Mischa Honeck (GHI Washington), James Marten (Marquette University), Andreas Gestrich (GHI London), Arndt Weinrich (GHI Paris) (Web)

Time: June 5-7, 2014
Venue: German Historical Institute, Washington, DC
Deadline: 30.11.2013

The goal of the conference is to enrich our understanding of the place and role of children and youth in war during the first half of the twentieth century; to come to grips with a fundamental paradox: How was it possible for modern societies to reimagine childhood as a space of sheltered existence and mobilize children for war at the same time? And how did modern warfare disrupt or accelerate rites of passage in the realms of gender, sexuality, national loyalty, ethnic and racial identity, and military involvement? We ask these questions on the assumption that young people experienced war in ways that were age-specific and different from how adults endured it. Usually, these differences found some means to express… read more (Website)