
Matt Leonard
Poppies, Paris and the power of objects
Only a week ago the remembrance poppy was still in full bloom as millions remembered the lives of millions, and a time when the world was at war. The human experience of the Western Front is now confined to that … Continue reading
The subterranean sanctuaries of the Somme
In the British psyche, the 1st July 1916 has become a date that seemingly represents the entirety of the First World War. Type ‘The Battle of the Somme’ into Amazon and it will produce 2945 results, and that’s just in … Continue reading
Conflict Culture
How much do we really know about the experience of the average individual soldier? In this video and audio podcast, Matthew Leonard, University of Bristol, discusses the unique conflict culture that developed on the front lines during the First World … Continue reading
Continuations or New Beginnings? Changing attitudes to the First World War
“I adore war. It’s like a big picnic without the objectlessness of a picnic. I have never been so well or so happy . . . Here we are in the burning centre of it all, and I would not … Continue reading
The War Underground: An Overview
When war broke out in 1914, no one could have possibly foreseen what the conflict would be really like. At the time, in the common idiom, war was a glorious business, an exciting adventure that offered the chance to become … Continue reading
Mutiny on the Aisne
The appalling conditions that the average soldier experienced during the First World War are almost impossible for 21st century society to appreciate. Mud, filth, lice, death, disease and macabre landscapes were the grotesque realities of the frontline, making everyday life, … Continue reading
The Ypres Salient: A global commitment to total war
On 7th October 1914, some 8,000 soldiers of the Imperial German Army proudly marched into Ypres. They represented the vanguard of a nation hell-bent on claiming its share of empire, and although the Great War was still in its infancy, … Continue reading
The Durand Group: modern conflict archaeology beneath the Western Front
Archaeologists are well aware of the contested nature of all landscapes, but modern conflict landscapes tend to be more contested than would be the norm, and this is particularly so in regard to the old battlefields of the First World … Continue reading
A senseless war?
The historian David Lowenthal once stated that, ‘in talking about the past we lie with every breath we draw’ (2011: 185). Of course, Lowenthal didn’t mean to imply that historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and other academics who attempt to reach back … Continue reading
The foundations of the Battle of Arras
95 years ago to the day, the April weather around Arras was utterly miserable. Unseasonably low temperatures combined with snow, sleet and driving rain to transform the area around the beleaguered French town into a muddy hell. The incessant shelling … Continue reading
Eastern culture on the Western Front
When war broke out in 1914, the Chinese declared they would remain neutral – after all, the madness occurring on the continent was nothing to do with them. But by 1916, they too had been sucked into the vortex of … Continue reading
The First World War of Objects
Throughout history, conflicts have always been waged with the incorporation of all the modern technology at the belligerents’ disposal. But before 1914, industry was not capable of producing the materiel of war in the vast amounts required to turn localised, … Continue reading
Bronze caribou and Monchy le Preux
The First World War is often viewed as a monstrous conflict that consumed vast amounts of materiel and men in grand battles, fought by titanic armies, which in turn changed the course of history. It is regarded as a war … Continue reading
New worlds, old worlds and underworlds: ‘conflict culture’ and the First World War
The overwhelming effects of global, industrial war dictated that the soldier’s experience of the First World War was one very different to that of previous, non-industrialised conflicts. During the war, battles regularly raged for several months, often over a piece … Continue reading
Verdun, 1916
The full horror of 20th century industrialised warfare was nowhere more intense than at Verdun in 1916. A French and German battlefield, it is rarely visited by other nationalities. Considering it is the key to understanding the huge loss of … Continue reading