Academics will gather in Brussels in October 2015 for an international conference discussing the First World War as a key event in the development of the European nation state.
War & Fatherland aims to “critically address the political, socio-economic and cultural dynamics behind the rapidly changing concept of fatherland” between the pivotal years of 1914 and 1918.
The conference is organised by the Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (Cegesoma), Brussels.
Europe’s current state organisation was for a large part determined by the outcome of the First World War, it points out.
“New nation states based on the universal principle of the right to self-determination of peoples were created on the ashes of multi-ethnic empire.”
Speakers will be taking part from countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the UK.
The keynote lecturers are:
*John Horne (Trinity College Dublin / Centre for War Studies)
*Daniel Laqua (Northumbria University Newcastle)
*John Breuilly (London School of Economics and Political Science)
*Peter Gatrell (University of Manchester)
*Élise Julien (Institut d’Etudes politiques de Lille)
*David Edgerton (King’s College London)
*Sophie de Schaepdrijver (Penn State University, USA)
War & Fatherland: Nations, Identities and the First World War” takes place at the Egmont Palace, Brussels, from October 14-15th 2015. Registration is required to attend. Full details can be found here.
Information and images supplied by Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (Cegesoma), Brussels
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News