Category Archives: WW1

CfP: The Peace Treaties (1918-1923): Making Peace against each other

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Place : Paris
Dates : 21-23 March 2019
Deadline : 15 April 2018
Download call for papers : The Peace Treaties – CFP

The historiography of the post-WW1 treaties has evolved significantly in the last 30 years: there is now a general agreement that this less-than-perfect work represented a sincere attempt to rebuild an international system which would apply a number of shared principles and values. The 2019 centennial provides an opportunity to reconsider these treaties which opened a new chapter in the history of international relations.

The conference will be organised in partnership with the Center of Excellence Labex EHNE (Writing a new History of Europe: http://labex-ehne.fr/en/) and the joint research groups SIRICE (Sorbonne-Identities, International Relations and Civilizations of Europe: http://www.sirice.eu/) and CRHIA (Centre de recherches en histoire internationale et atlantique). This project aims to:
– examine the treaties which were signed between 1918 and 1923 – from Brest-Litovsk to Lausanne- as a whole, in a global perspective, and thus, get away from a “Western-centered” chronology.
– decompartmentalize the national historiographies and reveal collective approaches, even transnational ones.
– consider how the treaties were enforced during the first years of their practical application : during this decisive phase which takes us to the signature of the Lausanne treaty and even beyond, the principles set by the Peacemakers had to be applied in the light of realities on the ground. The treaties contain provisions which allow progressive implementation and adjustments in various fields : territorial (plebiscites), military (occupation regimes), economic (definition of the reparations nature and amount), legal (question of minorities in East-central Europe and Middle East, mandate system, experts, League of Nations)… They were a work in progress, in which Great Powers and Successor states, victorious and vanquished belligerents had equal responsibilities.

From this broad perspective, we would like to set out three main lines of discussion that provide a basis for proposals for papers to the conference:
1. Notions and principles which underpin the 1918-1923 treaties, and amongst them: self- determination and minority status; the idea of a legitimate frontier; the question of responsibilities; moral and financial reparations. In each case, how and to what extent do the treaties reach agreements on these issues? Can we regard them as a consistent structure or should we still highlight national specificities? Or how the European notion of « minority » is applicable in the League of Nations universal logic?
2. The treaties reception in Europe and former Ottoman Empire, as well as in colonial territories and the United States. We intend to favour multinational and transnational proposals in order to avoid case studies and to contribute to a global history of the Peace treaties. What does it mean to make peace? How do people manage the period which runs from the armistice to the treaty? How do hopes raised by Wilsonism respond to the actual content of the treaties?
3. The enforcement of the treaties, during the years immediately following their signing. In an approach at various scales and at various moments, we would like to observe the conditions which accompany the organisation of a plebiscite, as well as the conditions which accompany the implementation of the new international order in Geneva. Old and new actors such as diplomats, officers, lawyers, experts, NGO, will receive particular attention. The question of the solidarity –or rather the lack of it‒ among the Peacemakers and victorious nations who were in charge of the treaties enforcement will be looked at: was the eventual failure of these treaties due –at least partially‒ to the collective resignation of the former allies when confronted with responsibilities involved in victory?

Paper proposals, in French or in English, are to be sent to the conference organisers by April 15 2018. A publication is planned.

To apply, please send a 250 word abstract of the proposed paper, together with a short CV, to: paix.paris2019@free.fr. Travel costs as well as accommodation will be paid for by the organisers.

Honorary Committee
Michel Catala, University of Nantes
Olivier Dard, Paris-Sorbonne University
Robert Frank, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Lothar Höbelt, University of Vienna
Margaret MacMillan, University of Oxford
Hervé Magro, Head of the Diplomatic Archives, Paris
Antoine Marès, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Marie-Pierre Rey, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Tomasz Schramm, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

Scientific Committee
Balázs Ablonczy, Eötvös Loránd University
Étienne Boisserie, INALCO
Corine Defrance, CNRS
Frédéric Dessberg, Panthéon-Sorbonne University / Saint-Cyr Military Academy Sabine Dullin, Sciences Po
Frédéric Guelton, History Office of the French Ministry of Defense Jean-Michel Guieu, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
John Horne, Trinity College, Dublin
Ross Kennedy, Illinois State University
Henry Laurens, Collège de France
Marcus Payk, Humboldt Universität
Georges-Henri Soutou, Paris-Sorbonne University
Florin Ţurcanu, University of Bucarest

CfP: Nations and Minorities, Sovereignty and Secessionism, 1918-2018

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International workshop, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford,
23-24 November 2018

The end of the First World War and the resultant international order established the nation-state as the normative basis of global political life. The consequences – for national identity, minorities and the nature of sovereign power – have played out over the subsequent hundred years in ways that continue to trouble the international order today.

The displacement of empire by nation resulted in the identification of (majority) nationals and ethnic ‘minorities’, national religions and religious minorities. While the League of Nations came to be defined by mandates and minority treaties, the institutionalization of majority and minority status, often in the form of religious difference, defined not only the post-WWI post-imperial European order but also identity and difference was conceptualized in places such as India. The nation with its majorities and minorities was thus globalized even before the establishment of nation-states throughout the non-western world.

This largely imperial and non-European pre-history of the nation and its majority and minority provides an alternative historical trajectory outside the European norm that may better allow us to understand the current crisis of the international. This crisis can be seen both in the emergence of new kinds of secessionist and national movements globally, and the so-called “return of religion” to political life in the West.

Secessionism, after many decades of seeming irrelevance, is today a growing global issue. Around the world, from Catalunya to Cameroon, from Kenya to the United Kingdom, seeming inviolable nation-states are being challenged by the threatened breakaway of minorities. How should this growing challenge to existing nation-states be understood? Does it reflect the weakening of the nation-state in the face of globalisation, or the (re)assertion of more powerful, local identities? To what extent do new secessionisms build on historical antecedents and in what ways do they represent something altogether new?

This workshop, supported by the AHRC-funded ‘The First World War and Global Religions’ project, will examine the alternative history of nationality, majority and minority in the context of the new nationalisms of our time. Does today’s crisis of the international order, itself possibly a delayed reaction to the end of the Cold War, permit us to rethink these categories and their future? How might current debates over sovereignty and secularism be understood in the light of such an alternative ‘global’ history of nationalism?

Potential participants should submit titles and paper abstracts of no more than 750 words to the organisers at nationalisms2018@gmail.com by 30 April 2018.

Conference organisers: Paul Betts, Faisal Devji, Miles Larmer, Hussein Omar

‘Lest We Forget’: First World War digitization event, Our Lady’s Abingdon Senior School, 9 March, 13.00-16.00

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This project invites local schools, groups, and organizations from across the UK to hold their own ‘Digital Collection Days’. At these events, members of the local community are invited to bring in their Great War stories, photographs, medals, diaries, and letters. These vital objects and memories are then documented and photographed so that they can be saved for future generations. The collected stories and objects are then uploaded to a free-to-use Oxford University database, where they will be freely accessible to all members of the public to discover, research, and learn.

Our next event that is open to the public is on 9th March at Our Lady’s Abingdon Senior School from 1:00 – 4:00pm.

A brief Introductory Guide on what a ‘Digital Collection Day’ is/looks like is available on our website (https://lwf.web.ox.ac.uk/home)
You can also read about a recent, and highly successful, Digital Collection Day that was held at a local Oxford school here:
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/15670737.Cigarette_case_which_saved_man__39_s_life_in_First_World_War_discovered_at_school/

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15581379.School_preserves_First_World_War_memories_for_ever_in_mass_digital_project/

For more information, or to get involved, you can get in touch with the Lest We Forget team at: ww1collections@it.ox.ac.uk

War Through Other Stuff: ‘Witnessing War’, University of Hertfordshire, 24 March 2018

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In her photographs, Käthe Buchler captured not only German citizens during the First World War, but also illustrated the widespread impact of conflict. The photographs are of interest not only for their artistic merit but also for what they tell us about war and they way it changed lives on the German Home Front.

‘Witnessing War’ is a free one-day workshop that will seek to answer a series of questions. Who witnesses war? From what perspective? How do they capture it? War is not only witnessed by those who choose to participate, but has lasting and significant impact on lives of many. This workshop focuses on first-hand experiences of conflict, with no restraints as to time period or geographic location. From medieval annals written by monks, to children’s diaries, documentary film, and the use of social media in modern conflict, there are many different ways to witness war.

The workshop is a collaboration between the War Through Other Stuff Society, First World War Network, and Everday Lives of War. It will take place at the University of Hertfordshire Galleries on 24 March. This FREE event is open to all. Full details and booking (via Eventbrite) can be found here.

