Category Archives: Great War

CfP: Imperial Legacies of 1919

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CFP Deadline for Papers and Panels: December 31, 2018
Contact: imperial1919unt@gmail.com
Conference Date: April 19-20, 2019

Roundtable participant proposal deadline: 31 January 2019
Undergraduate Student Poster competition proposal deadline: 15 February 2019

Journalist and author Shrabani Basu will provide a distinguished lecture on Indian soldiers related to her recent work: For King and Another Country (2015). Prior to the conference, she will also host a screening of Victoria and Abdul, a film based on her book of the same name. Historian of the British Empire Dr. Susan Kingsley Kent will provide the keynote address. Her esteemed works include Aftershocks: Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918-1931 (2009); The Women’s War of 1929: Gender and Violence in Colonial Nigeria (2011) and The Global Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 (2012).

Conference Description
The year 2019 is the perfect opportunity to analyze the global consequences of war and peace. That year marks the centenary of the Treaty of Versailles, which set the terms for peace after the First World War. Unfortunately, the meaning of “peace” was dictated largely by European Empires with limited visions for avoiding future conflict, not only in Europe but around the world. This conference will commemorate the 1919 centenary by hosting an international 2-day conference that explores the on-going legacies of war and imperialism.

Shifting our lens to colonial spaces and debates, “Imperial Legacies of 1919” explores the multiple and contending meanings of 1919. In South Asia, for example, the year 1919 was not known for international peace treaties but rather the 1919 Amritsar Massacre during which a British officer commanded troops to open fire on an unarmed crowd. This gave leading figures such as Mohandas Gandhi the moral imperative to fight against colonialism. At the same time, the year 1919 connotes important moments in anti-colonial revolutions in places like Ireland and Egypt. Meanwhile, strikes and labor activism intensified around the world in response to the Bolshevik revolution (1917) and the return of soldiers to the home front. Soldiers, veterans, and civilians coped with wartime traumas, postwar disabilities and demobilization well beyond 1919.

The terms of peace and creation of the League of Nations mandates led to the dismantling of the German, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires. This meant redrawing international borders, including in the Near East, in what became known as the “Middle East” in the United States. Aerial warfare in the League of Nations mandates and during the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) targeted civilians with ongoing violence across the imperial world. Pan-Asian, Pan-African, Pan-Islamic and anti-colonial activists attempted to find alternative sources of unity to challenge European imperialism.

While the year 1919 holds an important place in world history, issues such as economic inequality, unstable border relations, religious and linguistic identities, veteran and civilian relations, gender inequality, and the long-term traumas of war remain harsh realities for people around the world. This conference will be a timely reflection on pressing global issues that link past and present.

Paper and Panel CFP (Deadline December 31, 2018): The conference organizers welcome individual paper or full panel submissions from junior and senior scholars at any stage of their academic career. We welcome proposals for both conventional 3-4 person panels and those that offer an unconventional approach to panel organization. Papers and panels may be on any region, theme, and topic related to “imperial legacies of 1919” but we especially welcome reflections on the following themes:

Borderlands, Labor, and Migration
Gendering War and Peace
War Psychology, Health, and Trauma
The League of Nations Mandate System
Crypto-Colonialism
Environment and Empire
Capitalism and Imperialism
Language and Identity
Anti-colonial and peace movements
Food, war, and empire
War Reporting, Media, and Memory

Those interested in presenting an individual paper should send a 250-word abstract and current CV by December 31, 2018 to imperial1919unt@gmail.com.

Prospective panels should send a 200-word panel abstract, 150 word abstracts for each paper, CVs for each panelist, and, if available, names of prospective chairs and commentators. Deadline: December 31, 2018.

Graduate Student Roundtable CFP (Deadline January 31, 2019):
We will also accept proposals for graduate students who would prefer to be considered for inclusion on one or more graduate student roundtable(s) on any time period or theme related to empire (Deadline January 15). We especially recommend this for MA students, pre-ABD PhD students, or PhD students who are exploring a new part of their research. Priority will be given to roundtable participants who engage with the themes of “identity and empire” or “war and empire.”

Graduate students who wish to be considered for the graduate student roundtable session should send a 100-200 word abstract for a 5-10 minute presentation that gives a general outline of what the scholar would like to contribute to a roundtable on war and empire. According to the AHA “The roundtable format—which can be used for the presentation of original research, work-in-progress, or discussion of professional concerns—offers short presentations, a fluid organization (not limited to the chair/presenter/commentator structure), and ample time for discussion with the audience. Roundtables foster a congenial exchange between audience and discussants.”

Graduate Student Ambassador: Kevin Broucke, UNT History, Military History Center Fellow

Undergraduate Poster Prize (Proposal deadline February 15, 2019):
Undergraduate students from all universities are encouraged to apply for a place in the undergraduate poster prize competition on any topic related to war and empire. All accepted and completed posters will be displayed at the conference.

Undergraduate students who wish to be considered for the undergraduate poster prize should send a 100-200 word description of their poster, with 1 to 3 sample images, related to any theme or topic relevant to this conference. For further guidelines on poster sessions please see: https://www.historians.org/annual-meeting/resources-and-guides/poster-resources/effective-poster-presentations Deadline for consideration: February 15, 2019

Undergraduate Student Ambassador: Savannah Donnelly, UNT History

About UNT
The conference will be hosted in the new, state-of-the-art, Union facilities at the University of North Texas. UNT is a tier-1 research university of over 35,000 students in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metropolitan area. We are conveniently located in Denton, about 30-45 minutes from the DFW airport. Denton is center of arts and music with a growing independent restaurant scene in North Texas. The conference organizers welcome and encourage the participation of LGBTQIA+ presenters.

We will also host a screening of Victoria & Abdul and a Q&A with the original book’s author, Shrabani Basu, on the evening of April 18, 2019, for UNT and interested conference participants and members of the public.

Registration Fees
Thanks to the generous support of the Charn Uswachoke International Development Fund, the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, UNT-International and the UNT departments of History, Linguistics, Anthropology, Political Science, English and Women’s and Gender Studies, we will be able to offer discounted registration to all presenters and participants. Travel assistance is not available.

UNT undergraduate and graduate students: Free registration for panels, film screening and keynote (registration required, meals not included)

UNT Faculty in History, Anthropology, Political Science, English, Linguistics, WGST: Free registration for panels, film screening, and keynote (registration required, meals not included)

Non-UNT undergraduate and graduate students: $25 (includes all panels, invited talks, and conference meals)

Under-employed researchers/post-doc/early career: $40 (includes all panels, invited talks, and conference meals)

Tenured associate professors or equivalent: $60 (includes all panels, invited talks, and conference meals)

Full professors: $75 (includes all panels, invited talks, and conference meals)

“Conference meals” include one lunch and one dinner and are included with paid registration.

Please send all questions, inquiries, and proposals to imperial1919unt@gmail.com

New book: For Science, King & Country. The Life and Legacy of Henry Moseley

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Killed in action at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915, aged just twenty-seven, Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley was widely regarded as the most promising British physicist of his generation. His pioneering measurements of X-ray spectra provided a firm basis for the concept of atomic number and re-cast the periodic table of the elements into its modern form. Had he survived, he seemed destined to win a Nobel Prize.

This book is a commemoration of Moseley’s life, work, and legacy. Inspired by the exhibition ‘Dear Harry… Henry Moseley: A Scientist Lost to War’, at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, in 2015-2016, and revisiting earlier accounts, thirteen historians and scientists chart his experience of Manchester and Oxford; his military service; the reception of his work by the scientific community; and the impact of his work upon X-ray spectroscopy in physics, chemistry, and materials science.

For Science, King & Country speaks to those with an interest in history, science, and the First World War, and draws upon a wealth of archives, artefacts, and recent research on the reward systems of science. Overall, it presents a comprehensive account of a young scientist whose brief but mercurial career paved the way to a new understanding of nature, and to shaping the future of physical science.

Edited by Professor Roy MacLeod, Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Sydney, Professor Russell G. Egdell, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford and Dr Elizabeth Bruton, Curator of Technology and Engineering at The Science Museum, London.

Download order form: For Science, King and Country Order form

Conference: Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in Two World Wars (8-9 November 2018)

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The program for the Royal Military College’s history symposium, Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in Two World Wars (8-9 November 2018) is set and we have a great schedule lined up this year! See below for details.

You can register at http://rmcclub.ca. Fees (Canadian dollars): Regular $185, Students $125. Includes registration, lunch and coffee breaks for both days, and dinner at the Fort Frontenac Officer’s Mess on 8 November. Recommended Hotel, Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront, 2 Princess Street, Kingston, ON K7L. Preferred rate of $124 for a single occupancy room, breakfast included, available until 1 October.

RMC History Symposium 2018: Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in Two World Wars

Thursday 8 November 2018

0815-0820: Welcome

0830-0930 Gary Sheffield, “The Recruiting, Training and Battlefield Performance of British Army Officers in the Two World Wars.”
0930-1015 Richard Grayson, “Irish Identities in the Armies of the British Empire during the First World War.”

1015-1045 Coffee Break

1045-1200 Panels 1 & 2: Mobilization I: Australia and New Zealand

David Littlewood, “‘Its Necessity Need Not Be Laboured’: New Zealand’s Introduction of Conscription in 1940.”
Ross Mackie, “The Rationalisations for and Shortcomings of Compulsory Military Training in New Zealand 1909–14”
Paul Bartrop, “Mobilizing Diversity: The Formation of Australia’s 8th Employment Company as a Response to the Japanese Threat in 1942.”

Mobilization II: Canada in the First World War

Roger Sarty, “The Canadian Garrison Artillery Goes to War, 1914-1918.”
Ian Hope, “Feeding Mars: The Overseas Ministry and the Sustainment of the Canadian Corps 1916-1918.”
Howard Coombs, “Defining Canadian Participation in the First World War: The Case of No. 5/No. 7 (Queen’s University) Military Hospital.”

1200-1300 Lunch

1300-1345 Kent Fedorowich, “‘Returning Home to Fight’: Bristolians in the Dominion Armies, 1914-1918.”
1345-1430 Jean Bou, “Rolling with the Punches: Australia’s Military Effort, 1914-18.”

1430-1500 Coffee Break

1500-16:15 Panels 3 & 4: British Approaches to Developing and Sustaining Soldiers

Emma Newlands, “‘Rebelling against it one minute then taking pride in it the next’: Becoming a soldier in Britain during the Second World War.”
James Campbell, “‘Make Them Tigers’—British Military Physical Culture in the First World War.”
Linda Parker, “‘This wonderful fellowship’: The work of Talbot House and the Toc H Movement with the British and Imperial Armies in Two World Wars.”

RAF Innovations

Sebastian Cox, “An Unexpected Agent of Change: Race, Class And Social Mobility in the Royal Air Force.”
Lynsey Cobden, “A fear of flying: Psychological disorders and Royal Air Force Flying Training Command, 1939-1945.”
Sean Summerfield, “Creation and Operation of the RAF’s Casualty Branch during the Second World War.”

1615-1700 Kaushik Roy, “Manpower, Mobilization and the Indian Army during Two World Wars.”

1830 for 1900 Start RMC History Symposium Conference Banquet Fort Frontenac Officer’s Mess

Friday 9 November 2018

0830-0915 Jessica Meyer [via Skype], “Conserving Military Manpower: The work of the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War.”
0915-1000 Jonathan Fennell, “A Question of Legitimacy: Mobilizing the British and Commonwealth Armies in the Second World War.”

