For a connected
and transnational history of
purges in Europe
in the wake of the Second World
War
Université Rennes 2
11 et 12 juin 2015
Call for papers
The end of hostilities and the ideological defeat of fascist regimes is a clearly identifiable
sequence on the Continental Europe's scale. According to John Horne, this “1945 moment”
was marked by a “thirst for justice” towards the former enemies and their
collaborators.
Therefore, May 1945 did not mark an immediate or long
-
lasting return to peace, as is testified
to by Tim Snyder's or Keith Lowe's recent works which present a convulsive history of the
continent. In this sense, the
conference
deals with the
meaning of “the end of the war”, an
issue which is all the more important as adherence to the established regimes and/or the
collaboration with the occupants was a phenomenon of unprecedented proportions in Europe
during the Second World War, which requir
ed the implementation of justice policies (purges,
Säuberung
, denazification,
Retribution, Zuivering
...). Without eluding the diversity or even
the plurality of situations caused by the war or end
-
of
-
war conditions, the project also
postulates the unity of the necessity to carry out purges. It thereby contemplates the purge as a
form of “generational situa
tion” [Karl Mannheim] at the scale of many European societies.
2
It is precisely this shared experience, although not completely common, which is the
foundation of our analysis, based on a historiography which is both dense at national level and
incomplete
at transnational scale.
Indeed, as a result of the frequent subdivision of national historiographies, very few
compared, crossed and
a fortiori
transnational approaches to the phenomenon actually exist.
The ambition of this
conference is two
-
fold: 1.
/ Esta
blish connections between numerous
research works that already exist but are not put into perspective, 2./ Contribute to writing a
connected history of purges at the European scale. To be consistent with this approach,
whereas Western European countries ar
e often the most studied/well
-
known, a particular
attention will be given to “Central Europe”, Eastern Europe and Balkan Europe.
The objective is to favour a connected history which takes into account the exchanges,
circulations and transfers of ideas, the
reproduction of external models or foreign examples
that lead to opposite policies. Likewise, a particular attention will be given to hybrid or mixed
research topics that postulate intermediary approaches and reveal “intertwined” stakeholders
or spheres.
In this sense, we will focus on connection and meeting
places or circles. To this
end:
The first day of the
conference
will deal with
the concepts and mechanisms related to
purges at work in Europe by putting the emphasis on circulations and transfers
.
The
expected
reflection axes will include:
1./ “incubati
on”
sites during the conflict:
that is to say places where (a) national purge(s)
have been considered and sometimes prepared: London, Cairo, Moscow... The war resulted
in a blurry European map of States
and decision
-
making bodies as some governments or
resistance movements representatives were in exile. Therefore, some towns embodied many
different “
little
nations” where the post
-
war period was prepared, which did not prevent
exchanges between the represe
ntatives of different countries. The
conference
, which will
favour a multipolar approach, aims at shedding light on the transnational dynamics at work
in these towns in a context marked by different liberation conditions and chronologies, but
also by a wil
l to cross specific national stakes and shared concerns at continental scale
(restore order and legality with a double function of r
egulation and legitimisation).
2./ Used categories and incriminations: definitions, circulations, exchanges. For instance: t
he
notion of war criminal as an “international” category, death penalty, national indignity,...
3./ Relations and/or filiations between post
-
war purges and preceding purges but also
concurrent purges in the early days of the Cold War.
4./ Influential people
as a mediation and transmission method for purge policies or practices
from one country to another.
