Perhaps no other war in history has attracted as much attention as the First World War. With the attention comes the possibility of long-lasting myths, misinformation and controversy.
Here are some of the most famous myths surrounding World War I debunked by experts and historians.
During World War I, the British marched around a rain-filled crater near the Western Front. Some believe that machine guns were to blame for most of the deaths in World War I. The reason for this misunderstanding is most likely because machine guns are the most common war-related ** in popular memory, especially when we imagine troops "over the top", armed with machine guns, into no man's land.
But artillery ** was actually responsible for the largest number of deaths during the war. In the First World War, the small ** caused the second large**. On the Western Front from 1915 to 1918, artillery caused seven out of ten British troops**. In terms of causes of death, these statistics of the French team are similar.
The German contingent relaxed in the trenches during the pause in the fighting. The First World War saw a new way of fighting – trench warfare. The living conditions in the trenches were terrible - people were huddled together, and the trenches were often filled with water, mud and rats.
However, most soldiers spend an average of only four days in front-line trenches at a time. If soldiers spend too much time in the trenches, they tend to lose morale.
The British army specially rotated their soldiers in and out of the trenches constantly. Between battles, a unit will only spend about 10 days a month in the trench system. It is not uncommon for soldiers to leave the trench line for a month at a time.
During the unofficial Christmas of 1914, Britain and Germany met in no man's land. One of the more touching stories from World War I was the fact that the Western Front kept the ceasefire on Christmas Day 1914 and played a friendly football match. The real story behind the truce is slightly different from the mythical version of this event.
On Christmas Eve 1914, soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) heard the German ** team singing Christmas carols and different patriotic songs in the trenches. They also found lanterns and small fir trees that decorated German trenches.
On Christmas Day 1914, a number of British and German soldiers met in no man's land, taking pictures and exchanging gifts. Several people improvised a football game, but most of the time was spent burying war ** personnel and repairing trenches and bomb shelters.
Such a truce was not observed anywhere on the Western Front. ** number of people was recorded for Christmas Day 1914. Throughout the First World War, there were isolated incidents where soldiers held short truces to repair trenches and collect their war dead. However, these isolated truces were not observed on the entire Western Front.
A unit in front of the Sphinx, Egypt, circa 1916. Some people believe that World War I was so called because all countries of the world fought in this conflict. After all, countries including Canada, Australia, India, and the United States have sent troops around the world to fight in Europe.
However, it is often forgotten that the battles of the First World War actually took place all over the world, and not just in Europe. Many battles were fought on African soil, and more than a million African soldiers were involved in the conflict.
There were also battles in the Middle East, as the Ottoman Empire allied itself with Germany during the conflict. Major operations took place around the Suez Canal in modern Iraq and Egypt.
Staff member of Maria Leontyevna Bochkaleva (1889-1920), she was a Russian woman who fought in World War I and formed women's death camps. Date 20th century. The First World War was indispensable in promoting women's suffrage throughout the world, and rightly so. A common misconception surrounding women's contribution to the war effort is that during World War I, women didn't actually fight in any battles, which is simply not true!
In fact, the Anglo-American military did not allow women to participate in the war, but other countries involved in the conflict allowed women. Women from Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia and Romania fought alongside male soldiers on the front lines.
The most famous female contingent of the First World War was called the "Death Women's Battalion" and was led by a Russian woman named Maria Bochkaleva. In 1917, Alexander Kerensky authorized Bochkaleva to form a battalion of 2,000 Russian women. This battalion did serve on the front lines during the First World War.
Scene outside Buckingham Palace after Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914. History lessons tell us that the world's reaction to the First World War was very naïve – they were excited. This myth is supported by the one above, as these seem to indicate that the public is passionate about the war.
The outbreak of war on 4 August gave a sense of shock and surprise. What followed was two weeks of chaos and confusion as people tried to make sense of their new terrible situation, and by September 1914 the British people had accepted the need for Britain to fight the war, but this acceptance was not equated with blind enthusiasm for the war.
During World War I in 1917, a group of American soldiers wave on the deck of a ship that transported them to the battlefields of France. The United States formally adopted a policy of neutrality for the first three years of World War I, and did not join the conflict until 1917. However, during the first three years of World War I, U.S. industrial power supported Allied efforts in the war effort.
Despite the official policy of neutrality, many Americans sympathized with Britain, France, and their allies. Many U.S.-led groups are also providing assistance overseas, including the Belgian Relief Committee, led by Herbert Hoover, the future U.S.**.
The organization raises money, collects food**, charters cargo ships, and organizes distributions to feed the civilian population of Belgium.