The needless waste of human life during the FIRST WORLD WAR was one of the things which caused a young man named Leslie Paul to start the Woodcraft Folk. He had been a Scout but had become worried by the way that organization was spending more time marching and less time on WOODCRAFT. He saw another generation of boys been prepared as cannon fodder for the next war.

FIRST WORLD WAR World War I, military conflict, from August 1914 to November 1918, that involved many of the countries of Europe as well the United States and other nations throughout the world. World War I was one of the most violent and destructive wars in European history. Of the 65 million men who fought in it, more than 10 million were killed and more than 20 million wounded. The term World War I did not come into general use until a second worldwide conflict broke out in 1939. Before that year, the war was known as the Great War or the World War. World War I was the first total war. Once the war began, the countries involved mobilized their entire populations and economic resources to achieve victory on the battlefield. The war began as a clash between two coalitions of European countries. The conflict eventually involved 32 countries (some of these nations, however, did not participate in the actual fighting). WOODCRAFT Skill in things concerning woods: skill in travelling, living, or working in the woods or forests, knowledge of nature and survival in the natural environment.