To determine the most likely reason why the United Kingdom had the largest shipping losses, consider the following steps:
1. Analyze the given data:
- The table provides values for property damage, loss of life, and shipping losses for four countries: United Kingdom, France, Russia, and Germany.
2. Identify the relevant factor:
- The key detail we are interested in is the "Shipping Losses" column.
- The United Kingdom has significantly higher shipping losses (\[tex]$3.9 billion) compared to France (\$[/tex]0.5 billion), Russia (\[tex]$0.9 billion), and Germany (\$[/tex]0.1 billion).
3. Evaluate the provided options:
- The United Kingdom had the largest navy: This could imply that since the UK had the largest navy, it had more ships at risk, thereby leading to higher shipping losses.
- Russia reached a truce earlier in the war: This reflects on Russia's wartime status but does not directly relate to the UK's shipping losses.
- The United Kingdom had the weakest navy: If this were true, it might explain higher losses due to weaker defenses, but the UK's historical context does not support this claim as they historically had a strong navy.
- Germany fought most of its battles on land: This fact pertains to Germany's war strategy rather than explaining the UK's maritime losses.
4. Draw a logical conclusion:
- Given the options and historical context, the most plausible reason for the UK's high shipping losses is because the UK had the largest navy. This implies that more ships were involved in operations and consequently more were at risk of being lost.
Thus, the most likely reason the United Kingdom had the largest shipping losses is:
The United Kingdom had the largest navy.
