Europe on the eve of the first world war: Did you mean...?

This map collection explores the geopolitical transformation of Europe between 1914 and 1949. From the First World War (1914-18) and the collapse of empires to the rise of fascism, communism, and totalitarian regimes, through the Second Wolrd...

The First World War (1914-18) saw fighting on an unprecedented scale but also involved civilians as never before. For the first time, people hundreds of miles from the fighting front were vulnerable to air attacks. The war at sea dramatically...

During the First World War (1914-18), as governments sought to field the largest armies possible and so conscripted millions of men to the fighting fronts, the role of women in society was greatly expanded. Women worked as nurses and medical...

A map illustrating the growing instability in Europe in the lead-up to World War II, capturing the aggressive territorial expansion of Nazi Germany and the failure of appeasement. Between 1935 and 1939, a series of bold geopolitical moves...

Superior weapons can win wars, and during the First World War (1914-18) all sides attempted to gain an advantage over the enemy by producing more and more destructive devices that could be used effectively on land, at sea, and in the air...

The outbreak of plague in Europe between 1347-1352 – known as the Black Death – completely changed the world of medieval Europe. Severe depopulation upset the socio-economic feudal system of the time but the experience of the plague itself...

The First World War (1914-18) witnessed an arsenal of new weapons as all sides were desperate to gain an advantage, particularly in the static trench warfare of the Western Front. There were some old tried-and-tested weapons like the Lee-Enfield...

The First World War (1914-18) stimulated a great wave of literary output, not least in the field of poetry. In an era when photography and film were still in their infancy, poems, especially those written by direct participants, were regularly...

The First World War (1914-18) has a close association with static trench warfare dominated by heavy artillery and machine guns, but the conflict witnessed many entirely new developments in weaponry as all sides desperately sought to outdo...

WWI saw the birth of an entirely new form of combat: lone men engaging the enemy in aerial dogfights. The victors became heroes back home, but this was as deadly an occupation as it was an exhilarating one. One bullet, an engine or structural...