'…a universal outpouring of savagery, imbecility and race hatred… Civilization was about to murder itself.'
—Bruce Duffy on the First World War, in The World as I Found It (1987)
All-cause mortality at age 15-34 years in
France: 1816-2007
Colours: The coloured diamonds represent French males (blue) and females (red); for comparison, the light grey curves represent males (generally the upper grey curve) and females (generally the lower) in England & Wales.
Comment: The 10 most tragic years on record in the past two centuries for young French men, in descending order: 1915, 1914, 1916, 1918, 1917, 1871, 1944,
1940, 1855 and 1870. In all of these, France was at war: the two world wars, the Franco-Prussian War, or the Crimean War. And the seven most disastrous years on record for young
French women: 1871, 1918, 1854,1849, 1870, 1832 and 1944.
Method: Mortality rates were downloaded from the Human Mortality Database (see www.mortality.org or
www.humanmortality.de)
on 4 December 2009. The plotted lines connect unsmoothed values.
Colours: The coloured diamonds represent French males (blue) and females (red); for comparison, the light grey curves represent males (generally the upper grey curve) and females (generally the lower) in England & Wales.
Comment: The 10 most tragic years on record in the past two centuries for young French men, in descending order: 1915, 1914, 1916, 1918, 1917, 1871, 1944, 1940, 1855 and 1870. In all of these, France was at war: the two world wars, the Franco-Prussian War, or the Crimean War. And the seven most disastrous years on record for young French women: 1871, 1918, 1854,1849, 1870, 1832 and 1944.
Method: Mortality rates were downloaded from the Human Mortality Database (see www.mortality.org or www.humanmortality.de) on 4 December 2009. The plotted lines connect unsmoothed values.