First World War

grainy picture taken inside a Hamas tunnel in Gaza
Features

What lies beneath Israel’s obsession with Hamas tunnels?

Asymmetric warfare requires a different way of fighting back
18 November 2023
German soldier Paul Baumer sits dirty and and dazed in no-man's-land as other soldiers run past him, in a scene from All Quiet on the Western Front
Reviews & Culture

All Quiet on the Western Front—the book the Nazis hated

How the author was persecuted
13 March 2023
German soldier Paul Baumer sits dirty and and dazed in no-man's-land as other soldiers run past him, in a scene from All Quiet on the Western Front
Reviews & Culture

No heroes in new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front

A rebuke to those who glamourise war
31 October 2022
German socialist, Karl Liebknecht addresses a rally in Berlin, December 1918
Features

Opposing imperialism—why the ‘main enemy is at home’

What should socialists do on the brink of war?
18 February 2022
Indian soldiers in First World War gas masks stand to attention in front of an officer
Features

Britain’s colonial soldiers—made to die for empire

Hidden stories of colonial soldiers don’t show a proud loyalty to king and mother country
12 November 2021
How the Spanish flu spread—and why the second wave was worse
Features

How the Spanish flu spread—and why the second wave was worse

What lay behind the horror of a past pandemic?
16 May 2020
Field Music—Making a New World
Reviews & Culture

Field Music—Making a New World

Sunderland band Field Music, headed by brothers David and Peter Brewis, has made an album about the social impact of the First World War.
07 January 2020
Heavy on cliches, 1917 war film is no one-shot wonder
Reviews & Culture

Heavy on cliches, 1917 war film is no one-shot wonder

Sam Mendes’s latest effort is impressive but it relies too much on its unique cinematographic approach rather than original storytelling, argues?Nick Clark
06 January 2020
US president Woodrow Wilson celebrating the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
Socialist Review Archive

Versailles: the settlement that settled nothing

The Treaty of Versailles was a vicious project, during which the Great Powers prioritised their own imperialist interests over the rhetoric of a “just and lasting peace”. Steve Guy looks at its consequences.
03 September 2019
Rosa Luxemburg - a fighter for revolution
Features

Rosa Luxemburg – a fighter for revolution

One hundred years ago this week right wing paramilitaries killed the revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg—on the orders of a reformist, social democratic party.
07 January 2019
Socialist Review Archive

The twilight of empires

Commemorations marking the end of the First World War have made little mention of the suffering endured by people in Eastern Europe. Steve Guy looks at the history in order to redress the picture.
04 January 2019
Reviews round-up—All We Wanted Was Everything
Reviews & Culture

Reviews round-up—All We Wanted Was Everything

 
12 November 2018
One hundred years on - remember that revolutions ended the First World War
What We Think

One hundred years on – remember that revolutions ended the First World War

This week marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. The bloody conflict caused appalling suffering and loss of life.
06 November 2018
Features

Days of hope – the 1918 German Revolution

A revolution in Germany that erupted 100 years ago this month rocked Europe’s rulers and put a socialist world on the agenda. Tomáš Tengely-Evans looks at how the revolt showed the power of workers to liberate themselves—and to end bloody war.
04 November 2018
Too much farming in The Guardians, a story of changing women’s lives
Reviews & Culture

Too much farming in The Guardians, a story of changing women’s lives

The Guardians is an interesting exploration— in the last 20 minutes— of how the First World War changed the role of women in the workplace and the family
20 August 2018
Socialist Review Archive

Great war on a knife edge

In spring of 1918 the German military began an offensive against the allies called Operation Michael. Steve Guy details its impact on the strategy of allied forces and the tensions it led to between them.
04 June 2018
LETTERS: Universal Credit nightmare has made me more political
Letters

LETTERS: Universal Credit nightmare has made me more political

My mother sadly passed away last May and the tenancy of our flat was transferred to me. I was told to move onto Universal Credit.
02 January 2018
Socialist Review Archive

Passchendaele: the foulness of their fate

The battle which came to be known as Passchendaele took place in Belgium in the second half of 1917. Steve Guy describes the horror faced by soldiers crawling through mud that had become like quicksand.
01 December 2017
Bloody Balfour’s century of oppression in Palestine
Features

Bloody Balfour’s century of oppression in Palestine

One hundred years ago Tory foreign secretary Arthur Balfour's declaration laid the basis for Palestinian oppression. Nick Clark looks at its legacy today
28 October 2017
Mutiny at the heart of empire—how soldiers rebelled at Etaples
Features

Mutiny at the heart of empire—how soldiers rebelled at Etaples

Ripples of revolution spread across Europe and beyond in the wake of the February revolt in Russia in 1917—and the British Army was no exception
09 September 2017
The horror of Passchendaele couldn’t stop rebellion
Features

The horror of Passchendaele couldn’t stop rebellion

The Battle of Passchendaele, which began 100 years ago this week, could be seen as just another bloody episode in the slaughter of the First World War.
26 July 2017
Mutiny and rebellion in the shadow of a world war
Features

Mutiny and rebellion in the shadow of a world war

The brutality of the First World War and shortages at home meant Russian soldiers were ready to rise up in 1917
18 January 2017
Slaughter at the Somme—100 years on
Features

Slaughter at the Somme—100 years on

One of the most horrific battles of the First World War began 100 years ago this week. Michael Bradley looks back at the causes of the carnage
28 June 2016
Socialist Review Archive

The use and abuse of the Arab Revolt

In June 1916 thousands of Arabs rose up against the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled over the region for four centuries. They fought with the backing of the British and French governments, not realising they were being used as a weapon in the First World War, writes Simon Guy.
31 May 2016