World War I Day by Day
Opposing troops gathered on Christmas Day for a Yuletide truce. This was an unofficial downing of arms for soldiers on the Western Front. Gifts were exchanged, carols were sung and even football was played all in No Man's Land! ––––––––––––––––––––––– Available now as an ebook! Morgan Servin World War I was the most destructive conflict the world had ever seen. Few could have predicted how the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the subsequent declaration of war on Serbia in July 1914 would escalate into a global conflict that would claim the lives of more than nine million people in little more than four years. With the 20th century still just a teenager, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, and France – obliged by historic treaties to defend other nations – were soon drawn into the conflict. Their leaders failed to grasp the full implications of the hostilities and it was commonly expected that the war would be finished by Christm