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Crowds gather outside Buckingham Palace to cheer King George V, Queen Mary of Teck, and Frederick, the Prince of Wales, following the Declaration of War (1914)

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4 August 1914 • Great Britain’s declaration of war on Germany

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4 August 1914 • Great Britain’s declaration of war on Germany

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After the regicide of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, by Bosnian Serb student, Gavrilo Princip, Austria-Hungary demands Serbia arrest the responsible leaders of the Black Hand, but Serbia refuses and thus appeals to Russia for help. A month later, on 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, officially beginning the First World War. Germany follows suit against Russia and France, with troops then invading Belgium. On that same day, protesting the violation of Belgian independence and neutrality, guaranteed by the Treaty of London (1839), the United Kingdom joins the fight against Germany. They “call out” the Army and Navy Reserves, with the Territorial Force “embodied” by Royal Proclamation.

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"Your King and Country Need You - A Call to Arms" poster (1914)

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5 August 1914 • Publishing of “Your King and Country need you: a call to arms” by Lord Kitchener, the new Secretary of State for War

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5 August 1914 • Publishing of “Your King and Country need you: a call to arms” by Lord Kitchener, the new Secretary of State for War

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The calling for 100,000 men to enlist in the army forms six new divisions of volunteers, called “Kitchener’s army”, within two weeks. By December, men enlist together in local recruiting drives, known as “Pals battalions”, promised to serve alongside their friends, neighbours, and colleagues instead of being arbitrarily allocated. By March of next year, the total number of divisions increases to 41.

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Poster supporting Lord Kitchener's "call to arms" (1914)

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8 August 1914 • Imposing of censorship and civil security controls through the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA)

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8 August 1914 • Imposing of censorship and civil security controls through the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA)

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As a piece of emergency legislation, enacted without debate and passed by Parliament, DORA gives the government wide-ranging powers during the war, ensuring the security of the nation by preventing potential invasions and keeping a high British morale. For example, it allows the requisition of needed buildings or land, as well as the creation of criminal offences through new regulations. DORA imposes various authoritarian mechanisms of social control, such as heavy censorship of the press in journalism and front-line letters, redacting any operational information that might be exploited by the Central powers. It even prohibits simple peacetime activities like flying kites, starting bonfires, and buying binoculars or alcohol on public transport, restricting pub opening times. Over time, amendments take place to encompass more precautions.

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Cartoon showing a man censoring newspapers in accordance with DORA

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19 January 1915 • First air raid over Britain

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19 January 1915 • First air raid over Britain

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Two German Navy Zeppelin airships—a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin—drop bombs and incendiaries over the seaside town and unparished area of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in Norfolk. Four civilians are killed and sixteen injured.

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FireShot Capture 161 - Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn zeppelin raids anniversary - Eastern D_ - www.edp24.co.uk

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Damaged houses in King’s Lynn due to Zeppelin airship raid (1915)

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WSPU's "Right to Serve" march to demand work in munitions (1915)

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17 July 1915 • “Women's Right to Serve” demonstration, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, in Trafalgar Square, London

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17 July 1915 • “Women's Right to Serve” demonstration, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, in Trafalgar Square, London

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As founder and leader of the Suffragettes, members of the British Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) militant movement who fought for their right to vote in public elections through direct political action and civil disobedience, Pankhurst and her followers march through the public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, to demonstrate their willingness to help in any war service to David Lloyd George, the Minister of Munitions. In terms of social change, women’s presence in the local workforce was already encouraged by, for example, the first “dilution” agreement between the Engineering Employers Federation and trades unions (1914), allowing inexperienced workers, like women, to assume certain jobs, and the Women’s War Agricultural Committees. Moreover, this mobilisation of the workforce leads to the establishment of the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Forestry Corps (1917), as well as the Women’s Royal Naval Service and Women’s Royal Air Force (1918).

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Emmeline Pankhurst, English political activist of the Suffragettes (c. 1913)

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2 March 1916 • Introduction of compulsory conscription in Great Britain, but not Ireland, through the Military Service Act

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2 March 1916 • Introduction of compulsory conscription in Great Britain, but not Ireland, through the Military Service Act

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Passed by Parliament, who no longer relies on voluntary enlistment or the moral conscription of the Derby Scheme’s strong pressure tactics, men from 18 to 41 years old can be called up for service in the army. The only exemptions include those who are married, widowed with children, serving in the Royal Navy, a minister of religion, working in one of a number of reserved occupations, or for conscientious objection approved, usually temporarily, by the Local Military Service Tribunals.

