London’s Imperial War Museum’s recent $74-million renovation makes one thing crystal clear: this unique institution which takes a fresh look at the First World War is falsely named; it is really an International Peace Museum.
“Our purpose is to convey the experience of war, not celebrate the glories of warfare,” says Paul Cornish, senior curator of the museum’s First World War Galleries Project, the centrepiece of the museum renewal commemorating the Great War’s centenary.
“We want to show the impact of the war, especially the personal consequences, including those on the home front.”
These were often horrific, and the museum does not shy away from describing and illustrating them. One member of the renovation design team had a grandfather whose nose was blown off by shrapnel in the trenches. He donated a series of before-and-after photos of his ancestor that are gut-wrenching to behold.
The horrors of gas warfare are fully described: both sides used it, although the Germans employed this now-banned weapon first. One can view the clumsy attempts on both sides to counter the deadly fumes, including gas masks developed for horses.
There is no sugarcoating the war as one moves through the 14 new galleries tracing its history. One starts at the pre-war period, Hope and Glory, and finishes at War Without End, showing how the First World War’s aftermath sowed the seeds of another world war that exploded just two decades later.
The new exhibits continue the museum’s dedication to social, as well as military, history. Visitors learn that Britain was very much a divided society in 1914 before hostilities began: one per cent of the population controlled 70 per cent of the wealth, compared to about 55 per cent in the U.K. today. Just six per cent of 16-year-olds were still in school and life expectancy was just 54 years.
Throughout the exhibits, visitors encounter the thoughts and stories of people at the time, which makes the events that took place a century ago seem all-too-human and real to us today. Belgian refugees from the German invasion write about how a “priest was used as a lavatory” and women were “violated” in front of their husbands. There is a poignant love letter to a British soldier who, unbeknownst to the author, was dead at the time it was penned.
Posters illustrate the war’s impact on the home front. One, from the British Ministry of Food, attempts to recruit “girls” 16-18 years of age for clerical work and promises them on-the-job continuing education. Another, urging self-rationing for the benefit of the troops, declares, “VICTORY is in the KITCHEN.”
The word “Imperial” in the museum’s name is not a misnomer, at least for 1917 when it was established, as the war still raged. Today, its perspective and objects continue to reflect the former empire. Canada is very well represented.
Artifacts include a grave-marker for 29-year-old Joshua Strong, killed somewhere in France, and the flag carried up the ridge at Vimy by the North Saskatchewan Regiment’s 5th Battalion. Among the recovered signposts from the trenches is one for Newfoundland Avenue. A panorama exhibit, punctuated by the sound of shells overhead, shows exploding bombs in Canadian trenches near Ypres.
Nestled among the exhibits are two small “reflection spaces,” free from exhibits of any kind. There is nothing but a bench to sit on. Says Cornish: “They are places to think about the killing experience and its devastating consequences.”
These sanctuaries encourage contemplation about the horrors of war and the benefits of peace.