‘We Will Re‐Member Them’: Muslims in the Great War Semi‐Centenary

Abstract

In August 1964, the semi-centenary of the First World War's onset coincided with uncertainty about Britain's future: decolonization had resulted in a diminished role in the international sphere, and migration had begun to alter the dominant ethnic and religious character of the metropolis. Britons increasingly confronted the question of what it meant to belong to the postcolonial nation. In this context, First World War commemorations served a twofold purpose: first, they revised prior representations of colonial subjects in the war, in light of contemporary realities; and second, they served as an outlet for imperial nostalgia. This article considers the relationship between race, nation, and collective memory by analysing representations of Muslim colonial subjects in the 1964 BBC documentary, The Great War. A content analysis aims to explain how Britain's evolving collective memory reveals its dominant national identity and, by extension, its willingness to accommodate postcolonial newcomers.

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