IT IS almost five months since we began re-publishing Argus editorials from the First World War, 100 years to the day they were first printed.

The remarkably consistent theme of these daily pieces is their positivity.

Almost every report highlights British successes on the battlefield and German deficiencies.

And even though the fighting was not ‘over by Christmas’ as most of Britain had believed when war was declared in August 1914, the reports from the Argus archive still refer continuously to victory for the allies being in sight.

We must bear in mind that all newspaper reports during the so-called ‘war to end all wars’ were subject to considerable censorship; and it may well be that editors were forced to highlight the positives and ordered not to dwell on any setbacks for Britain’s fighting forces.

But we wonder how long such a stance could have lasted?

It will be interesting over the coming months and years to see when, or indeed if, the tone of Argus editorials changed.

We doubt if, as the fighting extended into years and the losses on either side became greater than the world had ever seen, the initial positive reporting continued.

These archive reports remain fascinating, and provide us with a real-time insight into how our readers were told about the war’s progress.