ISCH: New board members – call for applications

“The International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS) – Comité international des sciences historiques (CISH) – has been founded in Geneva on May 15, 1926. Today, the organization encompasses a total of fifty-seven countries.

The ICHS includes two sorts of organizations. First of all, there are the National Committees formed in each country from their individual centers for historical research. In addition, International Commissions specializing in particular fields of history (some known as ‘International Affiliated Organizations’ and others as Internal Commissions) have formed over the years.

The major occupation of the ICHS is the Congress, held every five years. The Committee shall hold a General Assembly at least every three years. Each Congress shall be immediately preceded and followed by a General Assembly.

A Board is responsible for the functioning and co-ordination of ICHS activities. Please, see the constitution of ICHS. (…)”

More (PDF).

Call for applications for the XXIVth ICHS Congress

“In 2020, during the XXIIIrd Congress held in Poznań, the General Assembly of ICHS will choose the place where the XXIVth International Congress of Historical Sciences will be hosted.

Organized every five years, the ICHS Congress is a major stage in the life and the development of our institution. We can hope, thanks to a good promotion, to attract between 1,500 and 3,000 delegates coming from at least 100 countries. The ICHS Congress is a very large scale enterprise which requires an important financial support and a rigorous management. But the potential benefits are considerable. The Congress offers to the City host a unique opportunity to promote the scientific works of the local historians and to confirm its cultural standing. The Congress should also result in an increased interest for the discipline and for ICHS in the concerned region.

The participants will expect a high level academic program. Famous participants can bring a considerable prestige to the Congress, whereas well prepared professional visits and cultural excursions before or after the Congress can contribute in an important way to the global success of the event. (…)”

More (PDF).

Call for papers: Europe in the 20th century – An Asymmetric Europe

Version française

For its forthcoming participation in the International Congress of Historical Sciences in Poznan, Poland in 2020, the International Association for the Study of Contemporary Europe is organising three conferences on the theme : « Europe in the 20th century – An Asymmetric Europe ».

European history of the twentieth century has been characterised by an alternation between common European projects and a questioning of such projects, often vehemently, through alternative visions. To borrow an expression from an American president, the vicissitudes of the European continent’s history have led to a significant difference between the « Old Europe » and that which took shape at the end of the First World War, referred to either as « Central Europe » for some, « Eastern Europe » for others, even sometimes « East-Central » or « Danubian »  Europe. The divergences between these « two Europes », as Francis Delaisi first pointed out in the inter-war years, are striking and manifest themselves throughout the twentieth century. They are present in the Versailles system, and throughout the Hitlerian project for Europe. They are still present during the Cold War.

The conferences that will take place leading up to the 2020 International Congress of Historical Sciences intend to explore this asymmetry. Have these projects influenced interpretations of European history ? Did they present Europe as a homogeneous entity? Or as a differentiated entity? Which interpretation is most current in Western Europe ? And Eastern Europe ? The idea will be to cross-compare these different currents.

The first conference on this theme will take place in Moscow from 6-8 December 2018. It will be focussed on : « Ideologies during the Second World War».

This conference is organised around several questions. First it is interested in the Hitlerian project for Europe. National-socialist plans were different for West and East Europe. Their application in different European spaces demonstrates this differentiated vision of Europe. Integration in a Nazi Europe was equally variegated (incorporation here, occupation there or satellitisation). Several works exist on these aspects. In the context of this conference we wish to favour a comparative approach, which is often fruitful for historiography if one confronts narratives and interpretations. The different experiences in the East and West offer a wide variety of perspectives.

But it is equally important to question the European projects of the Allies, of governments in exile or resistance movements. There too asymmetry exists and the different contexts lead either to uniform projects or infra-regional projects for the organisation of Europe.

Paper proposals should be sent by the deadline of 8 May 2018 to

John Keiger / Sylvain SchirmannTomaz Schramm

Proposals should include the title of the paper, a summary of the argument in a maximun of 3500 characters. It should be accompanied by a short cv giving career, present occupation and a list of the author’s publications.

Proposals should be written in either French or English.

The selection panel will notify applicants of their success or failure by the end of June 2018.

A second conference will look at the asymmetry of the Versailles system. It will take place in Paris at the Scientific Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 20-22 June 2019. A call for papers will go out nearer the date.

Conference: Pierre Renouvin, Jean-Baptiste Duroselle (1917-2017) – 7-9 juin 2017

Ce colloque porte sur la naissance d’une discipline, l’histoire des relations internationales, qui est née de l’effervescence intellectuelle qui a marqué la première guerre mondiale. Ni mausolée à la mémoire de deux historiens français, ni récit hagiographique d’une « école » historique française, le colloque aura pour objectif de replacer le parcours intellectuel et académique des deux historiens dans les débats intellectuels de leur temps. La construction méthodique de ce nouveau champ académique sera examinée dans le cadre d’une approche transnationale et comparative.

