2025 Symposium: Beyond the Trenches

Above the clouds and under choppy waters, World War I was not only fought in the trenches.


HOW TO PARTICIPATE
2025 #WW1Symposium
Beyond the Trenches: Indirect Approaches and Irregular Warfare in WWI
Friday, Oct. 24 – Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025
Session times TBA
Registration opens in Spring 2025
Learn more: https://www.theworldwar.org/symposia


WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
All who have a general or professional interest in the periods prior to, during and after World War I. We especially recommend this symposium to educators, historians and members of organizations that study these periods.


ABOUT THE SUBJECT
Riflemen “going over the top” is the iconic battle image of World War I.

But as large armies fought for mere meters of dirt and mud along the Western Front, strategists increasingly turned to finding other ways to gain advantages over enemies. WWI veteran and British military theorist B. H. Liddell Hart advanced the idea of an “indirect approach” in battle. Aviation technology, tunneling and mining, proxy fighters, insurgents and spies – these all achieved flexibility and surprised the enemy.

Explore the wide variety of battle strategies beyond trenches, including:

- Diplomatic, economic and information warfare
- Proxy forces and irregular warfare in the Age of Empire
- New technologies: aviation, tunneling and mining
- Maritime operations in support of land forces
- Environmental and geographic considerations


SPEAKERS
Speakers list forthcoming.

You may also like the following events from National WWI Museum and Memorial:

• Next month, 4th July, 03:00 pm, 2025 Stars and Stripes Picnic in Kansas City
• This September, 27th September, 06:00 pm, Night at the Tower in Kansas City