Finances of the War
| 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 |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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.
Finances of the War
Excerpted from The War of the Nations: Portfolio of Rotogravure Etchings, 527-528.