1000-1030 Coffee Break

1030-1145 Panels 5 & 6: Sustaining Manpower in the Canadian Army during the Second World War

Geoffrey Hayes, ““Tommy” Burns, Arthur Beament and the Manpower Crisis in First Canadian Army, 1944.”
Russell Hart, “For Want of Men: The ‘Infantry Crisis’ Amid Anglo-Canadian Forces in Normandy, Summer 1944 and its Impact on Twenty-First Army Group Operations and Effectiveness.”
Arthur Gullachsen, “Rebuilding the Royal Winnipeg Rifles June-July 1944.”

Demobilization

Allan Allport, “Demobilization of the British Armed Services after the Two World Wars”
Carol Fort, “Australia’s 1944 Manpower Release Schemes: Fairness Lessons Learned from Early Demobilization Programs.”
Victoria Sotvedt, “The End of the War?: Repatriation Efficiency and Discipline in the Canadian Army After the Second World War.”

1145-1245 Lunch

1245-1330 Daniel Byers, “Punching Above Its Weight: Canada and the Mobilization of Manpower During the Second World War.”
1330-1415 Ian van der Waag, “South African Manpower and the Second World War.”

1415-1430 Coffee Break

1430-1515 Ian McGibbon, “Stretching the Limits: Sustaining New Zealand’s War Effort 1939-1945.”

‘Home Sweet Home: A Memorial’, with Australian artist Anna Taylor, Oxford Brookes, 20 August

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Monday 20 August 2018
12.30-1.30pm, John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University

Free to attend – sign up here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/home-sweet-home-a-memorial-with-australian-artist-anna-taylor-tickets-48024754333

At this event, acclaimed Australian artist Anna Taylor will show and talk about her project ‘Home Sweet Home – a Memorial’. All are welcome, and the event is free to attend.

‘Home Sweet Home – a Memorial’ honours the living, the women and children who support their loved ones living with the after-effects of the war experience. The project has been created to pay tribute and raise awareness of the generations of families who have vicariously experienced the impact of war trauma.

Anna writes: ‘The need for a Memorial to women and children came to me in 1997, when I understood the generational impact of war in my own family. This impact has occurred in many family homes across our society, yet is perhaps only now being acknowledged.’

Find out more about Anna’s work and the event on the Eventbrite page or via her website: http://www.annataylorart.com

CfP: Guerrilla War and Insurgency: Lessons from History

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Guerrilla warfare is an ancient concept. Sun Tzu wrote on the subject in the Art of War. Likewise, insurgencies have existed as long as there have been powers to wage them against. Insurgencies often utilize guerrilla warfare as a successful strategy in facing off against larger, more advantaged adversaries. Beyond this, the irregular war of this kind has been an element of almost every conflict ever fought. In recent years the study of, misleadingly labeled, ‘small wars’ has undergone a renaissance as the reality of their predominance has regained recognition among militaries and academics around the world. Insurgencies are able to absorb massive amounts of resources whilst serving to destabilize entire regions; indeed, insurgency can, and does, kill empires. For this reason, the study of conflicts from this lens is critical to understanding and confronting the world around us as well as the security concerns it presents.

This purpose of this book is to present and examine various historical examples of this form of war. Valuable lessons can be gleaned from examining and understanding past conflicts of this kind. Each of these conflicts hold their own unique characteristics as well as broad common themes. The nature of guerrilla warfare as it relates to insurgency and the way these forces confront ‘conventional’ advisories can inform approaches to modern irregular, hybrid, and even ‘conventional’ wars. In an effort to understand the complexity of these conflicts alternative perspectives and underrepresented examples will be introduced. By looking at these historical lessons our understanding can be considerably altered.

This book will compile a collection of chapters dealing with various and often overlooked historical examples of guerrilla insurgency. These chapters will present their unique qualities as well as common themes. Chapter subjects can focus on any aspect of their historical example and authors may approach the subject from whatever lens they feel appropriate. Authors are also free to emphasize, through their retelling of events, whatever particular themes, major policies, or particular policy / strategy disputes they feel to be of significance.

