You can search The Archive using key words such as name, place, event, or one or more random terms. You can also refine your search further:
Use quotation marks to search using an exact word. For example: dog will give you all of the words in which dog appears (dogs, doggerel, dogger). But “dog” will only give you the exact matches.
Use quotation marks to search using an exact group of words. For example: "free vote" or “la belgique independante”.
Use + or - to make a word mandatory (with +), or to exclude it (with -). For example: +market -silver will search for text excerpts in which market appears, but not silver.
Filters
You can also refine your search using the filters:
Type: filter by document, by blog or by collection.
Subject: filter by subjects linked to the Abraham newspaper catalogue.
Publication date: filter by publication date.
Series or title: filter by newspaper series or newspaper title.
Genre: filter by printed, typed or hand-written documents.
Language: filter by the language in which the document is written.
Provider: filter by provider of the archive material.
Important to Know: Your Search Results
When searching, the system will make an estimate of relevance for you. The results that the system considers to match your search most closely are listed first. You can change the order (for example, by date or alphabetically) with the aid of the dropdown on the right over the search results.
All printed papers are searchable by text, thanks to Optical Character Recognition(OCR). OCR ensures the automatic conversion of printed letters into digitally readable form. Please note: occasionally you may see some strange symbols appear in your search results. This is because OCR sometimes has difficulty correctly identifying characters. There is a possibility that words will not be recognised correctly. Therefore, when searching, you may have different results than expected.
Caution: Hand-written texts cannot be read by OCR. You will not be able to search these by text.
In the wake of the attack on the Austrian heir in June 1914, tensions between the European great powers escalated rapidly. However, the Belgians were not all that concerned: their country was neutral and so did not have to be afraid of becoming involved in a potential conflict. But this was without taking account of the German Schlieffen Plan, a ...
Following the war, a lot of Flemish cities were faced with the same question. Should their city rise from the ashes in full glory and look just as it had? Or did reconstruction offer opportunities for new urban visions? Should one honour the dead by leaving the rubble lie where it was? Or should one choose for big commemorative ...
The First World War was primarily fought in Europe, but soldiers and workers from all over the world came here to fight and work for the various armies.
Quite early in the war, the European great powers deployed their colonial troops to supplement their own armies. The British were able to call on Indian, Canadian, Australian and South ...
A century after her death, Mata Hari is still a household name. She is mainly remembered as a femme fatale, a dangerous double agent who used her sensuality to extract military secrets. Starting 14 October, the Museum of Friesland looks at the woman behind the stereotype.It is no coincidence that a big exhibition on her life is about to open in ...
Football was a popular pastime behind the front line. Soldiers would play a game themselves or watch matches played by former and current football stars serving in the ranks at the time. Popular football clubs of the past, such as Royal Antwerp FC and Beerschot VAC, regrouped in the unoccupied parts of Belgium, and teams from different regiments ...
For a long time, it was generally believed that the 1914 declarations of war were made in a spirit of enthusiasm, and that Europe went to war whistling. Today's historiography qualifies this view somewhat.
It is true that on the eve of the First World War, a large part of the intelligentsia did think that a conflict could be beneficial: war ...
In her diary, Virgine Loveling describes the disappearance of green spaces from the occupied city of Ghent during the war. Due to local government measures to combat the food shortage, flowers, shrubs and lawns in city parks were dug up to make space for 'more useful plants' such as potatoes, cabbages and beans.
Virginie ...
In late June 1916, the British artillery opened fire on the German lines at the Somme. The shelling continued without interruption for seven days. It was the beginning of a massive infantry offensive. On 1 July, British soldiers climbed out of their trenches and advanced towards the German lines along a front of 30 kilometres. In order to ...
In spring 1917, the Russian tsar was overthrown. The interim government that took power promised a freer, more democratic regime. When it came to the war, however, the new regime was categorical: Russia would continue the struggle together with the Allies until Germany surrendered unconditionally. A separate peace was not an option, though it was ...
After the spontaneous Christmas truce of December 1914, army command was not eager for any new fraternization between the contesting parties. On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, rifle shots rang out and the guns pounded as usual. Yet, some soldiers still tried to give the passing of the first year at the front a festive character. ...
Ruined countryside near Nieuwpoort, a flooded air-raid shelter and a self portrait in army uniform; those are just a few of the scenes painted by artists of the Section Artistique between 1916 and 1918.
La rue haute à Nieuport, by Léon Huygens (La patrie belge, 11/03/1917, p. 1)
The war had already sparked plenty of creativity in the years ...
The industrial nature of the First World War resulted in an unprecedented number of casualties, making effective medical organisation necessary. While a great many wounded soldiers died before reaching the field hospitals and others were sent back to the front after treatment, a third group of casualties proved no longer suited for military ...