As an aid to students, teachers and parents, we have constructed an A–Z of the World taken from E. H. Gombrich’s, A Little History of the World. We’ve shared bite size introductions to historical figures, events and periods – using Gombrich’s magical words – along with links to free resources, so that readers of all ages can discover more. F is for the First World War.
F
The First World War
E. H. Gombrich: In the spring of 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne was visiting Bosnia and was murdered by a Serb in the capital, Sarajevo. Austria’s generals and politicians thought at the time that war with Serbia was inevitable. The dreadful murder had to be avenged, and Serbia humbled. Frightened by Austria’s advance, Russia was drawn in, whereupon Germany, as Austria’s ally, also became involved. And, once Germany was in the war, all the ancient enmities were unleashed. The Germans wanted to begin by destroying France, their most dangerous enemy, so they marched straight across neutral Belgium to attack Paris. Britain, fearing that a German victory would make Germany all-powerful, now joined in as well. Soon the whole world was at war with Germany and Austria.
‘The world had never seen a war like it. Millions and millions of people marched against each other.’
The world had never seen a war like it. Millions and millions of people marched against each other. The German armies were stopped when they reached the River Marne, not far from Paris. From this moment on, real battles, in the old sense, would only very rarely be fought. Instead, giant armies dug themselves in, and made their camps in endlessly long trenches facing one another. Then, for days on end, they fired thousands of guns at each other, bursting out in assaults through barricades of barbed wire and blown-up trenches, across a scorched and devastated wasteland strewn with corpses.
People fought against each other in the skies in aeroplanes; they dropped bombs on peaceful towns, sank innocent ships, and fought on the sea and under the sea, just as Leonardo da Vinci had foreseen. People invented horrible weapons that murdered and mutilated thousands each day, the most terrible of which were gases that poisoned the air. Anyone who breathed them died in terrible agony. People built armoured cars and tanks which moved slowly and inexorably over ditches and walls, demolishing and crushing everything in their path.
Eleven million people died in that war and entire regions were devastated in a way that had never been seen before. The suffering was beyond imagination.
Discover more A-Z blogposts here.
Free Resources to Learn More about the First World War
At the time of publication, these resources were free to use:
BBC Bitesize (KS2)
World War One
BBC Bitesize (KS3)
The First World War
BBC Teach (KS3)
World War One Video Resources
BBC History
World War One
World War One at Home
History.com
World War I—includes articles and videos
National Geographic
How the Treaty of Versailles ended WWI and started WWII
World War I battlefields today
Women scientists and World War I
Khan Academy
Various resources
Education Quizzes
Various World War One quizzes
The Yale Blog
First World War blogposts
This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.
About the book
A Little History of the World
E. H. Gombrich
The World has existed for over 4 billion years, but humanity arrived much more recently. Here E. H. Gombrich brings to life the full story of human experience on Earth. He paints a colourful picture of remarkable people and events, from Confucius to Catherine the Great, from the invention of art to the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
