I’d expect per capita war deaths to have nothing to do with offence/ defence balance as such (unless the defence gets so strong that wars simply don’t happen, in which case it goes to zero).
Per capita war deaths in this context are about the ability of states to mobilize populations, and about how much damage the warfare does to the civilian population that the battle occurs over. I don’t think there is any uncomplicated connection between that and something like ‘how much bigger does your army need to be for you to be able to successfully win against a defender who has had time to get ready’.
I’d expect per capita war deaths to have nothing to do with offence/ defence balance as such (unless the defence gets so strong that wars simply don’t happen, in which case it goes to zero).
Per capita war deaths in this context are about the ability of states to mobilize populations, and about how much damage the warfare does to the civilian population that the battle occurs over. I don’t think there is any uncomplicated connection between that and something like ‘how much bigger does your army need to be for you to be able to successfully win against a defender who has had time to get ready’.