Apresentação

The, Instituto de História Contemporânea da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, together with the Centro de Estudos Interdisciplinares do Século XX - Ceis 20 da Universidade de Coimbra, organizes on 22 to 27 June in the auditorium of the Rectorate of the New University of Lisbon, the symposium From the Trenches to Versailles: War and Memory (1914-1919).

The World War I is one of the most studied and yet most widely misinterpreted conflicts of our time. Many were the lenses who saw and told this global and vivid story. By shifting the centre of attention from the battle field, the way the Great War was lived varied, inevitably, between soldiers, politicians, businessman, women, artists and scientists. The commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the signature of the Versailles Peace Treaty has encouraged the Institute of Contemporary History and the Ceis20 to embark on a series of wider initiatives, within the context of the analysis of the WW1 transformations in Portugal and in the other belligerent countries.
Along with the more traditional aim of trailing the changes brought by the conflict, namely in its military, diplomatic or political aspects, increasingly scholarly attention as been paid to the war as a factor of modernization and development, and in how it interacted with economics, culture, public health, technology and scientific research. From an historical point of view this approach allows us to study and understand the multiple aspects of a conflict whose repercussions affected the day-to-day life of thousands and thousands of people, making world wide known the "total war"concept.

From the Trenches to Versailles is perhaps one of the first meetings to open the international debate on the War I in terms of it’s hundred anniversary. Indeed, it was taken and disclosed by major research centers and has raised the interest to participate of a very significant number of international experts, receiving proposals for cooperation from 'the four corners of the world'.

Junho de 2009
Fernanda Rollo (IHC e FCSH)
Ana Paula Pires (IHC e FCSH)
João Paulo Avelãs Nunes (Ceis20 e Universidade de Coimbra)