How do we remember World War One? | History for Year 6 PDF Download

How was World War One remembered in 1919?

• The end of World War One was not widely celebrated due to the immense loss of life, reflecting a somber mood. 
• On November 11, 1919, marking the first anniversary of the armistice, a profound silence swept across the nation at 11 a.m. as church bells rang. People paused, bowing their heads in respect. 
• Public transport, including buses and trains, halted, shopkeepers ceased serving customers, and electricity was cut to stop trams, ensuring a collective moment of reflection. 
• This tradition of observing a brief silence on November 11 has continued annually ever since.

Memorials

In 1920, the Cenotaph was erected in London, becoming a focal point for remembrance. People began laying flowers there to honor loved ones lost in the war, a practice that persists today.

How war poets wrote about the war

• The unprecedented horror of World War One inspired many, particularly soldiers, to write poetry to convey the war’s reality to those at home and ensure its memory endured. Laurence Binyon, an English poet, wrote For the Fallen in 1914 and later volunteered at a British hospital in France, aiding wounded soldiers. 
• Rupert Brooke, an early British war poet, emphasized patriotic duty in his poem The Soldier, famously noting, “If I should die, think only this of me: that there's some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.” Siegfried Sassoon, another soldier-poet, condemned the war’s brutality, describing it as “hell” and a “joke” in his poem A Letter Home. 
• Wilfred Owen, sharing Sassoon’s anti-war sentiments, also captured the war’s grim realities in his poetry.

Why do we wear poppies?

• The poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae highlighted poppies growing amid the battle-scarred fields of Flanders, where many soldiers were injured or died. 
• Inspired by this imagery, Madame Guerin, a French woman, began selling poppies in America for charity, while Moina Michael promoted the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. 
• In Britain, George Howson designed a simple poppy for disabled war veterans to craft, modestly hoping it would be worthwhile. Today, millions wear poppies every November to honor the fallen.

Then and now: how has life changed?

Photographs from the early 1900s and today reveal both continuity and change in people’s lives. These images capture historical moments, showing how some aspects of life remain similar while others have transformed significantly.