Research shows work still to be done to raise awareness about First World War
by Kate Clements; August 5, 2013
Think tank British Future urges Britain: Do mention the war
Just a year before the centenary of the First World War, most Britons struggle to tell the two world wars apart, a new report by the think tank British Future reveals.
But they also challenge Britons to use the centenary of the war as a chance to learn the history that shaped the country we are today.
‘Do Mention the War’ features polling carried out for British Future by YouGov, which found that:
– More people think Britain declared war in August 1914 because Germany invaded Poland (as was the case in 1939) than Belgium: only 13% knew the right answer.
– 81% do know that Germany was an enemy of Britain in 1914 – but 8% of the under-24s believe that Britain and Germany were allies in the Great War trenches.
– 47% do know that it was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that sparked the First World War – but with a big gender gap, with 39% of women knowing this, compared to 58% of men.
– More people chose Neville Chamberlain than Herbert Asquith as the man who was in Downing Street in 1914, but most people couldn’t guess.
17% know that Lloyd George was Prime Minister when the war ended – but 7% of the under-24s think Margaret Thatcher was PM in 1918.
The think tank’s research into public attitudes around the country finds a strong commitment to using the centenary to learn more about how the war changed Britain.
Director of British Future, Sunder Katwala, said: “Most people do know that there was a war in 1914, and four out of five of us that Germany was an enemy then. Most can identify France and America as allies too, but almost everything else is minority knowledge.”
Diane Lees, Director-General of Imperial War Museums, said: “This is the first major anniversary of the First World War without any living veterans or eyewitnesses alive who can give us new insights into their experiences. It’s for the generations alive today to make the centenary into an anniversary with meaning.”