1916 series

1916 series: Russia on the edge

1916 set the stage for the revolutions in Russia that would cast their shadow over not just the First World War but the entire 20th century

How 1916 set the stage for America to enter WWI

The U.S. greeted the outbreak of the First World War with disbelief, but by late 1916 thousands of Americans were already personally involved in the war

1916 series: Lines on a map, and a legacy of unrest

Both sides in the Great War strove to create tensions within their enemies. And Islamic loyalties were a prime target.

How we remember the Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme’s horrific futility dominates our memories, yet there are aspects of the battle that pointed, however weakly, to how and why the war would finally end

1916 series: What the Great War meant for Africa

For Africa the First World War “was both the culmination of European imperialism and the beginning of its decline.”

The forgotten Chinese labourers of the First World War

Vast battalions of Chinese labourers were shipped through Canada to work on the front lines of Europe, many of them to their deaths

1916 series: The final great offensive of the Czarist regime

The Brusilov offensive destroyed the Austro-Hungarian state as an independent military entity, but also left Russia discontented enough for revolution

The Battle of Jutland: chaotic, bloody and a mass of ironies

The naval Battle of Jutland in 1916, the hinge year of the Great War, upended neutrals around the world

Why the Easter Rising changed everything for Ireland

The Easter Rising is a foundational moment in modern Irish history and a reminder that by the end of 1916 there was no going back to the pre-WWI world

The First World War’s forgotten Southern Front

The latest in our monthly series looking at 1916, the year that marked the point of no return in the First World War

‘The most fiercely protracted battle this earth had ever seen’

The year 1916 marked the point of no return in the First World War. A look at the titanic French-German struggle at Verdun

In the Great War, 1916 marked the point of no return

This year marks the centennial of many important—if under-recognized—historic events. The first in a series of why 1916 was such an interesting year