

In 1918 during the last months of the war, the Military Service (No. Although many men failed to respond to the call-up, in the first year 1.1 million enlisted. Referred to by contemporaries as the ' Great War ', its belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting also expanding into the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia. Effects of conscriptionĬonscription was not popular and in April 1916 over 200,000 demonstrated against it in Trafalgar Square. World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, began on 28 July 1914 and ended on 11 November 1918. This imposed conscription on all single men aged between 18 and 41, but exempted the medically unfit, clergymen, teachers and certain classes of industrial worker.Ĭonscientious objectors – men who objected to fighting on moral grounds– were also exempted, and were in most cases given civilian jobs or non-fighting roles at the front.Ī second Act passed in May 1916 extended conscription to married men.Ĭonscription was not applied to Ireland because of the 1916 Easter Rising, although in fact many Irishmen volunteered to fight. In January 1916 the Military Service Act was passed. A map of Europe, with each country represented by a depiction of their soldiers or. 06 April 1917: America declares war on Germany 07 April 1917: Cuba and Panama declare war on Germany 29 June 1917: Greece declares war on Germany, Austria. The government saw no alternative but to increase numbers by conscription – compulsory active service. Parliament was deeply divided but recognised that because of the imminent collapse of the morale of the French army, immediate action was essential. The typical date agreed upon by historians to answer the question of when did World War 2 start is September 1st, 1939. But this was not enough to keep pace with mounting casualties. Instead, the French began to mobilise their reserves and pulled their existing forces back from the French-German border to avoid any unforeseen incidents. The French, allied to Russia, refused to abide by Germany’s request that they remain neutral. Lord Kitchener's campaign – promoted by his famous "Your Country Needs You" poster – had encouraged over one million men to enlist by January 1915. 3 August 1914: Germany and France declare war on each other. did the two powers begin to demobilize troops and tensions abate. Within a year of Great Britain declaring war on Germany in August 1914, it had become obvious that it was not possible to continue fighting by relying on voluntary recruits. selection of documents, July 1914: The Outbreak of the First World War: Selected.
