Only one in three young people knows that Remembrance Day commemorates the First World War Armistice, in a “damning indictment of history teaching” revealed by a new poll.

The survey by Ipsos found that only 33 per cent of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and people in Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) know which event is remembered on Nov 11.

The poll asked more than 1,000 British adults aged from 16 to 75 what war was commemorated each year on Remembrance Day.

Less than one in two adults (47 per cent) said the First World War. Almost 30 per cent said the Second World War, while other answers included the second English Civil War, the Iraq War, and the Napoleonic Wars.

Millennials and Gen Z respondents were the worst age demographic for responding with the correct answer.

That is compared with 53 per cent of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and 62 per cent of baby boomers (born between 1946 to 1964).

Andrew Roberts, a historian and Tory peer, said that the results were a “damning indictment of history teaching in our schools”.

Lord Roberts said: “How immensely disappointing for all that sacrificed their lives that our young people can’t be bothered to learn the first thing about Remembrance Day.

“It is the duty of parents to teach children about things like the Remembrance Day commemorations.

“It’s shaming to think that only one third of millennials know this. It’s breathtaking.

“I don’t know whether to blame them or the teachers and parents – they bear the brunt.

“You need better teaching. It should be absolutely compulsory to learn about this.

“Any child leaving school without knowing what Armistice Day represents is a condemnation of our education system.”

Lord Roberts added that he believed this lack of knowledge was one of the reasons why up to a million pro-Palestinian protesters are marching in London on Armistice Day on Saturday.

“If they don’t know what Remembrance Day is, it explains their ignorance of Middle Eastern issues,” he said.

The polling found that baby boomers and Generation X are more likely to think that it is important to teach young people in schools about the First World War.

More than 70 per cent of baby boomers believed it was “very important”, compared with 53 per cent of millennials and 45 per cent of Gen Z.

The polling also revealed that baby boomers are twice as likely as Gen Z and millennials to wear a red poppy.