More information (French).

CFP: Invasion to Integration

Affiche du colloqueOn 23 June the British people will vote in a referendum on the country’s membership of the European Union, the latest chapter of a dialogue which has been characterised by competing visions of what ‘Europe’ is to Britain: ‘friend’ or ‘foe’. This dynamic is one which has pervaded British perceptions of mainland Europe throughout the modern era, from fears of invasion and hopes of internationalism during the nineteenth century, through the world wars, and into membership of the EEC in 1973. Both centuries also saw growing involvement with Europe on a personal level, as improved communications and travel increasingly allowed Britons to view the countries and cultures of Continent through the media or ‘invasions’ of their own, as soldiers, traders or tourists. Throughout, British perceptions of the Continent have experienced both profound change, and remarkable continuity.

This conference seeks to offer a long view of Britain’s relationship with the Continent, focusing on how Britons perceived and understood their mainland neighbours. This topic can be addressed from either the elite or popular perspective, and can deal with the idea of Europe as a whole or British views of individual European countries.

Papers might discuss, but are not limited to:

  • Attitudes towards European arts and culture
  • British tourists and/or merchants in Europe
  • Perceptions of European societies or political systems
  • Military threats or interventions
  • Integrationist movements/British nationalism
  • Anglo-European cooperation (cultural, economic or diplomatic)
  • Imperial vs. European perspectives

Please submit abstracts of c.300 words with a short biography by 29 July 2016 to Adam Rolewicz or Peter Keeling.

Call for papers: Pierre Renouvin, Jean-Baptiste Duroselle (1917-2017). The Building of an academic field, the History of International Relations

French version

International History Conference. Paris, June 8-10, 2017.

Deadline : 1st June 2016

Co-organizers: L. Badel (Professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), R. Frank (Professor Emeritus, Panthéon Sorbonne University), A. Marès (Professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), G.-H. Soutou (Professor Emeritus, Académie des sciences morales et politiques), M. Vaïsse (Professor Emeritus, Institut d’études politiques, Paris).

Supported by the Labex EHNE, the BDIC and the Mission du Centenaire

As is well known, the First World War influenced the lives of Pierre Renouvin and Jean-Baptiste Duroselle. It left its mark on their personal, institutional and academic lives. Aged twenty four, the former was seriously injured at the Chemin des Dames in 1917. The latter was born in that very year and would be « haunted » his whole life long by the memory of the Grande Guerre des Français to which he devoted his last book in 1994. A generation separates them but both their names are brought together on the title page of the book Introduction à l’histoire des relations internationales published in1964. This book is dedicated to a field, which, as with other humanities and social sciences, was born from the intellectual turmoil that marked the First World War. Neither intended to be a mausoleum in memory of both French historians, nor an hagiographic account of a specific French historical « school », this conference aims to situate the intellectual and academic career of these two historians within the intellectual debates. It will focus on the birth and the development of an academic area: the History of International Relations.The methodical building of this new academic area will be thoroughly examined, in particular through its interaction with other fields of the human and social sciences.

The careers of P. Renouvin and J.-B. Duroselle cannot be isolated from their social and political environment. Far from being confined to an ivory tower, they took part in the intellectual battles which left their mark on these decades (such as the criticism from Lucien Febvre or Marcel Merle). Deeply rooted within a French and Francophone field, they built transnational academic and political networks, which extended beyond France and Europe. Historians firmly engaged in the debates of their time (the responsibility of Germany in the outbreak of the First World War; the Cold War; European construction), they practised an instant history, at the heart of the institutional struggles in France or worked to resolve them. Thus in order to understand fully their distinctiveness these two historians need to be studied in the context in which they lived, worked and taught. Having principally devoted their research and reflexions to Europe and its peoples, they did not however neglect other continents. Academics, but teachers first of all, they taught whole generations in France and abroad who were indelibly marked by their lectures. As researchers, they opened up research paths that their students have followed and deepened. Members of the intellectual establishment of their time, both men accumulated honours and responsibilities: their political networks will be brought to light.

At the beginning of a twenty-first century marked by the flourishing of global history, this conference will be the place for a free and specific debate on the character, subjects, sources and particular approaches of international history. This conference aims to offer a comparative and transnational approach of their itineraries, combining a thematic and a biographical approach. We particularly welcome papers from foreign historians and scholars from other academic fields.

Possible paper topics include, but are not limited to :

The wars and their influence upon:

  • academic careers
  • institutional careers
  • public and private writings
  • the place of the military and strategic questions in their work

The institutionalization of international relations, a mark of the new influence of the United States?

