This tutorial is aimed at exploring the concept of ‘Remembrance’ with reference to the First World War. It will look at:

what is remembrance? what does remembrance mean with reference to the First World War? the history of remembrance the War Poets and remembrance how does all this affect our attitude to the war? what should we remember about the First World War?

Remembrance Defined

Here is the standard definition of ‘remembrance’ as used in the Oxford English Dictionary:

Remembrance: Memory or recollection in relation to a particular object, fact, etc. … Remembrance Day, the Sunday nearest to 11 Nov., kept in remembrance of those killed in the world wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45, and since 1945 combined with Armistice Day; Remembrance Service, a service held on Remembrance Day; Remembrance Sunday = Remembrance Day; Remembrance tide, the period immediately preceding Remembrance Day, considered as if part of the liturgical year.

Oxford English Dictionary

Consider the key terms: memory, recollection, war(s), killed; but note also the now forgotten period of Remembrance tide prior to Remembrance Sunday (the main memorial event in the UK for those who fell in battle in all wars held on the nearest Sunday to November 11th, the date of the Armistice that drew a halt to the First World War in 1918).