Commemorating Race and Empire in the First World War Centenary

Abstract

First World War commemoration in Europe has been framed as a moment of national trial and as a collective European tragedy. But the ‘Great War for Civilisation’ was more than just a European conflict. It was a global clash of empires that began a process of agitation against imperialism in Asia, Africa and beyond. Despite the global context of the Centenary, commemorative events remain framed by national and state imaginaries in which ideas about race and imperialism that animated and dominated men and women during the Great War sit uncomfortably with today’s official sensibilities. By employing multidisciplinary frames of analysis, including new Belgian and Mandarin sources translated into English, this exciting and innovative volume explores how memory of race and empire were commemorated and obscured during the First World War Centenary.