, John & Cox, Michael. The World War I Databook. London: Aurum

Wounded

Source Value Scope / notes Citation
ellis_cox_1993
The World War I Databook
John Ellis; Michael Cox • Aurum Press • 1993
medium
5,687,000
Ellis, John & Cox, Michael. The World War I Databook. London: Aurum

Editorial principles in selecting the figures to use

No rationale narrative yet for this country/conflict.

Discussion of discrepancies

No discussion narrative yet for this country/conflict.