Historians and the War: Rethinking the Future

 

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Historians and the War: Rethinking the Future -

A Background

The world is in the midst of the largest war in Europe since 1945. On 24 February 2022, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a massive and ferocious invasion of Ukraine, following on an earlier illegal occupation of Crimea and the Donbas region in 2014. Today, fatalities and other casualties are rapidly mounting as a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions unfolds. 

The Russian military aggression against Ukraine is an assault on Ukraine's sovereignty, democracy, people, and their very right to exist as a nation. It is also a threat to global democratic order, peace, security, international relations, and economic stability. President Putin unleashed this war not only to erase Ukraine but also to erase Ukrainian history—thus making history overall a key part in this growing geopolitical crisis. 

Historians are now facing an urgent need to respond to such undoing of history by the Kremlin. The current war requires us to rethink basic views about modern European history, especially about its 20-century empires and nation-states, regimes and ideologies, remembrance of World War II and mass crimes.

Historians also have a responsibility to address an emerging epistemological paradigm shift in historical studies that has been set in motion by this war. Going forward, how should we conceive the past? Are we again facing the question that was posed to the historian Marc Bloch by a French army officer during the "Phoney War" of 1940: "Are we to believe that history has betrayed us?" More particularly, going forward, how should we be defining the field of East European Studies, traditionally dominated by Russianists and the Russian historical perspective? 

To explore these and related questions, we invite you to join the newly launched International Seminar Series "Historians and the War: Rethinking the Future."

"Rethinking the Future" is a joint initiative of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, the German-Ukrainian Historians' Commission, and the Ukraine-based scholarly journal Ukraina Moderna.

Seminar meetings are planned to be held monthly via Zoom.

 

Upcoming Seminars

There are currently no scheduled seminars. Please check back regularly.

Past Seminars

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First Seminar

4 May, 2022

6:30-8:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. MDT (UTC -6)

The seminar hosted Professor Margaret MacMillan, professor of history at the University of Oxford and the University Toronto. She is a leading expert on the history of international relations and war. Prof. MacMillan has authored numerous books, including her most recent synthetic work War: How Conflict Shaped Us (2020). The book is largely based on the 2018 Reith Lectures, which can be accessed here.

 

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Second Seminar

26 May, 2022

6:00-7:30 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00-11:30 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Rethinking the Second World War in Light of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine"


This seminar was held in Ukrainian and English with simultaneous translation. The speakers were:

  • Olena Stiazhkina, Institute for History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine);
  • Oleksandr Lysenko, Institute for History of Ukraine, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine);
  • Martin Dean, Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (Kyiv, Ukraine);
  • Kai Struve, Martin Luther University (Halle, Germany)

The moderator was Gelinada Grinchenko, Karazin National University (Kharkiv, Ukraine) / Wuppertal University (Wuppertal, Germany).

 

 

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Third Seminar

9 June, 2022

7:00-9:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Historians and the War: A Discussion with Prof. Timothy Snyder"

This seminar was titled and was held in Ukrainian and English with simultaneous translation.

Timothy Snyder is professor of history at Yale University and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, author of numerous publications on the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the Holocaust, including Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.

The seminar was chaired by Martin Schulze Wessel, Ludwig Maximilian University (Munich, Germany).

 

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Fourth Seminar

23 June, 2022

6:00-8:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00-12:00 p.m. MDT (UTC -6)

“Rashism/Ruscism – Is Russia Fascist?”

The speakers were:

  • Marlene Laruelle, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University (Washington, USA)
  • Oleksandr Zaitsev, Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine)
  • Roger Griffins, Oxford Brookes University (Oxford, UK)
  • Andreas Umland, Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (Stockholm, Sweden)

The panel was chaired by Kai Struve, Martin Luther University (Halle, Germany).

 

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Fifth Seminar

14 July, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Historians and the War: A Discussion with Prof. Larry Wolff"

Larry Wolff is the Silver Professor of History at New York University and the author of numerous publications on the history of Central and Eastern Europe, including Woodrow Wilson and the Reimagining of Eastern Europe (Stanford University Press, 2020).

The seminar was chaired by Frank Sysyn, University of Alberta (Canada).

 

Sixth Seminar

28 July, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Testimonies about the War in Ukraine: How to Conduct Interview-Based Research"

The invited speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Gelinada Grinchenko, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University / Bergische Universität Wuppertal.

 

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Seventh Seminar

8 September, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Stalin's Genocides, Soviet Warfare, and Atrocities of the Russian Army: From Soviet Mass Crimes to the Current War in Ukraine – Continuity or Change?"

