09:00-09:30 – Registration and coffee
09:30-09:45 – Welcome
Susan Legêne, Royal Netherlands Historical Society/VU University Amsterdam
Introduction
Henk te Velde, day chair, Leiden University
09:45-10:30 – Keynote lecture
Maartje Abbenhuis, University of Auckland
Neutrality from the 19th century to the First World War
10:30-11:00 – Coffee break
11:00-12:30 – Morning session: Neutral identities
The First World War challenged pre-1914 notions of what neutrality meant, both at an individual and a societal level. It was widely deemed necessary to reframe ones stance in light of the unique nature of the Great War, especially considering the strong identification markers belligerent societies created to explain the nature of the conflict and their roles in it. In this session, we explore different answers given during the First World War to the question: who is the neutral?
Chair: Ismee Tames, NIOD Amsterdam
- Anja Huber, University of Bern
Restrictions against Swiss nationals in England during the First World War
- Eirik Brazier, Telemark University College
The stranger in our midst. Public discourses, constructions and representations of the “others” in Scandinavia, 1914-1918
- Marjet Brolsma, University of Amsterdam
In search for an ‘ardent neutrality’. The Great War and the European revolt against rationalism among Dutch intellectuals
- Tessa Lobbes, Utrecht University
Negotiating neutrality. Dutch intellectuals, belligerent cultural propaganda and neutral identities during the First World War
12:30-13:45 – Lunch
The Royal Netherlands Historical Society will host its annual meeting (13:15-13:45). During our lunch break, we will host a World War I-themed film programme, presented by EYE Amsterdam
13:45-15:15 – Afternoon session: Neutral agencies
Neutrals in wartime were compelled, and sometimes forced, into action. As the war grew “total”, the supposedly strict lines between the worlds of belligerency and neutrality began to blur, creating opportunities for the transfer of peoples, goods, and ideas. Simultaneously, stringent efforts were made to separate those at war from those who were, at least nominally, at peace. These, often contradictory and constantly debated actions, beg the question: what does a neutral do?
Chair: Joep Leerssen, University of Amsterdam/ACCESS EUROPE
- Anne Rosenbusch, Royal Irish Academy
Spain’s relief effort during the First World War
- Carolina García Sanz, Escuela Española de Historia y Arqueología-CSIC Rome
The Marginalia of the History of Neutrality in the Great War. Southern Europe in Comparative Perspective
- Michael Olsansky, Swiss Military Academy-Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
The Joining of the League of Nations as Point of Culmination: Different notions of Neutrality in the Swiss Military at the End of the First World War
- Michael Jonas, Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg
Three Kings Posturing? Royal diplomacy and Scandinavian neutrality in the First World War
15:15-15:45 – Tea break
15:45-16:45 – Towards a new research agenda: brainstorm session and debate
Chair: Michael Wintle, University of Amsterdam/ACCESS
Summing-up: Ido de Haan, Utrecht University
16:45-17:00 – Closing remarks by the organisers
17:00-18:30 – Drinks