Analyzing World War I Statistics

Question

This activity will help you meet this educational goal:
You will explain how the end of World War I affected countries, governments, and people.

Directions
Read the instructions for this self-checked activity. Type in your response to each question, and check your answers. At the end of the activity, write a brief evaluation of your work.
Activity
In this activity, you will analyze World War I casualty statistics.

Part A
Take a moment to examine these charts. The chart shows the number of deaths that occurred during World War I among the countries involved.

Note: If you compare the numbers from this chart to contemporary data on casualties in WWI, you may notice that the numbers vary. Why is that? The numbers in this chart were taken from 1919 data, immediately after the war. Over time, not only did the true number of casualties become clearer, but the ways in which scholars interacted with the data changed too. For example, current data on WWI casualties often differentiates between casualties who died as a direct result of the war and those who died of illnesses like the 1918 influenza pandemic. This data from 1919 doesn’t make those distinctions, which often means the number reported here is higher than in current estimates. Other factors, including record keeping and the turmoil of many countries due to WWI and the 1918 pandemic, also complicate the official numbers from 1919. However, the 1919 statistics also allow us to glimpse the overall upheaval and estimates of death during the WWI time period as the world sought to find balance and recovery.

Question
Drag the bars to the chart. Not all bars will be used.

Use five of the bars provided to correctly represent the casualties suffered by the major countries in World War I.
Bar shows about 0.3 million casualties suffered during World War One.Bar shows about 2 million casualties suffered during World War One.Bar shows about 3.1 million casualties suffered during World War One.Bar shows about 4.5 million casualties suffered during World War One.Bar shows about 6.1 million casualties suffered during World War One.Bar chart shows 9.1 million casualities suffered during World War One in Russia.
Correct!
Explanation:

United States: 274,659
Germany: 6,066,769
Russia: 9,150,000
France: 4,506,600
British Empire: 3,089,757
Austria-Hungry: 5,211,000
Part B
Question
Select all the correct answers.

Consider what you’ve learned in the lesson and in part A of this activity. Which two sentences about World War I are supported by what you’ve learned?
The Russians lacked the technology to fight successfully against more technologically advanced nations.
The French were less advanced technologically and did not fight against those with better weapons.
The Central Powers suffered more casualties than the British Empire and the United States.
The British Empire had lower numbers of casualties because they did not fight on land, only at sea.
Correct!
Self-Evaluation
How did you do? Rate your work on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest score. Then write a brief evaluation of your work below. Note what you learned and what challenged you.

Space used(includes formatting): 0 / 30000

Answer 1

Self-Evaluation

I would rate my work a 5. In Part A, I correctly matched the casualty statistics of the major countries involved in World War I with the provided bars, demonstrating a clear understanding of the data. I was able to correctly identify the casualties for each country, which came from a historical context and highlighted the immense human cost of the war.

In Part B, I selected the correct sentences that were supported by what I learned. This indicates that I have a strong grasp of the technological distinctions between the warring parties and the casualty distributions, which impact our understanding of the war's dynamics.

What I learned through this activity is the significance of accurately interpreting historical data and recognizing the factors that influence casualty statistics, such as record-keeping and the subsequent public health crises like the 1918 influenza pandemic. I was challenged by the need to differentiate between contemporary interpretations of data and those at the time, which required careful consideration of the context in which the data was collected.

Overall, this evaluation process reinforced my understanding of World War I's profound impact on nations, emphasizing how statistical data serves not only as a record of casualties but as a reflection of the broader social upheaval that occurred as a result of the war.