2025 Symposium: Beyond the Trenches

Name: 2025 Symposium: Beyond the Trenches
Start: 2025-10-23T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-10-23T14:00:00-05:00
Location: 2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO, United States, Missouri 64108

Schedule

Thu Oct 23 2025 at 10:00 am to 02:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO, United States, Missouri 64108 | Kansas City, KS

Riflemen “going over the top” is the iconic battle image of World War I.
But as large armies fought for mere meters of dirt and mud along the Western Front, strategists increasingly turned to finding other ways to gain advantages over enemies. WWI veteran and British military theorist B. H. Liddell Hart advanced the idea of an “indirect approach” in battle. Aviation technology, tunneling and mining, proxy fighters, insurgents and spies – these all achieved flexibility and surprised the enemy.
Explore the wide variety of battle strategies beyond trenches, including:
-Diplomatic, economic and information warfare
-Proxy forces and irregular warfare in the Age of Empire
-New technologies: aviation, tunneling and mining
-Maritime operations in support of land forces
-Environmental and geographic considerations
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
2025 Symposium
Beyond the Trenches: Indirect Approaches and Irregular Warfare in WWI
Thursday, Oct. 23 – Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025
Thursday: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Digital Summit featuring research from emerging professionals.
Friday: 8:45 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. featuring a dinner keynote address by writer and journalist Candice Millard.
Saturday: 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Hybrid Symposium
Registration open now! https://www.theworldwar.org/symposia
(Discounts available for educators, students and Museum volunteers).
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
All who have a general or professional interest in the periods prior to, during and after World War I. We especially recommend this symposium to educators, historians and members of organizations that study these periods.
See the full speakers list on the Symposium website: https://www.theworldwar.org/symposia