Population equalling Divisions

[Andy H]

One of the many reasins for collecting population statistics before the war was to determine how many men would be of fighting etc. The premise they worked on was based on the fact that 1 million men would equal 2 Divisions worth of fighting men.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to obtain the detail behind this premise or have any more info on it.

Andy from the Shire

[Tapani K.]

That's interesting. I have no info on the premises but would like to point out that Finland with a population of little less than 4 million could field an army of about 20 Divisions worth in 1941. Another case is Estonia with a population of just over 1 million in 1939 had mobilization plans for 4 divisions.

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that Finns and Estonians both relied on the conscription system with large trained reserves.


regards,
Tapani K.

[dirtysanchez84]

mmm... 1 million men, 2 divisions...that sounds like an good average. Using that formula could you imagine what China could field ??? Kinda scary, I don't remember what their last "official" count was.

[Qvist]

Where exactly was this a premise? It would seem that the ratio of divisions to population varied greatly, and depended on a number of factors. The US and Britain had a much lower ratio of divisions to population, while countries like Germany and Finland had a much higher one. It would depend on factors such as level of equipment, division size, the amount of support per division and not least the relative priority assigned to the army compared to the other branches.

cheers

[Andy H]

I came across this premise whilst reading David Kahn's excellent book "Hitlers Spies"-German Military Intelligence in WW2, where amongst a raft of economic info he mentions one of the prime reasons for watching popn growth was that 1 million men equates to 2 Divisions and gives no further detail as to what 2 divisions actually means.

Andy from the Shire