Test your knowledge of the battles, events, and key figures that shaped the First World War. Are you able to identify which statements are true and false about one of history’s most impactful conflicts?
True or False: The Armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed on the 11th November 1918 at 11:00 a.m.
Wikimedia Commons
This statement is FALSE: While the Armistice came into effect at 11:00 a.m. on November 11th, 1918, it was actually signed at some point between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The time was chosen partly for the symbolic significance of ending the war on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month but also so that they had time to communicate the news of a cease fire across the front lines.
True or False: The Russian Empire mobilized more soldiers than any other nation during the First World War.
Wikimedia Commons
This statement is TRUE: The Russian Empire mobilized 12,000,000 soldiers throughout the duration of World War I. This is more than any other nation involved in the conflict. Germany mobilized 11,000,000 soldiers, the 2nd most during the war.
True or False: Harry S. Truman was the only US President to serve on the battlefield during the First World War.
US National Archives
This statement is TRUE: Harry S. Truman was deployed in France and participated in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. He is the only US President to have seen combat during the First World War. Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the US Army but was denied an overseas assignment and remained in the United States during the war.
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True or False: Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were all veterans of World War 1.
Wikimedia Commons
This statement is FALSE: Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler were veterans of the First World War but Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin were not. FDR served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Woodrow Wilson administration so was involved in naval administration during the war but he is not a veteran due to not being enlisted in any branch of the US Armed Forces. Joseph Stalin was in exile but was conscripted in 1916. However, due to his crippled arm, a medical examination deemed him unfit for military service. Stalin is also not a veteran of the First World War.
True or False: Spain remained neutral throughout World War I.
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This statement is TRUE: Spain declared neutrality on the 7 August 1914 and maintained that stance throughout the entirety of the First World War.
True or False: The United States joined the First World War in 1916.
Wikimedia Commons
This statement is FALSE: The United States of America joined the Allied Powers in the First World War following their declaration of war against the German Empire on April 6th, 1917.
True or False: Gas masks were also created for animals for use during gas attacks in WWI.
Wikimedia Commons
This statement is TRUE: Horses, dogs, pigeons and other animals were all important contributors to the war, and like the soldiers, they were also vulnerable to the gas attacks. Horses and dogs were equipped with gas masks, and gas protection boxes were constructed to hold pigeons during attacks.
True or False: Tanks were first used in warfare during WWI.
US National Archives
This statement is TRUE: Tanks were first used in combat on September 15th, 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. 32 British Mark I tanks were deployed at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (part of the Battle of the Somme) and 9 managed to cross no man's land and reach the German front line.
True or False: David Lloyd George was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the start of the First World War.
Library of Congress
This statement is FALSE: H. H. Asquith was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the start of WWI and he held this position until 1916 when he was replaced by David Lloyd George. Lloyd George remained Prime Minister until after the end of the war.
True or False: Fighting during World War 1 took place exclusively in Europe.
Wikimedia Commons
This statement is FALSE: The First World War took place across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Fighting did not only take place in Europe.
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