A Hundred Years On: Recent and Changing Views on the History of the First World War

The impetus of the one-hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War of 1914-18 has provided opportunities for the re-evaluation of both historical understanding of the war, and of its commemoration and remembrance. 1 With the deaths of the last war veterans, the war must be understood in terms of remembrance rather than of memory, as well as in terms of its history. As fresh findings have emerged from the investigation of historical evidence, so the history of the war has been greatly modified, and these new historical findings have begun to impact on the approach to the study of remembrance. The last decade (or so) of historical research has been characterised by a new openness and new approaches, as well as fresh controversies. These have included several recent publications on the war���s origins and outbreak, on its conduct in both military and social terms, and on its aftermath. In many areas of research, old assumptions and national or regional histories, and narrower methodological approaches, are being replaced by the beginnings of a real global history for what was truly a world war