Brainstorming panels in conjunction with the project "The Global War on Civilians, 1905-1945", supported by the European Research Council (ERC), based at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study (Paris IAS) and directed by Sheldon Garon, Nissan Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Princeton University and former research-fellow at the Paris IAS.

Presentation

Convened and chaired by Sheldon Garon, this two-day conference brings together nine historians who study the impact of war on civilians in several countries around the world. Their task is to formulate research questions and collaborative methods as part of the European Research Council (ERC) project, “The Global War on Civilians, 1905-1945”. The Paris IAS serves as the host institution. The project investigates the transnational circulation of knowledge and practices that culminated by the Second World War in systematic attacks on civilians, as well as the creation of “home fronts.” The focus is on aerial bombardment, food blockades, and efforts to break “civilian morale”. Together with invited experts, the project’s researchers will brainstorm about the cases of Japan, China, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, the Soviet Union, the Spanish Civil War, and international law aimed at protecting civilians.

Participants 

Masha Cerovic (EHESS)
Sheldon Garon (Princeton University)
John Horne (Trinity College Dublin)
José Luis Ledesma (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
Victor Louzon (Sorbonne Université)
Jan Schmidt (KU Leuven)
Mariella Terzoli (Sapienza University of Rome)
Boyd van Dijk (University of Oxford)
Anne van Mourik (NIOD, Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies)