The Great War: Localities and Regional Identities

(Cambridge Collection, Cambridge Central Library)

A day conference held in Manchester,
Wednesday 20 June 2012
The event will be held in Manchester Metropolitan University

www.mcrh.mmu.ac.uk/confer/gw

Point of contact: Dr Craig Horner

As the centenary of the Great War approaches and it slips from first-hand experience, shelves on military history in high-street bookshops testify to the misty-eyed mythical appeal it continues to have for many. This conference forestalls the coming public history bonanza by concentrating on the under-researched responses to the crisis from the regions and localities of Britain. Was there a common national response to unprecedented events or did strong local and regional identities cause significant variations?

This day conference will bring together twenty papers from scholars working on regional issues in the Great War and its aftermath. Strands include:

• Recruiting, volunteering and conscription
• Local patriotisms
• Agriculture, food and rural life
• Commemoration and religion
• Community and home front

Speakers will include:
Keith Grieves, Nick Mansfield, Helen McCartney
Professors Chris Williams and Karen Hunt

The conference will also include a film show by the North West Film Archive and displays from the Working Class Movement Library, the National Co-operative Archives and the Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People’s History Museum.