The invited speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Kai Struve, Martin Luther University (Halle, Germany).

 

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Eighth Seminar

29 September, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Ukraine in Russia's Historical Politics: Legitimation of Aggression" 

The invited speakers were:

  • Yaroslav Hrytsak, Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine)
  • Martin Schulze Wessel, Ludwig Maximilian University (Munich, Germany)
  • Tomasz Stryjek, Polish Academy of Science (Warsaw, Poland)
  • Serhii Pahomenko, University of Latvia (Riga, Latvia) / George Washington University (Washington, USA)
  • Denys Shatalov, Prisma Ukraїna Fellow / Forum Transregionale Studien (Berlin, Germany)

The panel was chaired by Oleksandr Zaitsev, Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine).

 

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Ninth Seminar

6 October, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

“Occupation as a Daily Challenge: Life in Ukraine’s Occupied Territories During Wars Past and Present”

The invited speakers were:

  • Tatjana Tönsmeyer, University of Wuppertal, (Wuppertal, Germany)
  • Andrii Domanovski, Special Correspondent of the Information Agency АрміяInform of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense; former lecturer at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
  • Gelinada Grinchenko, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University / University of Wuppertal

The panel was chaired by Oleksandr Lysenko, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

 

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Tenth Seminar

27 October, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

“The Human Toll of a War: Comparative Perspectives on Displacement, Resettlement, and Emigration of Ukrainians in the 20th and 21st Centuries” 

The loss of human life  is one of the direct outcomes of wars, but wars also lead to massive forced displacement of large populations across huge geographic and political terrains. In historical perspective, war-induced large scale demographic transfers and resettlement led to a variety of outcomes each extensively affecting the society and the country that experienced the loss and those societies and countries that received the refugees.  

The invited speakers were:

  • Lubomyr Luciuk, Royal Military College of Canada (Kingston, Canada);
  • Oksana Mikheeva, European University Viadrina (Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany)/Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine);
  • Viktoriya Sereda, PRISMA UKRAÏNA (Berlin, Germany)/Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine).

The panel was chaired by Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada).

 

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Eleventh Seminar

17 November, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +1) / 10:00 a.m. MST (UTC -7)

 "Empires and Nation-States of the Past, Present, and Future: The Russo-Ukrainian War and Debates on Decolonizing Eastern European Studies"

The invited speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada).

 

 

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Twelfth Seminar

15 December, 2022

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +1) / 10:00 a.m. MST (UTC -7)

“Weapons of a Different Kind: Propaganda and Disinformation in Wars and Conflicts throughout Ukraine's Modern History”

The invited speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Kai Struve, Martin Luther University (Halle, Germany).

 

 

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Thirteenth Seminar

12 January, 2023

6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +1) / 10:00 a.m. MST (UTC -7)

Discussion with Professor Timothy Garton Ash

The seminar was chaired by Yaroslav Hrytsak, Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine) and Martin Schulze Wessel, University of Munich (Germany).

 

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Fourteenth Seminar

29 June, 2023

7:00-8:30 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Archives on Ukrainian History in Times of War: Ukrainian, Canadian, and German Perspectives"

This seminar addressed three topics: firstly, it presented an overview of important archival holdings of key Ukrainian history topics in Ukraine, Canada, and Germany; secondly, it addressed the question of international cooperation in times of war; and thirdly, it discussed the question of how best to deal with the new sources and documents created in the ongoing war. The speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Guido Hausmann, University of Regensburg (Germany), Martin Aust, University of Bonn (Germany), and Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, University of Alberta (Canada).  

 

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Fifteenth Seminar
28 September, 2023

6:00-7:30 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00-11:30 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Ukraine in History Textbooks and the Education of the Next Generation After the War: Perspectives from Ukraine, Germany and Canada"

By looking into the future, drawing on the experience of post-war transitions in other global contexts, and returning to the topic of justice and reconciliation in societies, the seminar participants will discuss what transformations should take place in the educational sphere of Ukrainian society in the context of its integration into the European cultural and political space. Which vectors of educational development should Ukraine and its partners choose to achieve long-term peace in the country, the region, Europe, and the world?

