[Siena Dreaming]

In the First World War, while the US had lost 114,000 men, the losses of Germany (2.037 million), Russia (1.8 million), France (1.4 million), Austria-Hungary (1.1 million), Bulgaria and Turkey (892,000), the UK (723,000) and Italy (578,000) were staggering in comparison.

The numbers are staggering. While we lost 500,000 in WWII, our European neighbors lost proportionately more in both WWI and WWII.

The number of men killed accounts for the nanny states across the ocean.

Canada also lost proportionately high numbers in WWI, presumably because they were tied to Britain at that time so engaged earlier than the US. Thus the nanny state up there as well.

[Publius6961]

What is truly amazing, and unknown to me until a few days ago, is this, about the 1918 influenza pandemic:

The flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. This pattern of morbidity was unusual for influenza which is usually a killer of the elderly and young children. It infected 28% of all Americans (Tice). An estimated 675,000 Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, ten times as many as in the world war. Of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, half of them fell to the influenza virus and not to the enemy (Deseret News).

[Wiseghy]

"...accounts for the nanny states across the ocean"


What's the socialist state connection to heavy war losses? I'm curious.