Helmut Bley is emeritus professor of modern and African history at the University of Hanover, Germany. He was a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and supervising chairman of the institute for African studies in Hamburg.As vice head of the conferences & symposia unit at the Volkswagen Foundation in Hanover, Germany, Anorthe Kremers is responsible for the contents of the foundations's own conferences, symposia and lecture series in the humanities and the soical sciences. She studied history and French at the universities of Tübingen and Grenoble.Photo: Volkswagen Foundation

When the First World War is described as the seminal catastrophe of the 20th century, this refers mainly to its effects on Europe. However, this perspective does not reflect adequately the war's global dimensions. This is especially true when it comes to investigating local social, economic, political and even environmental developments as well as protest movements outside Europe or taking a closer look at the perceptions of war expressed by soldiers, veterans and civilians. "The World during the First World War" focuses on the war as a global event with far-reaching consequences. Examining incidents in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australia not only makes it possible to address the causes, courses and consequences of the First World War in their global diversity, it also opens a new perspective on the question of periodization.Authors:Touraj Atabaki, Joan Beaumont, Graham H. Cornwell, Santanu Das, Babacar Fall, Toyin Falola, Stig Förster, Ulrike Freitag, Katja Füllberg-Stolberg, Gaurav Churiwala Garg, Patricio Geli, Barbara Göbel, Michael Goebel, Chris Gratien, Dirk Hoerder, Margaret Hutchison, Oliver Janz, Jennifer L. Jenkins, Wilhelm Krull, Jürgen Kocka, Britta Lange, Nazan Maksudyan, Ellinor Morack, Keith Neilson, Akeo Okada, Howard Phillips, Graham Auman Pitts, Stefan Reichmuth, Stefan Rinke, Franziska Roy, Jan Schmidt, Guoqi Xu, Shin'ichi Yamamuro.