Introduction

Abstract

The advent of the First World War centenary has made it a topic of international discussion, with regular pieces appearing in newspapers, on television and across the spectrum of social media, to say nothing of the countless unrecorded discussions happening over coffee, tea, wine and beer the world over. As exciting as this has been (it is not often that one’s particular historical niche is suddenly a popular topic of public discourse), it has not been without some disappointment. Thus far the public debates, and the events already planned to commemorate the conflict, have been largely confined to the national and local levels. International perspectives remain in the minority, which, sadly, is unsurprising. History is, after all, a distinctly national affair. When we are taught history as children we are taught first and foremost about our nation, our group, our people (however defined). The net may at times be wider, at other times less so, but it can only ever cover a limited cultural, religious and geographical area. At the end of the Cold War, Sir Michael Howard spoke of a similar phenomenon regarding power and culture in international politics. He elaborated on a concept attributed to the Norwegian Minister of Defence Johan Jörgen Holst of a ‘European village’ consisting of an old European core with other states and regions (such as the Europe-derived nations in North America and the Antipodes) having a closer or more distant relation to this ‘core’.1KeywordsDaily MailEuropean HistoryNational AffairMilitary HistoryNational DiscussionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.