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The International Red Cross-Bringing Aid and Medical Relief to All-

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The International Red Cross-Bringing Aid and Medical Relief to All-

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International Committee of the Red Cross

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August 1914: The world has been turned upside down by the insanity of war, and the ICRC is about to experience a real baptism of fire. This small institution would become a truly international organization, in terms not only of its size but also its field of action.
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August 1914: The world has been turned upside down by the insanity of war, and the ICRC is about to experience a real baptism of fire. This small institution would become a truly international organization, in terms not only of its size but also its field of action.Read more

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Germany Remembers- A look at German War Memorials

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Germany Remembers- A look at German War Memorials

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German War Memorial Website - English - Onlineprojekt Gefallenendenkmäler

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The purpose of this website is to memorialize the names of the dead and to collect, archive and make publicly available, particularly for use by genealogists, inscriptions from war memorials of the German and Austrian armies.

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France and Belgium as Ground Zero for World War I

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France and Belgium as Ground Zero for World War I

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Our map illustrates the battlefield sectors of the 1914-1918 Western Front. The line of battlefields ran through a wide variety of landscapes from its northern end in the dunes of the West Flanders Belgian coast to the frontier crossing at the village of Pfetterhouse on the Swiss-German (Alsace) border. The Franco-German border east of Belfort and St. Dié is shown on this map as it was in 1914 when war broke out.

Click on a shaded area for the location of the battle sector and a brief comment. Some of the battle sectors are expanded with detailed information pages about the battles fought there, listings of cemeteries, memorials, museums, battle sites, events and visitors' information.

Liège (Province of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium)
The Battle and Siege of Liège was the first battle action on the Western Front from 4 August 1914. The city was captured by the Imperial German Army on 16 August 1914.

Namur (Province of Namur, Wallonia, Belgium)
The city of Namur fell to the Imperial German Army on 25 August 1914. It was liberated by British forces on 21 November 1918.

Mons (Hainaut Province, Wallonia, Belgium)
First encounter between the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the Imperial German Army on 23 August 1914. Mons was liberated by the British forces on 11 November 1918 and is the place where the last shots were reported to be fired on the Western Front on 11 November 1918.

City of Brussels/Bruxelles (Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium)
The capital city of Belgium was occupied by Imperial German forces on 20 September 1914 and liberated by Allied forces on 18 November 1918.

City of Antwerp, (Province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium)
The city of Antwerp fell to the Imperial German Army on 10 October 1914. Antwerp was liberated by British forces on 19 November 1918.

The Belgian Coast (West Flanders, Belgium)
The Belgian Coast was occupied and fortified by the Imperial German Army following the fall of Antwerp in mid October 1914. It was liberated by Allied forces from 17 October 1918.

Yser (IJser) River & Canal (West Flanders, Belgium)
Battlefield of the Yser, 16 October - 10 November 1914. The reclaimed, low-lying land at was deliberately flooded by the Belgians to halt the German advance here.

The Ypres Salient (West Flanders, Belgium)
Battlefields of The Ypres Salient from October 1914 - October 1918.

Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Fromelles, & the Lys (Departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, French Flanders, France)
Battlefields of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge and Festubert (1915), Fromelles (1916) and the Lys (1918).

La Bassée-Loos-Lens (Departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, Artois, France)
Battlefields at La Bassée, Loos and Lens (1915 & 1917).

Loretto Heights and Vimy Ridge (Department of Pas-de-Calais, Artois, France)
Battlefields of Loretto Heights and Vimy Ridge (1915 & 1917).

City of Arras (Department of Pas-de-Calais, Artois, France)
City of Arras and battlefields east of the city (1914 & 1917)

The Somme (Department of the Somme, Picardy, France)
Battlefields of the Somme, 1914-1918.

Cambrai (Department of Nord, French Flanders, France)
Battlefield of Cambrai, November 1917.

St. Quentin - Maubeuge (Departments of the Aisne & Nord, Picardy/French Flanders, France)
Battlefields between St. Quentin and Maubeuge for August 1914 and August/September 1918.

Aisne (Department of the Aisne, Picardy, France)
Battlefields of the Aisne 1914-1918.

Marne (Departments of the Marne & Aisne, Champagne & Aisne, France)
Battlefields of the Marne, September 1914 and July-August 1918.

Champagne (Department of the Marne, Champagne, France)
Battlefields of Champagne 1914-1918.

Verdun & Argonne Forest (Department of Meuse, Lorraine, France)
Battlefields of Verdun (February - December 1916) and the Meuse-Argonne (September - October 1918).

St. Mihiel Salient (Department of the Meuse, Lorraine, France)
Battlefields of the St. Mihiel Salient, September 1918.

Meurthe & Moselle (Department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France)
Battlefields of the Moselle-Meurthe, August 1914.

Vosges Mountains (Departments of Bas-Rhin & Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France)
Battlefields of the Vosges Mountains, 1914 - 1915.

Rhine Plain (Department of Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France)

To top >> Map of Western Front battlefield locations
Related Reading

Before Endeavours Fade

by Rose E.B. Coombs

From the Belgian coast, across the fields of Flanders, over the valley of the Somme and down the line to the Argonne: all the major battlefields of the First World War - Ypres, Arras, Cambrai, Amiens, St. Quentin, Mons, Le Cateau, Reims, Verdun and St. Mihiel - are criss-crossed in this book over more than thirty different routes, each clearly shown on a Michelin map. Highly recommended guide book.

