Renewal: Life after the First World War in photographs


Fascinating exhibition at the Imperial War Museum looking at the end of the First War and the effects of it via the museum’s photographic collection.

The show was nicely themed by looking at the effect on individuals, society and the world. The individuals covered the process of demobilisation and how the soldiers adapted back to civilian life. It looked at how the injured both in body and mind were helped or left to cope on their own. A large section looked at the effect of the end of the war on the people whose land was fought over with pictures of people returning to devastated farms and houses, an aspect of the war we tend to forget in this country.

The society section looked at social changes with the end of the war such as worker rights and votes for women. It also looked at the decisions that were made around the rebuilding of Ypres with a fascinating set of pictures of the damage that were used to plan the reconstruction.

Finally the show focused on the peace treaty and the civil wars and revolutions which broke out as the war ended. It was interesting to see the Easter Rising and Irish Civil War included in this. It also showed how the Treaty Of Versailles laid the seeds for the Second World War.

Closes on 22 March 2017

Review
Evening Standard



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