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 ...
In contrast to the British and French armies, the Belgian army suffered much fewer losses. While approximately 3,75% of the mobilised soldiers in the Belgian army were killed, this was around 10,3% and 16,8% in the British and French armies. On the one hand, this was caused by the strategic choices of the high command, and on the other, by the ...
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.
Initially, the Germans tried to tempt ...
At the request of Flemish Movement activists, the German occupying force reopened the University of Ghent in 1916, this time with Dutch as the language of instruction rather than French. The German interference went against the grain of many professors, and only a limited number of students enrolled. In spite of that, the 'Flemish Academy' ...
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 ...
The First World War had a devastating impact on most economic activities in Belgium. The breweries in the unoccupied part of the country behind the front formed an exception, however – they flourished, thanks to an explosive population growth in the region during the war years. This growth consisted of soldiers of various nationalities ...
On the eve of the First World War, Russia was in a state of turmoil. More and more Russians openly declared their dissatisfaction with Tsar Nicolas II and his authoritarian regime. With the outbreak of war, that dissatisfaction was temporarily washed away by a wave of patriotism. A strong anti-German sentiment fuelled a rapid and massive ...
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 ...
Today, the many political cartoons from the First World War are an interesting source of information about the war years and the general perception of this period. However, it is important to remember that an effective interpretation of the cartoons takes some background knowledge, as they are based on their own unique imagery. The cartoonists ...