RealTimeWWII
@RealTimeWWII is a Twitter feed describing the events of World War II, created by British historian and Oxford graduate Alwyn Collinson (born 1987). Collinson began the feed in late August 2011, to coincide with the start of World War II with the German Invasion of Poland in September 1939. He has tweeted the events of the war as they happened on each date and time exactly 72 years earlier. The feed has over 500,000 followers and has received worldwide media attention. Collinson has described his project as a method of helping people understand history in real terms, rather than statistics, once stating it's about "turning numbers back into people." He has lectured and given interviews on the project. The project runs without advertising Collinson concluded the project in August 2017, but resumed tweeting again from 1939 on 1 September. Since 9 December 2025, the account has not posted and is on a presumed hiatus.
Type of site | Twitter account |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Alwyn Collinson |
| Created by | Alwyn Collinson |
| URL | twitter.com/RealTimeWWII |
| Launched | August 2011 |
| Current status | Online but on Hiatus |
@RealTimeWWII is a Twitter feed describing the events of World War II, created by British historian and Oxford graduate Alwyn Collinson (born 1987).[1]
Collinson began the feed in late August 2011, to coincide with the start of World War II with the German Invasion of Poland in September 1939. He has tweeted the events of the war as they happened on each date and time exactly 72 years earlier. The feed has over 500,000 followers and has received worldwide media attention.[2][3][4]
Collinson has described his project as a method of helping people understand history in real terms, rather than statistics, once stating it's about "turning numbers back into people."[5] He has lectured and given interviews on the project.[6] The project runs without advertising [7]
Collinson concluded the project in August 2017, but resumed tweeting again from 1939 on 1 September. Since 9 December 2025, the account has not posted and is on a presumed hiatus.
References
[edit]- ^ Newspapers stated he was 24 when he began the project in August 2011
- ^ Williams, Christopher (9 November 2011). "Six-year project to tweet the Second World War". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 December 2022.""
- ^ "Oxford grad tweets WWII in real time". BBC News. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (28 November 2011). "The Tweets of War: What's Past Is Postable". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ The Lost Lectures: Alwyn Collinson 'Realtime WWII': https://lostlectures.com/talk/realtime-world-war-ii/ Archived 22 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Daily Motion/Huff Post Live: History Re-Tweets Itself – Live-Tweeting The Past: A History Lesson? http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuki7z_history-re-tweets-itself-live-tweeting-the-past-a-history-lesson_tech#.UMT3wpPjn9c
- ^ https://www.patreon.com/RealTimeWWII
External links
[edit]- RealTimeWWII on X
