WELCOME TO this, the first issue of 2014. For some time now organisations around the world have been busy preparing for August 2014, and the count-down to the First World War centenary commemorations is certainly well under way How, though, should we remember that epoch-defining conflict - as a victory for freedom and democracy, or as a tragic and unnecessary waste of human life? Some people today might argue that the war was a terrible mistake. When we read of the appalling conditions the men had to endure and the often suicidal tactics employed by all sides it could be argued that it is scarcely credible that anyone could believe that the war was justifiable. Others might adopt a different stance. At the time, the war with Germany was seen by many as essential, even vital, to Britain's future and to stability in Europe. This was not only in August 1914 when thousands flocked to the recruiting stations thinking that the war would quickly be won, it was a belief that continued to be held by many throughout the conflict.
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