World War I Quiz
Sarajevo, the Somme, the Red Baron and the Armistice: 15 questions on the war that reshaped the world.
The assassination of which archduke in Sarajevo in June 1914 triggered the outbreak of the First World War?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was shot with his wife Sophie on 28 June 1914 during a visit to Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, and the alliance system pulled Europe's great powers into war within weeks.
The archduke's car had taken a wrong turn and was reversing slowly when the assassin found himself only a few feet away from it.
Which treaty, signed in June 1919, formally ended the war between Germany and the Allied powers?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors, exactly five years after the Sarajevo assassination. It stripped Germany of territory, limited its army and imposed reparations under a clause assigning it responsibility for the war.
Separate treaties dealt with Germany's allies: Saint-Germain with Austria, Trianon with Hungary and Sèvres with the Ottoman Empire.
On what date did the Armistice that ended fighting on the Western Front come into effect?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
11 November 1918
The Armistice was signed in the early hours of 11 November 1918 and took effect at 11 o'clock that morning, Paris time. Many countries still mark the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month with a silence.
Fighting continued right up to the deadline, and several thousand casualties were recorded on the morning of 11 November itself.
In which year did the United States declare war on Germany and enter the First World War?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1917
Congress declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917 after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram revealed a plot to ally with Mexico. American troops arrived in large numbers during 1918.
President Woodrow Wilson had won re-election in 1916 with the slogan 'He kept us out of war', just months before asking Congress to declare it.
Which British passenger liner was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Ireland in May 1915, killing nearly 1,200 people?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Lusitania
The Cunard liner Lusitania was hit by a single torpedo from U-20 on 7 May 1915 and sank in about 18 minutes off the Irish coast. Around 128 of the 1,197 dead were Americans, which turned US opinion sharply against Germany.
Germany had published newspaper warnings in New York before the voyage telling passengers that ships flying the British flag were liable to attack.
Who fired the shots that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb linked to the Black Hand secret society, shot the couple at close range as their car stalled on a side street. Too young for the death penalty, he received 20 years and died of tuberculosis in prison in 1918.
An earlier bomb thrown at the motorcade that morning by Čabrinović bounced off the archduke's car and injured people in the vehicle behind.
Which German fighter pilot, nicknamed the Red Baron, was credited with 80 aerial victories?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen painted his aircraft red and became the highest-scoring pilot of the war with 80 confirmed victories. He was killed on 21 April 1918 when a single bullet struck him while chasing a British plane low over the Somme.
Who fired the fatal shot is still debated, with rival claims for Canadian pilot Roy Brown and for Australian machine gunners on the ground.
On the first day of which 1916 battle did the British Army suffer about 57,000 casualties, the worst day in its history?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Battle of the Somme
On 1 July 1916 British troops advanced after a week-long bombardment that had failed to cut the German wire or destroy the deep dugouts. By nightfall 19,240 men were dead and total casualties stood at 57,470.
The battle dragged on until November 1916 and saw the first use of tanks in warfare, on 15 September.
Which 1916 battle, the longest of the war, saw French forces hold the line against a massive German offensive for ten months?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Battle of Verdun
The German assault on Verdun began on 21 February 1916 and fighting continued until 18 December, some 302 days. Each side lost well over 300,000 men, and the French rallying cry 'They shall not pass' became a national legend.
The Somme offensive was launched partly to relieve pressure on Verdun by forcing Germany to shift troops north.
The 1915 Gallipoli campaign, in which Australian and New Zealand troops landed on 25 April, aimed to knock which empire out of the war?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ottoman Empire
The Allies hoped to force the Dardanelles, capture Constantinople and open a supply route to Russia. Ottoman forces held the Gallipoli peninsula, and after months of stalemate the Allies evacuated in January 1916.
The anniversary of the landing, 25 April, is still observed as Anzac Day, the main day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand.
Which intercepted 1917 telegram revealed a German proposal that Mexico join the war against the United States?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Zimmermann Telegram
German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann sent the coded message to his ambassador in Mexico in January 1917, offering Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in return for an alliance. British codebreakers in Room 40 decoded it and passed it to Washington.
