20 iconic photos taken in the trenches and front lines of World War I. Photographers risked their lives alongside soldiers to bring the story of the war home.

Dubbed 'The War To End War', the First World War was a futile and wholly avoidable conflict.

Political meddling and nefarious ambition led to a war that claimed 17 million lives and left 21 million injured.

These 20 photos are our selection of the best from the trenches and front lines.

They are:
1. British/ANZAC trench, Northern France,
Netherlands Nationaal Archief
2. Over the top
John Warwick Brooke/National Library of Scotland
3. Gommecourt, National Library of Scotland
4. A German soldier throws a hand grenade, AP Photo
5. Brits at the Third Battle of Ypres
James Francis Hurley
6. An aerial view of the Western Front
San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
7. Pill box demolishers, Australian official photographs/State Library of New South Wales
8. A German prisoner, National Library of Scotland
9. British artillery bombards German positions on the Western Front, Library of Congress
10. Soldiers in the trenches write letters home, Unknown
11. Aerial view of the Somme Front, NARA/U.S. War Dept.
12. Gas attack on the Flanders front, National Archive/Official German Photograph of WWI
13. Australian soldier rescues a comrade
NARA/US War Dept
14. Slavic soldiers as the German cavalry broke through, National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
15. The 9th British Lancers charging German artillery
REX USA/Underwood Archives / UIG / Rex
16. A wounded soldier receives treatment
U.S. Army/U.S. National Archives
17. Chateau Woods, 3rd Battle of Ypres, 1917, Frank Hurley
18. French soldiers in a bayonet charge
Agence de presse Meurisse
19. War Rations, National Library of Scotland
20. Soldier at Grave, PA Photos/PA Archive/Press Association Images


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H/T: TheAtlantic.com

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