A war in Europe instantly creates parallels with the world wars for people in the UK and other European countries. This connection represents what most people know and are taught about conflict on the continent. The media coverage and response to the war in Ukraine have also invoked familiar images of the second world war, in particular those of bombed buildings, armed soldiers and civilians, and children clinging to their parents.
Our automatic response to images of conflict is often biased. We search for familiarity, for ways to process the horrors that are happening in front of our eyes, to answer our knee-jerk question: does it affect us?