  • Diplomatic history and history of international relations
  • reforms, new academic fields and academic chairs
  • key role of American foundations (Carnegie, Rockfeller, Ford); Swiss and Italian collaboration
  • The United States in the writings of P. Renouvin and J.-B. Duroselle

Sources, publishing and teamwork

  • Sources
  • The Documents diplomatiques français
  • Documentation as a source of action (Commission des archives diplomatiques)

Translation, transmission and reception

The construction of an academic field: the history of international relations

  • The building of a library: la Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine
  • The publications: la Revue d’histoire de la Guerre mondiale, L’Année politique, Relations internationales
  • The establishment of an academic chair
  • Topics of degree courses
  • Masters and followers (Tuesday evening workshop of J.-B. Duroselle)
  • The birth of the CERI (Fondation nationale des Sciences politiques)
  • The institutional consecration : the académiciens des Sciences morales et politiques

Europe and the world

  • The ”Asia” of Pierre Renouvin
  • “Europe” as seen by P. Renouvin and J.B. Duroselle
  • The United States of J.-B. Duroselle

Public action of both French scholars

  • Academic and institutional struggles
  • Pierre Renouvin during the Second World War
  • Jean-Baptiste Duroselle during the Second World War
  • Catholic and Christian-Democrat networks of Jean-Baptiste Duroselle
  • Renouvin, the Dean and the creation of research centers at the Sorbonne
  • The University of Vincennes and Jean-Baptiste Duroselle
  • The ‘Europeist’ action of Jean-Baptiste Duroselle
  • May 1968

These topics are not restrictive and each submission will be considered carefully.

The conference languages will be English and French

Regardless of language, all proposals will receive due consideration.

The deadline for paper proposals is: 1 June 2016

Please send your proposal (abstract in English or French of no more than 500 words and short CV) to Andrea Martignoni: martignoni.andrea@yahoo.fr

Scientific Advisory Board of the Conference

Laurence Badel (professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), Andrew Barros (professor, Université du Québec à Montréal), Eric Bussière (director, UMR Sorbonne-IRICE), Antoine Fleury (professor emeritus, Geneva University), Robert Frank (professor emeritus, Panthéon Sorbonne University), John Keiger (professor, Cambridge University), Peter Jackson (professor, Glasgow University), Thomas Maissen (director, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Paris), Antoine Marès (professor, Panthéon Sorbonne University), Antoine Prost (president, scientific board of the Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine, Paris), Matthias Schulz (professor, Geneva University), Georges-Henri Soutou (professor emeritus, Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Paris), Arnold Suppan (professor, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien), Valérie Tesnière (director, Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine, Paris), Maurice Vaïsse (professor emeritus, Institut d’études politiques, Paris), Antonio Varsori (professor, Padova University), Andreas Wirsching (director, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München).

East Central Europe in the First Half of the 20th Century – Transnational Perspectives

Traditionally the decades of the first half of the 20th century appear as a period of nationalization
and de-globalization, and seems to be true also for the region East Central Europe. After World War I (Nation)states such as Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were (re)established after the monarchies of the Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns, and Romanovs had fallen apart. Wilsonian idealism, promoting national self-determination, gained a fertile ground. The 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression, autarkic economic policies and nationalist ideologies. Following World War II and in an ex-post perspective, these “national” lines of development were made more prominent in historical narratives
so that the whole period seemed as a “road from war to war”. In this reductionist view, aspects of continuities across the apparent historical breaks of 1914 / 18 or 1939 / 45 often are marginalized. What about the sense for the beginning of a “New Europe” in a “New World” after the break-up of the empires, or the openness of the moment felt by contemporaries once the wars were over? How changed the conditions under which people migrated? How enterprises gained new markets? How cultural exchange was revived? How territorialization processes were globalized? A transnational perspective can help to find answers concerning the region and the period under question in the conference.

Program (PDF)

Minutes: General Assembly, 17 October 2015

Minutes of the General Assembly,
University of Cambridge
West Road 7
Department of Politics and International Studies
Room G 2
17 October 2015 – 14 H. 30

Download | Version française.

Professor John Keiger, President of the Association, welcomed the members present and evoked the memory of Jacques Bariéty, President of the Association from 1983 to 2010, who died in 2014. He then referred to the conservation of the AIHCE archives in the possession of Mr. Bariéty by the Quai d’Orsay Diplomatic Archives housed at La Courneuve. Following a request by the services of the Archives on the modalities of the consultation, the President sought the opinion of the General Assembly. It was decided to make the AIHCE archives available for consultation, provided that such a request is addressed to the President of the AIHCE.

Professor John Keiger then moved to item 1 of the agenda.

