The World's War

David Olusoga is a professor of Public History at Manchester University.  He is of Nigerian and white English parentage.  His studied of the contribution of  non-European combatants in the first world war and wrote the book 'The World's War.

 These are the things I noted in particular.

1) German Fountain.  

The German Fountain

Built in Germany and transported to Istanbul as a gift from the German Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Sultan Abdulhamid II to commemorate his visit to the Ottoman Empire two years before. 

2) Panthéon de la Guerre

A 123 meter circular painting painted by  Pierre Carrier-Belleuse and Auguste François-Marie Gorguet during the fighting.  Olusoga noted that the painting was a picture also of what happened after the war.  The painting began as a very inclusive representation with honour even given to the Chinese Labour Corp.  As the war ended there was pressure to paint over the 'foreigners' to make room for the white Americans who had joined the war near the end. An American Businessman bought the painting in 1927, and displayed in Madison Gardens where it was very popular.  After the second world was it was no longer of interest and it was chopped up.  Only 7% was retained focusing on the Americans and is now displayed in Kansas City museum to the First World War. 

3) The Hamburg war memorial to the War in German East Africa.

A controversial memorial in a Park in Hamburg to the many African who died in the German East African Campaign.  It was restored and augmented by Nazi Germany.   

4)  Wünsdorf - A place in Eastern Germany with an extraordinary history. The Halbmondlager or Half Moon Camp, near Wünsdorf , 25 km from Berlin, was where non-white POWs were brought by the Germans during WWI where they were well looked after in the hope that they could be wooed into turning on their colonial masters.  The aspect of religion was also built up to given them the impression that German was very supportive of their rights to independence.  For Muslims they encouraged 'Holy War', a spirit that had already been evoked by the Ottoman Sultan.  

Lenin now stands alone. 
Wunsdorf became the centre of the Russian
occupation of East Germany

The first mosque in Germany-
Built of wood. 
In a POW Camp

5) The Chinese Labourer's graveyard.  ever thought about the extraordinary amount of work that went into constructing 400 miles of complex trenches?  A lot of the work was done by 100,000 Chinese indentured labourers who signed up to dig trenches and later in the war, service the tanks.  

These are the people who were truly forgotten after the war.  The CWC is trying to make up for it.  Long into 1919 the Chinese labourers were toiling on repairing the damage to the country side from the war, and collecting live ammunition and dead bodies from the battlefield.

Noyelle Sur mer Chinese Cemetery