First World War
A century ago today, David Lloyd George, the new Prime Minister, held the first meeting of his War Cabinet. In the process he introduced an innovatory practice, and instigated an important institution at the heart of British government. A hundred …
During the First World War there was a huge increase in the number of women engaged in areas of work which had previously been dominated by men. One of these was clerical work within the Civil Service. Women had worked …
In the early hours of Tuesday, 12 October 1915, Edith Cavell, a British nurse who had been working in Belgium, was executed by the Germans after being found guilty of helping over 200 Allied servicemen escape to England. At her …
April sees commemorations across the globe of the initial landings in a campaign centred on the Dardanelles Strait and the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. For Turkey, Australia and New Zealand this campaign has a very strong connection with their national …
100 years ago today saw the first German airship raids on Britain when two Zeppelins attacked the coastal towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, Norfolk. In this post, Professor Edgar Jones discusses the effects of air raids over the …
Charlotte Taylor, a 14-year old teenager, writes about her experiences whilst taking part in the First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme. On 16th – 19th March 2014 a group of 30 students and 15 teachers from secondary schools across …
The early years of the First World War brought a large number of casualties to the army of Great Britain and despite the number of volunteers the government was soon in dire need of more troops. On the 2nd March 1916 …
Dr Richard Smith reveals an exciting new Twitter project by the FCO Historians In 1914 Sir Francis Bertie held the plum posting in the British Diplomatic Service—the ambassadorship to Paris. Not only did it carry a yearly salary of £11,500 …
‘In an office like ours, which is engaged solely on war work, it is often a matter of extreme difficulty to decide whether a man’s duty is to remain in his present post or to join the Army’ (National Archives …
Diplomacy, and the Foreign Office, played a key role as events unfolded in the run-up to the First World War. For this reason FCO Historians wanted to mark the event but in an innovative way, and joined up with the Digital …