1 – Overview of activities

The Chair detailed:

  • The Munich meeting in January 2011, at the invitation of Prof. Horst MÖLLER from the Institut für The meeting was accompanied by a symposium on French foreign policy in the Cold War.
  • A meeting in 2012 in Strasbourg about problems relating to the transfer of the Association’s bank accounts from LCL to La Banque Postale
  • A meeting in Paris in 2014, between the president, the treasurer and the general secretary to consider the settlement of financial issues and to discuss AIHCE future projects.This was followed in January 2015 by a further meeting of the president and the treasurer about the change of bank.
  • A meeting of the executive committee on March 12 2015, in Paris discussed the future projects of the Association and prepared the GA in Cambridge

He then presented the scientific activities and emphasized the publication of both the proceedings of the Amsterdam Symposium (under the direction of Profs. Fleury, Kovacs, Schramm and Knipping), and the proceedings of Luxembourg (under the direction of Charles Barthel). These proceedings were published in the collection of the Association “Europe and the Europes”, Peter Lang. Two scientific events were held in Munich in January 2011 and Cambridge in October 2015. The latter event will lead to publication in the collection of the Association.

He then highlighted the work of website renovation undertaken by Frédéric Clavert (Lecturer at Lausanne), whose responsiveness and competence he praised. We thus have a suitable website. It is now time to populate it.

Finally the president explained his development of contacts with the Association of young researchers in European history (RICHIE) and notably Christian Wenkel. Regular meetings have taken place to link both assoications’ websites, to consider the integration of RICHIE members into the AIHCE and its activities. This cooperation has resulted in the election of RICHIE representatives to the executive committee of the AIHCE.

2 – Financial Review

The floor was then given to Professor Chantal Metzger, Treasurer of the Association. She recalled the difficulties related to the change of banks and set out the financial situation. She distributed to the members present a financial statement. It is attached to these minutes.

On October 14th, 2015:

  • Savings account: 21 000 Euros
  • Current account: 92 Euros

She then raised the question of the cost of subscriptions. It was proposed to renew these at the following levels:

  • 30 Euros for one year, and 50 Euros for two, per member
  • 20 Euros for one year, and 30 Euros for two, for students, doctoral students, post-docs

It was also decided that contributions would not be taken for 2015, given the lack of activities, but begin from 2016.

3 – Acceptance of the Treasurer’s review of financial accounts

The General Assembly unanimously voted through the Treasurer’s presentation of the accounts.

4 – Renewal of Executive Committee

A number of members of the board did not stand for re-election: Profs. Franz Knipping, Horst Möller, Ion Bulei, Dusan Kovacs, Charles Barthel, and Jean-François Fayet. The other officers remained candidates for their succession: John Keiger, Chantal Metzger, Bruna Bagnato, Evgenia Obitchina Christine Manigand, Thomas Schramm, Frank Hadler, Jean-François Eck and Sylvain Schirmann.

Three colleagues sent letters of candidacy: Emmanuel MOURLON-DRUOL (University of Glasgow), Frédéric Clavert (University of Lausanne) and Gjergely Fejérdy (University of Budapest).

A debate took place on the absence of representatives from some European areas and of historians of Europe based outside Europe. It was decided that the Executive Committee should proceed by co-option to expand the committee to include colleagues in these areas. Contacts are to be made with colleagues working on areas from Central and Eastern Europe to the Iberian Peninsula, Scandinavia and to non-European colleagues. Prof Frank Hadler intends to sound out colleagues from Central and Eastern Europe. Suggestions were made for Spain (Munez, St Jacques de Compostela) and Portugal (José Magone). The next board meeting will take stock of these contacts and make the decision to welcome new entrants.

Following open discussion the GA passed to a vote on the renewal of officers of the Association. Are renewed unanimously the nominees listed here: Keiger J., C. Metzger, B. Bagnato, Manigand C., E. Obitchina, T. Schramm, F. Hadler, JF Eck, S. Schirmann. Were unanimously elected for the first time to the board: E. Mourlon-Druol, Clavert F., G. Fejérdy

The newly elected board then allocated functions. Are appointed as follows:

  • John Keiger, President of the AIHCE
  • SCHRAMM Thomas, Vice-President of the AIHCE
  • Chantal METZGER, Treasurer of the Association
  • Sylvain SCHIRMANN, Secretary General
  • Frédéric Clavert, Deputy Secretary General
  • Christine MANIGAND, Publications Manager

5 – Subscriptions

See point 2 above.

6 – Projects and prospects

The officers wished to establish the minimum of an annual meeting of the executive committee. This could take place in an easily accessible city (capital cities, eg London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, etc.).

