Regions: Great Britain and Ireland
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291 Results

Survey Articles (Regional)

Regional
Great Britain
By Stephen Badsey
Great Britain was with its Empire the most powerful of the major belligerents, t…
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Regional
Ireland
By Richard S. Grayson
Ireland’s war experience cannot be separated from Irish politics. Indeed, the st…
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Regional Thematic Articles

Regional Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning (Great Britain)
By Patricia Jalland
This article provides a synthesis of research on bereavement and mourning in Bri…
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Regional Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Jessica Meyer
This article examines British soldiers’ attitudes towards the First World War. I…
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Regional Thematic
Centenary (Ireland)
By Edward Madigan
Irish engagement with the First World War was active and intense and yet, for mu…
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Regional Thematic
Centenary (United Kingdom)
By Lucy Noakes
How did the British nation-state, visibly divided in the early 21st century alon…
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Regional Thematic
Civilian and Military Power (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Matthew Johnson
By the early 20th century the United Kingdom had a well-established tradition of…
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Regional Thematic
Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Ann-Marie Foster
The commemoration of the First World War in Britain and Ireland has a complex hi…
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Regional Thematic
Dominions’ Military Relationship to Great Britain 1902-1914 (British Dominions)
By Steve Marti
The dominions of Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa …
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Regional Thematic
Easter Rising (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Fearghal McGarry
Although a military failure, the 1916 rebellion transformed Ireland by destroyin…
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Regional Thematic
Film/Cinema (Great Britain)
By Michael Paris
This article explores how British cinematographers filmed the war and how the fi…
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Regional Thematic
Food and Nutrition (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Ian Miller
During the First World War, food was a major concern across Britain and Ireland.…
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Regional Thematic
Governments, Parliaments and Parties (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Matthew Johnson
The Great War marked a period of profound upheaval in British politics. The old …
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Regional Thematic
Historiography 1918-Today (Great Britain)
By Alex Mayhew
This historiographical piece surveys trends and key interventions in scholarship…
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Regional Thematic
Historiography 1918-Today (Ireland)
By Fionnuala Walsh
This historiographical article surveys key interventions in scholarship of Irela…
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Regional Thematic
Labour, Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Chris Wrigley
The wartime demand for labour enhanced its economic and political strength. Indu…
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Regional Thematic
Literature (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Jane Potter
The literature produced in Great Britain and Ireland during and after the First …
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Regional Thematic
Making Sense of the War (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Catriona Pennell
At the outbreak of war, the populations of Britain and Ireland understood that v…
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Regional Thematic
Organization of War Economies (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Christopher Phillips
The First World War had a profound and longstanding effect upon the British econ…
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Regional Thematic
Post-war Conflict (Great Britain and Ireland)
By D. M. Leeson
The outbreak of war in 1914 interrupted a political crisis within the United Kin…
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Regional Thematic
Post-war Economies (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Christopher Godden
The political and economic history of Britain during the 1920s and 1930s was mou…
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Regional Thematic
Post-war Societies (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Caitríona Beaumont
The post-war years in Great Britain and Ireland witnessed a period of transforma…
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Regional Thematic
Press/Journalism (Great Britain and Ireland)
By David Monger
Discussions of press and propaganda in the British Isles sometimes focus excessi…
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Regional Thematic
Pre-war Military Planning (Great Britain)
By Hew Strachan
When Europe went to war in 1914, the continental belligerents had plans for the …
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Regional Thematic
Pre-war Paramilitary Mobilisation (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Justin Dolan Stover
Several distinct cultural, political, and class-based groups organized paramilit…
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Regional Thematic
Prisoners of War and Internees (Great Britain)
By Panikos Panayi
During the First World War, hundreds of thousands of men found themselves intern…
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Regional Thematic
Propaganda at Home (Great Britain and Ireland)
By David Monger
British and Irish domestic propaganda evolved patchily throughout the war. It un…
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Regional Thematic
Science and Technology (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Matthew Ford
This article considers the challenges faced by Britain’s armies, engineers, scie…
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Regional Thematic
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Lois Bibbings
This article considers social conflict and protest within the United Kingdom dur…
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Regional Thematic
Subjectivity and Emotions (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Jessica Meyer
This article assesses the place of shell shock in the subjective experience of B…
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Regional Thematic
