‘Always look on the bright side of life’, the crucified messiah Brian and his fellow-sufferers sing in the final scene of Monty Python's notorious film, ‘Life of Brian’. Brian and his companions aren't the only ones to laugh about their own fate. Gallows humour is a widespread phenomenon, especially in times of war. Strange as it may seem to laugh about your own (or someone else's) misfortune, that type of humour does meet a psychological need.

In Great Britain, the army swallowed up an important part of the male workforce during The First World War. Women often took over their work in the factories, or in the fields, temporarily. However, the efforts of women had little impact on their post-war role. In Belgium, the scope of the employment of women in the war industry, and in the so-called male professions, was very limited.

For a long time, it was generally believed that the 1914 declarations of war were made in a spirit of enthusiasm. Today's historiography qualifies this view somewhat.

Immediately before The First World War, a democratisation of tourism took place. Tourism was no longer only reserved for the very wealthiest; the well-off middle class could also afford a trip every now and then too. At the outbreak of the war, tourism in occupied Belgium initially fell completely still. Conveyances such as cars and bicycles were requisitioned and the German army was given priority on the trains. Furthermore, the Belgian population could only travel with the permission of the German military authorities.

The Battle of the Somme claimed the lives of over a million French, British and German soldiers. Though condemned as pointless bloodshed today, the battle fits into the military tactics of WWI.

For most of the foreign soldiers at the Western Front, keeping in touch with friends and family was relatively easy. But most Belgian soldiers did not have this option.

Football was a popular pastime behind the front line.

As the war lasted, the German economy grew short-handed. At the same time, the economy in occupied Belgium had all but ground to a standstill, as a result of which there was enormous unemployment. The German high command came to see the Belgian unemployed as a way of keeping the war economy running.

From the beginning of the war, the border with the neutral Netherlands had bustled with activity. Almost immediately after the occupation, the German authorities sealed off the border to the Netherlands with barbed wire. The Germans wanted to prevent Belgian war volunteers from reaching the front via the Netherlands, and at the same time to call a halt to smuggling.

After 11 November 1918, the cry of 'No war ever again’ sounded out louder than ever before. The countries that negotiated the peace accord were in agreement that the text of the treaty should contain sufficient guarantees to prevent future wars. One of these guarantees was the foundation of a League of Nations that would devote itself to the preservation of mutual peace. The American president, Woodrow Wilson, was the leading advocate of this.