On July 28th 1914 began the outbreak of the First World War， aka World War 1 or The Great War for Civilisation。
1914年7月28日開始爆發第一次世界大戰，又稱第一次世界大戰或文明大戰爭
World War 1 facts： Why did it start？
第一次世界大戰的事實：它為什麼開始？
A hundred years might seem like a very long time ago， but it isn‘t really。 Your great-great grandparents were around then， and they would have lived through， and maybe even taken part in， this terrible conflict。
一百年似乎是很久以前的事了，但事實並非如此。你的曾祖父母那時就在你身邊，他們會經歷，甚至可能參與到這場可怕的衝突中。
Lots of history books have been written on World War 1 facts and why it started。 But it all boils down to the fact that Europe had split into two large families of countries。 The Allies — the British Empire， France， Belgium， Russia and later， the USA — were in one family。 And the Central Powers of Germany， Austria， Hungary， Bulgaria and Turkey were in the other。 On 4 August 1914， Germany invaded Belgium， and so， standing by its promise to stick up for Belgium， Britain declared war on Germany。 The world was at war…
很多歷史書都是關於第一次世界大戰的事實和它的起因的。但歸根結底，歐洲已經分裂成兩個國家的大家庭。盟國——大英帝國、法國、比利時、俄羅斯以及後來的美國——是一個大家庭， 而德國、奧地利、匈牙利、保加利亞和土耳其的中央權力在另一個大家庭。1914年8月4日，德國入侵比利時，因此，英國堅持為比利時而戰的承諾，向德國宣戰。世界處於戰爭中…
How long did World War 1 last？
第一次世界大戰持續了多久？
When the First World War began that summer， most people thought it would be over by Christmas。 Many believed that Britain was so powerful it could win very quickly。 In fact， the First World War lasted four terrible years， not four months。
那年夏天第一次世界大戰爆發時，大多數人以為聖誕節就要結束了。許多人認為英國是如此強大，以至於可以很快獲勝。事實上，第一次世界大戰持續了四年，而不是四個月。
Life in the trenches in World War 1
一戰戰壕中的生活
Soldiers in the trenches would spend their days doing chores， firing at the enemy， playing cards and writing letters home。 Incredibly， nine out of ten men survived！
By the winter of 1915， the opposing sides had both dug long ditches called trenches which faced each other， in some places just 30m apart！
戰壕裡計程車兵每天都要做家務，向敵人開火，打牌，寫信回家。難以置信的是，十個人中有九個活下來了！
到1915年冬天，敵對雙方都挖了一條叫做“戰壕”的長溝，彼此對峙，有的地方相距只有30米！
These lines of narrow trenches stretched from the Belgian coast to Switzerland， and were known as the Western Front。 Over five million British soldiers spent time living in these muddy， miserable ditches， taking it in turns to be on the Front Line — the trench closest to the enemy。
這些狹長的戰壕從比利時海岸延伸到瑞士，被稱為西線。超過500萬英國士兵在這些泥濘、悲慘的溝渠中生活，輪流來到前線——離敵人最近的溝渠。
Day-to-day life there was smelly and grim。 There were millions of giant rats， overflowing latrines （loos） and terrible lice infestations。 Not to mention the dead bodies。 Every so often， soldiers on the Front Line would be instructed to leave their trench and venture into dangerous No Man’s Land （the area between the sides） to try to push back the enemy。
那裡的日常生活又臭又慘。有數百萬只巨大的老鼠，滿溢的廁所和可怕的蝨子滋生。更不用說屍體了。前線計程車兵常常接到命令，離開戰壕，冒險進入危險的無人區（雙方之間的地區），試圖擊退敵人。
A new type of war
新型戰爭
These big guns were new to warfare。
This war was very different from conflicts of the past。 For the first time， powerful new weapons and vehicles were used – at sea， on land and in the air – resulting in many people being killed or wounded。 In Britain， you could sometimes hear what sounded like thunder coming across the English Channel from Europe。
In fact， it was the huge boom of big guns， called artillery， being fired on the Western Front。 75% of all men who died in World War 1 were killed by artillery。
The largest battle of the World War 1 – the Battle of the Somme – is known as one of the bloodiest battles in history。 It was fought by the French and British against the Germans on both sides of the River Somme in France， and lasted for more than five months。 Over a million men were killed or wounded， and it was the first time that a tank was used in combat。
這些大炮是新來的。
這場戰爭與過去的衝突大不相同。在海上、陸上和空中，首次使用了威力強大的新型武器和車輛，造成許多人傷亡。在英國，你有時能聽到從歐洲傳來的雷聲穿過英吉利海峽。
事實上，這是一個巨大的繁榮，大炮，稱為大炮，正在向西線開火。在第一次世界大戰中犧牲的人中，75%是死於炮火。
第一次世界大戰中規模最大的戰役——索姆河戰役，被稱為歷史上最血腥的戰役之一。這是法國和英國人在法國索姆河兩岸與德國人的戰鬥，持續了5個多月。一百多萬人傷亡，這是第一次在戰鬥中使用坦克。
Animals during World War 1
第一次世界大戰期間的動物
This brave Airedale terrier， called Jim， was trained to spot Zeppelins approaching the Kent coast。
Both on the battlefield and back at home， some incredible creatures helped to transport soldiers and goods – and save lives。
Almost a million horses were involved in the war。 Soldiers on horseback were known as the Cavalry and horses also pulled some of the gigantic guns， ambulances and supply wagons。 Gas from horse droppings could even be used to power lamps！
British families gave their pet dogs to the army so they could carry messages in special tubes on their collars （see above）。 Dogs were fast， difficult to shoot at， and they also caught rats！ Pet pigeons were drafted in to carry messages over long distances， often carrying news from the Front Line back to Britain — Germans trained hawks to kill any carrier pigeons they saw。 Goldfish did their bit too — after gas attacks， the gas masks were washed and rinsed。 And if the rinsing water killed a goldfish that was placed in it， that meant the masks still had poison on them！
這隻名叫吉姆的勇敢的空中獵犬被訓練成能發現飛艇正接近肯特海岸。
無論是在戰場上還是在家裡，一些不可思議的生物都幫助運送士兵和貨物，拯救了生命。
將近一百萬匹馬捲入了戰爭。騎馬計程車兵被稱為騎兵，馬還拉著一些巨大的槍支、救護車和補給車。馬糞中的氣體甚至可以用來給燈供電！
英國家庭把他們的寵物狗交給軍隊，這樣他們就可以在項圈上用特殊的管子攜帶資訊（見上圖）。狗跑得很快，很難射擊，它們還捉老鼠！寵物鴿被徵召來遠距離傳遞資訊，經常把前線的新聞帶回英國——德國人訓練鷹殺死他們看到的任何信鴿。金魚也會這樣做——在毒氣襲擊之後，防毒面具被清洗乾淨。如果沖洗水殺死了放在裡面的金魚，那就意味著面具上還有毒藥！