Veterans' Associations (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Emma Hanna
No British government had ever formed or provided for an army of the size requir…
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Regional Thematic
War Aims and War Aims Discussions (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Brock Millman
When Britain entered the First World War its war aims were simple: to restore Be…
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Regional Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918 (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Alaric Searle
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) participated from the outset in the fighti…
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Regional Thematic
War Finance (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Martin Horn
While Britain financed the war successfully doing so exacted a toll. To meet war…
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Regional Thematic
Women's Mobilization for War (Great Britain and Ireland)
By Lucy Noakes
This article briefly surveys the impact of the First World War on the lives of B…
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Encyclopedic Entries

Entry
Aircraft, Fighter and Pursuit
By Mark Wells
The general trend in aircraft development during World War I was towards better-…
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Entry
Aircraft, Reconnaissance and Bomber
By Craig Morris
Much like fighter aircraft, World War I reconnaissance and bomber technology adv…
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Entry
Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, Viscount
By James E. Kitchen
Field Marshal Edmund Allenby was a British army officer who commanded a variety …
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Entry
Amphibious Raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge
By Mark D. Karau
On the night of 22-23 April 1918, the Royal Navy attacked the German occupied to…
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Entry
Angell, Ralph Norman
By Martin Ceadel
Norman Angell (birth name Ralph Norman Lane), built a long career as an internat…
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Entry
Arnold J. Toynbee
By Laura Di Fiore
During World War I, Arnold J. Toynbee, as a member of the Political Intelligence…
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Entry
Asquith, Herbert Henry
By Garry Tregidga
Asquith was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the outbreak of war. He form…
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Entry
Atlantic U-boat Campaign
By John Abbatiello
Between February 1915 and the Armistice, Germany conducted three submarine campa…
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Entry
Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, Earl of
By Samir Seikaly
Arthur James Balfour was a British Conservative politician and statesman who ser…
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Entry
Balfour Declaration
By Maryanne A. Rhett
The Balfour Declaration, the document that set the stage for establishing the st…
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Entry
Beatty, David Beatty, Earl
By Chuck Steele
David Beatty was a British admiral. He is best known for leading Britain’s Battl…
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Entry
Bell, Gertrude
By Laith Shakir
Gertrude Bell’s earlier travels and intellectual interests, alongside her wartim…
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Entry
Besant, Annie
By Maria Framke
Annie Besant (1847-1933) was a British supporter of Indian nationalism. During W…
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Entry
Black and Tans and Auxiliaries
By D. M. Leeson
The "Black and Tans" were British ex-soldiers recruited to reinforce the United …
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Entry
Bonar Law, Andrew
By Stuart Ball
Bonar Law was leader of the Conservative Party in Britain during the war. He ent…
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Entry
British Expeditionary Force
By Peter Simkins
Between 1914 and 1918 the British Expeditionary Force grew from a small professi…
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Entry
British Mandate for Palestine
By Avital Ginat
The British Mandate for Palestine (1918-1948) was the outcome of several factors…
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Entry
Brittain, Vera
By Carol Acton
Vera Brittain’s memoir Testament of Youth, and her wartime diary published in 19…
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Entry
Camouflage
By Cécile Coutin
A technique of concealment and protection, a means to deceive but not kill, camo…
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Entry
Carnegie, Lancelot
By Bruno J. Navarro
Minister plenipotentiary for England in Lisbon, there was consensus about Lancel…
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Entry
Casement, Roger, Sir
By Séamas Ó'Síocháin
Following a career as British consul and humanitarian investigator, Roger Caseme…
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Entry
Cavalry
By Douglas Kennedy
By the beginning of the 20th century, field armies had integrated the combat arm…
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Entry
Cavell, Edith Louisa
By Katie Pickles
Edith Cavell was an English nursing matron executed by the Germans in Brussels o…
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Entry
Cenotaph
By Glyn Prysor
The Cenotaph is a major British war memorial. Standing in Whitehall, London, it …
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Entry
Children's Literature
By Berenice Zunino
Extracurricular mobilization of children through literature took place between 1…
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Entry
Christmas Truce
By Alexandre Lafon
In December 1914, there were several truces between enemy soldiers along one par…
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Entry
Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer
By Richard Toye
Churchill was Navy Minister during the early stages of the war but was widely cr…
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Entry
Church of England
By Stuart Bell
In a conflict characterized as a Holy War between “right” and “might”, the suppo…
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Entry
Citizenship (Great Britain)
By Nicoletta F. Gullace
World War I had a profound impact on concepts of citizenship. Not only did hosts…
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Entry
Close Combat Weapons
By Markus Pöhlmann
The basic tactical question for all military powers prior to 1914 was how to app…
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Entry
Coffee
By Dorothee Wierling
Before World War I, coffee had become a popular drink in countries in the northe…
