The New Perspectives on the World Wars Symposium

The First and Second World Wars were two of the great events of human history. They witnessed the mobilization for combat of tens of millions of people from six continents. They subjected even more of them to the horrors of war. They wrecked one world order, and set another in motion. Interest in the World Wars never has waned, either among the public or academics, but during recent years it has taken a new form. In particular, historians have moved from focusing on set-piece operations, toward using new methodologies (drawn from fields ranging from strategic history to the study of war and society) which allow a broadening of the study of human conflict. Fresh ground has been broken in fields like the impact of civil society, culture and the environment, on war and militarization. These developments have been reinforced by the availability of new archival sources. Much of this work has continued to attract great public attention—to a surprising degree, new discoveries from that old war remain front page news.

The HGSU is proud to present this annual symposium--and quintennial international conference--bringing together world class scholars and emerging academics who are continuing to enrich and evolve our understanding of these wars.

2017: New Perspectives on the British Imperial Forces in the East African Campaign of the First World War, 1917

2016: New Perspectives on the Battle of Jutland, 1916

2015: New Perspectives on Canada and the Great War

2014: New Perspectives on the Italian Campaign and the Pacific War - Lecture

2014: The Great War's Shadow - New Perspectives on the First World War, 1914-1915 - Graduate Conference

2013: New Perspectives on the World Wars by Terry Copp and Ken Coates

2012: Dieppe and Eastern Front 70 Years On, 1942

2011: Outbreak of War in the Pacific: 70 Years Later

2010: The Battle of Britain: The RAF and Luftwaffe, 1940

2009: Seventy Years On: New Perspectives on the Second World War