To give an example, the primary editor will be contributing a chapter examine the Yugoslavia revolt in the Second World War as a war of resistance, civil war, and revolution within the context of a larger conventional war.

Proposals for chapters dealing with historical examples that involve significant guerrilla theorists, for example, T.E Lawrence and the Arab Revolt, Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution, or Mao Zedong and the Chinese Revolution, would be most welcome. More significantly, underrepresented historical examples from antiquity and the modern period would be particularly well received. Authors dealing with the naval dimensions of insurgency/ Counter-insurgency and guerrilla warfare would be particularly welcomed.

Deadline for the chapter proposals: 31 October 2018

The Editor has existing relationships with several publishers who will be approached once the chapters have been assigned.

Please send a 300-word chapter proposal and a 150-word bio to christopher.murray@kcl.ac.uk

CfP: Post-War Transitions in Europe: Politics, States and Veterans (1918-1923)

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Centre for War Studies, University College Dublin
28-30 March 2019

The Centre for War Studies of University College Dublin is pleased to host an international conference to commemorate the end of the centenary of the First World War. The conference aims to appraise how European WWI ex-service men and officers contributed to the creation of new states in Europe and participated through associative or political activism to the peace process.

Main themes
Papers will broadly deal with the following themes:
-WWI ex-service men and transnational networks in Europe
-WWI ex-service men and the peace process
-WWI ex-service men and politics
-WWI ex-servicemen and paramilitary violence in Europe
-WWI ex-service men and the creation of nation states throughout Europe

As we approach the end of the centenary of the First World War, the organisers invite a widespread multi-disciplinary response. In particular, they welcome proposals offering a transnational approach to the study of the demobilization of European armies. The conference organizer intends to organise a round-table around the work of George Mosse Fallen Soldiers: Reshaping the Memory of the World Wars (1990). Historians, contributors to the conference, and the audience will debate whether the concept of “brutalisation” still has relevance.

The conference language will be English

Please send your proposal (title and abstract in English, French or German of no more than 500 words) and short CV to the conference organiser Emmanuel DESTENAY: emmanuel.destenay@ucd.ie. The deadline for paper proposals is October 1st 2018.

Download full CfP: CALL FOR PAPER

An Evening with Rudyard Kipling – Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock

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A talk by Philip Geddes

Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Park Street, Woodstock OX20 1SN
Wednesday 11th July 2018
6.45pm – Doors Open & Refreshments Available
7pm – 8.30pm Lecture
Tickets: £10

“What comfort can I find ?” was the anguished question asked by the writer Rudyard Kipling after the death of his only son Jack at the Battle of Loos in the autumn of 1915. Kipling provided his own brutally realistic answer – “none this tide, nor any tide”. Kipling responded to his loss by becoming the unofficial voice of the people of Britain and its Empire. He wrote many of the words by which we now remember the dead of the Great War – striking phrases such as “Lest we forget” and “A Soldier of the Great War Known unto God.”

An Evening with Rudyard Kipling tells the story of Kipling’s life with readings from his poetry and prose. It takes Kipling from his early days as the chronicler of Britain’s Indian Raj, through to his high point as poet of Empire for Edwardian England and as voice of the nation in the First World War. The show includes many Kipling favourites – “If”, regularly voted Britain’s favourite poem, and extracts from Plain Tales from the Hills and the Just So stories.

About Philip Geddes
Philip Geddes is ‘a child of the Empire’ and a long standing Kipling fan. His family served in India for almost 200 years in the army and as political officers. He was a journalist for 30 years with the BBC, ITV and The Financial Times (as European Editor for Financial Times Television). He then spent 15 years as a consultant to European Commission, advising senior level officials on the development and presentation of policy. He has written for numerous magazines and newspapers, and is author of two books – In the Mouth of the Dragon, on the future of Hong Kong and Inside The Bank of England, the first modern study of the Bank of England.

For further information and to book, see here.