On 28th June 1914, Franz Ferdinand the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated in Sarajevo by the Bosnian-Serb nationalist group, Young Bosnia, who wanted pan-Serbian independence. Franz Josef the Austro-Hungarian Emperor (with the backing of Germany) responded aggressively, presenting Serbia with an intentionally unacceptable ultimatum, to provoke Serbia into war. Although Serbia agreed to 8 of the 10 terms, on the 28th July 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, producing a cascade effect across Europe. Russia bound by treaty to Serbia declared war with Austro-Hungary, Germany declared war with Russia and France declared war with Germany. Germany’s army crossed into neutral Belgium in order to reach Paris, forcing Britain to declare war with Germany (due to the Treaty of London (1839) whereby Britain agreed to defend Belgium in the event of invasion). By the 4th August 1914 Britain and much of Europe were pulled into a war which would last 1,566 days, cost the lives of 9.5m soldiers, a further 6.3m civilians and 23.6m soldiers were injured on both sides:
| Allied Powers | Soldiers Mobilized | Soldiers Killed | Soldiers Wounded | Civilians killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Britain | 8,780,000 | 900,000 | 2,090,000 | 1,000 |
| Russia | 12,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 4,950,000 | 2,000,000 |
| France | 8,660,000 | 1,390,000 | 4,330,000 | 40,000 |
| Italy | 5,900,000 | 460,000 | 960,000 | 3,400 |
| USA | 4,350,000 | 100,000 | 230,000 | 757 |
| Others | 2,320,000 | 405,000 | 320,000 | 1,260,000 |
| Totals | 42,010,000 | 5,255,000 | 12,880,000 | 3,305,157 |
| Central Powers | Soldiers Mobilized | Soldiers Killed | Soldiers Wounded | Civilians killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 13,400,000 | 2,040,000 | 5,690,000 | 700,000 |
| Austria / Hungary | 7,800,000 | 1,400,000 | 3,620,000 | 120,000 |
| Turkey | 1,000,000 | 770,000 | 1,270,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Bulgaria | 1,200,000 | 87,000 | 150,000 | 275,000 |
| Totals | 23,400,000 | 4,297,000 | 10,730,000 | 3,095,000 |
Kippax before the outbreak of War
Over a century ago, Kippax was a much smaller place, with a much smaller population. A comparison between 1911 and 2011 highlights that Kippax’s population has over doubled in size across those 100 years. With the decline of mining, a greater proportion of females now live in the village compared to 1911, and the proportion of children in 1911 was much higher than at present, whilst there was a shocking lack of elderly Kippax villagers in 1911.
| Kippax 1911 | Kippax 2011 | ||||
| Gender | Persons | % split | Persons | % split | |
| Males | 2,157 | 53.01% | 4,808 | 48.61% | |
| Females | 1,912 | 46.99% | 5,083 | 51.39% | |
| Total | 4,069 | 9,891 | |||
| Age Groups | Persons | % split | Persons | % split | |
| 0-17 years | 1,693 | 41.61% | 1,936 | 19.57% | |
| 18-64 years | 2,214 | 54.41% | 5,844 | 59.08% | |
| 65+ years | 162 | 3.98% | 2,111 | 21.34% | |
| Total | 4,069 | 9,891 | |||
| Age Distribution | Persons 1911 | % split | Persons 2011 | % split | |
| 0-9 years | 1,015 | 24.94% | 1,065 | 10.77% | |
| 10-19 years | 826 | 20.30% | 1,074 | 10.86% | |
| 20-29 years | 719 | 17.67% | 1,173 | 11.86% | |
| 30-39 years | 595 | 14.62% | 1,133 | 11.45% | |
| 40-49 years | 427 | 10.49% | 1,336 | 13.51% | |
| 50-59 years | 259 | 6.37% | 1,394 | 14.09% | |
| 60-69 years | 146 | 3.59% | 1,308 | 13.22% | |
| 70-79 years | 67 | 1.65% | 961 | 9.72% | |
| 80+ years | 15 | 0.37% | 447 | 4.52% | |
| Total | 4,069 | 9,891 |
Kippax before the outbreak of War
Kippax had long since ceased to be a farming village: less than 4% of men with a stated trade still worked in agriculture. Instead, over 75% of working men in Kippax were miners. The vast majority of women had no stated occupations, but of those in employment, the majority were domestic servants, tailoresses, or teachers.
| Occupation | Male | Male % | Female | Female % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining | 1,108 | 75.17% | 3 | 1.56% |
| Food & Drink | 74 | 5.02% | 11 | 5.73% |
| Farming | 57 | 3.87% | 4 | 2.08% |
| Building & Labourers | 43 | 2.92% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Carters & Transport | 31 | 2.10% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Tradesmen & Finance | 21 | 1.42% | 4 | 2.08% |
| Joinery | 17 | 1.15% | 1 | 0.52% |
| Insurance | 15 | 1.02% | 1 | 0.52% |
| Entertainment | 14 | 0.95% | 6 | 3.13% |
| Blacksmith | 12 | 0.81% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Domestic work | 11 | 0.75% | 90 | 46.88% |
| Education & Law | 11 | 0.75% | 14 | 7.29% |
| Gardener | 11 | 0.75% | 2 | 1.04% |
| Retired | 11 | 0.75% | 20 | 10.42% |
| Energy | 10 | 0.68% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Cobbler | 8 | 0.54% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Health | 8 | 0.54% | 1 | 0.52% |
| Decorator | 5 | 0.34% | 1 | 0.52% |
| Clothing | 4 | 0.27% | 34 | 17.71% |
| Religion | 3 | 0.20% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Children or unspecified | 683 | 1,720 |
One American visitor to Kippax was the only individual living in Kippax in 1911 who had been born outside of the UK and Ireland, compared to 206 people in 2011. And as the table of most quoted birthplaces in 1911 below highlights, over 63% of people living in Kippax had been born in the village.
| Where Born | Persons | % | |||
| Kippax | 2,576 | 63.3% | |||
| Garforth | 90 | 2.2% | |||
| Leeds | 90 | 2.2% | |||
| Great Preston | 77 | 1.9% | |||
| Allerton Bywater | 55 | 1.4% | |||
| Castleford | 55 | 1.4% | |||
| Bowers Allerton | 38 | 0.9% | |||
| Swillington | 33 | 0.8% | |||
| Methley | 28 | 0.7% | |||
| Rothwell | 25 | 0.6% | |||
| Seacroft | 21 | 0.5% | |||
| Crossgates | 18 | 0.4% | |||
| Hunslet | 18 | 0.4% | |||
| Pontefract | 16 | 0.4% | |||
| Wakefield | 15 | 0.4% | |||
| Halton | 14 | 0.3% | |||
| Aberford | 13 | 0.3% | |||
| Ledsham | 11 | 0.3% |
Kippax Roll of Honour 