World War I, or the Great War, was a global war, centred in Europe, that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all of the world’s great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies the Central Powers. Ultimately, more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. The outcome of the war subsequently paved the way for various political changes, such as revolutions in many of the nations involved. We have created a Library special on World War I in order to provide you easy access to our collection.

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria in which international interventions have taken place. The war grew out of the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and escalated to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad’s government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. Violence in Syria has escalated amid an absence of meaningful efforts to end the war. A confidential list of individuals and units are believed to be responsible for crimes against humanity, breaches of international humanitarian law and gross human rights violations. We have created a Library Special on the Syrian civil war in order to provide you easy access to our collection. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask the librarian: r.steenhard@ppl.nl