The precarious geopolitical balance in the contemporary Middle East cannot be understood without considering the circumstances of Ottoman collapse during and immediately after the First World War. The dramatic implosion of this age-old imperium that, during the long nineteenth century, had uneasily struggled to ward off foreign imperial intrusion and lessen its dependence on European capital, was accompanied by unprecedented levels of (genocidal) violence, both on and off the battlefields. The colonial reordering of the region by the victorious Allied Powers in the aftermath of the war proved equally momentous. It spawned multiple local resistance movements, some of which were brutally defeated, while others morphed into new nation states. It created the conditions for future conflict, some continuing to smoulder to this day.
This conference solicits paper proposals that provide new narratives on the course and meaning of the First World War in the Ottoman lands and beyond and aims to take stock of the war’s various legacies in politics, art, literature, poetry, popular music, and commemorative practices. We welcome papers by historians, art historians, sociologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, literary scholars, and political scientists that tackle at least one or more of the following themes:
- Ottoman and allied POWs
- Subaltern resistance
- Ottoman diasporas
- (Politics of) famine(s)
- (Politics of) humanitarianism
- Postwar Ottoman legacies
- Nationalisms
- Gender
- Women and children
- Popular and official commemorative practices
- Minorities and ethnic cleansing
- Refugees
- Geopolitics and (secret) diplomacy
- Wartime economies (and profiteering)
- Postwar conference diplomacy
- The war in literature, poetry, film, and music
Keynote speakers:
Elizabeth F. Thompson (American University, Washington D.C.)
Nazan Maksudyan (Freie Universität Berlin)
This conference forms part of a broader programme that In Flanders Fields Museum is organizing this year on WWI and the Ottoman lands. It includes, among others, the temporary exhibition '1914-1923: The Great War in the Middle East' (11 March—2 October 2022).
Practicalities
Selected speakers will be lodged and catered for and – in case they do not dispose of institutional funding – (partly) reimbursed for their travel costs.
The third day of the conference includes an optional visit to In Flanders Fields Museum’s temporary exhibition ‘1914-1923: The Great War in the Middle East,’ as well as a tour of the battlefields surrounding Ypres with special attention to links with the war in the Middle East.
Submissions
Submissions should include: name, main affiliation, paper title, abstract and a short bio (max. 100 words). Applicants are invited to submit a 600-word abstract before February 1, 2022 wherein the central aims, relevant historiographies and primary sources are clearly outlined. Send your submission to: pieter.trogh@ieper.be.
Deadline and dates
Deadline for submissions March 30, 2022
Notifications of acceptance April 30, 2022
Conference September 15—17, 2022
Scientific committee
Maartje Abbenhuis (University of Auckland)
Houssine Alloul (University of Amsterdam)
Marnix Beyen (University of Antwerp)
Christophe Busch (Hannah Arendt Institute)
Dominiek Dendooven (In Flanders Fields Museum/University of Antwerp)
Pieter Lagrou (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Ozan Ozavci (Utrecht University)
Roschanack Shaery-Yazdi (University of Antwerp)
Henk de Smaele (University of Antwerp)
Ismee Tames (NIOD/Utrecht University)
Pieter Trogh (In Flanders Fields Museum)
Uğur Ümit Üngör (NIOD/University of Amsterdam)
Alp Yenen (Leiden University)