World War 1 began on July 28, 1914. On 4 August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium  - Britain in support, declared war on Germany. The world was at war - a conflict that lasted four years, three months and 14 days - it ended on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to throne of Austria-Hungary - his death was the immediate cause of WW1. There were two sides in the war - the Triple Ententes (known as The Allies) were Britain, France, Ireland and Russia. The Central Powers were Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

  Italy originally sided with the Central Powers joining May, 1915 with the  Triple Alliance,  Germany and Austria-Hungary - their alliance was supposed to be defensive, but when Germany declared war on Austria-Hungary, Italy declared war on Germany in August, 1916.

World War 1 has been called The Great War, the World War, the War to End all Wars, World War 1, WW1 and War of the Nations .

  Men between the ages of 19 and 45 years were required to state in their returns their willingness or unwillingness to serve beyond New Zealand. The results of the Register were available by March 16th, 1916. From it rolls were prepared for each county, borough, or town, with which local recruiting committees were supplied. Public opinion, however, moved strongly in the direction of universal service and on August 1st, 1916, the Military Service Act was passed. This legislation entailed enlistment upon males between the ages of 20 and 45 years,

The eligible men of the Dominion automatically became a "Reserve," and were divided into two divisions - the First Division which consisted of unmarried men, those who had been married subsequently to May 1st, 1916, and widowers with no children.

The Second Division comprised all other reservists, who were sub-divided into six classes according to the number of children. The Act provided for calling up by public ballot as men were required, but each man so called up had the right of appeal on certain defined grounds. To hear these appeals special boards were appointed.

The men were called up to be medically examined, and according to their physical condition were classified: "A" fit for active service; "B1" able to be made fit by medical attention; "C1" likely to become fit for service overseas after special training; "C2" permanently unfit for active service but fit for service in New Zealand; "D" permanently unfitted for any service whatever. Voluntary enlistments were still accepted, and many men so offered themselves. The organisation for the administration of the Act was supplied chiefly by the Government Census and Statistical Department, which was assisted by certain auxiliary committees. The whole was under the direction of the Minister for Defence and were assisted by the Post and Telegraph Department and Police. Operating conjointly with the organisations set up under the Military Service Act was a National Efficiency Board appointed in February, 1917, for the purpose of organising industries during the war

America joined World War I on April 6, 1917 when a German submarine sank a British passenger ship, Lusitania, killing 1,195 passengers. Of these, 128 were American citizens. The outraged Americans put pressure on the U.S. government to declare war. The President, Woodrow Wilson, wanted a peaceful end but the Germans announced that they would sink any ship that approached Britain. This caused America to enter the war to help restore peace to Europe. The 7 month US combat saw about 116,000 soldiers  killed and injured 204,000.

  Chemical weapons were first used in WW1. Using poison gas was considered a war crime, but tear gas wasn’t considered to be a conflict by the troops. The Germans were the first to use lethal gases when they used a chlorine gas attack.  They later developed mustard gas - this of poison gas caused Britain to develop their own gas warfare in retaliation.

  The Allies, the British Empire, France, Belgium, Russia had 8 million soldiers killed in World War 1, and another 21 million injured  out of a staggering 65 million soldiers mobilized during the war period. .

  On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, World War 1 officially ended when Germany and the Allies signed an the Armistice agreement. This date is known as Armistice Day is  commemorated each year. People wear paper poppies to remember those who fought and died in conflicts around the world – these red flowers were the only things that grew on the bloody battle fields of Western Europe.