1914-1918-online – An “International Encyclopedia of the First World War”
This month „1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War“ launched. The interactive virtual reference work offers articles on the Great War (as it is often referred to in Britain and France) written by experts. These articles from multiple regional and disciplinary perspectives are revised by an editorial board of around 90 well-known historians from 22 countries. 1914-1918-online aims to portrait this truly global war from a transnational perspective and therefore also includes countries that stayed neutral during the war since they were also influenced in terms of their political or economic development, the media or mentalities.
Among the authors is Silke Fehlemann who was also one of our experts at the recent WeberWorldCafé. Dr. Fehlemann wrote about Bereavement and Mourning in Germany. Her article focuses on Germany’s approach to social welfare programs and the representation of grief. Two thirds of the German war widows (Kriegerwitwen) were younger than thirty and almost all of them had children, most of them under the age of six. The pensions they received were based on the military rank of their belated husbands and significantly lower than the regular income their spouses would have brought home during peace time. This of course led to huge problems during and after the war. The psychological suffering also manifested itself in different illnesses.
Another one of our experts, Christina Spittel, also wrote an article about Australian literature and how it deals with the war. Her article, and many more on the platform, will be published gradually. All articles are interlinked and organized regionally and thematically but can also be accessed through a timeline or a regular search. The articles also feature interesting images, from artwork to photography.
Find out more about the project here.