Finances of the War
Excerpted from The War of the Nations: Portfolio of Rotogravure Etchings, 527-528.
| Total Cost, approximately |
$24,620,000,000 |
| Credits to eleven nations |
8,841,657,000 |
| Raised by taxation in 1918 |
3,694,000,000 |
| Raised by Liberty Loans |
14,000,000,000 |
| War Savings Stamps to November, 1918 |
834,253,000 |
| War relief gifts, estimated |
4,000,000,000 |
Growth of National Debts
The Mechanics and Metals Bank of New York issued a statement showing the debts of the leading nations at the beginning and close of the war, which is herewith summarized:
| Gross Debt of |
Aug. 1, 1914 |
Jan. 1, 1919 |
| U.S. |
$ 1,000,000,000 |
$ 21,000,000,000 |
| Gt. Britain |
3,500,000,000 |
40,000,000,000 |
| France |
6,500,000,000 |
30,000,000,000 |
| Russia |
4,600,000,000 |
27,000,000,000 |
| Italy |
2,800,000,000 |
12,000,000,000 |
| Entente nations |
$18,400,000,000 |
$130,000,000,000 |
| German Emp. and States |
5,200,000,000 |
40,000,000,000 |
| Austria-Hungary |
3,700,000,000 |
24,000,000,000 |
| Teutonic nations |
$ 8,900,000,000 |
$ 64,000,000,000 |
| Gross debt |
$27,300,000,000 |
$194,000,000,000 |
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U.S. Contributions
A few of the statistics relating to our [United States] armed forces, casualties, shipping, and estimated cost of operations, April 6, 1917, to April 6, 1919:
| April 6, 1917 |
| Regular Army |
127,588 |
| National Guard in Federal service |
80,466 |
| Reserve Corps in service |
4,000 |
| Total of soldiers |
212,034 |
| Personnel of Navy |
65,777 |
| Marine Corps |
15,627 |
| Total armed forces |
293,438 |
| Nov. 11, 1918 |
| Army |
3,764,000 |
| Navy |
497,030
|
| Marine Corps |
78,017
|
| Total armed forces |
4,339,047 |
| Soldiers transported overseas |
2,053,347 |
| American troops in action. Nov.11, 1918 |
1,338,169 |
| Soldiers in camps in the United States, Nov. 11, 1918 |
1,700,000 |
| Casualties, Army and Marine Corps, A.E.F. |
282,311 |
| Death rate per thousand, A.E.F. |
.057 |
| German prisoners taken |
44,000 |
| Americans decorated by British, French, Belgian, and Italian Armies, about |
10,000 |
| Number of men registered and classified under selective service law |
23,700,000 |
| Cost of thirty-two National Army cantonments and National Guard camps |
$179,629,497 |
| Students enrolled in 500 s. A.T.C. camps |
170,000 |
| Officers commissioned from training camps (exclusive of universities, &c.) |
80,000 |
| Women engaged in Government war industries |
2,000,000 |
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Behind the Battlelines
| Railway locomotives sent to France |
967 |
| Freight cars sent to France |
13,174
|
| Locomotives of foreign origin operated by A.E.F. |
350
|
| Cars of foreign origin operated by A.E.F. |
973
|
| Miles of standard gauge track laid in France |
843
|
| Warehouses, approximate area in square feet |
23,000,000
|
| Motor vehicles shipped to France |
110,000 |
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Arms and Ammunition
| Persons employed in about 8,000 ordnance plants in U.S. at signing of armistice |
4,000,000
|
| Shoulder rifles made during war |
2,500,000 |
| Rounds of small arms ammunition |
2,879,148,000 |
| Machine guns and automatic rifles |
181,662 |
| High explosive shells |
4,250,000 |
| Gas shells |
500,000 |
| Shrapnel |
7,250,000
|
| Gas masks, extra canisters, and horse masks |
8,500,000 |
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Navy and Merchant Shipping
| Warships at beginning of war |
197 |
| Warships at end of war |
2,003
|
| Small boats built |
800
|
| Submarine chasers built |
355
|
| Merchant ships armed |
2,500 |
| Naval bases in European waters and the Azores |
54 |
| Ships delivered to Shipping Board by end of 1918 |
592 |
| Deadweight tonnage of ships delivered |
3,423,495 |
Shipbuilding yards (merchant marine) increased from 61 to more than 200. Shipbuilding ways increased from 235 to more than 1,000.
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