Some of the world’s leading First World War historians will gather at a major international conference in Australia in March 2015 to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli landings.
Gallipoli 1915: a century on aims to explore the eight-month-long Gallipoli campaign from all sides: its impact upon the countries and soldiers that fought, as well as the effect on the people at home, and the historical legacy.
The event, from March 18-20th will be jointly hosted in Canberra by the Australian War Memorial (AWM) and the Australian National University.
Speakers
Speakers have been invited from a wide range of disciplines and technical fields: history, art, battlefield archaeology, marine exploration, material culture, and even music.
They include: Professor Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War at Oxford University; Professor Jay Winter of Yale University, Editor of the Cambridge History of the First World War; Professor Robin Prior of Flinders University, author of Gallipoli: the end of the myth; Kenan Çelik, Turkish expert guide to the former battlefields of the Gallipoli peninsula; Les Carlyon, author of the best-selling and prize-winning volumes Gallipoli and The Great War.
French and Australian Generals at Anzac Gully, October 2nd 1915 (Photo: courtesy of the Australian War Memorial J02434)
AWM Director, Dr Brendan Nelson, said: “Gallipoli, while it was a gallant defeat, was effectively Australia’s coming of age in the world – it provided a fledgling nation with its place on the world stage and its context in history.”
Australian National University historian Professor Joan Beaumont, says that for all its fame, there is much about Gallipoli that we can still learn.
“This conference will place Gallipoli in its global context. For Australians who can’t get to Gallipoli itself, this will be a memorable way to mark this important national event,” she said.
Conference themes
*The planning and conduct of the campaign on land and sea
*The impact of Gallipoli on the societies involved
*Myth, memory, and nationalism
*The legacies and heritage of the Gallipoli peninsula
*Gallipoli today
Information about registering to attend can be found on the Australian War Memorial website.
Information & images supplied by the Australian War Memorial
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News