We are inviting proposals for the panel ‘The Brest Peace Conference and the international relations in Central Europe (1917–1918)’, which will take place at the 7th International Congress of Belarusian Studies on 15–17 September 2017 in Warsaw, Poland.

This panel aims to demonstrate the research potential of the topic of international relations in Central Europe at the final stage of the Great War.

If you wish to take part in the panel, please submit an application form by 10 May 2017, including your paper proposal from 2000 to 4000 characters, following the link: https://palityka.wufoo.eu/forms/application-form-for-speakers-2017/

It is well known that the signature of separate peace treaties between the Central Powers and Ukraine and Russia at the Brest Peace Conference in February-March 1918 (and with Romania in May) helped the regional powers to build a new international architecture for Central Europe. However, this process substantially changed after the defeat of the Central Powers in autumn 1918. As a consequence, the traditional historiography pays most of its attention to the Entente policy (and the Paris Peace Conference of 1919), leaving many aspects of the brief Brest system of international relations ignored.

To fill this gap, the panel will invite researchers to address the following questions: How did the policy of the Central Powers develop in the context of the Brest Peace Conference? What was the reaction of revolutionary Russia to the end of war on the Eastern Front? How did the peace affect the national movements of Central Europe? What did the Entente undertake in response to separate treaties of its former allies (Russia, Ukraine and Romania)?

The working languages of the panel are English, Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian.

The International Congress of Belarusian Studies is one of the largest event in the academic life of Belarusian researchers in Social and Human sciences, attracting a number of foreign colleagues and gathering up to 500 participants.