A MAJOR exhibition on the First World War is being launched today on the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which sparked a chain of events leading to the outbreak of war.

The focus of 1914: When the World Changed Forever is the terror of war and its revolutionary impact on life around the world.

It will take visitors from the recruitment office to the horrors of the frontline, from the Zeppelin raids happening at home to the thousands of men defending countries they had never stepped foot in.

New technology will be combined with the museum’s extensive military, costume and social history collections, including many objects not been on public display before.

The exhibition is the central part of a £1.7 million project at the museum, with the majority of the funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Alison Bodley, curator of history at York Museums Trust, said: “Through our fantastic collections and significant investment by HLF, we hope this major exhibition will not just be a commemoration of the war, but a more rounded and reflective look at how culture and society’s values were revolutionised.”

The exhibition will be in a newly-created suite of exhibition spaces on the first floor of the museum.