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Entry
Collins, Michael
By Frank Callanan
Michael Collins was a revolutionary leader who rose to become chairman of the Ir…
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Entry
Communication Technology
By Elizabeth Bruton
A selection of communication technologies, ancient and modern, was available at …
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Entry
Coronel, Battle of
By Andreas Leipold
On 1 November 1914, the German East Asiatic Cruiser Squadron defeated the 4th Br…
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Entry
Defence of the Realm Act (DORA)
By Gregory Hynes
The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) afforded the British government extraordinar…
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Entry
De Valera, Éamon
By Michael Laffan
De Valera was a prominent figure in the Easter 1916 rebellion against British ru…
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Entry
Dreadnought, HMS
By John Abbatiello
Adopted in 1906, HMS Dreadnought represented an innovative battleship design tha…
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Entry
Dunsterforce
By Timothy C. Winegard
Dunsterforce, officially called the British Military Mission to the Caucasus, wa…
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Entry
Empire
By Erez Manela
World War I was not simply a conflict among European states but a global war of …
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Entry
Expanding Bullets
By Paul Cornish
During the First World War both sides accused each other of employing illegal sm…
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Entry
Falklands, Battle of the
By Paul G. Halpern
During the Battle of the Falklands, the British naval force commanded by Admiral…
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Entry
Fear
By Jan Plamper
Of the two world wars, the First World War was special in that fear figured prom…
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Entry
Feminist Pacifism
By Annika Wilmers
A minority section of the women’s movements opposed World War I and organized th…
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Entry
Fisher, John Arbuthnot, Baron Fisher
By Matthew S. Seligmann
John Fisher led the Royal Navy in the run-up to and in the early years of the Fi…
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Entry
Flamethrower
By Paul Cornish
The use of portable flamethrowers in combat was a First World War innovation. Th…
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Entry
Formation of the Royal Air Force
By Mark Wells
Created in April 1918 to overcome the complex challenges occasioned by wartime p…
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Entry
French, John Denton Pinkstone, Earl of Ypres
By Nicholas Lloyd
Sir John French was the commander of the British Expeditionary Force between Jul…
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Entry
Gas Warfare
By Thomas I. Faith
Gas warfare is a method of war that employs weapons that are designed to cause c…
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Entry
Geddes, Eric Campbell, Sir
By Christopher Phillips
Eric Geddes was the most prominent example of Britain’s deployment of businessme…
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Entry
General Headquarters (Great Britain)
By Nikolas Gardner
General Headquarters (GHQ) was the organization that commanded all British and I…
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Entry
George V, King of Great Britain
By David Freeman
King George V served as a figurehead for the nations of the British Empire throu…
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Entry
Germanophobia (Great Britain)
By Panikos Panayi
During the First World War Britain became gripped with a Germanophobic hatred in…
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Entry
German Spring Offensives 1918
By Alexander Watson
The Spring Offensives of 1918 were Germany’s last attempt to defeat the British …
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Entry
Gibbs, Philip
By Stephen Badsey
Philip Gibbs was the most celebrated, and arguably the most important, of the Br…
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Entry
Grand Fleet
By Chuck Steele
The Grand Fleet was Britain’s most important manifestation of sea power in World…
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Entry
Graves, Robert
By Fran Brearton
Robert Graves was a British writer who enlisted in August 1914. He fought at the…
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Entry
Grey, Sir Edward
By Detlev Mares
Grey was the longest-serving British foreign secretary of the 20th century. His …
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Entry
Haig, Douglas
By Gary Sheffield
Douglas Haig was Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force from late…
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Entry
Haldane, Richard Burdon
By Bill Mitchinson
Liberal Secretary of State for War 1905-1912. Haldane’s reforms of the British R…
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Entry
Hand Grenade
By Nathan Watanabe
The hand grenade is a small hand-thrown bomb dating back to antiquity. Advances …
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Entry
Hankey, Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, Baron
By William Philpott
Maurice Hankey was responsible for adapting the British government’s administrat…
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Entry
Ideologies of Sport
By Ansgar Molzberger, Stephan Wassong
At the beginning of the 20th century, two different systems of exercise and trai…
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Entry
Infantry
By Jeffrey LaMonica
The First World War precipitated a revolution in infantry tactics that changed t…
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Entry
Invincible, HMS
By Paul G. Halpern
HMS Invincible was a British warship belonging to a type commonly known as battl…
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Entry
Irish Home Rule
By Conor Mulvagh
The campaign for Irish Home Rule lasted from 1870 until 1914. When Home Rule bec…
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Entry
Jellicoe, John Rushworth Jellicoe, Earl
By Andrew Lambert
John Rushworth Jellicoe was a British admiral, technologist and fleet commander.…
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Entry
Jutland, Battle of
By Michael Epkenhans
On 31 May/1 June 1916 the British Grand Fleet and the German High Sea Fleet clas…
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Entry
Keyes, Roger John Brownlow, Baron
By Joseph Moretz
Roger John Brownlow Keyes was a British naval officer of the First World War. As…
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Entry
Khaki Election 1918
By Luke Blaxill
