Websites
Germany
Remembrance and commemoration
German government website dedicated to the subject
The First World War, the "'great seminal catastrophe of the 20th century", broke out in 1914, one hundred years ago. It was followed by the Second World War seventy-five years ago; in some European countries, dictatorships did not come to an end until 25 years ago.
2014 and 2015 are therefore years with several anniversaries worth commemorating; they are in fact anniversaries of the most important events of the 20th century.
Many of the anniversaries in 2014 and 2015 are occasions for remembering and commemorating the victims of the two world wars and the Holocaust. They also provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the value of Europe having overcome the era of catastrophes and dictatorships, and on the importance of ensuring that Europe continues to remain free and democratic in future.
The German government's new dedicated website "Remembrance and commemoration" provides information about major remembrance day events and exhibitions.
German Federal Agency for Civic Education - The First World War
The German Federal Agency for Civic Education has a whole series of articles in its dossier on the First World War. The dossier includes fold-out source texts and sound recordings, photos, maps and contemporary caricatures. The comprehensive notes on selected literature are also helpful..
Live Museum Online (LeMO)
Extensive material on the First World War on the website of the German Historical Museum (DHM). In a number of articles, aspects of the time are presented in summarising texts. Links provide the option of tracing particular information. Images of exhibits, posters, maps, radio recordings and other media supplement and expand upon the texts.
omething else offered by the DHM is the exhibition "The World War 1914-1918, Events and Memory" from 2004.The accompanying online materials are still available.
ARD.de Special Programme about the First World War
This portal provides a large number of texts, audio and video contributions on individual topics pertaining to the First World War. The site also contains programme announcements about radio broadcasts on the subject.
Max Weber Foundation
The humanities research organisation whose institutes are located abroad is offering a whole series of events on the First World War.
Initiated by the German Historical Institute Paris, the Foundation is running a blog entitled "La Grande Guerre - A global history of World War I", a blog on the activities of the individual institutes.
Learning from History - Issue 11/2012 on the First World War
"Individual and Social Ruptures as a Consequence of the First World War" is the title of this magazine issue of the online portal. Amongst other things, the effects of the First World War on the Second World War are examined in a number of articles. There are also recommendations of websites and reference books.
Theme portal First World War
The Library of Contemporary History of the Württemberg State Library has compiled an extensive collection of materials about the First World War. The Library of Contemporary History makes this available to the public through a theme portal.
On the website, you can find out about upcoming lectures, view digitalised books and brochures, as well as post from the front and field newspapers, and dip into the field diary of Theodor Zuhöne, who worked as a doctor in the reserve field hospital in La Neuville.
The First World War in Rhineland-Palatinate
On this website, you can read about the historical background, projects and campaigns around Rhineland-Palatinate during the First World War. As well as reports and historical postcards from and about the great seminal catastrophe of the 20th century, you can find a comprehensive calendar of events and a careful list of further links on the subject of the First World War here.
Hessian Rural Communities in the First World War
Using selected places in the Main-Kinzig district as an example, the project "Hessian Rural Communities in the First World War" provides information about the wartime experiences of villagers. On the basis of academic research in the local archives, the effects of the war on the lives of the people in the villages are to be presented in an exhibition, in lectures, in cultural school and church projects.
Historical Picture Postcards
Family members on the "home front" used the field post to keep in touch with the fighting soldiers. The daily mailing activities exchanging messages on picture postcards between front and home ran into millions. The motifs depicted conveyed impressions of front and home front, thereby influencing the perception of the war and wartime society in their very own way.
This website presents a fascinating collection of picture postcards from the First World War, structured according to various topic areas.
Field Post Letters from the First World War
The website provides an intensive examination of the First World War, focusing on a regional link "Darmstadt in the First World War", field post letters with
First World War List of Casualties
The Association for Computer Genealogy has had all the pages of the lists of casualties of the First World War available in scanned form since the autumn of 2011. These scans are accessible, or made accessible, via the database.
As the lists of casualties have not yet been completely indexed anywhere, this is now to be carried out in a hands-on project by the Association.
To browse the website or perhaps to become active yourself, please click on the heading, which will take you to the homepage for the list of casualties.
European Film Gateway 1914
In the context of the European Film Gateway 1914, EFG1914, for short, around 650 hours of film material are being digitized by 20 European film archives and film libraries and made available over the Internet. The project's thematic focus is on the 1910s and, in particular, on the period of the First World War, 1914-1918. Archives from France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, amongst others, are involved. The largest institutional film collection on the First World War is part of the project, through the participation of the film department of the Imperial War Museum in London.
You can navigate to the films here
The following link gives you access to photos and films organized by category.
1914 in the Midst of Europe - The Rhineland and the First World War
The topic portal informs you about the Rhineland at the time of the First World War. You are given information about events, exhibitions and projects in the region as well as background information and interesting facts.
Europe 14/14
In the field of education, the Körber Foundation addresses the history and, in particular, the far-reaching consequences of the First World War in a whole series of events under the title »Europe 14/14«. Series of talks, workshops and youth meetings discuss the effects, some of which are still perceivable today, of the First World War on culture and society in Europe.
In a web talk presented by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and the Körber Foundation, historians, political scientists and experts from politics and culture discuss the meaning of history and the culture of remembrance for our society. The series provides the opportunity of an open debate on the Internet, as all discussions are being transmitted as live stream, with Twitter being used to import comments and questions directly into the events.
You can view all the previous debates as a video on the website to which a link is made above.
First World War Lexicon
The lexicon pages enable you to find out about all the important matters to do with the First World War: from A as in "Abel Ferry" to Z as in "Attack on Zeebrugge".
The history of the First World War explains the causes and backgrounds, the course of the war from 1914-1918 on all fronts and, finally, the end of the war. The individual war years are supplemented by detailed, monthly chronicles.
The field post, the letters of soldiers, among other things, can convey an authentic impression of warfare. You will find a small selection from the anthology entitled "War Letters from Fallen Students" here.
Milex.de
The association "Interessen- und Arbeitsgemeinschaft Weltkrieg 14-18", AGW 14-18 for short, provides an online communication and discussion forum for anyone interested in the subject, researchers, scientists or anyone with a specific question.
The forum will also be linked to an encyclopedia of the First World War currently in development.
A communication platform for anyone interested in the subject, and for anyone looking for information. AWG 14-18 welcomes contributions from others as it wants the forum and the different categories of information to be as extensive and as helpful as possible.
AdB
With this annual topic, the AdB hopes to encourage civic education agencies to extend their historical and political education programmes and to focus on certain aspects of a European culture of remembrance in order to appeal to all relevant social groups.
Besides a schedule of events, the website also features the latest information on the subject, publications and a list of reference works.
Frontflieger
The non-government homepage "Frontflieger" ('Frontline Pilot') focuses on the soldiers of the Deutsche Fliegertruppe, the German air force, and their role in the First World War. Besides featuring biographies of individual soldiers, the website also allows searches for people according to rank, and provides a cemetery directory listing the soldiers buried in each.
