Project Overview
Approach and Scope
For the past century, the image of the First World War has primarily focused on Central and Western Europe. However, World War I was not only a pan-European war, but was also the first global war. It was an economic war that spanned the globe: numerous non-European states participated and European powers mobilised the resources of their colonial empires. These perspectives are an important factor in 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.
The encyclopedia depicts the First World War from a transnational perspective and as a global conflict which reached beyond 1918. 1914-1918-online summarises the most recent expert knowledge, making it widely accessible for specialists and the general public alike. The encyclopedia not only reflects the increasingly international research on the First World War, but works at the forefront of the research, identifying gaps and desiderata. With over 1,600 articles, 1914-1918-online is, to date, the most comprehensive academic encyclopedia on the First World War.
In addition, 1914-1918-online allows for international engagement with First World War research. This is grounded in the encylopedia’s unique connections between wide-ranging and regularly updated articles. Global entanglements are further highlighted by maps showing the focal locations for each article, secondary literature sourced from international library catalogues, digitised images and primary sources, and other relevant online resources from across the globe.
1914-1918-online also represents a major undertaking in digital history publication under the Open Access paradigm. It promotes free and unlimited dissemination of the content to individual users, search engines, and reference services.
Project Structure
The online encyclopedia is the result of an international collaborative project. Over 1,200 authors, editors and external referees from all over the world work together to bring the project to life. These experts, along with the editorial team and double peer-review process, ensure the academic quality of the encyclopedia. Partner institutions from over ten countries complement this network.
Experts from more than fifty countries have contributed to “1914-1918-online“
The project management and Editorial Office, which are also responsible for the conceptualisation of 1914-1918-onlin”, are located at the Division of Modern History at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut of the Freie Universität Berlin. The encyclopedia is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Oliver Janz, in connection with six General Editors. The Editorial Advisory Board assists and advises both the editorial board and the project team. The Editorial Board, which is made up of more than 100 well-known historians, is responsible for the assessment and quality management of the authors’ contributions. The Managing Editors support the authors and coordinate the review process. The encyclopedia’s Section Editors are responsible for providing article outlines, suggesting authors, and reviewing the articles in a particular thematic or regional section. Together with the Managing Editors, they are instrumental in the further development of the encyclopedia’s content through the incorporation of new research and the proposal of new articles in emerging fields.
The Bavarian State Library (BSB) indexes the articles and assigns non-ambiguous personal identifiers. In addition to subject indexing, the BSB is responsible for the long-term archiving and cataloguing of the individual encyclopedia articles.
The university library of the Freie Universität Berlin provides technological support for the article management system, the encyclopedia’s web-publishing, and the operation of the platforms.
Funding
From 2011-2015 and 2016-2019, the project was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under the programme "Scientific Library and Information Systems". It was also supported by the Freie Universität Berlin, the German Historical Institutes in London, Moscow, Paris, Rome, and Warsaw, and the German Federal Foreign Office.
Open Access
"1914-1918-online" represents a major undertaking in digital history publication under the Open Access paradigm by promoting free and unlimited dissemination of the content to individual users, search engines, and reference services. This availability is complemented by novel navigation schemes that allow the user non-linear access throughout the text via thematic contexts, regional contexts, as well as a timeline, an image database and indexes of names and places. The platform is designed to enable users to follow threads according to their specific interests, integrating a broad range of texts from various contexts.
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