1. The first analytical focus is the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne, France. Located near the battlefields of the Somme, the Historial is an integral part of the extensive French memorial landscape and World War I tourism scene. In fact, the museum is often referred to as the unofficial king of World War I museums in France because of its unusual architecture and comprehensive vision. The Historial opened to the public in 1992 and has attracted 80,000 visitors per year on average. It offers visitors a comparative, bottom-up perspective on the experiences of the ordinary soldiers fighting on different sides of the western front and champions an unabashedly pacifist interpretation of the war years.
