Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen (Great Britain and Ireland)

The commemoration of the First World War in Britain and Ireland has a complex history. Immediately after the war, the dead were memorialised in a range of public and private spaces. Next of Kin Memorial Plaques were created by the government, and war memorials formed the core of local and national commemorative initiatives. However, following political upheaval in Ireland, the memory of the war in Unionist and Nationalist communities diverged. Increasingly, in both Britain and Ireland, the First World War has become politicised, with contemporary politics linked to its commemoration