Three important points were raised:

  • The visibilityof the association: for activities (seminars, workshops or conferences), it is important to enter into a logic of cooperation with other organizations of historians. We need to develop convergence and synergies with associations of young researchers; and with certain national committees of the ICHS (International Congress of Historical Sciences). In this respect, links with RICHIE should be cemented, such as joint sessions at international conferences, including at their own conference in Budapest.
  • Developing convergence makes sense in view of the ICHS Congress inAugust 2020 in Poznan, Poland. Prof Schramm, Vice-President of the AIHCE, is one of the anchors of this congress. The gene​​ral theme is focused on Central Europe. The association should be present at this congress in line with the theme, which could be the subject of a symposium.  It is therefore necessary to establish within the next 2 years an idea of what – and who – we want to participate in Poznan. A schedule is therefore needed: in 2016, we should agree on our proposals; in 2017, we should send details of our proposals to ICHS, following the meeting of the ICHS in Moscow. This assumes we should renew our affiliation to the ICHS.
  • The Doctoral prize: the board wishes to create a Doctoral Prize (see meeting of 12 March 2015).The discussion at the GA revealed the material difficulties in the implementation of that prize: the prize languages, the procedure, staffing, and rules. The secretary general is charged with writing a note on this issue, identifying all difficulties and outlining a possible process. This note will serve as a starting point for a discussion on this point at the next board meeting.
  • Any other business evoked the prospect of a symposium in 2018, for the 50 years of the Association.

In conclusion all participants stressed the need for the renewal of activities to continue and to be on a regular basis.

Professor John Keiger, president of the Association, having confirmed that all items on the agenda had been discussed thanked those present and closed the General Assembly of the AIHCE at 1600 hours.

Organisation, Networks and Policy-making in European Foreign Ministries in the Twentieth Century

Workshop 16-17 October 2015, University of Cambridge, Department of Politics and International Studies, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge

Draft Program

  • Aballéa, Marion (IEP, Strasbourg), ‘Les services extérieurs de la diplomatie française entre expertise et marginalisation:l’exemple de l’ambassade de France à Berlin à la récomposition de l’ordre européen (1919-1932)’.
  • Bagnato, Bruna, (Florence), ‘Un renouvellement manqué. La diplomatie italienne de la chute du fascisme au traité de paix (1943-1947)’.
  • Badel, Laurence, (Sorbonne, Paris 1), ‘Around Olivier Wormser, the new influence of economic diplomats in French policy-making towards European integration (1930-1957)’.
  • Johnson, Gaynor, (Kent) ‘The Foreign Office and the concept of security, 1919-1947: variations from departments to personalities.’
  • Keiger, John (Cambridge), ‘Reforming the Quai d’Orsay during the Second World War: recruitment, training and mission’.
  • Lequesne, Christian, (Sciences Po, Paris) ‘Being a French diplomat in 2015: Recruitment, Career and Ideology’.
  • Obichkina, Evguenia, (MGIMO, Moscow),‘La prise de décision en matière de politique étrangère soviétique de Staline à Brejnev’.
  • Raineau, Thomas, (EUI, Florence), ‘“A conspiracy of like-minded men”. Le Foreign Office, Whitehall et l’unification de l’Europe, 1947-1957’.
  • Rolewicz, Adam, (Kent), ‘The “Grand Design”: The Foreign Office Western Department and an “Alternative Europe”, 1957-9’.
  • Schroeder, Corinne, (Archives Nationales, Luxembourg), ‘Le développement du ministère luxembourgeois des affaires étrangères (1930-1973)’.
  • Vardabasso, Valentina (Sorbonne, Paris 1), ‘Le Ministère italien des affaires étrangères et l’élaboration de la politique européenne (1948-53)’.

Organisation, Networks and Policy-making in European Foreign Ministries in the Twentieth Century

Workshop 16-17 October 2015, University of Cambridge, Department of Politics and International Studies, Alison Richard Building, West Road, Cambridge

This workshop is part of a major four-year AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK) funded research project entitled ‘Networks and Actors in the British and French Foreign Ministries : Responses to the Idea of European Integration, 1919-1957’, conducted by Prof John Keiger (Cambridge University) and Prof. Gaynor Johnson (Kent University).

The thesis which this project seeks to test is that in both the British and French foreign ministries from the end of the First World War – when ideas of European integration gained ascendancy as a means to international security and prosperity – to the establishment of the European communities in 1957, permanent officials were at least as important as their political masters in promoting or blocking the path towards some form of European integration. Two principal research questions emerge from the project:

  1. How were the foreign ministries of Britain and France organised between 1919 and 1957 in their dealing with questions relating to European integration ? In particular which foreign ministry departments (eg in the case of the British Foreign Office, the Central European Department, the Western European Department and the League of Nations Department) were the most powerful and influential in driving the policies of these two states in relation to Europe : how did the power distribution fluctuate between the departments over time and how did this affect policy ?
  2. Who were the permanent officials formulating policy on key issues affecting Europe ? In particular, what were the social and educational backgrounds of these actors ? How did this cultural context and training influence their world view and lead to formal or informal networks of like-minded individuals championing particular positions within their respective foreign ministries ? And how did all these factors influence the thinking of permanent officials when they considered the issue of a more integrated Europe ?