The "khaki" general election of 1918 was held in Great Britain almost immediatel…
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Entry
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Earl
By Peter Simkins
In foreseeing a long war and creating Britain's first mass army, Kitchener made …
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Entry
Lawrence, Thomas Edward
By Tariq Tell
T.E. Lawrence’s exploits during the Arab Revolt have acquired mythical status, m…
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Entry
Liddell Hart, Basil Henry, Sir
By Alaric Searle
B.H. Liddell Hart served as a British infantry officer on the Western Front in 1…
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Entry
Lloyd George, David
By Ian Packer
Lloyd George was a leading Liberal politician before World War I, who went on to…
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Entry
London, Bombing of
By Ian Castle
Germany’s aerial bombing campaign against Great Britain in the First World War, …
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Entry
MacDonald, James Ramsay
By David Howell
Ramsay MacDonald opposed British entry into the European conflict in 1914. Altho…
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Entry
Machine Gun
By Paul Cornish
Between 1914 and 1918, the machine gun played an ever-increasing role on the bat…
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Entry
Masculinities
By Sonja Levsen
The First World War represents the apex of the ideal of the male warrior hero. B…
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Entry
Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook
By Geoffrey Hayes
This article offers a brief survey of the Canadian-born newspaper baron, Max Ait…
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Entry
Medals and Decorations
By Sofya Anisimova
The Great War unfolded on multiple fronts and saw millions of men and women call…
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Entry
Mediterranean Theater, Naval Operations
By Paul G. Halpern
The real naval war in the Mediterranean turned out to be a struggle against Germ…
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Entry
Mesopotamia, British Mandate for
By Burcu Kurt
British mandate Mesopotamia marks the beginning of the formation of modern Iraq.…
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Entry
Military Board of Allied Supply
By Ian M. Brown
The Military Board of Allied Supply, formed in mid-1918, attempted to centralize…
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Entry
Mine Warfare
By Nicholas Murray
Mine warfare or mining are the terms used to describe the digging of tunnels und…
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Entry
Morel, Edmund Dene
By Christy Jo Snider
E. D. Morel was one of the earliest critics of the secret diplomacy and alliance…
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Entry
Murray, Archibald James, Sir
By Justin Fantauzzo
Sir Archibald James Murray was Chief of the Imperial General Staff from Septembe…
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Entry
Music
By Akeo Okada
The First World War fundamentally changed the course of 20th century music. The …
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Entry
Nash, Paul
By Paul Gough
Paul Nash was a British painter who served as an infantry officer and an officia…
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Entry
Naval Race between Germany and Great Britain, 1898-1912
By Dirk Bönker
The Anglo-German naval race was the most spectacular strand of the general marit…
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Entry
Nevinson, C. R. W. (Christopher Richard Wynne)
By Kevin Hogg
C. R. W. Nevinson was a British painter who served as an official war artist in …
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Entry
Northcliffe, Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount
By Adrian Bingham
Lord Northcliffe was the owner of the influential London newspapers the Daily Ma…
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Entry
Orpen, William
By Donal Maguire
William Orpen, portraitist and subject painter, born in Dublin, was one of the m…
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Entry
Owen, Wilfred
By Jane Potter
Wilfred Owen was a poet and soldier who wrote some of the most memorable poems o…
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Entry
Pals Battalions
By Peter Simkins
The raising of the Pals battalions added considerable impetus to voluntary recru…
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Entry
Pearse, Patrick
By Joost Augusteijn
Patrick Pearse was one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising in which the Iri…
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Entry
Petroleum
By Oliver Gliech
In World War I, the mobility of troops was of major strategic importance. New tr…
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Entry
Poppy
By Matthew Leonard
To many, the remembrance poppy is the defining symbol of the First World War, em…
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Entry
Practice of Sports
By Ansgar Molzberger
During World War I, sport competitions became very popular amongst the soldiers …
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Entry
Prostitution
By Journey Steward
Prostitution was considered among the most important societal problems facing ci…
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Entry
Rear Area on the Western Front
By Larissa Wegner
The rear area was the space behind the front, linking the operational zone with …
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Entry
Reconnaissance and Observation
By Charles Dusch
Reconnaissance was aviation’s most important mission in the Great War. When war …
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Entry
Rifles
By Dieter Storz
The rifle was by far the most common weapon used in the world war. When the majo…
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Entry
Robertson, William Robert
By David R. Woodward
William Robert Robertson was the first British soldier to advance from private t…
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Entry
Room 40
By Steven Czak
Room 40 was a highly secretive British intelligence organization within the dire…
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Entry
Rothermere, Harold Sidney Harmsworth, Viscount
By Adrian Bingham
Lord Rothermere owned the London newspapers the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Pict…
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Entry
Rubber
By Oliver Gliech
During World War I, motor vehicles took on a key role as transport facilities fo…
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Entry
Ruhleben Internment Camp
By Mahon Murphy
The Ruhleben internment camp, situated on the outskirts of Berlin, held British …
