Understanding Historical Sources
You'll encounter loads of different source types in your exam, and knowing what each one offers is crucial for those analysis questions.
Official sources like army instruction manuals, government records, and military service records give you the "official story" but might miss the harsh realities. Hospital records and casualty records provide hard facts and statistics that are brilliant for understanding medical developments on the Western Front.
Unofficial sources often tell the real story. Soldiers' diaries and doctors' personal accounts reveal genuine experiences and medical conditions. Letters, postcards, and poems like "Dulce et Decorum Est" show you what people actually thought and felt.
Visual sources like photographs, sketches, and maps can be incredibly useful for understanding medical facilities and conditions. However, remember that paintings might be romanticised, whilst newspaper reports could be censored or biased.
Source Analysis Tip: Always consider who created the source and why - this affects how reliable and useful it is for your enquiry!
The key is matching the right source type to your historical enquiry and understanding both the strengths and limitations each one brings.