The workshop is intended to broaden this approach to other European foreign ministries across the whole of twentieth century Europe, broadly conceived, either through comparative perspectives or single state studies.

Papers of 20 minutes duration might consider, for instance :

  • organisation of foreign ministries or their reform

  • education and background of permanent officials and diplomats

  • networks and sociability in the diplomatic world

  • schools or academies of diplomatic preparation, training and competitive exams

  • impact of the European ideal on permanent officials

  • influence of other government departments or agencies (finance, commerce, defence, central banks etc) on policies for European integration

  • the policy-making process in foreign ministries

  • bureaucratic politics and policy blocking tactics in foreign ministries.

The working languages of the workshop will be French and English. Please send abstracts (one page A4) of your paper in either English or French, with a brief cv, to jk586@cam.ac.uk by 15 August 2015. An editorial panel will select the papers.

Colloque: Sociabilités et réseaux diplomatiques européens de 1919 à nos jours

Bruxelles, Académie Royale de Belgique (Cycle du Collège Belgique). 20-21 mars 2015.

Vendredi 20 mars 2015

  • 8h45-9h – Accueil des participants
  • 9h00-9h15 – Discours d´ouverture par Michel DUMOULIN, Professeur émérite à l’Université Catholique de Louvain, membre de l’Académie royale de Belgique

9h15-9h45 – Introduction du colloque par les organisateurs

  • Vincent GENIN, Université de Liège
  • Thomas RAINEAU, Paris IV-Sorbonne / Institut Universitaire Européen
  • Matthieu OSMONT, Institut culturel franco-allemand de Tübingen

9h45-10h15 – Conférence inaugurale

Laurence BADEL, Professeur à Paris I-Panthéon Sorbonne: Pratiques diplomatiques et « nouvelles relations internationales »

10h15-10h45 – Pause-café

10h45-13h – La diplomatie traditionnelle remise en question ?

Présidence : John KEIGER (Université de Cambridge).

  • 10h45-11h30 Marion ABALLEA (IEP Strasbourg) : L’ambassade de France à Berlin au lendemain de la Première Guerre mondiale : bastion de la tradition diplomatique à l’heure de la “nouvelle diplomatie” ? (1919-1933)
  • 11h30-12h15 – Renaud MELTZ (Université de Polynésie) : Les diplomates français et l’opinion publique dans l’entre-deux-guerres : le cas de la non-intervention dans la guerre civile espagnole
  • 12h15-13h00Radu Albu COMANESCU (Université de Cluj-Napoca) : Diplomacy : Building Europe through Family and Friends

Déjeuner 13h-14h15

14h15-18h30 – Nouveaux acteurs et réseaux

Présidence : Philippe RAXHON (Université de Liège)

  • 14h15-15h00Judith BONNIN (Université Paris VII) : D’une politique européenne partisane à une diplomatie d’État : sociabilités, réseaux et pratiques diplomatiques des socialistes français entre 1971 et le début des années 1980
  • 15h00-15h45Sonja GROSSMANN (Université de Tübingen) : Diplomates publics entre Est et Ouest : Les Associations d’amitié avec l’URSS en Europe occidentale
  • 15h45-16h30 – Victor FERNANDEZ-SORIANO (Université Libre de Bruxelles) : Le Mouvement Européen contre la dictature franquiste (1962). Une diplomatie européenne parallèle ?

16h30-17h00 – Pause-café

17h00-18h30Table-ronde sur les mutations post-1989 des diplomaties d´Europe centrale et orientale

Sous la présidence de Christian LEQUESNE (Sciences Po / CERI).

Avec la participation de :

  • M. Pavel Fischer, Consultant, ancien directeur politique du Ministère tchèque des affaires étrangères, ancien ambassadeur de la République tchèque en France, ancien Conseiller diplomatique du Président Vaclav Haval.
  • Dr András Balogh, historien, chargé d’affaires et envoyé extraordinaire de la République de Hongrie en Belgique, ancien ambassadeur de la République de Hongrie en Thaïlande (sous réserve)
  • S. E. Raoul Delcorde, Ambassadeur du Royaume de Belgique au Canada, ancien ambassadeur en République de Pologne, chargé de cours à l’Université catholique de Louvain

Samedi 21 mars 2015 – Les nouvelles enceintes européennes et internationales

Matin 9h15-10h45 – Présidence : Eric BUSSIÈRE (Paris IV Sorbonne)