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Entry
Russell, Bertrand
By Alisa Miller
This article examines how the outbreak of war in 1914 established Bertrand Russe…
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Entry
Sassoon, Siegfried Loraine
By Scott Ortolano
Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon was a British soldier, poet and novelist. His work bi…
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Entry
Sea Power
By Andrew Lambert
Much attention has been accorded to the massive scale of military operations in …
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Entry
Shaw, George Bernard
By Adam R. McKee
An Irish-born writer and critic, best known as a playwright, George Bernard Shaw…
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Entry
Shells Crisis of 1915
By Hew Strachan
In 1914, quick-firing field artillery could fire more shells than domestic indus…
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Entry
Smoking and Cigarette Consumption
By Michael Reeve
During the First World War, governments, civilians and soldiers alike prized smo…
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Entry
Social Darwinism
By Kathi Badertscher
Social Darwinism was an intellectual movement of the late 19th and early 20th ce…
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Entry
Soldiers' Equipment
By Dieter Storz
The soldier’s personal equipment had a dual purpose: it was intended to enable h…
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Entry
Soldiers' Humour
By Alexander Watson
Soldier’s humour, as expressed in jokes, songs and slang, reflected a dark, iron…
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Entry
Soldiers on Leave
By Emmanuelle Cronier
Starting in 1915, periods of leave known as "permissionnaires" played a vital ro…
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Entry
Spy Fever 1914
By Sebastian Bischoff
Spy Fever describes an anxiety or paranoia that enemy spies might be active with…
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Entry
Steel Helmet
By Nathan Watanabe
The steel helmet was invented and fielded in response to increased lethality on …
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Entry
Stereotypes
By Vanessa Ther
This article summarises the main wartime stereotypes that defined war propaganda…
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Entry
Stormtrooper
By Ralf Raths
Storm troopers were soldiers in specialized assault units, which emerged in the …
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Entry
Submarines and Submarine Warfare
By Mark D. Karau
During the First World War the German government made extensive use of submarine…
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Entry
Suffragettes
By William Murphy
This article briefly introduces the suffragettes and their campaign, reflecting …
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Entry
Supreme War Council
By Elizabeth Greenhalgh
The Supreme War Council was an Allied administrative organisation, created by th…
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Entry
Tamagnini de Abreu e Silva, Fernando
By José Luís Assis
Fernando Tamagnini de Abreu e Silva was a Portuguese general during World War I.…
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Entry
Tanks and Tank Warfare
By Michael David Kennedy
World War I introduced new technologies and doctrine in a quest to overcome the …
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Entry
Theater at the Front
By Emmanuelle Loubat
Whether on the Western or Eastern Front, by German, French, British, Canadian, A…
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Entry
The Battle of the Somme (film)
By Nicholas Hiley
Battle of the Somme was a feature-length British documentary film, released in …
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Entry
Townshend, Charles Vere Ferrers, Sir
By Justin Fantauzzo
Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend commanded the 6th (Poona) Division in Mesopot…
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Entry
Trench Art
By Paul Cornish
"Trench Art" is a genre of folk art comprised of items created in wartime, or fr…
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Entry
Union of Democratic Control
By David Monger
The Union of Democratic Control was a prominent opposition group in Britain that…
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Entry
War Bonds
By Steffen Bruendel
The governments of all belligerent countries issued special loans to finance the…
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Entry
War Poetry
By Jane Potter
This article examines the concept of war poetry and considers the range of poeti…
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Entry
War Profiteers
By François Bouloc
As a long-lasting industrial war, the Great War led to the realization of consid…
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Entry
War Propaganda Bureau
By Florian Altenhöner
The British government set up a War Propaganda Bureau in 1914. It came to be kno…
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Entry
War Toys
By Sonja Levsen
In the First World War, war toys were regarded as a means to strengthen children…
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Entry
War Widows
By Peggy Bette
One third of the 9.7 million soldiers killed or declared missing during the Grea…
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Entry
Wireless Telegraphy
By Heidi J.S. Tworek
Wireless telegraphy became an integral part of warfare on the ground, in the air…
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Entry
Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)
By Emma Hanna
The YMCA was a Christian charitable organization that provided a range of rest a…
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Entry
Zeppelin (Airship)
By Charles Dusch
Zeppelins heralded the potential of strategic bombing. Although airships were or…
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See Also

Thematic
Air Warfare
By Ross Mahoney, James Pugh
This article considers the use and evolution of air power during the First World…
Read more
Thematic
Alliance System 1914
By Günther Kronenbitter
Alliances were an important feature of the international system on the eve of Wo…
Read more
Thematic
Animals
By Lucy Betteridge-Dyson
During the First World War millions of animals were utilised for war work, and c…
Read more
Thematic
Antisemitism
By Werner Bergmann, Ulrich Wyrwa
The First World War and its direct repercussions in the postwar period (revoluti…
Read more
Thematic
Arms Race prior to 1914, Armament Policy
By Eric Brose
New weapons produced during the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s heighten…
Read more
Thematic
Art
By Sue Malvern
The nature of the First World War put an end to traditions for battle painting. …
Read more
Thematic
Atrocities
