Largest Armies in the World (1900-2019)

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Data Source:
Wikipedia, NMC (CINC)

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Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces.

Over the course of human history, the world has seen the rise and fall of hundreds of armies. There are many factors that come into play when we look at the size of the army maintained by any individual country, most obviously the question of whether or not that country was actively engaged in warfare during the time in question.

Into the 1900s, Russia and China continued to swap the top spot, with Russia clocking in at over 2 million members in 1905. Though it shrunk again relatively quickly to about 1.5 million, this was temporary. By the beginning of 1915, Russia had over 2.5 million members in its army. By the end of that year, it had over 10 million. This corresponds with Russia’s second and last major offensive campaign of World War I. Meanwhile, China fell all the way to fifth position with less than half a million.

Not until 1943 did America claim the top spot with nearly 9 million members; this would swell to nearly 12 million by 1945. This corresponds with America’s involvement in World War II, which began in 1939 and continued until 1945. Over the next several decades, China, Russia, and the U.S. toggled through the top three spots.