These soldiers are part of the Russian Fifth Army of World War One. They are preparing a chemical attack against the German positions in Ilukste area (modern Latvia). Chlorine gas was first introduced in the battlefield by the German Army in 1915. It was pio…
The immobility of the trench warfare characterizing the First World War led to a need for a device that would protect soldiers from enemy fire and could help them move on the extremely irregular terrain of battlefields. Apart from a few exceptional cases, …
When the people of the town of Hastings awoke one morning to see one of the Kaiser’s U-boats on their beach, it caused some shock. Thousands of visitors flocked to see the beached submarine. The Admiralty allowed the town clerk to charge a fee for people t…
The picture was taken during the Battle of Verdun, one of the deadliest battles of the Great War. The concentration of so much fighting in such a small area devastated the land, resulting in miserable conditions for troops on both sides. The shells turned …
On 28 June 1919, the peace treaty that ended World War I was signed by Germany and the Allies at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. Allied interests were represented by the ‘Big Three’: British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Premier George Cleme…
When the British dispatched 400 tanks against the German army at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, the result was a draw — but legend quickly declared the tank a winner following its first major role in combat. The Battle of Cambrai, fought in November-December…
Many animals were used during World War One. Horses, mules, dogs and pigeons were vulnerable to poison gases so that special protection was necessary for them. Horses were equipped with gas masks over their muzzles and were protected from inhalation of poi…
In an event that is widely acknowledged to have sparked the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sar…
A British soldier with a bandaged head smiles as he shows the cameraman his helmet and the large hole blown straight through it. His smile says it all. Back then the main reason for wearing a helmet wasn't protection from gunfire, but from shrapnel from expl…