Which sovereign nation suffered the greatest total number of military and civilian fatalities of any country in World War II, estimated between 24 and 27 million dead?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. Soviet Union (USSR)

  1. Step 1: The war on the Eastern Front was waged by Nazi Germany as an ideological war of annihilation (Vernichtungskrieg) against Slavic populations and Soviet peoples.
  2. Step 2: Through relentless combat, starvation sieges (Leningrad), scorched-earth destruction, and deliberate extermination of over 3 million Soviet POWs, Soviet war dead reached between 24 and 27 million people (roughly 14% of its entire population).
Answer
Soviet Union (USSR)
Why not the others: 'China' China suffered an estimated 15 to 20 million deaths during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), second only to the Soviet Union; 'Poland' Poland lost roughly 6 million citizens (about 17% of its total pre-war population, the highest per-capita loss), but numerically fewer than the USSR; 'Germany' Germany suffered an estimated 7 to 9 million total military and civilian deaths during the war.

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