ion.

In determining the total losses which the Russian and German forces
suffered during the first six months of the war, it is next to
impossible to arrive at this time at absolutely correct figures. This is
especially true in regard to the German troops. In a way this sounds
strange, for the German war organization made itself felt in this
respect, just as much as along other lines, and in none of the countries
involved were the official lists of losses published as rapidly,
frequently, and accurately as in Germany, especially in the early stages
of the conflict. However, these lists included the German losses on all
fronts as well as on the seas, and therefore are available for our
purposes only as a basis for a computation of average losses. But by
taking these totals and comparing them with other figures from various
sources--newspapers, official Russian reports, English and French
computations (non-official), statistics of the International Red Cross,
etc.--it is possible to determine a total per month of German losses of
all kinds--killed, wounded, missing, and captured--for all fronts on
which German forces were fighting during the first six and a half months
of the war. This total is 145,000 men per month. Assuming that all in
all the losses were about evenly divided on the western and eastern
fronts, and disregarding the comparatively small losses of the navy, we
get a monthly average of German losses at the eastern front of 72,500
men, or a total for the entire period of 471,250 men. This does not
include those wounded who after a varying period of time were again able
to return to the fighting, and whose number of course was very large,
but represents the number of those whose services had been lost to the
German forces for all time.

In the case of the Russian losses it is somewhat easier to arrive at
fairly accurate figures, at least as far as their losses through capture
are concerned. For the official German figures in this respect go into
great detail and undoubtedly may be accepted as generally correct.
During the early part of the war when the Russians were fighting along
the border and on East Prussian territory they lost 15,000 officers and
men by capture, at Tannenberg 90,000, and immediately afterward in the
Lake district 30,000 more. In October, 1914, fighting in the province of
Suwalki, during Hindenburg's advance to the Niemen and his retreat, he
captured 10,000, and by November 1, 1914, ther