1918 Year of Victory
Ashley Ekins | April 21, 2010
On 11 November 1918, after more than four years of continuous warfare, the guns of the Western Front finally ceased firing, bringing to an end the bloodiest conflict the world had then known. An eerie silence descended along the 760-kilometre-length of the Western Front – a silence still recalled each year ‘at the eleventh hour’.
‘The Great War’ had involved the mobilisation of 70 million soldiers worldwide. It produced images of such pervasive horror on the Western Front – in the trenches of the Somme, the wasteland of Verdun and the muddy lowlands of Flanders – that it defined warfare in human memory long into the twentieth century. The war also left a grim legacy. Thirteen million people died, nine million of them combatants. Over one-third of those who died were ‘missing’, having no known graves.
The war changed the world irrevocably. Running like a scar across history, it became a demarcation line, dividing the ‘long nineteenth century’ of peace, progress and established social order from the age of uncertainty that followed – the ‘short twentieth century’ with its seemingly continuous wars and struggles between nations and ideologies. There were some continuities, but in many respects the First World War marked the birth of the modern era, in attitudes, social relations, art and culture.
The First World War marked the birth of the modern era and established the pattern for large scale violence, devastation and genocide throughout the wars of the 20th century. Old empires disintegrated and new nations emerged in the maelstrom of the war and its aftermath. The peace settlements reshaped national boundaries, leaving tensions and rivalries between nation states and people that resonate to the present day.
Historians continue to explore and challenge many assumptions and perceptions surrounding the conflict, from its origins and causes, to the responsibility for its conduct, the reasons for Allied victory over the Central Powers, and the consequences and long-term outcomes of that victory.
In the lead-up to ANZAC Day the Australian War Memorial in Canberra recently produced the book 1918 Year of Victory to share the insights of leading scholars into issues surrounding the ending of the war, its memory and continuing impact. No doubt interest in this pivotal year of conflict will continue as Australians seek to learn more about the First World War and how it defined the nation.
Ashley Ekins is Head of the Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. He specialises in the history of World War One and the Vietnam War and has written widely on these conflicts and on the role of Australian soldiers in the Great War. Ashley edited the volume 1918 Year of Victory which is available now though the Australian War Memorial e-shop.
SHARE WITH:
