Figure 1.--World War I histories focus for good reason on the terrible human cost, the loss of life and the mangled bodies. Less well covered is the massive physical damage. This undated photograph shows a British soldier getting French children safely out of a damaged building where they were playing, somehere in the British sector in northern France. It looks like a staged scene in an area actully damaged some time eatlier. It does illustrate the mssive destruction that France suffered. And at the end of the War the question emerged as to who was going to pay for reconstruction. Source: British Ministry of Information.

The Allies including France won the War, but the cost had been incalcuable. One sourse suggests that the finacial cost to France was something like $24 billion. The cost in modern dollars would be far higher. The only two countries spending more on the war were Germany and Britain. The financial cost can be calculated. The actual cost totaling up not only what was spent but the property and human cost would br far greater, basically incalcable. We have been unable to find an estimte of the total cost. France suffered more casualties proprtionally than any other major beligerant. Not where else, but northern France, was so much intense fighting concentrated for the entire duration of he War. Military deaths totaled to 1.4 million men, about 1.2 million were combat deaths. Civilian deaths resulting from military action were some 40,000 people, Civilian deaths attributed to the War were ome 0.3 million. Military wounded totaly 4.3 million This included 1.1 million men disabled and 0.3 million mtalated. There were 42,000 blinded and 15,000 'broken faces'. The men that were killed left 0.7 million widows and more than 1.0 million orphans. They and many of the wounded men had to be supported by the state. The War in the West was fought in Belgium and northern France. Much of northern France was occupied by the Germans. And the damaage to towns and villages was massive. The French Government after the War designated the Zone Rouge (Red Zone). It was a chain of non-contiguous areas in northeastern France where the fighting was particularly intense. The Zone was determined to be so physically and environmentally damaged that civilins could not return. Buildings were destroyed and the land was littered with human and animal remains and undxploded ordinance. Several villages in the Meuse area were seen to have 'died for France'. Estimates report that 1,857 square miles of forest land and 8,000 square miles of farm land was laid waste. Some 0.3 million homes, 6,000 factories, 1,600 schools and 1,2000 curches were destroyed. Livestock killed totaled 1.3 million. France's industrial northeast, a vital part of the economy, was devastated by the War. The provinces overrun by Germany had produced 40 percent of French coal and nearly 60 percent of its steel. [Chickering and Förster, p. 297.] German occupation authorities attempted to use much of this during the war When it was clear that Germany was going to lose the War and began to withdraw, Gen. Ludendorff, who was basically running the German economy by the end of he War, ordered the destruction of mines in France and Belgium. [Marshall, p. 460.] The objective was to cripple French industries so it could not threaten Germany in the future. We see many commentors castigating the Allies for demanding retributions as if it was unreasinable and unusual. We notice that because the War was largely not fought on German soil, most of the property damage was suffered by the countries that Germany invaded. And not all of it was war damage, meaning damage resulting from actual fighting. The Germans not only damaged infrastrutre and facilities on purpose, but shelled French cities beyond the front line with not military objective, but destruction and terror. (The same was true of German aerial bombing raids on London and other British cities.) Germany demanded reparations from countries it defeated before and during World War I. It does not seem all that unreasonable or unusual for the Allies to demand that Germany pay to repair some of the damage it caused. It may well have been counter productive, but unreasonable or unusual is a very different matter. Of course the level of reparations is quite a different matter. Here the French were thinking primarily about reconstruction. The British who had not been badly damaged except for shipping, on the other hand, were thinking about pensions which significantly escalated the demands to be made on Germany. [Tooze, pp. 292-93.]

Financial Cost

The Allies including France won the War, but the cost had been incalcuable. One sourse suggests that the finacial cost to France was something like $24 billion. The cost in modern dollars would be far higher. The only two countries spending more on the war were Germany and Britain. The financial cost can be calculated. The actual cost totaling up not only what was spent but the property and human cost would br far greater, basically incalcable. We have been unable to find an estimte of the total cost.