  • 9h15-10h00 – Emmanuel MOURLON-DRUOL (Université de Glasgow) : Éduquer à l’Europe? Le conseil européen comme instrument de socialisation des chefs de gouvernement aux rouages de la CEE/UE (1974-1992)
  • 10h-10h45 – Benedetto ZACCARIA (Université de Padoue) : The European Commission as a Cold War player. The case of EEC-Yugoslav relations during the 1970s

Pause : 10h45-11h15

Matin 11h15-12h45 – Présidence : Catherine LANNEAU (Université de Liège)

  • 11h15-12h00 – Noël BONHOMME (Paris IV Sorbonne) : Le Groupe des Sept et les deux Europes: « grandes » et « petites » diplomaties européenne face aux impératifs de la gouvernance gobale (années 1970-1980)
  • 12h00-12h45 – Simon GODARD (Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne) : Le Conseil d’Aide Économique Mutuelle (CAEM) et la construction d’une diplomatie économique parallèle dans l’Europe socialiste (1962-1989)

Déjeuner 12h45-14h15

14h15-16h30 – D’autres voies de la diplomatie

Présidence : Michel DUMOULIN (Université Catholique de Louvain)

  • 14h15-15h00 – Olivier SIBRE (Paris IV Sorbonne) : Les diplomates du Saint-Siège : un corps singulier en mutation ? (1919-2005)
  • 15h00-15h45Alexandre BOZA (CHSP – Sciences Po – Paris) : Représenter l’humanité : les diplomates français et la promotion des droits de l’homme au sortir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

Conclusions du colloque. 15h45-16h15

  • Vincent GENIN, Université de Liège
  • Thomas RAINEAU, Paris IV-Sorbonne / Institut Universitaire Européen
  • Matthieu OSMONT, Institut culturel franco-allemand de Tübingen

Call for Papers – Summer School: “Europeanization from the mid-XIXth Century to the Present Mixing National, International and Transnational approaches”

Poland, Krzyzowa Foundation, 6-11 September 2012

Organized by RICHIE Association (http ://www.europe-richie.org/) the University of Paris-Sorbonne(http ://www.paris-sorbonne.fr/), the University of Hildesheim, (www.uni-hildesheim.de/), with the support of Université franco-allemande

Deadline for applications: 10 June 2012

The Summer School is opened to Masters and Doctoral students studying European history in the XIXth and XXth centuries. The key methodology of the conference will be that of historical analysis, however the Summer School welcomes researchers from other disciplines (sociology, political science, economy, law, etc.). Summer School participants will not qualify for ECTS credits.

“Europeanization” will be the central topic of the Summer School. Historians have defined Europeanization as a “a gradual process of political, economic and cultural convergence leading to the increasing development of similarities in European societies” (J. Grossman, J. Niesser, T. Schneider, Synthesis of the Summer School: Towards a European Society?

Convergence and Divergence in 20th Century). This process needs to be understood in conjunction with the overall structural transformations that took place in the XIXth and XXth centuries as a result of internal and external pressures. Instead of considering the wars of the XXth as markers of a new era, we approach the second half of the XIXth century as laying the foundations of modern globalization. As such, the process of Europeanization should be understood as the mutual interaction of national, international, global and trans-national dynamics, without excluding local dynamics.

Proposals for presentations might deal with the following non-exhaustive topics:

  • States, Administration and civil society (-ties) in the process of Europeanization;
  • Politics at the junction of national, transnational and European dynamics (lobbies, political parties, institutions);
  • Building, circulating and challenging European model(s) (in the economic, social, politic, cultural intellectual and philanthropic fields);
  • Public opinion and the media: public spaces for Europeanization?
  • A plurality of Europeanization(s)?: symbolic representations, images, symbols and lieux de mémoire.
  • Europeanization and reconciliation: of the People of Europe? between the People of Europe/the European People and Others?
  • Europeanization at the borders of Europe: societies, influx and trades.

The Summer School will take place at the Krzyzowa Foundation in Poland. Transport between Wroclaw and Kreisau, accommodation, catering and social events will be provided by the Organization Committee. Travel expenses will be covered for up to 100 euros (please keep receipts).

The Summer School’s Scientific Committee is composed of internationally recognised academics, including: Eric Bussière (Paris IV- Sorbonne University), Michael Gehler (Hildesheim University), John Keiger (Salford University), Léonard Laborie (CNRS) and Konstanty Wojtaszczyk (Warsaw University).

Members of the Organization Committee are Noël Bonhomme (Paris IV Sorbonne), Anna Konieczna (Sciences Po Paris), Céline Paillette (Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), Karolina Pietras (Paris IV-Sorbonne).

If you wish to participate in the Summer School, please email us at ecole2012@europe- richie.org. Please include the following documents with your email (.doc or pdf files only).

