The centennial has revived attention for the First World War. Because of the Netherlands’ neutral position, the influence of the horrendous war in this nation has long been qualified as marginal. In the last two decades, this perspective has gradually changed and several studies were published on developments in the Netherlands in 1914–1918. In these studies the Great War has either been understood as a watershed moment in Dutch history or, adversely, as a continuation of previous times. In this special issue, we present five case-studies of the influence of the First World War on various scientific cultures in the Netherlands. These studies indicate that this interaction transcends the dichotomous image of either continuity or discontinuity.