First World War

The Battle of the Somme began on July 1st, 1916. 21,000 men were killed on the first day. In this article, Trevor Wilson and Robin Prior reassess the campaign.

A cremation ghat built in Brighton for Indian soldiers who fought in the First World War has recently been inscribed with their names, writes Rosie Llewellyn-Jones.

Louise de Bettignies assisted the Allies in the Great War by establishing a vital information network in northern France. Patricia Stoughton recounts her extraordinary bravery.

Before the First World War, Irish Unionists and Nationalists were poised to fight each other over the imposition of Home Rule by the British. Then, remarkably, they fought and died side by side, writes Richard S. Grayson.

Alan Sharp takes a fresh look at the statesmen responsible for the Treaty of Versailles

The messages sent by British soldiers of the First World War to their loved ones back home have long been valued for what they tell us about daily life in the trenches. But their authors were often at pains not to reveal too much of the horror they endured. Anthony Fletcher considers what these documents reveal about the men’s inner lives.

David Powell establishes a clear path through the historiographical maze

Mark Bryant looks at the artist behind one of the most iconic images of the 20th century.

Richard Cavendish records how Germany sank its own navy in the aftermath of the First World War.

Following her execution by firing squad in Belgium in 1915, Edith Cavell's body was eventually brought back from Brussels to England on May 15th, 1919.

John Etty questions whether Serb nationalism was an irresistible force that helped unleash the First World War.

Kathryn Hadley discusses the fate of several villages destroyed in the First World War, now on military territory usually inaccessible to the public.

Alan Sharp looks at the factors shaping national policies in the weeks preceding the Paris Peace Conference, when the failure of the victorious allies to agree on aims and a process for negotiations with the Germans resulted in a ‘tragedy of disappointment’.