Three Publications about Archaeology of a Segment of the First World War's Forgotten Eastern Front

While the horrors of the trench warfare on the Western Front in Belgium and France are part of the European cultural memory, to some degree the much more extensive and mobile Eastern Front of the 1914–1918 conflict has become the forgotten front (Die vergessene Front). Although for just over eleven months in 1914/15, the central part of a major front, some 1000 km long on which three million people died ran through the middle of what is now Poland, for a number of reasons the memory of this has there been all but erased from memory and from the cultural landscape. The reviewed three volumes are the result of a project that has attempted to address the poor state of historical memory of the momentous events and human drama that took place a century earlier on the segment of the front, 55 km west of Warsaw. Here, from mid-December 1914, the Russian Imperial army tried to hold back the eastward advance of the German troops on defences built along the Bzura and Rawka rivers. For the next seven months, the fighting here took the form of the same type of prolonged static trench warfare more familiar on the Western Front (the only place in the eastern sphere of war that this happened). The German army made every effort (including mining and several major gas attacks), to advance on Warsaw but failed to break through. It was only after the Great Retreat of the Russian army in the summer of 1915 that these defences were overrun and Warsaw fell.

Unravelling the Past: World War I in Africa

Africa’s involvement in World War I presents the researcher with challenges that few researchers of the Western Front are likely to encounter. The centenary years of the War have seen a range of publications on the conflict in Africa: from Marike Sherwood who claims little has been written on Africa’s involvement to others who have tended to rely on online articles that are limited in scope and draw on dated publications, thereby perpetuating myths. A handful of researchers are breaking new ground through their accessing of archival material. Authors such as David Killingray and Joe Lunn, writing on West Africa over two World Wars, unwittingly set the scene for how Africa as a whole has been perceived. However, an outcome of the centenary commemorations of the War has been new and varied insights to Africa’s contributions, not least the different approaches taken by Africans and non-Africans, academic and enthusiast, and those interested in the conflicts of French (West) Africa and the rest of Africa. Engagement with the diaspora and people from the across the continent has reinforced the diversity of Africa in contrast to the published narratives and interpretations of the war which have generally been homogeneous in their approach. This study provides an opportunity to explore recent historiographical developments of the war in Africa. In particular, it aims to show that by treating Africa as a single entity (‘Africa is a country’), misconceptions have been perpetuated and experiences of World War II conflated with those of World War I. In addition, the complexities, challenges and rewards of researching Africa’s involvement in World War I are highlighted in the article.

The War for Civilization

This final chapter examines the reading habits of troops on the Western Front during the First World War. Literary levels among soldiers were a major preoccupation among many commentators in the period. At the beginning of the war a scarcity of reading matter was often remarked on at the front. Eventually, many means, official and unofficial, were used to acquire books by those on active service: borrowing, sharing, theft were common practices in reading culture. Among the official means for print distribution, several effective schemes were promoted. The Camps Library Scheme of the YMCA enabled book provision all along the Western Front. While the British government invested in propagandizing mentalities among the ranks, soldiers themselves used books, newspapers, and trench journals for their own ends. The varieties of literacy among troops in this period were as diverse as the reading materials themselves.