War and Peace: 10 photos commemorating 100 years since WWI

By Alex Magdaleno From Mashable

July 28th will mark the 102nd anniversary of the start of World War I, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. More than 16 million soldiers and civilians were killed and more than 20 million were wounded in the years that followed, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.

Among what remains of the horrors faced in the Great War are the photographs. To commemorate the First World War’s centenary [first published April 8th 2014], photographer Peter Macdiarmid superimposed photographs from World War I onto photographs of the same modern-day locations in an altogether eerie depiction of the years that have passed.

In celebrating the 100 years organizations are also taking part in the global commemoration of World War I. The First World War Centenary, lead by the Imperial War Museums — a family of five museums across England — will host a series of cultural events and activities from 2014 to 2018.

German soldiers taking a rest during the First Battle of the Marne on the steps of the Vareddes Town Hall, France, 1914.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; The Print Collector/Getty Images

A view of the basilica with a tilted statue of the Virgin in Somme, France in 1915.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Apic/Getty Images

Soldiers standing outside the ruins of the railway station at Roye, Somme, France during World War 1, 1917.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Culture Club/Getty Images

The town hall and the belfry of Arras in ruins, seen from the main square (Pas-de-Calais) during World War I.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Roger Viollet/Getty Images

British soldiers are captured by the troops of the Central Powers walking in the main square of the city Bruges.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

Rheims Cathedral during the bombardment in France on April 30, 1917.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Photo12/UIG/Getty Images

A French soldier in the ruins of Verdun after a German bombing in France in 1916.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

The destruction of German airplanes at Place de la Concorde in Paris on the day of the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine on November 18, 1918.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Maurice-Louis Branger/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

London street urchins dressed as soldiers with paper hats and canes as guns stand to attention in Trafalgar Square, November of 1914. Behind them is a notice declaring ‘ The Need for Fighting Men is Urgent’.’
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

A vintage postcard of the 4th King’s Own Royal Lancers Regiment marching into Tonbridge during World War One in March 1915.
Image: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images; Popperfoto/Getty Images

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