WWII: mobilization by country 1937-1945| ��ƽ��

Number of personnel mobilized by selected Axis and Allied countries or territories during the Second World War from 1937 to 1945

Characteristic	Allied	Axis
Soviet Union	34,476,000	-
Germany	-	18,100,000
United States	16,354,000	-
China	14,000,000	-
Italy**	-	9,100,000
Japan	-	9,100,000
Great Britain	5,896,000	-
France	5,000,000	-
India	2,581,000	-
Poland	2,000,000	-
Romania	-	2,000,000
Yugoslavia	1,500,000	-
Canada	1,100,000	-
Australia	1,000,000	-
Finland	-	650,000
Other Allied***	620,000	-
Belgium	600,000	-
Hungary	-	600,000
Greece	540,000	-
Bulgaria	-	450,000
Netherlands	400,000	-
South Africa	330,000	-
New Zealand	204,000	-
Croatia	-	200,000
Manchukuo	-	200,000
Norway	90,000	-
Slovakia	-	80,000

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Release date

2021

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

1937* to 1945

Supplementary notes

Classification of Allied and Axis countries were chosen by the source. The source adds that Romania's figure includes 1.2mn Axis soldiers and 600,000 Allied soldiers (but a total of two million), and that there is overlap between the figures for Yugoslavia and Croatia.

*WWII is generally considered to have started in 1939, however 1937 is chosen as the start date due to the Second Sino-Japanese War.
**There is a major discrepancy between the figures for Italy and those of other sources. Many sources place the number of Italians mobilized at closer to four million, and it is unclear how many East Africans or Libyans are included in this figure (although it is unlikely their combined total makes up this difference).
***Figure calculated by subtracting the individual Allied values from the Allied total of 86.961.000. The total Axis value is equal to the combined entries for each country - it is unclear whether Thailand is included with Japan's total, but is likely that Japan's colonies (incl. Korea and Taiwan) are included here.

Citation formats

Over the course of the Second World War approximately 127.2 million people were mobilized. The world's population in 1940 was roughly 2.3 billion, meaning that between five and six percent of the world was drafted into the military in some capacity. Approximately one in every 25 people mobilized were women, who generally served in an administrative or medical role, although hundreds of thousands of women did see active combat.

Largest armies

In absolute numbers, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest number of people at just under 34.5 million, and this included roughly 35 percent of the USSR's male population. By the war's end, more Soviets were mobilized than all European Axis powers combined. However, in relative terms, it was Germany who mobilized the largest share of its male population, with approximately 42 percent of men serving. The USSR was forced to find a balance between reinforcing its frontlines and maintaining agricultural and military production to supply its army (in addition to those in annexed territory after 1941), whereas a large share of soldiers taken from the German workforce were replaced by workers drafted or forcibly taken from other countries (including concentration camp prisoners and PoWs).

Studying the figures

The figures given in these statistics are a very simplified and rounded overview - in reality, there were many nuances in the number of people who were effectively mobilized for each country, their roles, and their status as auxiliary, collaborative, or resistance forces. The British Empire is the only power where distinctions are made between the metropole and its colonies or territories, whereas breakdowns of those who fought in other parts of Asia or Africa remains unclear. Additionally, when comparing this data with total fatalities, it is important to account for the civilian death toll, i.e. those who were not mobilized.