In 2013, the British Council and the University of Exeter asked a sample of 1,215 UK residents the question: "When you think about the First World War, what are the first three things that come to mind?" Out of their responses the interesting tag cloud below was constructed. The size of the word or phrase represents the frequency of the response. The position of the words seems to indicate responses that tended to be given together by the same respondent. I don't think the colors are indicators, though. For instance, red is used for "Loss of Life,"black for "Waste of Life," and grey for "Death." Also keep in mind it has a strong British orientation. While Germany makes the list, France, Russia, and the other combatants don't. It contains a number of responses that surprised me, such as the great size differential of "Ypres" vs "Battle of the Somme."
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Nonetheless, I believe it reflects the prevailing attitudes about the war internationally at the time—which I have labored against in my writings and publications. It would be interesting, but probably impracticable, to conduct the survey again using the same question to see if there has been any shift in these perceptions since the centennial commemorations of the war. Probably minimal is my guess.
Surprised Passchendaele, Unknown Warrior, Cenotaph don't make the list. The anti war comments seem very generic... ask me about any war and I hate it. Fair enough though.
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