Casualties

France suffered more casualties proprtionally than any other major beligerant. Not where else, but northern France, was so much intense fighting concentrated for the entire duration of he War. Military deaths totaled to 1.4 million men, about 1.2 million were combat deaths. Civilian deaths resulting from military action were some 40,000 people, Civilian deaths attributed to the War were ome 0.3 million. Military wounded totaly 4.3 million This included 1.1 million men disabled and 0.3 million mtalated. There were 42,000 blinded and 15,000 'broken faces'. The men that were killed left 0.7 million widows and more than 1.0 million orphans. They and many of the wounded men had to be supported by the state. Pensions are a cost that have to be shouldered by France and the other beligerant powers forvdecades after the war ended.

Physical Damage

The War in the West was fought in Belgium and northern France. Much of northern France was occupied by the Germans. And the damaage to towns and villages was massive. The French Government after the War designated the Zone Rouge (Red Zone). It was a chain of non-contiguous areas in northeastern France where the fighting was particularly intense. The Western Front as it was reaktivly unchanged for 4 years was not only the scene of more intense combat and expenditure of munitions than any other World war I Front, in fact in all of warfare. The Zone was determined to be so physically and environmentally damaged that civilins could not return. Buildings were destroyed and the land was littered with human and animal remains and undxploded ordinance. Several villages in the Meuse area were seen to have 'died for France'. Estimates report that 1,857 square miles of forest land and 8,000 square miles of farm land was laid waste. Some 0.3 million homes, 6,000 factories, 1,600 schools and 1,2000 curches were destroyed. Livestock killed totaled 1.3 million. France's industrial northeast, a vital part of the economy, was devastated by the War. The provinces overrun by Germany had produced 40 percent of French coal and nearly 60 percent of its steel. [Chickering and Förster, p. 297.] German occupation authorities attempted to use much of this during the war When it was clear that Germany was going to lose the War and began to withdraw, Gen. Ludendorff, who was basically running the German economy by the end of he War, ordered the destruction of mines in France and Belgium. [Marshall, p. 460.] The German objective was to cripple French industries so it could not threaten Germany in the future.

American and British Support

France's rich agicultural sector helped feed the country during World War I. Like other countries, however, food production declined. France concripted agricultural workers and had to feed a huge army, meaning unproductive workers. Thus France was not in a position to provide the massive food supplies neded by refugees, both Belgians and the population of northern France. America was. The American Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) also coordinated relief in northern France after 1915. This included both the Belgian and French refugees. The German invasion of northern France affected industrial production, but had less of an impact on agriculture. Private American ($3.6 billion) and British ($3 billion) war loans enabled France to maintain military production and import food. With American entry into the war, American food, money and raw materials flowed into France (1917). And the U.S. Goverment provided loans to support France.

Reparations

We see many commentors castigating the Allies for demanding retributions as if it was unreasinable and unusual. We notice that because the War was largely not fought on German soil, most of the property damage was suffered by the countries that Germany invaded. And not all of it was war damage, meaning damage resulting from actual fighting. The Germans not only damaged infrastrutre and facilities on purpose, but shelled French cities beyond the front line with not military objective, but destruction and terror. (The same was true of German aerial bombing raids on London and other British cities.) Germany demanded reparations from countries it defeated before and during World War I. It does not seem all that unreasonable or unusual for the Allies to demand that Germany pay to repair some of the damage it caused. It may well have been counter productive, but unreasonable or unusual is a very different matter. Of course the level of reparations is quite a different matter. Here the French were thinking primarily about reconstruction. The British who had not been badly damaged except for shipping, on the other hand, were thinking about pensions which significantly escalated the demands to be made on Germany. [Tooze, pp. 292-93.] The reparations imposed under the terms of the Versailles Treaty are perhaps the most controversial aspect of the post-War settlement. One indisputable fact is that had Germany won the war, they would have imposed massive reprations on Britin and Frnce even though Germany, unlike France, suffered almost no physical damage. Despite the impassioned outpoiring of outrage in Germany, the Germans did not object to reparations, they just did not want the reparations imposed on them. To the Germans both invasion and reparations were something Germany did to other countries, not wht other countries did to Germany.

Sources

Chickering, Roger and Stig Förster. Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914–1918 (London: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Marshall, Samuel L. A. The American Heritage History of World War I (American Heritage: Oxford University Press, 1964).

Tooze, Adam. The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-31 (Viking: New York, 2014), 644p.

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Last updated: 4:50 PM 6/26/2017