WIREDGOV

Today we are launching a new First World War portal and announcing our plans to mark the centenary of the First World War with an extensive programme, spanning a five-year period from 2014 - 2019.

With primary sources at its heart, the programme - First World War 100 - aims to attract a new audience for archives during the centenary, as well as offering historians and regular archive users fresh insights into this landmark conflict.

Centenary themes

We will be exploring key aspects of the war through our themes of diplomacy, technology, home front, air and sea, peace, bravery and courage, medicine and health, and global perspectives. The first of these themes, diplomacy, will be the subject of a conference at our Kew site in June 2014.

Opening up our collections

The National Archives will open its unique collection of millions of First World War records through a rolling series of digitised record releases, including the popular unit war diaries, online and on site events and education resources from 2014, all of which will be accessible through the new portal.

Online collections - such as medal cards, service records and prisoner of war interviews - and resources including the popular My Tommy's War blog posts form part of the new First World War portal and ongoing centenary programme to draw attention to lesser-known series of records and help people to discover the stories behind the war.

Our First World War education offering  includes a videoconference learning resource - All Pals Together - which has been created for schools who can book a session for their classes to 'meet a real life soldier' and learn about what it was like to serve in the war.