Friday 03 October 2014

Why is the British Council marking the First World War Centenary? 

The First World War was a truly global conflict; the world came together for destruction. 9.5 million combatants died, 20 million were wounded. There were at least 6.5 million civilian deaths.
 
As the UK’s leading cultural relations organisation, supporting understanding of the global nature of the conflict and its legacy is central to the relationship between the UK and other countries.
 
The First World War is often overshadowed by the Second.  But it was the First World War which ended three empires, triggered the Russian revolution, and created the complex dynamics of power in the Middle East. World War One led to the first efforts to establish global governance.  It is the crucible of international politics today. 

 What is the British Council doing for the Centenary?

We are putting together a wide and varied programme of activities for audiences in the UK and around the world.
 
One thing we have already done is published our report, Remember the World as well as the War.  In our research, we surveyed thousands of people in seven countries to explore their understanding of the First World War.
 
I was interested to discover that perceptions of the UK around the world today are still influenced by Britain’s role in the First World War.  For instance, about one in three of respondents to our survey in Turkey stated that the UK’s role in the conflict had a broadly negative effect on their views of it today.
 
Understanding the reasons for perceptions of the UK is at the heart of our work here at the British Council.

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.
We work in more than 100 countries and our 7,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes. Our Trinidad and Tobago office is hosting a number of monthly initiatives involving students from across the country.
We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publically-funded grant provides less than 25 per cent of our turnover which last year was £781 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally.