The New Childrens Encyclopedia

WORLD WAR I

209

 CROSSING

NOMAN’S LAND

Most attempts to

advance occurred

at dawn or dusk.

THE FRONT LINE

By the end of 1914, a network of

trenches zigzagged from the Belgian

coast to the Swiss border, forming

the Western Front. From these

positions, the Allied troops tried to

push back the advancing German

army, but neither side made much

progress. Under fire from machine

guns, the strip of land between

each other’s trenches was

impossible to cross.

The naval

battle of Jutland

was the largest

fought in history.

1916

At 11 a.m. on the 11th

day of the 11th month

(November), an armistice

(cease fire) took place. A peace

treaty was later signed.

1918

TAKE A PICTURE

More than half of the 65 million men who

fought in the war were killed or injured and

about 6.6 million civilians also died.

HISTORY AND POLITICS

The US joined the Allies,

angered by the German

U-boat attacks on

shipping in the

Atlantic Ocean.

1917

Trenchcoat

Gas attack

A deadly chlorine

gas was used for

the first time in

the battle for the

Belgium town

of Ypres in 1915.