By Alan Kramer
The term "atrocity" describes an act of violence condemned by contemporaries as …
Read more
Thematic
Bereavement and Mourning
By Manfred Hettling, Tino Schölz
In the modern era, new forms of mourning and meaning-making for fallen soldiers …
Read more
Thematic
Between Acceptance and Refusal - Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War
By André Loez
Soldiers’ attitudes towards the Great War are a controversial issue, as they pro…
Read more
Thematic
Caricatures
By Eberhard Demm
This article presents cartoonists as patriotic propagandists mobilizing their pe…
Read more
Thematic
Censorship
By Eberhard Demm
Censorship was an indispensable war weapon: its task was to keep the people in a…
Read more
Thematic
Centenary (Computer Games)
By Chris Kempshall
The First World War centenary saw an emergence of new portrayals of the conflict…
Read more
Thematic
Centenary (Education, Pedagogy, Youth Programs)
By Catriona Pennell
The centenary of the First World War revealed palpable anxieties around a loss o…
Read more
Thematic
Centenary (Historiography)
By Jost Dülffer
Innovative historical scholarship played an important role in the shaping of mem…
Read more
Thematic
Centenary (Internet)
By Lorna M. Hughes, Ian G. Anderson
The centenary events surrounding the First World War have produced a significant…
Read more
Thematic
Centenary (Libraries)
By Matthew Shaw
Libraries (local, specialist, and national) contributed in numerous and importan…
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Thematic
Centenary (Museums)
By Andrea Brait
This article discusses how European museums – in particular, national war museum…
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Thematic
Centenary (Visual Arts)
By Paul Gough
The commemorative period between 2014 and 2018 was marked globally by numerous e…
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Thematic
Children and Youth
By Andrew Donson
Mass conscription recast relationships in families, raised minors’ potential as …
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Thematic
Civilian and Military Power
By Lawrence Sondhaus
By 1914 the leading states had succumbed to varying degrees of militarism, subor…
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Thematic
Civilian Morale
By Matteo Ermacora
This article deals with civilian morale during the First World War. Between 1915…
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Thematic
Colonial Empires after the War/Decolonization
By James E. Kitchen
The First World War saw the colonial empires of France and Britain mobilised to …
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Thematic
Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen
By Stéphane Tison
The First World War ushered in an unprecedented wave of commemorations. Mass dea…
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Thematic
Controversy: The Media's Responsibility for Crises and Conflicts in the Age of Imperialism
By Peter Geiss
The article discusses the role of the media in the complex international process…
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Thematic
Controversy: Total War
By Daniel Marc Segesser
Total war is a controversial term used in the past by politicians, publicists an…
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Thematic
Controversy: War Culture
By Pierre Purseigle
Cultural approaches to the Great War have played a key part in the renewal of Fi…
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Thematic
Controversy: War-related Changes in Gender Relations: The Issue of Women’s Citizenship
By Birgitta Bader-Zaar
The idea that World War I was a watershed in gender relations has pervaded both …
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Thematic
Demobilization
By Gearóid Barry
The end of fighting in 1918 raised hopes for swift and equitable military demobi…
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Thematic
Drugs
By Łukasz Kamieński
Throughout history, intoxicants were an important part of the war experience. Th…
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Thematic
Economic Planning before 1914
By Martin Horn
This article surveys the financial and economic planning for war before 1914 in …
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Thematic
Enemy Aliens and Internment
By Matthew Stibbe
The internment of enemy aliens in the First World War was a global phenomenon. C…
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Thematic
Espionage
By Emmanuel Debruyne
During the entire war, warring powers used the “secret war” to try to break the …
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Thematic
Film/Cinema
By Roger Smither
The First World War played a significant role in the evolution of film both as a…
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Thematic
Food and Nutrition
By Emmanuelle Cronier
During the First World War, food became a major issue for military and civilian …
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Thematic
Governments, Parliaments and Parties
By Torsten Oppelland
One sees a wide range of political regimes from a democratic republic with unive…
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Thematic
Graphic Arts and Advertising as War Propaganda
By James Aulich
This article discusses the close relationships between national governments, adv…
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Thematic
Health, Disease, Mortality; Demographic Effects
By Doina Anca Cretu
The rapid spread of epidemics ravaged military personnel and civilians in and ou…
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Thematic
Historiography 1918-Today
By Jay Winter
There have been four generations of historical writing about the 1914-1918 war. …
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Thematic
Hospitals
By Alina Enzensberger
Hospitals framed and configured the convalescence of wounded and sick soldiers d…
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Thematic
Imperialism
By Boris Barth
This article focuses on the extent to which imperialism contributed to the outbr…
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Thematic
International Labour Organization
By Anita Ziegerhofer
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, establishing both the Leagu…
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Thematic
International Law and the Laws of War
By Jean H. Quataert
The article examines international efforts to curb states’ war-making prerogativ…
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Thematic
July Crisis 1914
By Annika Mombauer
The international crisis that began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Fer…
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Thematic
Labor
By Steven E. Rowe
Across the major belligerent powers, industrial production and the mobilization …
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Thematic
Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes
By James Thompson
This article compares the history of labour movements during the war across a ra…
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Thematic
League of Nations
By Anita Ziegerhofer
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, the same day on which the L…
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Thematic
Life and Death of Soldiers
By Jessica Meyer, Chris Kempshall, Markus Pöhlmann
While public memory of the First World War in Europe often focusses on the death…
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Thematic
Literature
By David Budgen
This article seeks to present an overview of First World War literature across m…
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Thematic
Making Sense of the War
By Jo Fox
Claims to “just war” formed the basis for the propaganda campaigns of the First …
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Thematic
Maps, Geography and the Representation of Space
By Ute Schneider
After the First World War, the general staffs and military geographers of all th…
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Thematic
Media Discourse after the War
By André Keil
The discourse about the Great War during the interwar period was shaped by numer…
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Thematic
Medicine and Medical Service
By Leo van Bergen
It is impossible to talk about “the” medical care or “the” medical service of Wo…
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Thematic
Memory of the War: Popular Memory 1918-1945, 1945 to the Present
By Susanne Brandt
What role do representations of the First World War play in media that reach a w…
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Thematic
Migration and Mobility
By Marlou Schrover
There is an ongoing debate among historians whether the First World War did in f…
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Thematic
Militarism
By Christian K. Melby
Militarism is a vague term that has meant different things to different people a…
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Thematic
Military Developments of World War I
By David T. Zabecki
Despite World War I’s reputation as a senseless bloodbath whose military operati…
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Thematic
Military Justice
By Steven R. Welch
This essay offers a comparative survey of the practice of military justice among…
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Thematic
Military Lessons of the First World War
By Nikolas Gardner
This article examines the lessons derived by the military organizations that par…
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Thematic
Moral Norms and Values
By Gearóid Barry
Change and continuity marked belligerent societies’ norms and values during the …
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Thematic
Museums
By Jennifer Wellington, Aaron Cohen, Anne Hertzog, Susanne Brandt
This article describes the lives and afterlives of the First World War museums i…
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Thematic
Mutilation and Disfiguration
By Julie Anderson
The First World War created disfigured and mutilated bodies on a grand scale. Ne…
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Thematic
Naval Warfare
By Eric W. Osborne
All of the great belligerent states of World War I were naval powers and engaged…
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Thematic
Negotiating and Mediating Conduct of War
By Matthew Stibbe
Many issues surrounding the conduct of war in the years 1914-1918 were imperviou…
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Thematic
Non-European Soldiers
By Richard Fogarty, Andrew Tait Jarboe
This article examines the use by Great Britain and France of colonial subjects f…
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Thematic
On the Road to Modern War
By Dennis Showalter
The Great War was never considered the “war to end all wars” by the states and a…
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Thematic
Organization of War Economies
By Matthias Blum, Jari Eloranta, Pavel Osinsky
The First World War was a global conflict that caught most of the participants i…
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Thematic
Othering/Atrocity Propaganda
By Steffen Bruendel
In August 1914, a targeted and systematic manipulation of opinion by the media, …
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Thematic
Pacifism
By David S. Patterson
The idea of peace in total war may seem irrelevant, but pacifism, or peace activ…
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Thematic
Peace Initiatives
By Ross Kennedy
This paper examines major peace initiatives during World War I. It describes eff…
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Thematic
Photography
By Hilary Roberts
The First World War represents a watershed in the history of war photography. It…
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Thematic
Post-war Economies
By Dietmar Rothermund
Post-war economies were beset with problems, ultimately leading to the Great Dep…
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Thematic
Post-war Societies
By Richard Bessel
The First World War caused unprecedented disruption to societies across the glob…
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Thematic
Post-war Welfare Policies
By Pierluigi Pironti
The Great War gave new impulses to the further development of public welfare sys…
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Thematic
Press/Journalism
By Florian Keisinger
Word War I had a significant impact on the evolution of the European media scene…
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Thematic
Pre-war Military Planning
By Matthew S. Seligmann
German and British war planning has attracted a great deal of attention, but als…
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Thematic
Prisoners of War
By Heather Jones
The First World War marked the shift from a 19th century, relatively ad hoc mana…
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Thematic
Propaganda at home and abroad
By Eberhard Demm
This article summarizes and compares the principal arguments and strategies of p…
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Thematic
Propaganda: Media in War Politics
By Stephen Badsey
Propaganda played an important part in the politics of the war, but was only suc…
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Thematic
Property Rights and Economic Nationalism
By Daniela L. Caglioti
This article explores the policies adopted and implemented against enemy propert…
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Thematic
Raw Materials
By Pierre Chancerel
Raw materials were vital during the First World War. Due to the armaments produc…
