{"id":828,"date":"2017-04-04T19:10:36","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T19:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=828"},"modified":"2026-04-23T06:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T06:02:56","slug":"britain-in-world-war-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/britain-in-world-war-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain in World War I: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Britain was one of the main participants in the outbreak and fighting of\u00a0World War I<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, Britain was one of the main\u00a0Allied Powers<\/a>, alongside\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Russia<\/a>. While the war was primarily a European conflict, it ultimately became a global war due to the involvement of countries from around the world.\u00a0 For example, at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Britain had the largest empire, with colonies and dominions across many different regions.\u00a0 Many of these colonies and dominions sent soldiers to the battles of World War I, which made the First World War a truly global war.\u00a0 For its part, British soldiers were present in many of the major battles of the\u00a0Western Front<\/a>\u00a0of World War I and fought in the trenches of northern Europe.\u00a0 The war had a profound impact on the United Kingdom and the vast British Empire and left a considerable legacy on the Britain.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Britain in World War I – Infographic (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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BRITAIN ENTERS WORLD WAR I<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World War I<\/a> erupted during the summer of 1914 in an event that historians refer to as the\u00a0July Crisis<\/a>.\u00a0 In short, this crisis was caused by the\u00a0assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand<\/a>, which led to the major European powers engaging in a conflict.\u00a0 For example, Britain was pulled into the crisis due to its alliance with France and Russia, which was called the\u00a0Triple Entente<\/a>.\u00a0 During the war, Britain along with its allies faced off against the\u00a0Central Powers<\/a>, which included:\u00a0Germany<\/a>,\u00a0Austria-Hungary<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bulgaria<\/a>.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The assassination of Franz Ferdinand artwork by Achille Beltrame from an Italian newspaper. It shows Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Officially, World War I started on July 28th, 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.\u00a0 In response, Russia mobilized its forces further on July 30th and began to prepare for war with Austria-Hungary.\u00a0 Having heard of the Russian mobilization against Austria-Hungary, Wilhelm II<\/a> of Germany ordered German mobilization on August 1st.\u00a0 German troops were readied to invade France, through Belgium with the plan of attack known as the Schlieffen Plan<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, Germany formally declared war on August 1st against France, Belgium, and Russia.\u00a0 Britain finally entered the fray on August 4th when it declared war against Germany.\u00a0 This was due in part to Germany\u2019s invasion of Belgium, which Britain had promised to protect.\u00a0 However, Britain also wanted to keep its commitments to France as outlined in the Entente Cordiale, which was an agreement between France and the Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Entente Cordiale was part of the Triple Entente and linked the two countries together.  Finally, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August 6th in retaliation for its support of Serbia.  With that, World War I had begun and Europe was divided.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call to war was made by King George V<\/a>, the King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions.\u00a0 A \u2018dominion\u2019 is considered to be a partially independent nation under the wider control of the vast British Empire.\u00a0 At the time, the status of \u2018dominion\u2019 was given to several nations or regions within the British Empire, including:\u00a0Canada<\/a>,\u00a0Australia<\/a>, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and South Africa.\u00a0 As a result of being a Dominion of the British Empire, when Britain declared war on August 4th, 1914, these dominions were also automatically pulled into the fighting of World War I.\u00a0 Furthermore, the dominions each sent numerous soldiers to fight in the battlefields of World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Map of the European Alliances Before World War I, including the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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BRITAIN IN WORLD WAR I – ARMY AND RECRUITMENT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the start of World War I, in 1914, Britain had a much smaller army than some of the other major nations in Europe, such as France and Germany.  This was due, in part, to the vast British Empire, which required British forces to be spread across many regions of the planet.  In all, Britain had a force in 1914 of about 1,000,000 soldiers.  Another factor that led to a smaller force was that Britain did not force its citizens to join the military, which is known as \u2018conscription\u2019.  However, as World War I progressed, the need for more soldiers increased.  For instance, the British forces in World War I were made up of four distinct armies.  First was the Regular Army, which was mentioned above.  Second was the Territorial Force, which was a volunteer force used to support the Regular Army.  The Regular Army and the Territorial Force were combined at the start of World War I and sent to fight on the Western Front in France.  Together, they became known as the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and were later known as the \u2018Old Contemptibles\u2019.  The third army was another volunteer force referred to as Kitchener\u2019s Army.  This army was created following the call for volunteers by Herbert Kitchener, then the British Secretary of State for War.  In all, it is estimated that over 2.5 million British men volunteered for war and became part of the \u2018Kitchener\u2019s Army\u2019.  The final main British army of World War I was made up of conscripts who were forced to join when conscription was made mandatory in January of 1916.  By the end of the war, in 1918, the British army totaled 6,200,000.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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British Propaganda Poster (1915)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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To promote more volunteers, the British government promoted a strong recruitment campaign throughout the early period of the war.\u00a0 This included recruitment posters that called on British men to sign up and participate in the war.\u00a0 At first, there was quite a bit of excitement for the war<\/a> among people across Britain.