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School of History & Cultures
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MA British First World War Studies
Introduction
As
you know better than I do each war has its own peculiarities, but one would
think that no war was ever so peculiar as the present one.
General
Sir William Robertson (CIGS) to General Sir Henry Rawlinson (GOC Fourth Army),
26 July 1916
The
First World War, or Great War, has been described as ‘the seminal event of the
twentieth century’. In Britain the
war is often regarded as the worst event in our history.
The dominant perception is still captured by A.J.P.Taylor’s famous
phrase ‘brave, helpless soldiers; blundering, obstinate generals; nothing
achieved’. The purpose, conduct
and outcome of the First World War are inevitably compared to its disadvantage
with those of the Second World War, what Studs Terkel called ‘the good war’,
the inevitable and heroic struggle against evil and tyranny, a morality tale
with a happy ending. At the root of
these perceptions are, of course, the scale of the First World War’s
casualties, which were unprecedented and – happily – remain unique in
British history. It is the
casualties that make the war so fascinating and appalling.
Even before the guns ceased firing there were attempts to explain how
such a human catastrophe came about and why the scale of loss was so great.
Popular explanations have often seemed content with blaming the quality
of military leadership – especially British military leadership.
This MA programme rests on the belief that a tragedy as great as the
First World War deserves less superficial analysis.
There
are many MA programmes in ‘war studies’.
We believe that this programme is unique in its focus on the Great War.
It provides an opportunity to study in depth this most compelling and
controversial conflict. It focuses
on the challenges posed by the war to the British state, the British army and
British society and of the evolving ways in which these challenges were met - or
not met.
For more information, please click a menu option on the left
To
download or print out details for the MA in British First World War History,
click below
MA
British First World War Information booklet
(ms
word format)
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