First World War: New Perspectives

The 2nd Keynote of the War Time 2016 conference held 9-11 November 2016

Keynote lecture given at the War Time 2016 conference

Exploring the chasm which existed between the crusading rhetoric of clergymen and the ways in which soldiers in the Manchester Regiment rationalised their involvement in the First World War. This podcast was shortlisted for the TORCH and Academic IT Services WW1 Research Competition 2016

Examining the First World War through the lives of African soldiers and labourers. This podcast examines the First World War through the lives of African soldiers and labourers. Based on historical fact, it discusses fictional poetry and letters that could have been written by Africans involved in the war. It looks at WW1 through a global perspective - the interaction of peoples from different parts of the world. What impact that had on their existence and the shifts that it made for better or worse in their perspectives on the world as a whole. This podcast was the runner-up in the TORCH and Academic IT Services WW1 Research Competition 2016

Examining the many inventive and moving ways in which people began to mourn and commemorate their loved ones while WW1 was still ongoing and before official acts of public memory were established. The winning entry of the TORCH and Academic IT Services WW1 Research Competition 2016.

Important questions, problems, and challenges pertaining to the role historians and scholars will play in the centenary of the First World War. Presented by Dr Pierre Purseigle, Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Birmingham and President of the International Society for First World War Studies.

The British response to the outbreak of War in 1914. Dr Catriona Pennell, Lecturer in History at the University of Exeter, explains how the reaction to the outbreak of the first world war was much more complex than traditional accounts would lead us to believe.

The role of India and the Indian Sepoy in the First World War. Dr Santanu Das, reader at Kings College London, considers the global and colonial dimensions of the first world war, namely India's involvement in the conflict and asks how the war continues to resonate for diaspora communities in Europe and America.

The First World War and its impact on emigration, work and marriage. Dr Rosemary Wall, University of Hull, explores how the deaths of 700 000 British men affected the lives of the country's women following the First World War. With over 1/2 million more unmarried women in 25-34 age group, many women applied to the Overseas Nursing Association to increase their chances of marriage.

Combatant Courage on the Western Front. No human characteristic has a greater impact on the outcome of military endeavour than courage. Dr Edward Madigan from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, explores how frontline soldiers in the First World War conceived combatant courage on the Western Front, the role of humour and the rejection of victimhood.

How much do we really know about the experience of the average individual soldier? Matthew Leonard, University of Bristol, discusses the unique conflict culture that developed among soldiers fighting on the front lines during the First World War.

Dr Edward Madigan from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission considers the issue of morality and the role of the British clergy during the First World War.

German women and the aesthetics of loss portrayed through art during the First World War. Presented by Dr Claudia Siebrecht, Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Sussex.

An argument for a more nuanced assessment of the popular literature consumed by the wider public during the First World War. Dr Jane Potter, Senior Lecturer in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University, looks beyond the War Poets at the important role that books, publishers and the book trade played between 1914 and 1918.

Myths and Mistakes. How a well known photograph and an infamous lunch break have shaped our memory of the Sarajevo assassination. Dr Paul Miller is a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Birmingham (UK) and Associate Professor of History at McDaniel College (US). In this short talk, he contests the tension between history and memory, and explores how what we think we see shapes what we think about the past. He uses the notorious photograph of the arrest of Gavrilo Princip, the incident that is viewed as triggering the outbreak of World War One, as a starting point for this discussion.

A look at the different experiences of service leave during the First World War. Dr Emmanuelle Cronier, a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Birmingham, examines the experiences of service leave during the First World War and the vital role it played in social cohesion during the conflict.

A look at the different experiences of service leave during the First World War (in French). Dr Emmanuelle Cronier, Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Birmingham, examines this key war-time experience and the vital role it played in social cohesion during the conflict.

How a contemporary photographer is addressing one of the conflict's most sensitive topics. To commemorate the centennial of the First World War, the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art has commissioned the young British photographer Chloe Dewe Mathews to produce a new body of work, the outcomes of which will be the subject of a major exhibition and accompanying publication. In this interview Chloe discusses how her photographic collection is addressing one of the conflict's most sensitive topics - the execution of troops for cowardice or desertion.