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"The Military Service Act" poster (1916)

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The shell of the G.P.O. on Sackville Street (later O'Connell Street), Dublin in the aftermath of the Easter Rising (1916)

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24–29 April 1916 • Easter Rising by Irish Nationalists in Dublin

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24–29 April 1916 • Easter Rising by Irish Nationalists in Dublin

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With Britain’s forces focused on the global conflict, the rebels of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), the Irish Volunteers, and the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) launch into an armed insurrection against British rule in the hopes of establishing an independent Irish Republic. Outside Dublin’s General Post Office (G.P.O.), Pádraig Pearse reads out their proclamation to the public, undertaking a following week-long conflict that, though ending in their surrender and the execution of Rising leaders, sparks further support for their cause along the way to Irish independence.

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Retouched copy of the original Easter Proclamation (1916)

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"Yorkshire Evening Post" advert for The Battle of the Somme" (1916)

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10 August 1916 • London premiere of "The Battle of the Somme"

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10 August 1916 • London premiere of "The Battle of the Somme"

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A British documentary and propaganda war film, shot by Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell, it depicts the British Expeditionary Force in the early days of the real Battle of the Somme (1 July–18 November 1916), the first one fought between the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire, taking place on both sides of the upper reaches of the French river. It depicts trench warfare and its wounding consequences, even staging scenes behind the actual lines of combat. An estimate of 20 million Britons see the film during its first six weeks of release.

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Lloyd George’s Imperial War Cabinet (1918)

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7 December 1916 • Forming of David Lloyd George’s new coalition government

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7 December 1916 • Forming of David Lloyd George’s new coalition government

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Appointed Prime Minister by King George V, liberal David Lloyd George replaces H. H. Asquith, who’d been held responsible for British losses thus far and whose continuing supporters served as the Official Opposition.

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David Lloyd George, British politician and the last member of the Liberal Party to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (between 1916 and 1922)

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Women packing bottles of cod liver oil into crates stamped with the words "Min. of Food Charged 10 shillings"

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22 December 1916 • Establishment of the first Ministry of Food

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22 December 1916 • Establishment of the first Ministry of Food

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Under the New Ministries and Secretaries Act of the same year, food controllers can regulate the supply and consumption of food, leading to several rationings, while simultaneously taking steps to encourage its production. For example, it controls the oils and fats previously managed by the Ministry of Munitions, the cheese and frozen fish of the Board of Trade, the oats from the War Office, as well as supplies of flour and other grains due to the Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies set up by Order in Council. It even sponsors a network of canteens known as National Kitchens—restaurants aimed at feeding people cheaply and economically—considering the scarcity of supplies caused by the German U-boat campaign, which deployed the Imperial German Navy on the German Bight, commerce raiders, and unrestricted submarine warfare against the trade routes of the Allies.

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Cooks preparing a meal in a National Kitchen

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25 May 1917 • First raid on England by German Gotha heavy bomber aircraft

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25 May 1917 • First raid on England by German Gotha heavy bomber aircraft

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The Gotha G.IV, a heavy bomber—aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (take-off to landing) of their time—used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) attacks Folkestone in Kent.

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Crowds gather outside Buckingham Palace, once again, now celebrating Armistice Day with the Royal Family on the balcony (11 November 1918)

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11 November 1918 • Announcement of signed armistice, with a cease on hostilities at 11 am, by Lloyd George

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11 November 1918 • Announcement of signed armistice, with a cease on hostilities at 11 am, by Lloyd George

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The Armistice of 11 November 1918, signed at Le Francport near Compiègne in France, ends fighting on land, sea, and air between the Allies and Germany, their last remaining opponent. Lloyd George makes a statement to the House confirming the terms of peace, the chimes of the Big Ben bellowing on the streets. The mood within the Palace of Westminster, contrary to public celebration, remains sombre, with Parliamentarians retiring for a Thanksgiving service at the Church of St. Margaret, Westminster. To this day, citizens across the United Kingdom pay their respects to those who died in war by following a national service of remembrance at the Cenotaph in London, "Armistice Day" falling every Sunday closest to 11 November.

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"Nottingham Evening Post" (11 November 1918)

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"Armistice Day: UK falls silent to remember war dead" by Sky News

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Armistice Day: UK falls silent to remember war dead