First World War Collection

Sir Martin writes:

Two very different wars were fought between 1914 and 1918. The first was a war of soldiers, sailors and airmen, of merchant seamen and civilian populations under occupation, where individual suffering and distress were on a massive scale, particularly in the front-line trenches. The second was a war of War Cabinets and sovereigns, of propagandists and idealists, replete with political and territorial ambitions and ideals, determining the future of Empires, nations and peoples as sharply as the battlefield.


There were times, particularly in 1917 and 1918, when the war of armies and the war of ideologies combined, leading to revolution and capitulation, and to the emergence of new national and political forces. The war changed the map and destiny of Europe as much as it seared its skin and scarred its soul.

On This Day: 4 February 1917

“… in a brilliant defensive move the Kaiser ordered the withdrawal of his troops on the Western Front to the recently fortified Hindenburg Line, known to the Germans as the Siegfried Line. By removing his troops from the many kinks and salients that had been created during the fighting of 1916, this reduced by twenty-five miles the length of the line that had to be defended, releasing thirteen divisions for service in reserve.”

First World War, A Complete History

Read more about Sir Martin’s inspiration and interest in world war history, his blogs, films and book talks: Sir Martin & The First & Second World Wars