Which war has just ended when Peaky Blinders begins?

The First World War has just ended when Peaky Blinders begins. The first series opens in Birmingham in 1919, in the unsettled period following the conflict that is also called the Great War.

The war is central to the characters’ identities and the show’s atmosphere. Tommy Shelby returns as a decorated veteran and carries the psychological scars of military service, while Arthur Shelby, John Shelby and Freddie Thorne are also connected to the wartime generation. Their experiences help explain the violence, loyalty and ambition that drive the early story.

The conflict is sometimes confused with the Second World War because the series features later political movements, fascists and international tensions. Those developments occur years afterward. The opening plot instead belongs to Britain’s immediate post-1918 period, when Birmingham faces labour unrest, communist organising, criminal rivalry and heavy policing.