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Thematic
Red Cross
By Cédric Cotter
National Red Cross societies played a very important role in the First World War…
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Thematic
Refugees
By Peter Gatrell
This article addresses the scale of wartime population displacement in continent…
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Thematic
Religious Mobilization and Popular Belief
By Patrick J. Houlihan
From the cradle to the grave, popular religion formed a necessary and vital, if …
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Thematic
Rural Society
By Matteo Ermacora
The paper describes the impact of war on peasantry and its mobilisation in the w…
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Thematic
Schools and Universities
By Andrew Donson
The military service of teachers and the mobilization of schoolchildren for volu…
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Thematic
Science and Technology
By Jeffrey Johnson
Wartime science and technology developed in the context of the Second Industrial…
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Thematic
Sea Transport and Supply
By Michael B. Miller
Allied capacity at sea to sustain global transport and supply determined their a…
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Thematic
Social Conflict
By Claire Morelon
This article deals with the nature of social conflict during the war. The length…
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Thematic
Social Costs of War
By Kimberly A. Redding
This article explores how the anticipation, reality, and memory of sacrifice inf…
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Thematic
Soldier Newspapers
By Robert L. Nelson
Soldier newspapers are a massive, yet little used primary source of the First Wo…
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Thematic
Staging War. Theatre 1914-1918
By Eva Krivanec
From 1914 to 1918, theatres in all major European cities staged plays – comedies…
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Thematic
State, Civil Society and Relief Organizations for War
By Branden Little
A vast array of initiatives designed to counteract the destructiveness of the Fi…
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Thematic
The Churches
By Patrick J. Houlihan
Reflecting current historiography, this article focuses primarily on Christian c…
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Thematic
The Historiography of the Origins of the First World War
By William Mulligan
The debate about the origins of the war remains a vibrant area of historical res…
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Thematic
The Military at Home
By Odile Roynette
Regardless of whether it was based on volunteer enlistment or conscription, mass…
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Thematic
The Paris Peace Conference and its Consequences
By Alan Sharp
This article offers an overview of peacemaking after the First World War from th…
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Thematic
The Way to War
By Samuel R. Williamson, Jr.
Imperialism shaped almost every facet of international politics from 1898 to 191…
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Thematic
Transportation and Logistics
By Ian M. Brown
The Great War witnessed mass armies battling with modern, quick-firing weapons s…
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Thematic
Urban Societies and Cities
By Andrew Lees
Cities — with their comparatively large and dense but also vulnerable population…
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Thematic
Venereal Diseases
By Journey Steward, Nancy M. Wingfield
This essay traces belligerent policies toward venereal disease (VD) on the fight…
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Thematic
Veterans' Associations
By Julia Eichenberg
Veterans’ associations formed an influential social movement during the interwar…
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Thematic
Visualization of Violence
By Mark Connelly
This piece explores the visualisation of violence for home front audiences and s…
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Thematic
War Aims and War Aims Discussions
By Georges-Henri Soutou
Despite what some believe, there is still a lot to say and learn about the First…
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Thematic
War Correspondents
By Tim Luckhurst
At its outbreak, newspapers in the Allied and neutral democracies hoped to prese…
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Thematic
Warfare 1914-1918
By William Philpott
Static “trench warfare” belied a dynamic transformation in warfare between 1914 …
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Thematic
War Finance
By Nicholas Mulder
The Great War required war-making states to mobilize and sustain the financial r…
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Thematic
War Letters: Communication between Front and Home Front
By Martha Hanna
In nations where literacy was well-established by 1914, letter-writing was criti…
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Thematic
War Losses
By Antoine Prost
Military sources provide the primary statistics of war losses and casualties dur…
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Thematic
War Psychiatry and Shell Shock
By Fiona Reid
During the First World War soldiers from all combatant nations suffered from a w…
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Thematic
Wartime Emotions: Honour, Shame, and the Ecstasy of Sacrifice
By Ute Frevert
Through investigating the pivotal role of honour in private and public matters, …
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Thematic
Weapons
By Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau
To understand the Great War, one has to understand weapons. Weapons are linked t…
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Thematic
Western Front
By Jonathan Krause
The Western Front, a 400-plus mile stretch of land weaving through France and Be…
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Thematic
Willingly to War. Public Response to the Outbreak of War
By Jean-Jacques Becker
It may surprise us to learn that some sectors of the European public were in fav…
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Thematic
Women’s Mobilization for War
By Susan R. Grayzel
This article explores women’s economic, social, and political responses to the F…
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Thematic
Women War Reporters
By Stephanie Seul
Female war reporters from belligerent and neutral countries were present in the …
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Thematic
Xenophobia
By Thomas Brodie
This article provides an overview of xenophobia during the First World War - nam…
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