Passchendaele: What’s in a Name?
How did an evocatively named Flanders village become shorthand for a whole series of battles around the Belgian city of Ypres?
First World War
Saving Lives on the Front Line
The work of military nurses at Passchendaele transformed the perception of women’s war service, showing they could perform life-saving work and risk their lives at the front.
Welcome to Dottyville
The Hydra, a magazine produced by shell shock patients, was pioneering as a mental health care treatment.
The Nation on its Honour
Volunteer rationing in the First World War depended on patriotism, but that could only go so far.
The Permanent Stain of the Somme
Since the early 1960s, historians have shone a more positive light on the Battle of the Somme, writes Allan Mallinson. But we must not forget the excesses and failures of that terrible campaign.
Court of the Conscripts
Evidence from Britain’s First World War conscription tribunals reveals a surprisingly efficient and impartial system, as Rebecca Pyne-Edwards Banks asserts in this extract from her 2015 undergraduate dissertation prize-winning essay.
Verdun: The Killing Field
The epic German offensive to take the strategically crucial fortress in north-east France reached its bloody end in September 1916. Robert Foley looks at how and why Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the German General Staff, sought to break the deadlock on the Western Front.
The Somme: An Exercise in Futility?
The first day of the Somme has become synonymous with incompetent leadership and a callous disregard for human life. Gary Sheffield offers a more complex picture of the battle and the role played by General Sir Douglas Haig.
Shell Shock: The Racket and the Fear
‘Shell shock’ is associated in particular with the First World War. Stuart M. Archer recounts the often brutal treatment meted out to sufferers of the condition and looks at how use of the term fell into disrepute.
Colonial Encounters
The First World War threw together people from all over the world. Anna Maguire considers images of these chance meetings and the light they shed on a global conflict.