Conflict was gigantic lesson we must not forget, says historian

Broadcaster Dan Snow has said it is important to keep the memory of the First World War alive because it is an “enormous warning”.

While teenagers might question what the conflict had to do with them, the lessons are still compelling today, he said.

“It’s a gigantic lesson into looking beyond fake news and propaganda, about trying to find out the truth from multiple sources, not just believing what you are told from a bunch of old white guys who control the governments,” he said.

“It’s a warning of the catastrophic effects of listening to people who peddle nationalism and racism and inter-state competition.

“It’s a giant warning about what happens when societies sleepwalk because they’re told through patriotism or through duty that they have to do exactly what they are told ... and it results in catastrophe ... millions of people died.

“The jigsaw of Europe, the Middle East, parts of Asia were ripped apart and we are still trying to put that puzzle back again.”

The historian added: “On a basic level, it’s a warning that sometimes everything isn’t OK.

“You need to take this stuff seriously because in the past decisions have been made, mistakes made, signals sent, people have gone to war almost by accident assuming the other side won’t step up.

“And tens of millions were killed and wounded and traumatised for the rest of their lives.”

Snow has several ancestors who were involved in the First World War, including David Lloyd George, who was prime minister.

He had a “great-uncle who fought on the front line” and another family member “who was a general in the First World War”, with “thousands of men” dying “under his command”.

Snow also had ancestors who were doctors in the trenches and “would have seen the most hideous things”.

With documents around from the time, there was a chance that the memory of the conflict would not die out, he said.

“The pictures are there, you can hear sources, you can see men suffering.

“You can ask them from beyond the grave and they will tell you what it is like.

“They will tell you price they paid.

“The suffering was unimaginable, we owe it to them not to forget that,” he said. out the the the

Broadcaster Dan Snow has several ancestors who were involved in the conflict