Riflemen “going over the top” is the iconic battle image of World War I.
But as large armies fought for mere meters of dirt and mud along the Western Front, strategists increasingly turned to finding other ways to gain advantages over enemies. WWI veteran and British military theorist B. H. Liddell Hart advanced the idea of an “indirect approach” in battle. Aviation technology, tunneling and mining, proxy fighters, insurgents and spies – these all achieved flexibility and surprised the enemy.
Explore the wide variety of battle strategies beyond trenches, including:
All who have a general or professional interest in the periods prior to, during and after World War I. We especially recommend this symposium to educators, historians and members of organizations that study these periods.
Are you interested in presenting at the 2025 Symposium: Beyond the Trenches? We invite you to apply by 5 p.m. Central Time on Monday, June 30.
Proposals from early career researchers are strongly encouraged. Applicants will be asked to provide a sample of work that pertains to the theme of the symposium.
As the defining event of the 20th century, how does World War I inform our understanding of “just” war?
Despite the efforts of multinational coalitions like the Triple Entente and League of Nations, crises have persisted throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, revealing the strategic and ethical complexities that define modern conflict and its impact on our global society.
1923 ushered in a new era of military commemoration in the wake of WWI. Remembrance became less about victory and more about peace: monuments and cemeteries, enshrining the memory of those who served and sacrificed, were built not as trophies of the past but as touchstones for the future.
Engulfed by four years of total war, the world emerged transformed. Amid the unfamiliarity of wartime and post-war societies, populations were both bound by tradition and buoyed by bids to reshape political, economic and social landscapes.
As the Great War “ended,” many questions confronted the global community that remain just as pressing today as they did one hundred years ago: How does war impact how we understand ourselves and our place in the world? What does it mean to “come home” when the places and people you called home have changed irrevocably?
1919 was a year of sweeping changes in a landscape dramatically altered by years of unrelenting warfare. Leaders advanced towards elusive peace amid political instability, economic uncertainty and social conflict. As terms of the Treaty of Versailles were negotiated, a world reordered faced decisions and realities that would leave a complex legacy.
Explore the irrevocable changes five years of cataclysmic conflict wrought on the global stage. As borders were literally and figuratively redrawn, Allies celebrated a victory and the world came to terms with the irreparable devastation and losses of the “war to end all wars.”
The United States emerged from its traditional isolation in 1917 and began to take its place in the forefront of world affairs. As the U.S. mobilized its farms, industries, and formed a large army, it confronted curtailing civil liberties and faced a possible demand for equity in return for support.
Although the U.S. actively took part in the conflict for only 18 months, the war effort introduced mass conscription, transformed the American economy and mobilized popular support through war bonds, patriotic rallies and anti-German propaganda. Nevertheless, many people desired a negotiated peace, opposed American intervention, refused to support the war effort and even imagined future world orders that could eliminate war.
Explore the pivotal year of 1916, where global socio-political tensions created by World War I continued escalation and irrevocably changed the economic, military, and cultural landscape of the world.
Explore the rising tensions in America and the globally escalating conflict that defined the world in 1915. Follow the trajectories of different countries around the world as the conflict escalated to total war, including fighting in the colonies and East Asia, stalemate in the West, Churchill’s disaster at Gallipoli, mobilization at home, and the polarization of American society around the issue of war.
Examine the origins of, reactions to and early confrontations in the First World War including the political, diplomatic, military, cultural and scientific developments prior to the war that contributed to its outbreak.
We strongly encourage proposals from early career researchers.
Applicants will be asked to provide a sample of work that pertains to the theme of the symposium, including (but not limited to) the following topics:
Applicants will also be asked to select an artifact from the Museum and Memorial’s collection, via the Online Collections Database, and write a 500-word essay on the importance of this object to the theme of the symposium.
Monday, June 30, 2025
5 p.m. Central Time (U.S.)
We will notify applicants of acceptance via email by Friday, Aug. 1, 2025 at 5 p.m.
Applicants will be asked to participate in a session, either virtually or in-person, between Thursday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 25. Additionally, accepted artifact essays will be published on the Museum and Memorial’s website.