ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the way in which the memory of the Great War in Britain has developed over the last two decades through alternative spaces of remembrance within museums and commemorative schemes. These sites of memory have been constructed by a society far removed from the direct experience of the war as a means of maintaining the remembrance of the conflict in the present day. As such, these arenas are instructional spaces, used to inform current generations about the importance and relevance of a war fought 100 years previously. Through a detailed assessment of the structure and content of these alternative spaces of remembrance, this study will examine the how contemporary society is asked to serve as witnesses to the conflict. To act as a witness, places moral, social and political obligations onto the individual, as they are required to bear the burden of memory and to testify as to its significance. The role of the witness within these memorial schemes will be examined, as these new spaces of remembrance demonstrate the way in which connections are made with the Great War in the advent of its centenary.
