Thread by @SocHistoryWar

#NVHOW20 Introducing Liam Markey @Liam_Markey94 @LivUni @britishlibrary @ESRC ‘Living Memory and the Commemoration of the First World War in Britain’ - commemorative practices and the social conditions which led to their creation #FWW #Remembrance #FirstWorldWar

1 #NVHOW20 This presentation will look at the role living memory has played in transforming British collective memory of the First World War (FWW). I posit that the issue of first-hand experience has greatly influenced modern representations of the conflict

2 #NVHOW20 Since 1919, the FWW has been commemorated in Britain through a national 2-minute silence, where the public is asked to contemplate the sacrifice of those killed in the FWW

3 #NVHOW20 Today, when tasked with ‘remembering’, modern Britons will undoubtedly struggle due to first-hand experience of the conflict having passed from collective memory. Instead, mainstream national narratives are most likely conjured in the minds of participants

4 #NVHOW20 Yet in 1919 the trauma of the war was still fresh, and this 2-minute silence was an opportunity for the nation to mourn as one, and for such a massive loss of life to be vindicated and recognised as a worthy sacrifice in the attaining of lasting peace

5 #NVHOW20 Alongside the 2-minute silence, other commemorative practices were developed in the wake of the First World War that served to alleviate the suffering of those who had lost loved ones on the battlefield

6 #NVHOW20 These practices created a rhetoric surrounding the war dead centred on ideals of heroism and Christ-like sacrifice. Soldiers were seen as martyrs

7 #NVHOW20 While there was most certainly no homogenous British opinion on the First World War, the overarching theme of public commemoration was that the war was worthwhile, and it was rare that denigration was voiced publicly so as to avoid upsetting the bereaved.

8 #NVHOW20 It is not until the 1960s that more ‘modern’ narratives of the conflict that we are familiar with today began to form. By 1945 it was clear that the FWW was not the war to end all wars, and the validity of the fallen’s sacrifice was brought into question

9 #NVHOW20 This shift in social sensibilities that heralded a new wave of attitudes towards the conflict also came about as the number of Britons from the FWW generation began to dwindle. No longer was there as great a risk of causing offence or distress by criticising the war

10 #NVHOW20 Despite such an overhaul in attitudes following the SWW, I would argue that how we view the FWW today is still heavily influenced by the issue of living memory and experience

11 #NVHOW20 Commemoration ultimately tailored to the needs of the bereaved, resulting in the creation of a gendered and sanitised vision of the FWW. Today, with living memory having passed, it seems an opportune time to widen the scope of British commemoration and remembrance

12 #NVHOW20 Thank you for taking the time to read through my presentation. If anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them @Liam_Markey94