Introduction

The UK National Inventory of War Memorials was established in 1989 with the aim of recording all physical objects in the United Kingdom created or installed to commemorate those killed in or as a result of military service.  My work involves looking at, recording and answering queries about these war memorials. In the course of the work, the word memorial 99 per cent of the time is preceded by the word ‘war’. Our very title, UK National Inventory of War Memorials, makes the assumption that all memorials that we are recording commemorate war. 

However, this is not necessarily the case as the erection of peace memorials is becoming more widespread, albeit not on the scale of the erection of war memorials. This essay will begin by giving a general overview of war and pacifism as it relates to the nation state and to popular opinion. It will then see how this is reflected in war memorials throughout the UK ebfore finishing with some considerations as to what might happen in the future.