How did the number of troops on each side compare? - Answers

At the beginning of World War I the number of troops on each side were extremely varied. The Central Powers consisted of the German Empire the Austro-Hungarian Empire the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. The Allied Powers consisted of Serbia Montenegro Belgium France Great Britain Japan Italy Portugal Romania Russia and the United States. The Central Powers had a combined total of about 21.5 million soldiers while the Allied Powers had around 28.5 million soldiers. This gave the Allied Powers a slight advantage in numbers but the Central Powers had a much higher ratio of soldiers to civilians. The Central Powers also had better trained and better equipped troops which allowed them to make up for the numerical difference in some areas of the conflict.