ISJ November 2014: WW1 battlefields as a way to promote internationalism:some practical suggestions

Russell Tarr

Abstract:

The most cursory study of World War One quickly reveals that rampant, prejudiced nationalism played a major role in the tragedy that unfolded in the summer of 1914. It is therefore ironic that the centenary of the conflict has produced an outbreak of patriotic narratives verging on xenophobia. Most notably, the former UK education secretary Michael Gove has argued that history teachers should proudly impress upon their students the lesson that the First World War was a ‘just’ cause forced upon the British by the aggression of Germany with its ‘ruthless social Darwinism’.