Almost 20% of British Believe Britain Fought Nazis in World War I

Nearly one in five Britons thinks the country became involved in the First World War to stop the rise of Nazi Germany, according to a survey.

Eighteen per cent of those polled mistakenly believed the UK entered into the conflict in 1914 to halt the group which was led by Adolf Hitler in the Second World War.

The research also found that 17% thought the dictator was the leader of Germany at the time of the First World War.

However, the survey of 2,493 adults commissioned by The Times WWI Centenary Facsimile also found a majority of those questioned were clued up on several key facts.

Nearly seven in ten people (69%) knew that Franz Ferdinand was the Archduke of Austria-Hungary. His assassination is widely seen as having set in motion the chain of events that led to the war.

More than half (57%) knew that Britain became involved in the First World War because of a treaty with Belgium to defend it in the event of an invasion.

Knowledge of the country's leadership was sketchy, with one in ten believing Winston Churchill was Prime Minister at the start of the conflict.

Only 36% correctly answered that the prime minister was Herbert Henry Asquith, while 34% guessed it was David Lloyd George, whose premiership started during the war.

Areas in which respondents were most knowledgeable were when the First World War took place (90%), what the term The Allies refers to (92%), and the fact that British and German soldiers once marked Christmas Day by playing a game of football (85%).