World War one was a huge battle that lots of countries were involved in. Let’s learn five great World War One facts for kids.
The British were the first to create a tank to help protect soldiers breaking through enemy lines on the battlefield. The first ever tank was called ‘Little Willie’ and was very slow but later tanks would become fast and much better at their jobs.
To keep the development of the tank secret they told the workers who were making it that they were creating something to transport water across the battlefield. When they were talked about they were called water tanks, and the name tank stuck!
It was very common for soldiers to shout back and forth between the trenches they were fighting from, and most of the time this was unfriendly. When soldiers first started fighting in the war they believed they would be back home before Christmas but by December they knew they wouldn’t be home. Soldiers in British and German trenches were both singing Christmas carols on Christmas eve 2014 and they shouted to each other to arrange a truce for Christmas day.
There are many photographs of the German, French, and British soldiers together on Christmas and in some letters soldiers even wrote about playing football together.
During the war both sides had many ways of trying to find out secret information from their enemies. They used carrier pigeons to carry very small messages and used spies to find out plans.
One way hidden messages were sent was inside everyday things like cigars or rations. One man in the British army was being held prisoner by the Germans and he received maps, wire cutters, and other equipment to escape in a tin that was supposed to hold meat.
Women before the war worked but they usually did domestic jobs but during the war every person was needed to help out. Women started to work in factories building weapons and ammunition for the war. This was dangerous work and some women even had their skin turn yellow because of the chemicals they were working with. They were so yellow they were nicknamed the ‘Canary Girls’ after the type of yellow bird.
World War One ended in November of 1918 and peace was agreed by the nations that had fought in it. In 1919 all the nations signed a treaty called the Treaty of Versailles which gave rules for the countries so they could maintain peace. The treaty is named after the Palace of Versailles in France where it was signed and 7 other treaties are also called the Treaty of Versailles and the earliest one was signed almost 200 years before. That’s a lot of treaties all called Versailles!
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about the World War One as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these facts are, you can move on to learn about other historical events like: Native American History and World War Two.
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