\u00a0 This \u2018excitement for World War I\u2019 was a common feature for much of the nations that participated in World War I and was based on several different factors.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, one of the main reasons for the excitement of the war was that many viewed it as an adventure.  They read stories about soldiers bravely marching into battle and dying heroically on the battlefields for their countries.  For many of these young soldiers, they viewed the Great War as their opportunity to play a role in the \u2018glory of war\u2019 and follow in the path of earlier soldiers in earlier European conflicts.  To them, war seemed adventurous and a show of bravery that many claimed they \u2018did not want to miss\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well, many also participated in the war due to a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism for Britain.  They had been taught in school to be ready to answer the call of war for their country at any time and to be ready to serve and die for their country if necessary.  As such, patriotism and a sense of nationalistic pride drove many to join the armed forces.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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British Propaganda Poster (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Finally, it was widely believed at the time that the war would be over relatively quickly.  Since the fighting began in the summer of 1914, many pronounced that the war would surely be over by December of that year.  So for many of the young men, they believed that they were heading off to a short adventure and to represent their country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the war progressed and a stalemate in the trenches<\/a> of northern France caused the conflict to extend into 1915, the excitement that many had for the war began to change.\u00a0 The realities of trench warfare<\/a> were brutal and the image of war no longer had an adventurous or exciting feeling.\u00a0 As such, the British government struggled to gather the necessary volunteers for service in the battlefields of World War I.\u00a0 As a result, this led to the government of Britain attempting to use conscription in Ireland as a means of expanding the fighting force in the later years of World War I.\u00a0 This decision to use conscription proved to be a controversial one, and led to the Conscription Crisis of 1918.\u00a0 The issue of conscription is discussed below under the \u2018British Home Front in World War I\u2019 heading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British forces had a few different commanders throughout the time period of World War I, including: Field Marshal John French and Field Marshal Douglas Haig<\/a>.\u00a0 Both had experience from their time commanding cavalry divisions in the earlier Boer War<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Army volunteers in London in August of 1914. (Imperial War Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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BRITAIN IN WORLD WAR I – NAVY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the British Army was relatively small in comparison to the other European powers at the start of World War I, the British Royal Navy was the largest in the world in 1914.\u00a0 In fact, in 1914, Britain had 388 ships at its disposal.\u00a0 This was due in part to the Age of Imperialism<\/a> and Britain\u2019s vast colonial empire.\u00a0 For example, at the outbreak of World War I, Britain had the largest colonial empire in the world with a particular focus in Africa and Asia.\u00a0 As such, Britain required a powerful navy in order to maintain supply lines to its colonies.\u00a0 As well, since Britain was an island nation it needed a strong naval force to ensure it had the ability to carry out trade by sea.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another factor that led to British dominance in the seas was the \u2018two-power standard\u2019.  This was a concept in which the British navy would maintain more battleships than the next two largest navies in the world combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key developments in naval technology of World War I was the \u2018dreadnought<\/a>\u2019.\u00a0 The dreadnought was a class of battleship that existed in the timeframe of World War I.\u00a0 However, the first dreadnought was the HMS Dreadnought from the British Royal Navy. \u00a0The name is meant to refer to a sense of \u2018fearlessness\u2019.\u00a0 It was first launched in 1906, and completely changed the history of naval warfare at the time.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naval ships before the HMS Dreadnought were generally smaller, slower and had a smaller array of main guns.  The HMS Dreadnought was such a leap forward in naval technology that it caused other nations to copy the British.  By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Britain had 29 dreadnoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bDuring the course of World War I, the British Royal Navy faced off against the Central Powers in several naval theatres of war, including: North Sea, English Channel, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Sea.\u00a0 In general, the British Royal Navy fought against the German navy and its fleet of U-boats (submarines<\/a>).\u00a0 In fact, since Britain was an island nation it required a steady supply of outside resources and shipments.\u00a0 As such, the goal of the British Royal Navy was to maintain these supply lines, while the German Navy attempted to sink transport ships as a means of hurting the British war effort.\u00a0 Historians estimate that as many as 5,000 transport or merchant ships were lost to German U-boat attacks in World War I.\u00a0 The British, and their allies, responded by grouping merchant ships into convoys that were defended by ships from the British Royal Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HMS Dreadnought (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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BRITAIN IN WORLD WAR I – MAJOR BATTLES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

British forces participated in many of the main battles of World War I, but were primarily active on the\u00a0Western Front<\/a>.\u00a0 In general, the landscape of Europe in World War I was divided into a few different \u2018fronts\u2019.\u00a0 For instance, the Western Front was located on the western-half of Europe and included a line of trenches that stretched throughout much of northern France and Belgium.\u00a0 With that said, British forces also participated in some battles in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean.\u00a0 Furthermore, forces from the British Empire (Canada<\/a>, Australia<\/a>, New Zealand, India, etc.) also participated in battles across the different regions of World War I.\u00a0 However, the primary focus was generally on the trenches of the Western Front.
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As stated above, British forces participated in many battles of World War I.\u00a0 Some of the most significant battles of World War I that Britain participated in included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n