| In 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. War was avoided |
Approaching War |
| In the 5 years prior to the First World War, arms-spending rose by 50% |
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| In 1904 the "Entente Cordiale" made allies of sworn enemies, Britain and France |
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| The "The Triple Entente" of 1907 brought Russia into this alliance |
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| The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June started the war in August |
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| 65 million people fought in the war. Around five million of those were British |
The Numbers |
| Soldiers had to be 18 years old officially. The youngest British soldier was 12 |
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| 12 million letters were delivered to soldiers on the front line every week |
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| 628 Victoria Crosses were awarded, a quarter of them to men who had died |
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| A quarter of a million horses and mules died on the Western Front |
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| The first functioning unmanned aerial drone was developed in 1918 |
Innovations |
| Wristwatches were not worn by men until World War One |
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| Stainless steel was invented and used in aircraft engines and medical instruments |
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| The world's first blood bank opened in 1917 on the Western Front |
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| Daylight Saving Time began in Germany in 1916 as an effort to save coal |
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| One third of casualties were received inside trenches rather than on open ground |
Trenches |
| Bugs, rats, lice and even frogs lived alongside men in the trenches |
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| A day in the trenches often began with "Morning Hate" |
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| For every 20,000 men 300 gallons of rum were given to help keep them warm |
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| Most of the work in trenches was done under the cover of darkness |
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| Germany was the first to use flamethrowers on February 26, 1915 |
Weapons |
| Tanks, a British innovation, appeared on the battlefield on 15th September 1916 |
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| The age of air warfare began in World War One |
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| Both sides used chemical weapons against each other |
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| The main weapon was artillery. It caused roughly half of all deaths |
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| The "Dreadnaught" was a new kind of battleship, faster and tougher than others |
At Sea |
| They were vulnerable to mass attacks from small torpedo boats |
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| The first destroyers were built to counteract these small boats and their torpedoes |
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| Submarines were first used effectively in WWI. The German U-Boats were feared |
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| Great Britain laid almost 200,000 naval mines to protects its east coast |
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| The Battle of Passchendaele left an estimated 860,000 casualties |
Battles |
| The Somme Offensive advanced the Allies 7 miles, costing over a million lives |
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| After huge losses in the Battle of the Marne the first trenches were dug |
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| The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle of the First World War |
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| The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of the First World War. |
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| Pilots who brought down 5 enemy planes were given the title "ace" |
In the Air |
| Observation balloons were included in the list of victories for pilots |
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| The "Jagdstaffeln" were specialised German fighter squadrons |
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| During "Bloody April" of 1917 the British lost 245 aircraft out of 365 |
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| "Archies" were anti-aircraft guns which fired shells that fragmented in the air |
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| Men who refused to fight on compassionate grounds were imprisoned |
Civilians |
| A German airship attack on London mistakenly dropped its bombs on Hull |
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| To replace the 5 million men who had gone to war, 1.6 million women stepped in |
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| Dorothy Lawrence impersonated a man so that she could serve as a soldier |
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| By April 1916 Britain was said to have only enough wheat left to last 6 weeks |
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| Around 2 million servicemen died from disease or malnutrition rather than injury |
Casualties |
| 8.5 million troops are thought to have been killed, 750,000 of them British |
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| 21 million troops were wounded, including 1.5 million British |
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| As well as servicemen, up to 13 million civilians were also killed |
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| Russia suffered the highest number of casualties: over 9 million of them |
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