The Heritage of the Great War - First World War 14-18 - De Erfenis van de Groote Oorlog - Eerste Wereldoorlog 1914-1918

Welcome to The Heritage of the Great War

Killed by musterd gas

Yes, we know this is an unpleasant sight. But this whole war was very unpleasant - especially for the men who had to fight it. So don't complain if we confront you with their reality.

This is a French medical picture, made on March 31, 1918. The dead man is a French soldier of the 99th Infantry Regt., who was killed by German mustard gas. The gas not only burned his lungs and intoxicated him, but also tore his skin apart.

The photograph is an autochrome color picture. This photocolor process was invented in the beginning of the 20th century by the Lumière brothers. We have 250 color pictures from the Great War: many of these original autochromes and others artificially tinted.

The War Picture of the Week is an extraordinary photograph, painting or drawing, showing unusual detail or an different view. We have an ARCHIVE with recent choices.

AN UNORTHODOX WEBSITE

The Heritage of the Great War has articles mainly in English; some are in Dutch (Flemish) only. We also show the literary war (poetry & prose), political cartoons and many photo slideshows.

De Erfenis van de Groote Oorlog heeft vooral artikelen in het Engels; sommige zijn alleen in het Nederlands. We tonen ook de literaire oorlog (poëzie & proza), politieke prenten en veel foto-albums.

We can't alter the
past, but we can
change the future

This website is dedicated to the events and consequences of World War One.
We put some emphasis on unorthodox and thought-provoking points of view. We are averse to historicism and military fetishism.
And we show people rather than strategic plans or statistics.

To this end this website features one of the most extensive and explicit WW-1 photo collections on the Internet.

“People are machines of forgetfulness” (Henri Barbusse, soldier, author of Le Feu, 1917)

We have special sections for English and Dutch speaking students, where they will find help with their papers or essays on the Great War 1914-1918.

THE DAILY QUOTE

More war quotes here

Click for immortal quotes from the Great War

Questions, Opinions or Ideas about the Great War ? Join the English-language — recommended!

Vragen, meningen of ideeën over de Groote Oorlog ? Ga naar het Nederlandstalige — aanbevolen!

Direct Access to our Photo Slide Shows

NEW: Extraordinary war pictures

250 color pictures of WW I

Gruesome: 50 graphic war pictures

Kid-Soldiers in the Great War (50 pics)

About fifty rare German war pictures

Pics by Mad Photographer Frank Hurley

Neverending: Fresh graves in Flanders

Amazing paintings by Mary Riter Hamilton

Pictures of the Gallipoli campaign

The Americans in the War in 50 pics

How Germans worship the dead Kaiser

War Loves: romantic color postcards

Feared telegrams and messages

Albert Hahn's political war cartoons

Miscellaneous war pics & paintings

Any use of copyrighted images, music or texts on this website is accidental, and any such material will be promptly removed upon notification from the copyright holder. ( Click here to read our own liberal copyright policy. )

The Literary War

We consider Le Feu (Under Fire) by the French soldier Henri Barbusse the best war novel published during the entire Great War. Read it here online (English translation) Pluck by Eva Dobell The making of In Flanders Fields by John McCrae Tourists on High Wood by Philip Johnstone Revisiting The Road to La Bassée by Bernard Newman and Harold Arpthorp Five Souls by W.N. Ewer The Hero by Siegfried Sassoon On Passing the New Menin Gate by Siegfried Sassoon Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon The Quiet by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson Aussies in Pozieres and Passchendale by Oscar Walters Sarcasm: Christmas on the Somme by Leslie George Rub J.R.R. Tolkien and the Passage through the Marshes A Natural History of the Dead by Ernest Hemingway The Gardener by Rudyard Kipling UPDATED : Great War Books (now more than 80 complete books on the First World War !)

While you surf this website you can listen to some music from the Great War. Make your choice from the midi-files in our Music Box in the table of contents on the left.
We also have an article with more Music from the Great War to download, including 1914-1918 originals (MP3's, WAV's, Real Audio etc). Happy listening!

Critics : What do others think of this website? Read these by members of Stumble Upon. We particulary liked this comment

Looking for something special ? Do a search on The Heritage of the Great War:

Zoekt u iets bijzonders? Doorzoek de Erfenis van de Groote Oorlog

There were many words that you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity. Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene.

(American author and WW 1-veteran Ernest Hemingway in A Farewell to Arms)