Your presentation proposal (500 words maximum);

  • A summary of your current research project(s) (Phd or Masters – only in circumstances where this is different from the topic of your proposed presentation);
  • A short CV (1 page); and
  • The name of an academic referee.

Successful applicants will be contacted in end-June 2012. The working languages of the conference will be French and German however a good command of English is required.

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Research project: “Ces chers voisins”

“Ports and rivers”

The project called « Ces chers voisins » has generated a series of conferences, workshops and publications since 2006. In this context, a new project entitled « Ports et fleuves » (Ports and Rivers) has been conceived. As its name indicates, the idea is to take into account an economic component that, on the one hand, plays a central role in the GDP of the countries under consideration and, on the other hand, is conducive to create a melting pot of cultures and to be stimulated by it at the same time.

Serving as interface between overseas territories and European hinterlands, the ports of the European north-west shoreline are places of transfer for material goods. This makes them trading posts of the West, whose symbolic importance is as immense today as it was in the past.

Ports are settling places for alien as well as specific communities, e.g. the Jewish one, from which social and cultural influences spread. They are venues on which so many migrants converge to embark, transforming them into cosmopolitan crossroads of the “Wretched of the Earth. They constitute a source of inspiration for a multitude of long-hauled, imaginary journeys.

Representing specific challenges in terms of political, economic and social governance, the ports that will be considered – from Le Havre to Bremen via Antwerp, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and London – are mainly located in the mouth or upstream of the mouth of important rivers, from the Seine to the Elbe, including the «Golden Delta» (the Scheldt, the Meuse, the Rhine), and the Weser.

There is a vast body of literature dedicated to port cities and rivers considered on an individual basis. However, studies adopting a comparative or transnational perspective on the subject are few. Likewise, no research has been published yet on the Hinterlands and the spaces they constitute, except for older periods.

Taking a long period of time into consideration, this project aims to “Europeanize” the issues that will be dealt with. The purpose is to highlight the respective convergences and divergences in order to ensure a better understanding of the common features forming the complex interplay of competition, or collaboration at times, between these centers of economic activity.

As the scientific literature adopting a comparative and cross-disciplinary approach remains almost silent on the topic, this project intends to tackle the question of multicultural intermixing, using a number of different approaches to convey both the complexity and the appeal of this issue. In order to achieve this, it is essential to foster a fruitful collaboration between several disciplines, as it was the case in the context of “Ces chers voisins”. Likewise, today’s questions express the need for a dialogue to take place with policy makers and economic and social decision makers, who are imbued with a culture that shapes the very strong port identity they embody.

A few examples of the research areas this project aims to explore are the scientific, technical, and educational fields through, for instance, the creation of research and educational establishments (tropical medicine, shipbuilding industry, trade, etc.), geographical societies, institutes for the study of Asian arts, or even zoological gardens.

Port cities have a tradition of hosting international exhibitions and Olympic Games (Antwerp, Amsterdam, London), but they are also used to welcome congresses and attract tourists as seaside resorts, bringing together the “élites circulantes” (traveling elites). Moreover, they played a decisive role in the import of sports such as football. Similarly, the idea that exotic cooking practices have been imported via port cities should be examined.

This research will make good use of the existing literary, iconographic and architectural heritage (including colonial monuments, military architecture, banks, etc. all considered as “lieux de memoires”). Attention will be paid to the variety of printed and unpublished sources, both private and public ones. Someone will be in charge of the general management of the project and will ensure the coordination among the different areas of research to guarantee the cross-disciplinary relations between the different fields of study. The approach will make sure that case studies are not analyzed individually but examined together. Their results will be compared in workshops in order to bring out the common features and differences between the cultures of port cities, while paying attention to the areas in which these convergences or divergences are noticeable. The ultimate step is of course to try to understand why, when, and how these common features and differences appeared and developed.

The operational interest of this project lies in the fact that it is launched by a cohesive group of researchers from Germany, England, Belgium, France, Luxemburg, and The Netherlands who have already cooperated and collaborated actively together and share a great desire to 1) intensify the collaborative process that exists among them, 2) foster the comparative study of the European north-west shoreline by examining a number of Baltic and Adriatic ports.

Professor Michel Dumoulin

27 January 2011

« Ces Chers Voisins»

Prof. Michel Dumoulin and Prof. Hubert Roland (Université catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve) are the kingpins of the project, together with the Historiches Seminar II from the University of Köln (Prof. Jürgen Elvert) and the Frontières, Acteurs, Représentations de l’Europe research center from the Université de Strasbourg (Prof. Sylvain Schirmann), in collaboration with numerous other research centers from Paris I, Paris IV, Lille 3, Luxemburg, Liège, and KU Leuven. It is already intended to establish cooperation with the following institutions: the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum Bremerhaven (German National Maritime Museum), the National Maritime Museum Greenwich and the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

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