Call for Papers: "Russia in the First World War"

Conference venue: Higher School of Economics. Moscow, Russia
Period: June 3-5, 2014
Deadline for submitting abstracts: September 15, 2013

The International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and its Consequences, the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow), the German Historical Institute (Moscow) and the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, DC) with additional support from a number of other institutions, are pleased to announce an international conference on Russia in the First World War to be held on 3-5 June 2014 in Moscow, Russia.

The conference marks the centenary of the First World War, this “suicide of Europe” that shaped the history of the 20th century. The Russian Empire shared the experiences of other European nations in a war that profoundly affected its economy, social relations, politics and culture. At the same time, in Russia the consequences of war were markedly different. The war launched a series of cataclysmic events, including the collapse of the old regime, the upheaval of February 1917, the Bolsheviks’ rise to power and the bloodshed of the Civil War. For many decades, Russia’s experience in the First World War was overshadowed by the “revolutionary myth” that lent legitimacy to the Soviet state. Only recently, scholars started to analyze this war on its own account as a crucial event in Russian history, not just as a prelude to the revolution. Russia’s war experience is now studied in its contemporary European context, but also as a political testing ground. Ideologies and practices that emerged in the conditions of the First World War later persisted through the interwar period and found their deadly application during the Second World War.

Papers are invited to engage with one or several of the following themes:

The conference also aims to discuss the memory of the First World War as represented in diaries, memoirs, fiction, art and film. Papers that discuss the influence of practices and ideologies of the First World War on the interwar period as well as on the Second World War are particularly welcome. Other topics may also be considered.

Proposals are invited in Russian or English and can be for both individual papers and panels. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to Liudmila G. Novikova at lnovikova@hse.ru .

This conference is conceived as multidisciplinary, papers are welcome from scholars of Russian history, as well as scholars of other disciplines working in related fields. Both established scholars and advanced graduate students are invited to submit proposals. Conference participants are expected to be currently engaged in research on one of the topics mentioned above. Papers should be previously unpublished and dwell on original research. Papers of the selected participants will be pre-circulated one month in advance to maximize the usefulness of the meeting.

The working languages of the conference will be Russian and English.

Ms. Liudmila G. Novikova
e-mail: lnovikova@hse.ru