ABSTRACT
Introduction The original ‘event’ on a battlefield is an armed conflict of some kind. In the aftermath, individuals, families, societies and nations attempt to remember and commemorate the dead and wounded, to ease the grief of the bereaved and to make sense of or justify the conflict. They may also choose to forget the war or to change the perspective on some aspects. A range of processes can be invoked to remember a war, particularly through the writing of its history and the processes involved in creating creation of a social memory (Halbwachs 1992; J. Winter 1995). Historians are tasked with recording an objective account of war using verifiable documents and other evidence, in an effort to record the ‘facts’. Social memories aim to make sense of the past to satisfy the needs of a particular group, and they are drawn from, but not wholly limited to historical events (Halbwachs 1992). It was once considered that the processes of history and social memory are entirely distinct, but some recent thought suggests that they are linked in ways that are mutually supportive (J. Winter 2010; Ziino 2010). Many memories can therefore be created, but social memory refers to those that are widespread and supported throughout a society. Later generations may elect to modify, re-shape or shift the priorities – including forgetting some events and people (Schwartz 1982; Shaw 2009). In 1915, for example, there were many large battles at Loos, Aubers and Neuve-Chapelle in northern France but, for various reasons, they have been almost forgotten, while the battles on the Somme and in the Ypres Salient are widely known (Reed 2014). This chapter discusses some of the events held in the city of Ieper, Belgium, in relation to the performance of social memory relating to the Great War of 1914-18 and to contemporary life in the city.
