The Great War is an important event to many Britons due to the victory that Britain achieved against some of its enemies, such a Germany. In addition, it is a dear event to many Britons since it was a historical event that enabled the citizens to appreciate the military power of their nation. From a modern history perspective, the war was associated with the killing of the future generations. On the other hand, from the perspective of modern memory, the involvement of Britons in the war was a great sacrifice that was critical to the preparation to participate in the Second World War. Although Britain suffered many casualties, citizens achieved a lot by achieving the victory that would position the nation strategically in terms of the economy and military.
This paper highlights the variations between the Great War in modern British history and the Great War in modern British memory. The First World War stimulated a combination between war and memory: it was the conclusive event that made war everybody’s business. The extensiveness of shocking experiences also challenged expectations about memory and identity. The Great Warconcentrates on the memory boom, the recent exponential growth in interest in mind within and without the academy. It argued the need to remember the war and its victims. At the end of the Twentieth century, there were two parts of the boom in memory. The first one was the extraordinary attention to questions of commemoration, remembrance, and the revelation of family history and eyewitness testimonials that infused much of Western culture. There is a show of the growth in throwaway incomes, increased accessibility of archived resources, continued dislocation portraying the modern world and the downfall of submissive culture. The second one was a particular interest amongst historians on issues of memory and the history of commemoration. That can be put down to the academy’s awareness to reflect famous moments and the greater influence of the cultural turn.
The war brought about different myths, themes and many things. It brought about widespread attention in regards to how the experience of trench warfare helped foster a modern, ironic sensibility that influences art and culture today. The Great War Modern Memory frequently refers to the draft poems, diaries of the writers and letters. The Great War impacts heavily the Modern British History. The moment when the British decided that whatever lay ahead would never be as grand as their past it is the point at which they began to walk backward towards the future. For example, the desperate parents who could not believe the death of their son; the whole nation has been conducting a form of séance ever since.
The Great War in Modern British History is taken as the ultimate example of the futility of war, not forgetting its mud and the slaughter of the trenches. Notably, generals were safe in their headquarters, but they sent a large number of people (men) to meet their death in order for them to gain an extension of their ground (land).
There is an apparent difference between Great War in Modern British memory and the Great War in recent British history. For example, in regards to how visible societies mark their history and how they mirror it to the present, showing that collective remembrance is about the British now. That notwithstanding, history is said to be a trap, and it is the only potential route to escape towards a bigger, more complicated and, hence, a better perspective. The remembrance and remembering of the Great War should be an opportunity for Britain to look at the past, which is extremely familiar, and risk an encounter with the many elusive fragments of its past.