War Memorials were an important element of nation building, for the
invention of traditions, and the establishment of historical traditions.
Especially nationalist remembrance in the late 19th century and the
memory of the First World War stimulated a memorial boom in the period
which the present book is focusing on. The remembrance of war is nothing
particularly new in history, since victories in decisive battles had
been of interest since ancient times. However, the age of nationalism
and the First World War triggered a new level of war remembrance that
was expressed in countless memorials all over the world. The present
volume presents the research of international specialists from different
disciplines within the Humanities, whose research is dealing with the
role of war memorials for the remembrance of conflicts like the First
World War and their perceptions within the analyzed societies. It will
be shown how memorials - in several different chronological and
geographical contexts - were used to remember the dead, remind the
survivors, and warn the descendants.