Background Info - ‘A Feast of Bones’ at Baboró
WORLD WAR I
World War I was also known as WW1, the Great War and the First World War. It was a
global war that was focused mostly in Europe. It began on July 28, 1914 and lasted for
over four years, ending on November 11, 1918.
Did you know? 32 different countries were involved in World War I and more
than 15 million people were killed.
The WW1 facts below will help you to understand just how much of an impact this war
had on people.
WWI Facts for students
•
World War I began on July 28, 1914. The conflict lasted four years, three months
and fourteen days, ending on November 11, 1918.
•
The war began because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria. He was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his death was the
immediate cause of WWI.
•
There were two sides in the war. The Triple Ententes (also known as The Allies)
were Britain, France and Russia. The Central Powers were Germany and AustriaHungary.
•
Later, Italy joined WWI on the side of The Triple Entente. They declared war on
Austria-Hungary in May, 1915 and Germany in August, 1916.
•
America joined World War I on April 6, 1917. This was because a German
submarine had sunk a British passenger ship, the ‘Lusitania’, that killed 1,195
passengers. 128 of those were American citizens and the people were outraged —
putting pressure on the U.S. government to declare war. The American President,
Woodrow Wilson, wanted a peaceful end but the Germans announced that they
would sink any ship that approached Britain. This was when President Wilson
entered the war to help restore peace to Europe.
•
Over 8 million soldiers died in World War I, and another 21 million injured. A
staggering 65 million soldiers were mobilized during the war. Many of these were
underage soldiers (250,000 British underage soldiers). BBC UK have a useful
resource here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zcvdhyc
•
Chemical weapons were first used in WWI. Using poison gas was considered a war
crime, but tear gas wasn’t considered to be a conflict by the troops. The Germans
were the first to use lethal gases when they used a chlorine gas attack. Later they
also developed and used the most effective gas of the First World War — mustard
gas. The British were shocked at the German use of poison gas, but developed
their own gas warfare to retaliate.
•
In 1918 the German citizens began striking and demonstrating against the war. The
people were starving and the economy was collapsing because British navy boats
were blocking all the German ports. This led to the people protesting to try and end
the war.
•
German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II stepped down on November 9, 1918. The
leaders of both sides of the war met at Compiegne, France and the peace armistice
was signed on November 11, 1918.
•
WWI officially ended on June 28, 1919. This was exactly five years since the
assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The armistice on November 11, 1918 ended the
fighting, but it took another six months to negotiate peace before the Treaty of
Versailles could be prepared.
•
The Treaty of Versailles had a lot of demands. Germany had to accept full
responsibility for causing World War I. Also, they had to surrender some of their
territories and colonies, and limit the size of its military.
•
A League of Nations was also formed to prevent future wars. It helped Europe to
rebuild after WWI and fifty three nations had joined by 1923.
•
In 1926, Germany also joined the League of Nations. Many Germans were resentful
of the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles and Germany and Japan both
withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933. Italy also withdrew in 1936.
•
The League of Nations could not stop Germany, Italy and Japan from expanding
their power. They took over smaller countries and many believe that World War I
didn’t really end and World War II was an extension of it.