The Human Cost
War of the Austrian Succession
1,200,000
estimated total dead
Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.
Military Dead
400,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.
Habsburg Austria & Allies — 220,000 military dead Prussia / France / Bavaria & Allies — 180,000 military dead Civilian Dead
800,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.
For Perspective
How Austrian Succession's dead compare to other conflicts and events.
Austrian Succession — total dead1,200,000
Battle of Blenheim (1704, War of Spanish Succession)12,000
Battle of Fontenoy (1745)22,000
American Civil War total dead620,000
Seven Years' War military dead (all powers)1,400,000
Milestones of Loss
22,000 dead
Fontenoy — bloodiest single engagement of the war
400,000 dead
Total military dead across all theaters, 1740–1748
1,200,000 dead
Total dead including disease, famine, and civilian displacement
All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.