From the Second World War to the end of the Portuguese colonial wars, the European armed forces (British, Belgian, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese) were confronted with new experiences of guerilla warfare. The objective of this conference is to better understand how decolonization transformed the institutions, ideas and practices of the armed forces during and after these wars of independence.

Contributions of a wide range of issues are welcome. E.g.: What social and cultural changes did military institutions face? What relationships did the armies maintain with the political arena before, during and after the conflict? And what were the relations with their civil society, both in the homeland and in the colonies? How did the different national armies learn from preceding wars and how did ideas and knowledge circulate between the different Western armies? Did International law play any role in these types of war; and if so, which?

This conference is organised by the research group "Social and cultural history of the French army during the decolonisation" at the German Historical Institute Paris (DHIP) and the European network "Armed Forces in the Times of Decolonisation" (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Raphäelle Branche), University of Birmingham (Peter Gray), the University of Siena (Nicola Labanca) and German Historical Institute Paris (Steffen Prauser). It is intended for researchers and graduate students working on European armed forces during times of decolonisation.

The conference will be held at the German Historical Institute in Paris, 8 rue du Parc-Royal, 75003 Paris

The working language will be English.

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Contact:

Denis Leroux

8, rue du Parc Royal

75003 Paris

France

+33144542380

Email: dleroux@dhi-paris.fr

Website: http://www.dhi-paris.fr/