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Showing posts from August 30, 2015

How Big Was World War II?

Many general histories of World War II begin by quantitatively describing the size of the war. Numbers in history are often problematic. It is, for example, generally safe to assume that all quantitative historical data is inaccurate or incomplete. Moreover, very large numbers are difficult for us to comprehend. We know the purchasing power of $100, but the current estimate of $13.3 trillion for the national debt is beyond our grasp. Nevertheless, many authors will observe that World War II is the largest event in human history. How do we understand something that is that big? One approach is to use geographical references. World War II, for example, was fought on every continent including Antarctica. Because the war was indeed global, however, events happened in places that few had ever heard of and fewer could find on a map. Where is Tinian, Saipan, Malmédy, Kiev, or even Bastogne? Who on earth had ever visited Ft. Polk, Louisiana, or Camp Kilmer, New Jersey? Where was the Gil