18% of Britons believe the country fought Hitler and Nazi Germany during the Great War which is WWI.
If that is translated into numbers, one in five Britons thinks the country entered the First World War in 1914 to stop the notorious German dictator and his equally notorious group which rose and was a key player to that advent of the Second World War.
The survey commissioned by the Times WWI Facsimile and involved 2,493 adult Britons also found out that 17% of the polled group thought that the German dictator Adolf Hitler led Germany in the Great War.
The said survey yielded these following results:
Seven of the ten polled Britons (69%) knew that the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was Franz Ferdinand and they see his death as the main switch to which started the events leading to WWI rolling.
More than half of the polled Britons (57%) knew that a treaty between Belgium and Britain which stated that the latter would defend the former should an invasion occur was the reason behind Britain’s involvement in the Great War.
However, the Britons understanding about the leadership of the country during that era is a bit sketchy with one in ten believing that it was WWII Prime Minister Winston Churchill who led the country at the start of WWI.
36% of the polled Britons identified the correct person – Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith. Another 34% stated it was David Lloyd George who led the country at the start of WWI; George’s premiership began during the 1914-1918 conflict.
The areas in where the polled Britons scored the highest were:
– the time WWI occurred (90% answered correctly)
– what the term The Allies adduce to (92% answered correctly)
– the event wherein German and British soldiers once played a football match to mark Christmas Day (85% answered correctly)
On the other hand, 1% of the polled Britons think the troops from the warring sides gave each other tours of the trenches they built. Another eight Britons from the polled number believe soldiers in conflict once gathered together to watch the premiere of WWII war film The Great Escape.
Britons from the East Midlands were the most knowledgeable among the polled number as they got an overall score of 70%. Britons from London were the least knowledgeable getting only 63% of the answers right.
Those from Scotland were the most successful in belting out the right answers (68%) compared to Britons from England (66%) and Wales (64%).
Britons aged 55 up had the most knowledge about the Great War with an average of 72%. Additionally, more male Britons than female gave the right answers to the nine survey questions asked.
The survey also revealed that only one in ten Britons believe that teaching about the Great War is the most vital British subject in school. The topic ranks behind WWII, the history of the monarchy and the Magna Carta.
In light of these results, archive editor of Times Rose Wild stated that though many people know the basic facts about the Great War, there are still so much more to be learnt from the said conflict.