The International Conference on the Occasion of

Marking the Hundredth Anniversary of the First World War:

“The Position of the First World War

in the History of Europe” Holding Announced

A press conference, during which the holding of an international conference upon the occasion of marking the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the First World War under the title of “The Position of the First World War in the History of Europe” was announced, took place in the University of Sarajevo’s Rectorate on Monday 23 September 2013.
The International Conference on the occasion of marking the hundredth anniversary of the First World War breaking out entitled “The Position of the First World War in the History of Europe” will be held from 19 to 21 June 2014 year and it will be a central scientific meeting on the topic of the First World War’s beginning.
Prof. Dr. Husnija Kamberovic, UNSA Institute for the History Director, Dr. Vera Katz, UNSA Institute for History and M.Sc. Amir Duranovic, Department of History, UNSA Faculty of Philosophy announced the Conference’s program, participants and the titles of papers to be presented at the Conference.
Noting that preparations for this conference had began in 2010, and that got intensified during the period that followed, Prof. Dr. Husnija Kamberovic said how the intention of that scientific conference was a large scientific meeting; a discussion during which scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe and the world would discuss all aspects that had led to the outbreak of the World War I.
"The aim of this Conference is to re-consider the political aspects of a world war, such as the relations between the great powers on the eve of the First World War, and also the politics of small countries, forming of alliances and their geopolitical and ideological bases, the conflict between imperial orders and nationalism, etc”, said professor Kamberovic and added: “At the same time, the Conference will have focus on how did ‘common folk’ experience and perceive it, both on the battlefield and in behind the frontlines, as well as on traumas the war caused to the survivors. The Conference will discuss the immediate and long-term impact of the Great War on the development of European societies. Our intention is also to talk about the treatment of the World War I in various national historiographies, not only in the Balkans, but also in other historiographies, and how it was presented in school textbooks. At the Conference, we intend to discuss the position of war in the local, national and transnational cultures of memory and how the war is presented in various media, literature and art.”
Having presented the course of preparations of this Conference and co-organizers, Dr. Vera Katz is said that the initiative for organizing such conferences had been initiated by the UNSA Institute for History and its director Prof. Dr. Husnija Kamberovic. She also said how conference co-organizers were institutes with which the UNSA Institute for History had long-term cooperation.
“The intention of this Conference’s organizers is to have a dynamic forum of academic exchange of new approaches to the First World War’s history in the context of its centennial anniversary” said Dr. Vera Katz.
This International Conference’s organizers  are: The University of Sarajevo Institute for History (Sarajevo), Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (Regensburg), Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Research Center for the Humanities (Budapest) , Institute for Balkan Studies and Trakology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Sofia  , Institute for National History (Skopje) , Institute for Contemporary History (Ljubljana), Croatian Institute of History (Zagreb), Center for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz (Graz) .
“120 scholars from 26 European countries, from the United States and Canada confirmed their participation in the Conference” said M.Sc. Amir Duranovic. When presenting the conference participants he said: “As far as the structure of the participants is concerned, the Conference will be a combination of youth and experience, on the one hand the experience and recognition of top historiography, and on the other hand, young forces that are emerging and which will be given the chance to meet and share their findings at this Conference, and thus open up new roads for future historiographical meetings”.
At the press conference it was said that the aim of this international conference was to analyze the causes, as well as political, social and economic consequences of the First World War, on the basis of new historical research within the context of European and, more specifically, Balkan history. The Conference will also examine the legacy of World War II and its position in the collective memory today. The conference wants to vocalize the importance of the First World War in European societies, taking in the same time into account the wider international circumstances.