Dominic Alexander debunks ten myths used by politicians and historians to rebrand World War 1 in the centenary of its outbreak.
The war was fought in defence of democracy
This is contradicted by the basic facts. Germany had universal manhood suffrage while in Britain, including Ireland, some 40% of men still did not qualify for the vote. In Germany also, there were attempts to justify the war on the grounds that it was being fought to defend civilised values against a repressive, militaristic state, in the form of Russian autocracy.