1. about 115,000
   about 5 million
2. about 13 milliion

America was late to the party in Europe, and you know, being late isn’t always a bad thing. The Americans lost more than 115,000 men in the war, but as you’re about to see, those numbers were a pittance compared to the losses of other nations.

1. more than 9,000
   more than 57,000
2. about 2 million

The horror of the first day of the Somme cannot be overstated. The British alone suffered more than 57,000 dead and wounded on that day.

1. nearly 420,000
   nearly 5 million
2. about 90,000

In the 140 days of fighting on the Somme, the British alone endured a mind-reeling 420,000 casualties. That’s about the total number of American fatalities in all of World War II.

1. bayonets
   artillery
2. nuclear bombs

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Imagine being trapped in a trench on the front lines as artillery shells rain down, not for hours, but for days on end. It’s no wonder that artillery was the deadliest weapon of the war.

1. Germany
   India
2. Australia

Germany’s aggression in the Great War did not go unpunished. The country lost nearly 1.8 million troops, more than any other single nation in the war.

1. perhaps 5 million
   perhaps 11 million
2. perhaps 22 million

From the trenches to the tank traps, WWI was a meat grinder that killed perhaps 11 million military men and women. Some historians peg the number at closer to 9 million, but you know, by the time you get to this level of casualties, who’s really counting an extra million or two?

1. about 50
   about 1,000
2. about 500,000

Half a million homing pigeons carried vital messages around the front during the war. They are often (inaccurately) called carrier pigeons.

1. Italy
   Austria-Hungary
2. Japan

Like Germany, Austria-Hungary was bloodied horribly in the war. About 1.2 million troops were killed in the conflict.

1. about 200 feet
   about 6 miles
2. all the way to Berlin

The Somme was a lesson in the rigors of trench warfare — no one goes anywhere. After months of fighting and hundreds of thousands of casualties, the British advanced a lousy 6 miles.

1. 4
   40
2. 400

Forty countries and many colonies participated in the war, which lasted from 1914 to 1919. By the time it was over, human beings would never look at war the same way again.

1. Laos
   Russia
2. Czech Republic

Russia always seems to get the worst of things in terms of casualties. Of the Allies, Russia had the most troops killed in action, with about 1.7 million deaths.

1. about 1,000 yards
   about 200 yards
2. about 100 yards

As if the artillery wasn’t bad enough, huge self-powered machine guns blasted no man’s land from every angle ... and from a tremendous range of 1,000 yards.

1. about 100 miles
   about 2,500 miles
2. about 90,000 miles

In desperation, both sides dug trenches hoping to protect their troops. By the end of the war, the Western Front featured about 2,500 miles of trenches ... and it still wasn’t enough.

1. 55,000
   6 million
2. 39 million

Civilians stuck in the line of fire had zero luck in WWI. As many as 6 million innocents were killed by the strife of the war, due to everything from starvation to massacres.

1. about 2%
   about 11%
2. about 25%

France fought valiantly and suffered greatly. By the time the bombs stopped, 11% of the country’s population was dead and gone.

1. about 500
   about 1,000
2. about 65,000

Military leaders knew planes were going to be a tool of war ... so they set about building as many as possible. Both sides manufactured about 65,000 planes for the war effort.

1. True
2. False

Nope. Prior to the 1900s, disease was a primary killer during war. But medical advances meant that battle itself was the number one killer in WWI.

1. Spanish flu
   AIDS
2. leprosy

When it rains, it pours. During WWI, a terrible Spanish flu pandemic swept over Earth, killing incredible numbers of people. That includes a third of the people who suited up for the war.

1. roughly 500
   roughly 5,000
2. roughly 500,000

Poison gases were en vogue during this industrialized killing party. About half a million troops were hurt or killed by chemicals ... and often these gases drifted the wrong way and injured the attackers.

1. 70%
   5%
2. 20%

And you wonder why shell shock was a thing. Trenches just weren’t enough to protect against the rain of steel and lead from artillery. About 70% of battlefield deaths resulted from artillery.

1. 5
   50
2. 500

Fledgling air forces deployed thousands of men to the skies to murder their enemies. Those who tallied five or more kills were considered "aces," the best pilots around.

1. 80
   800
2. 8,000

When the Red Baron was around, the sky was a hazardous place to be. The German superstar downed 80 enemy planes before being shot down himself in 1918.

1. about 100
   about 600
2. about 5,550

Packs of U-boats caused mayhem all over the Atlantic, often running wild and unopposed. That’s how 400 German subs were able to sink about 5,500 Allied ships.

1. about 4,000
   about 72,000
2. about 3 million

Imagine the quagmire of blood and mud at the Somme, along with the endless artillery fire. More than 70,000 U.K. soldiers died at the Somme and were buried, never to be placed in marked graves. Many of them were simply blasted to pieces, forever erased from this mortal realm.

1. 1 MPH
   4 MPH
2. 20 MPH

WWI was the first war to see the use of tanks. The first British tanks could only go about 4 MPH, a moderate walking speed.

1. about 10%
   about 40%
2. about 98%

The Spanish flu raged across the world infecting people in incredible numbers. By 1918, 40% of the entire U.S. Navy had contracted the disease. Many of those people died from the awful disease.

1. about 10
   about 120
2. about 90,000

Germany was sold on airships for war, making about 120 of zeppelins for bombing efforts. Many of those airships attacked England.

1. about 10%
   about 50%
2. about 90%

Venereal disease was a major problem during WWI, and Americans weren’t exempt — about 10% of them caught VD while serving in Europe.

1. Montenegro
   Serbia
2. Romania

Montenegro mobilized about 50,000 troops for the war. Three thousand of them did not make it home.

1. about 17 million
   about 9 million
2. about 41 milion

They don’t call them "world wars" for nothin’. The Great War was an unexpected bloodbath that left 41 million humans dead or wounded. And less than a generation later, things would get even worse.