The Western Front

by Richard Holmes

Best known for his BBC series presentations in War Walks and War Walks II, the late Richard Holmes , acclaimed presenter and author of military history, chronicles the bloodiest days of World War I in The Western Front. This book covers everything from how the front was created and the British Army in France, to the battle of Verdun and the last Hundred Days of the war.

Related Topics

Battles of the Western Front 1914-1918 Battle Remains on the WW1 Western Front WW1 Timeline - a detailed timeline of the Great War

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Location of the 1914-1918 Battlefields of the Western Front

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Overview and map of the battlefield regions where the First World War battles took place on the Western Front.

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World War I Through British Eyes- the Imperial War Museum

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World War I Through British Eyes- the Imperial War Museum

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The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial art exhibit

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The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial art exhibit

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The U.S. at War

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The first special exhibition of the new National World War I Museum opened in 2006 in Exhibit Hall, one of the original, 1926 Liberty Memorial buildings. War Art drew completely from the Museum's rich collections to examine a WWI topic in more detail. From the "high art" of such luminaries as France's Pierre Carrier-Belleuse to the etched mess kit of an unknown American soldier to so-called "trench art," this exhibit illustrated a wide range of pieces created during and after the war. A military historian once asserted, "Art and war are old companions. Battlefields and soldiers have been popular subjects with artists since earliest times." Here are a few examples from our extensive collections:

"Sergeant Ian MacGregor" (1921 - oil). At the 1921 site dedication of the Liberty Memorial, Kansas City artist Daniel MacMorris met Sergeant MacGregor, who attended the ceremony with his Scotch-Canadian Highlander regiment. MacGregor posed for MacMorris and his classmates at the Kansas City Art Institute.

The image of the bored soldier, sitting in his trench, twisting and hammering brass shell casings into vases, is one of the longest-running snippets of folklore from World War I. It is true that American and other soldiers wanted souvenirs of all types, and they purchased decorated, recycled shell casings on a grand scale, but the front-line soldier had neither the tools nor the time to create many of the fantastic decorations.

As late as 1921, mass-produced shell art was still being sold to souvenir-seeking Doughboys. An advertisement in an American Legion Weekly from that year touted a "75mm ash tray - the Ideal Christmas Gift - a genuine 75mm cartridge with original markings on base. Get an extra one for a pal." The $1 piece of shell art was produced by the Keeler Brass Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"The French had quite an industry behind the lines. They filled the shells [artillery shell casings] with sand and then using a punch and other tools made decorations and inscriptions." Second Lieutenant Allen B. Brown, 119th Field Artillery, 32nd Division, American Expeditionary Forces, described the French cottage industry of producing shell art or so-called trench art.

The soft aluminum of the U.S. Model 1910 mess kit (meat can) provided a canvas of sorts for the soldier with a knife.

During the war the steel helmets worn by the Doughboys were unadorned. Unit insignia were the first objects painted on helmets, but this was rare before the cessation of hostilities due to the concern that the enemy would gain information from seeing the insignia. But after the guns were silenced, the Doughboy artists got busy with painted insignia, itinerary, maps, pseudo-camouflage, and battle scenes. Some painted helmets were done on commission for American soldiers by German prisoners of war. Painted helmets also were made into lamps stateside.

Drawings by Lester G. Hornby. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1882, Hornby studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Art Students' League of New York. He studied in Paris from 1906 to 1910, where he served as Director of the American Art Association of Paris. He was in Brittany, France, when the war started in 1914. When the Americans arrived in 1917, General Pershing gave Hornby a pass to travel among the American Expeditionary Forces where he made these etchings.
Art That Delivered a Message
Soon after the outset of World War I the poster, previously the successful medium of commercial advertising, was recognized as a means of communication in spreading national propaganda with unlimited possibilities. The poster could impress an idea quickly, vividly, and lastingly.

In almost every country involved in the war, the poster played its part in the war effort. The posters of 1914-1918 illustrate every phase and difficulty and movement - from recruiting to munitions work and from war loans to the work of women and the Red Cross.

In 1920 English writer Martin Hardie stated succinctly the poster's place in World War I history: "They had their story to tell and message to deliver. Their business was to waylay and hold the passersby and to impose their meaning upon them."

Soldiers wanted souvenirs, and many a cottage industry developed to meet that desire. Embroidered silk handkerchiefs, many with intricate designs and colors, provided a souvenir that could easily be carried and mailed home to a mother, wife, or sweetheart.

Corporal Walter Bullard, 603rd Engineers, American Expeditionary Forces in France, wrote his mother on August 16, 1918: "I am enclosing a handkerchief that I bought for you. It is rather pretty with the French flag and the Stars and Stripes together. They sell quite a bunch of them to the boys to send home, and there is hardly a town that I have been in that you can't find hundreds in stores. They have all colors and with different words and such. Some have the Allied flags worked in the corner."

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war art national wwi museum kansas city world war one missouri

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The first special exhibition of the new National World War I Museum opened in 2006 in Exhibit Hall, one of the original, 1926 Liberty Memorial buildings. War Art drew completely from the Museum's rich collections to examine a WWI topic in more detail.