Zimmermann surprised everyone by publicly admitting the telegram was genuine, removing any suspicion that it was a British forgery.
Which country left the Triple Alliance and joined the war on the Allied side in May 1915?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Italy
Italy had been allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary but stayed neutral in 1914. The secret Treaty of London promised it Austrian territory, and Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915.
Italy's war was fought mostly in the Alps and along the Isonzo river, where twelve separate battles were fought against Austro-Hungarian forces.
Which treaty, signed in March 1918, took Russia out of the war on harsh terms dictated by Germany?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
After the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin's government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, giving up Finland, the Baltic provinces, Poland and Ukraine. The treaty freed German divisions for a final offensive in the west.
The treaty was annulled by the Armistice in November 1918, only eight months after it was signed.
Which US president set out the Fourteen Points as a basis for peace in January 1918?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Woodrow Wilson
Wilson presented his Fourteen Points to Congress on 8 January 1918, calling for open diplomacy, self-determination and a League of Nations. Germany sought an armistice on that basis, but the Versailles settlement departed from it in many ways.
The US Senate never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, so America never joined the League of Nations that Wilson had championed.
In which French forest was the Armistice of 11 November 1918 signed, inside a railway carriage?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Compiègne
The German delegation signed the Armistice in Marshal Foch's private railway carriage, parked in a siding in the Forest of Compiègne north of Paris. The remote spot was chosen to keep the talks secret and away from journalists.
In June 1940 Hitler had the same carriage brought to the same spot to receive France's surrender, then took it away to Germany.
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All History quizzes →About the World War I Quiz
Two pistol shots in Sarajevo in June 1914 set off a chain reaction that dragged the great powers of Europe into four years of industrial slaughter. On the first day of the Somme the British Army lost 57,470 men, Verdun ground on for ten months, and a red-painted Fokker made Manfred von Richthofen the most famous pilot of the age.
These 15 questions follow the war from the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to the railway carriage at Compiègne, taking in Gallipoli, the Lusitania, the Zimmermann Telegram and the Treaty of Versailles along the way. Each answer comes with an instant explanation and a bonus fact. It suits history students, documentary watchers and anyone preparing for a Remembrance week pub quiz.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
Which battles appear in the World War I Quiz?
The Somme, Verdun and Gallipoli each get a question, alongside the sinking of the Lusitania, the Zimmermann Telegram and the Armistice at Compiègne.
Is this quiz harder than the World War II Quiz?
They are both rated Medium. The First World War is less familiar to many players, so expect the later questions on Brest-Litovsk and Compiègne to be the tough ones.
Are the facts verified?
Yes. Casualty figures, dates and treaty details were checked against sources such as the Imperial War Museums before the quiz went live, and each answer explains why it is right.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- The assassination of which archduke in Sarajevo in June 1914 triggered the outbreak of the First World War?
Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was shot with his wife Sophie on 28 June 1914 during a visit to Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, and the alliance system pulled Europe's great powers into war within weeks. The archduke's car had taken a wrong turn and was reversing slowly when the assassin found himself only a few feet away from it. - Which treaty, signed in June 1919, formally ended the war between Germany and the Allied powers?
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors, exactly five years after the Sarajevo assassination. It stripped Germany of territory, limited its army and imposed reparations under a clause assigning it responsibility for the war. Separate treaties dealt with Germany's allies: Saint-Germain with Austria, Trianon with Hungary and Sèvres with the Ottoman Empire. - On what date did the Armistice that ended fighting on the Western Front come into effect?
11 November 1918 The Armistice was signed in the early hours of 11 November 1918 and took effect at 11 o'clock that morning, Paris time. Many countries still mark the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month with a silence. Fighting continued right up to the deadline, and several thousand casualties were recorded on the morning of 11 November itself. - In which year did the United States declare war on Germany and enter the First World War?
1917 Congress declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917 after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram revealed a plot to ally with Mexico. American troops arrived in large numbers during 1918. President Woodrow Wilson had won re-election in 1916 with the slogan 'He kept us out of war', just months before asking Congress to declare it. - Which British passenger liner was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Ireland in May 1915, killing nearly 1,200 people?
