Among the Soviet Union's 15 republics, Russia withstood the highest number of casualties, with 6,750,000 military deaths and 7,200,000 civilian deaths. Those totals do not include the more than 14 million Soviet soldiers who were wounded during the war. As many as 27 million Soviets lost their lives, with as many as 11.4 million military deaths joined by up to 10 million civilian deaths due to military activity and an additional 8 million to 9 million deaths due to famine and disease. The Soviet Union is estimated to have suffered the highest number of WWII casualties. The following countries have the highest estimated World War II casualties: the Soviet Union (20 to 27 million), China (15 to 20 million), Germany (6 to 7.4 million), Poland (5.9 to 6 million), Dutch East Indies/ Indonesia (3 to 4 million), Japan (2.5 to 3.1 million), India (2.2 to 3 million), Yugoslavia (1 to 1.7 million), French Indochina ( Laos, Cambodia, part of Vietnam) (1 to 2.2 million), and France (600,000). Countries with the Highest Total Casualties in World War II: By comparison, civilian deaths include 29 million to 30.5 million from military and war crimes, plus another 19 million to 28 million due to war-related famine and/or disease. Current estimates place military deaths between 21 million and 25.5 million people. Surprisingly, more than twice as many civilians died in World War II than did members of the military. That estimate equates to roughly 3-3.7% of Earth's population at the time.

That caveat aside, the most up-to-date estimates calculate that between 70 million and 85 people died in World War II. Precise casualty numbers for WWII are impossible to determine for most countries, whose stat-keeping capabilities faltered as nations rose and fell, borders changed, populations shifted, and vast numbers of soldiers were killed, wounded, captured, or declared missing in action.

Often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, World War II encircled the globe, forcing nearly every country on Earth to align with one of two massive military alliances: the Axis powers, led by Germany, Italy, and Japan or the Allies, led by Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and China.īetween the start of the war in September 1939 and its end in August/September 1945, more than 100 million (and possibly as many as 300 million) combatants entered the fray.

World War II was the largest and deadliest armed conflict in the history of mankind.

Japanese navy world war 2