Programme:
10.00: Registration / coffee & tea

10.30: Welcome talk

11.00: Talks
Jo Young, University of Glasgow: ‘Finding Freedoms in War Writing: Narrative Control of the Female Soldier’s Poetic Response to War’
Trevor Russell Smith, University of Leeds: ‘The Use of Classical Writings in the Representation of War during the Later Middle Ages’
Kirsten Lawson, State University of Milan: ‘From ‘Somewhere in France’: Sharing experiences of war through epistolary discourse’

11.45: Keynote
Anastasia Taylor-Lind, photographic journalist: http://www.anastasiataylorlind.com/

12.30: Lunch (provided)

1.30: Activity
Interactive session responding to the war photography of Käthe Buchler

2.30: Coffee & tea

3.00: Talks
Stacey Clapperton, University of Glasgow: ‘‘The work of an eye-witness’: An examination of the working methods behind John Lavery’s Wounded: London Hospital, 1915’
Siobhan Doyle, Dublin Institute of Technology: ‘Representations of Death in Commemorative Exhibitions in Irish Museums’
Melissa Bennet, University of Warwick: ‘Insights into Military Photography, Ranks, and Relationships through Lieutenant Charles Howard Foulkes’ 1898 Hut Tax War Album’

3.45: Keynote
Jason Crowley, Manchester Metropolitan University: ‘Beyond the Universal Soldier: Combat Trauma in Classical Antiquity’

4.30: Closing remarks

CfP: The Effects of WW1 on the Christian Churches in Europe 1918-1925 (EXTENDED DEADLINE)

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Rome, 12-14 November 2018

Extended deadline: 1 March 2018

This workshop will adopt an international comparative approach to study the effects of the Great War on institutionalized Christian religion (eg. Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches) in the immediate aftermath of the war. How did churches perceive the war and the immediate post-war period? What was the impact on Christian theology and culture? How did churches interact with the belligerent nation states and how did they cope with the changing (geo)political situation after the war? What were their ecclesiologi­cal, pastoral and liturgical challenges after the armistices? Did they adopt a defensive stance towards secularization, or did they intensify their dialogue with modernity? To what extent did they move towards a pastoral policy of social healing and offer a welcome to Christian pacifism and ecumenism?

The workshop wishes to stimulate innovative research on the interaction between religion and society in the difficult years between the end of the war and the mid-1920s. It explicitly adopts an interdenominational and international comparative perspective, stimulating a multifaceted and in-depth analysis, with due attention to methodological questions. It wants to combine the results of different fields of historical research: the history of churches and religions, cultural, intellectual, social and political history, etc. Although well-chosen case-studies with a focus on, for instance, particular regional/national contexts, or specific denominations, organizations or individuals can surely offer valuable insights, the organizers especially aim for papers that deal with the issues concerned from a broad comparative perspective. They should contribute to a better understanding of the changing nature of religious cultures across Europe. Although the workshop will deal in particular with the immediate post-war years (1918-mid 1920s), contributors are encouraged to adopt a broader chronological perspective of continuity and discontinuity in evaluating the results of their analysis for the period at hand.

The workshop will bring together senior academics as well as junior doctoral researchers in a scientific dialogue on the subject. Introductory keynote lectures from established researchers and thematic sessions will structure the multi-layered perspective as well as the comparative baseline.

More information here

Practical
The main conference and discussion language will be English, but papers in other languages are accepted as well. In that case, the organizers do ask for an English summary and an English or bilingual PowerPoint or other presentation.

Proposals should be submitted as PDF documents and should contain the following: a clear title of the proposed paper; a summary (max. 500 words), outlining the paper’s goals, methodology and source materials; CV(s) of author(s), with contact information, position and institutional affiliation.

These abstracts should be attached and emailed to the work-shop secretary (kristien.suenens@kadoc.kuleuven.be) no later than 1 March 2018. You should receive a confirmation of proposal receipt within 48 hours. The proposals will be evaluated and selected by the Scientific Committee based on topic relevance, innovativeness and the degree to which the proposal answers the call. Notification of the evaluation will occur no later than 1 April 2018. Full papers should be sent to the workshop organizers no later than 1 October 2018.

CfP: Situating Empire: The Great War and Its Aftermath

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Graduate Student Conference “Situating Empire: The Great War and Its Aftermath”
History Department, Harvard University
November 15-16, 2018

We invite graduate students to submit proposals for a workshop exploring the impact of the Great War upon the history and configuration of Empires. This workshop is intended only for advanced doctoral students who have completed substantive archival research. Its priority is to provide close readings and feedback on research that speaks to theme themes at hand. Accepted papers will be grouped on panels, with one faculty commentator per presenter. Participation in this workshop provides an opportunity to engage in lively and lengthy discussion with faculty, and an emerging cohort of doctoral candidates from around the world.