Lusitania The Cunard liner Lusitania was hit by a single torpedo from U-20 on 7 May 1915 and sank in about 18 minutes off the Irish coast. Around 128 of the 1,197 dead were Americans, which turned US opinion sharply against Germany. Germany had published newspaper warnings in New York before the voyage telling passengers that ships flying the British flag were liable to attack. - Who fired the shots that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo?
Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb linked to the Black Hand secret society, shot the couple at close range as their car stalled on a side street. Too young for the death penalty, he received 20 years and died of tuberculosis in prison in 1918. An earlier bomb thrown at the motorcade that morning by Čabrinović bounced off the archduke's car and injured people in the vehicle behind. - Which German fighter pilot, nicknamed the Red Baron, was credited with 80 aerial victories?
Manfred von Richthofen Manfred von Richthofen painted his aircraft red and became the highest-scoring pilot of the war with 80 confirmed victories. He was killed on 21 April 1918 when a single bullet struck him while chasing a British plane low over the Somme. Who fired the fatal shot is still debated, with rival claims for Canadian pilot Roy Brown and for Australian machine gunners on the ground. - On the first day of which 1916 battle did the British Army suffer about 57,000 casualties, the worst day in its history?
Battle of the Somme On 1 July 1916 British troops advanced after a week-long bombardment that had failed to cut the German wire or destroy the deep dugouts. By nightfall 19,240 men were dead and total casualties stood at 57,470. The battle dragged on until November 1916 and saw the first use of tanks in warfare, on 15 September. - Which 1916 battle, the longest of the war, saw French forces hold the line against a massive German offensive for ten months?
Battle of Verdun The German assault on Verdun began on 21 February 1916 and fighting continued until 18 December, some 302 days. Each side lost well over 300,000 men, and the French rallying cry 'They shall not pass' became a national legend. The Somme offensive was launched partly to relieve pressure on Verdun by forcing Germany to shift troops north. - The 1915 Gallipoli campaign, in which Australian and New Zealand troops landed on 25 April, aimed to knock which empire out of the war?
Ottoman Empire The Allies hoped to force the Dardanelles, capture Constantinople and open a supply route to Russia. Ottoman forces held the Gallipoli peninsula, and after months of stalemate the Allies evacuated in January 1916. The anniversary of the landing, 25 April, is still observed as Anzac Day, the main day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand. - Which intercepted 1917 telegram revealed a German proposal that Mexico join the war against the United States?
Zimmermann Telegram German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann sent the coded message to his ambassador in Mexico in January 1917, offering Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in return for an alliance. British codebreakers in Room 40 decoded it and passed it to Washington. Zimmermann surprised everyone by publicly admitting the telegram was genuine, removing any suspicion that it was a British forgery. - Which country left the Triple Alliance and joined the war on the Allied side in May 1915?
Italy Italy had been allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary but stayed neutral in 1914. The secret Treaty of London promised it Austrian territory, and Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915. Italy's war was fought mostly in the Alps and along the Isonzo river, where twelve separate battles were fought against Austro-Hungarian forces. - Which treaty, signed in March 1918, took Russia out of the war on harsh terms dictated by Germany?
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk After the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin's government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, giving up Finland, the Baltic provinces, Poland and Ukraine. The treaty freed German divisions for a final offensive in the west. The treaty was annulled by the Armistice in November 1918, only eight months after it was signed. - Which US president set out the Fourteen Points as a basis for peace in January 1918?
Woodrow Wilson Wilson presented his Fourteen Points to Congress on 8 January 1918, calling for open diplomacy, self-determination and a League of Nations. Germany sought an armistice on that basis, but the Versailles settlement departed from it in many ways. The US Senate never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, so America never joined the League of Nations that Wilson had championed. - In which French forest was the Armistice of 11 November 1918 signed, inside a railway carriage?
Compiègne The German delegation signed the Armistice in Marshal Foch's private railway carriage, parked in a siding in the Forest of Compiègne north of Paris. The remote spot was chosen to keep the talks secret and away from journalists. In June 1940 Hitler had the same carriage brought to the same spot to receive France's surrender, then took it away to Germany.
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