1914-1918
World War One had a lasting impact on
Newfoundland and Labrador. The people
of Newfoundland and Labrador answered Britains
call with pride and patriotism. Thousands enlisted to serve on
land, sea and air. The soldiers of the Royal Newfoundland
Regiment risked their lives to fight for Britain and freedom.
Their acts of bravery were rewarded with medals of honour.
Those who fought in the war were united with pride in the
record of their regiment and their overall war
effort.
WW1 began as a conflict between two alliances. The
Triple Entante which included France, Britain and Russia versus
the Triple Alliance which included Germany and
Austrio-Hungary. When Britain went to war, Newfoundland considered themselves
at war too, because if Britain lost Newfoundland felt that Britain's loss would
threaten their security.
No one was prepared for this war,
financially and mentally. Young men signed up to go and fight,
thinkng it would be a good time, get some good money,
memories, and be home in time
for Christmas! However, when the unexpected hit they
weren't ready. World War One lasted for 4 years and many
men did not come back at all. As the years went by less men
enlisted and the government went further in debt.
One of the the reasons for the
outbreak of WW1 was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, on June 28th 1914. Franz Ferdinand was 51and
was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was married to
Sophie Chotek von Chotvoka and had three children. However
Franz Ferdinand was very unpopular, for he made it clear he
was going to make changes to the Empire once he was made
Emperor.
Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by
a Serbian terroist group, called the Black Hand. On the day of
the assassination seven young men, trained to throw bombs
set out to kill the Archeduke. The first two terroists could
not throw the bomb because the streets were to crowded, and
the third man named Cabrincovic, threw a granade and hit the
car following the Archduke's, injuring some of the archeduke's
attendants. After Lunch Franz Ferdinand insisted on visting
the injured attendants in the hospital. On the way, another
terroist stepped out and fired two gunshots, the first hit his
pregnant wife in the stomach, and killed her instantly and the
second bullet struck the Archduke in the neck, Franz
Ferdinand died shortly afterwards. This ignited the war
between Austrio-Hungary and Serbia, who asked for Britains
help, this was the beginning.
World War One was known as the 'War to end
all wars' but this did not happen for within a few short years
another war would occur.
Propaganda was used to lure young men to
fight in the war. This is an example of an
old Newfoundland Propaganda poster
These are
some of the retuned soliders with medals in
1919
|