Opening remarks will be provided by Professor Erez Manela. Our workshop’s keynote speaker will be Professor Heather Streets-Salter, and Professor Antoinette Burton will join us for a plenary panel.

This workshop will host nine papers comprised of panels of three, occurring over two days. Themes of the workshop include (but are not limited to): the constitution of imperial boundaries with respect to space, mobility, race, and class; intellectual history; histories of mobility; legal history; and the history of science and/or medicine.

Submission Guidelines and Funding
We encourage submissions from individuals at all universities. Interested graduate students should submit a 300-word proposal and one-page Curriculum Vitae (in either Word or PDF format) to greatwar.empire.harvard@gmail.com. Proposals must be received by March 30, 2018. Papers for each panel will be selected in accordance with the workshop’s themes and for their potential to facilitate dialogue across regional specializations. All participants will be notified of participation by May 1, 2018. Given that this workshop requires an engagement with the written work of other participants, all panelists are asked to submit their papers one month prior to the workshop. All questions should be directed to the email above.

We anticipate being able to reimburse reasonable travel and lodging expenses for participants who do not receive sufficient funding from their institutions of study. Due to a limited budget, however, this amount will not exceed $500. Meals will be provided throughout the workshop.

CfP: Immoral Money and War Profiteurs (1870-1945)

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29-30 May 2018
Maison de la Recherche (Paris-Sorbonne University), Paris

The conference on “Immoral Money and War Profiteurs (1860-1945)” is part of a series of scientific events focusing on the topic of political corruption, organised by a Franco-German research partnership (project POCK2, ANR-DFG) between Paris-Sorbonne University, the University of Avignon, Darmstadt University of Technology and Goethe University Frankfurt. The collaborative project is also supported by research groups from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the New Europe College of Bucharest, the Free University of Amsterdam, and is part of the International Scientific Coordination Network « Politics and Corruption » (GDRI 842 CNRS).

The conference will explore the emergence of immoral money and war profiteurs in times of war or in the post-war period in Europe (1870-1945). The “economic cleansing” that occurred in France after the Second World War is an example of war profiteering that has been studied by the CNRS research team (GDR) 2539 “Companies under the Occupation”. By contrast, the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and the Great War have not been given much attention. This conference aims to analyse the allegations of corruption levelled against companies that were thought to have turned high profits in wartime or immediately thereafter. A special but nonexclusive focus should be given to French and German cases. Examples found in other European countries, from the last third of the XIXth century to the first half of the XXth century, may also be addressed.

While it is superfluous to stress the importance of wars as historical highlights, we shall emphasize how decisive wars are in defining public norms systems. Indeed, the potential contradiction between individual benefits and collective interest is increased during such conflicts. In this context, great sacrifices are made on behalf of community and national safety as patriotism is required from all, while unique economic dynamics emerge: hasty decisions are made in times of great uncertainty; public spending increases substantially and huge funds are injected in the war system. High profits may thus be made at a low cost by individual stakeholders, particularly in such sectors as military supply and army logistics. Influence networks prove to play a crucial role in such circumstances. It is mainly when wars have been lost that the gains achieved by war profiteurs are seen as unacceptable. Profit margins considered as unreasonably high, as well as speculative profits, are on the radar and deemed all the more scandalous since they have been made against a backdrop of general shortage. The topic of “immoral money” invites us to assess the importance of post-war periods rather than just focus on the conflicts themselves.

Topics could include but are not limited to:
– public debates on immoral money and hidden practices/malpractices during the 1870-1871 War, the Great War or World War II and their aftermaths – not only in France. Other conflicts may also be examined. Proposals that deal with the issues of war debts and reparations, especially in terms of the polemics they led to, will be welcome.
– the institutions that have dealt with this question in judiciary, political and parliamentary terms: focus may be placed on the parliamentary inquiry committees that have been established at the time.
– efforts should be made to put a figure on the profits made by specific firms as well as by entire industry sectors, however delicate the task may be – especially in the case of France, given the lack of a standardized business accounting programme until 1941, which is when the national chart of accounts was created.

Please send proposals (1500 characters max.) in either English or French before 1st March 2018 to frederic.monier@univ-avignon.fr and olivierdard@orange.fr

The scientific board (composed of Olivier Dard, Jens Ivo Engels, Silvia Marton, Cesare Mattina, Frédéric Monier and Gemma Rubi) will examine and select the proposals.

Transport (in Europe) and accommodation will be provided to participants.