Page 281 - DK Children's Encyclopedia
P. 281

The Spanish
             Armada was made
           up of 130 ships that                                                                War at sea
           carried 2,500 guns                                                              Many battles take place
          and 30,000 soldiers                                                             at sea. Sea battles can be
               and sailors.                                                              very dangerous as ships can
                                                                                         quickly sink, killing everyone
                                                                                          on board. If rival boats get
                                                                                         close together, soldiers can
                                                                                            scramble across onto
                                                                                               an enemy ship.


                                   A painting of the Spanish
                                   Armada in 1588.

                                                             Civil wars
                                                         Most wars are fought
                                                      between countries, but wars
                                                      can also break out between
                                                     groups within a country—these
                                                     are known as civil wars. The US
                                                   fought a war against Britain to win
                                                     its independence in 1783, and
                                                      then fought a bitter civil war              The first official flag of the
                               This flag was used by      from 1861 to 1865.                      USA had 13 stars and 13
                               the rebel states during                                            stripes to represent each
                               the Civil War.                                                     of the colonies in 1777.



                                    A modern submachine gun can fire
                            1,200 bullets




                                   a minute, which is 20 every second.











                                    Gunpowder                                                             War graves
                               Gunpowder is an explosive                       Cost of war
                             material that was first invented            Soldiers are killed or die of their
                               in China in the 800s. It can be          wounds, and civilians caught up in
                               used in guns to propel bullets         the fighting can be killed by accident.
                                and shells very fast and over          If a person refuses to fight in a war
                                    long distances against             because they don’t believe in killing
                                       an enemy army.                     people, they are known as a
                                                                            conscientious objector.




                                 Prussian soldier

                                                             279





   US_278-279_Story_Of_War.indd   279                                                                            16/05/2017   09:57
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