The speakers were:

  • Igor Shchupak, Director of the Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies (TKUMA)
  • Valentina Kuryliw, Director of Education at the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies
  • Riem Spielhaus, Head of the Department "Knowledge in Transition" at the Georg-Eckert-Institute

 

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Sixteenth Seminar

26 October, 2023

6:00-7:30 p.m. CET (UTC +2) / 10:00-11:30 a.m. MDT (UTC -6)

 "The Curse of Empire: Russia's Tradition of Domination Over Ukraine and Poland, and
Germany's Share In It"

Russia's imperial past is key to understanding Putin's invasion of Ukraine and his anti-Western obsessions. Renowned historian of Eastern Europe Martin Schulze Wessel placed the war in the long context of Russia's westward expansion and described how the invasion of Ukraine and the partition of Poland since the 18th century created an aberration in Russian history that continues to this day as the "curse of empire". Dr. Polina Barvinska and Dr. Frank Sysyn discussed how a fatal world of ideas have emerged that still haunts the minds of Moscow's leadership in the 21st century.

The speakers were:

  • Martin Schulze Wessel, Ludwig-Maximilian University (Munich, Germany)
  • Polina Barvinska, I.I. Mechnykov National University (Odesa, Ukraine)
  • Frank Sysyn, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada)
  • Moderated by Guido Hausmann, University of Regensburg (Regensburg, Germany)

 

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Seventeenth Seminar

14 December, 2023

6:00-7:30 p.m. CET (UTC +1) / 10:00-11:30 a.m. MST (UTC -7)

 "Truth and Justice: The Question of Transitional Justice for the Future of Ukraine" 
The discussion focused mainly on the historical record of implementing Transitional Justice as a system of reconciliation and rehabilitation in post-conflict societies, its possible application in Ukraine, as well as on the development of norms to improve the procedure for similar conflicts in the future.

The speakers were:

 

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Eighteenth Seminar

12 June, 2024

6:00-7:30 p.m. CET (UTC +1) / 10:00-11:30 a.m. MST (UTC -7)

"The Matter Of Historical Responsibility: Experience and Prospects for Ukraine"

This webinar, the eighteenth in the Historians and the War: Rethinking the Future series, focused on discussing the concept of historical responsibility and its theoretical underpinnings, the experience of cultivating a culture of responsibility, and the implementation of responsibility policies in European and North American countries. Special attention was given to the issue of Germany's historical responsibility towards Ukraine for the crimes of National Socialism.

 The speakers were: 

  • Oleksandr Lysenko, Institute for History of Ukraine, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine)
  • Kai Struve, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
  • Jars Balan, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (Canada)
The panel was chaired by Gelinada Grinchenko, University of Wuppertal (Germany).

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Nineteenth Seminar

12 September, 2024

6:00-7:30 p.m. CET (UTC +1) / 10:00-11:30 a.m. MDT (UTC -7)

"Environment and War: Historical Perspectives and Modern Challenges"

The webinar focused on discussing the deep interconnections between war and the environment. Through a series of case studies from Ukraine and other regions worldwide, the speakers examined the lasting environmental consequences of conflict and disaster. The seminar also addressed how the ongoing war in Ukraine has shaped environmental research, influenced scholarly discourse, and highlighted the growing need to understand ecological damage in the context of war.

The speakers were:

  • Adrian Ivakhiv, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada)
  • Iryna Zamuruieva, Independent Researcher (Ukraine/UK)
  • Hrvoje Petrić, University of Zagreb (Croatia)
The panel was chaired by Anna Olenenko, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada).

 

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Twentieth Seminar

16 October, 2024

6:00-8:30 p.m. CET (UTC +1) | 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. MDT (UTC -6)

"Touching the War through Cinema and Theatre: Depictions of the Russo-Ukrainian War"

This seminar explored a number of questions, including:

  • How is the Russo-Ukrainian War represented in cinema and theatre?
  • What formal and narrative techniques are used to convey the experience of war, trauma, and displacement?
  • How do artistic depictions contribute to shaping collective memory and national identity?
  • In what ways can they function as forms of resistance, offering alternative perspectives on the war and countering official state narratives or propaganda?
  • How can historians and cultural scholars approach the study of war through these artistic lenses?

The speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Gelinada Grinchenko, University of Munich (Germany)/Oles Honchar Dnipro National University (Ukraine), and Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, University of Alberta (Canada).

 

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Twenty-first Seminar

13 November, 2024

18:00 CET (UTC +1) | 10:00 MST (UTC -6)

"Cultural Heritage at Risk: Protection and Reconstruction in Wartime Ukraine"

The webinar speakers were:

The panel was chaired by Guido Hausmann, University of Regensburg.

 

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Twenty-second Seminar

12 December, 2024

18:00 CET (UTC +1) / 10:00 MST (UTC -7)

“The Role of Religion in Post-Soviet Ukraine and the Russo-Ukrainian War”

This webinar focused on the great impact the war has on the religious situation in Ukraine, above all on the Orthodox Churches. Through very different lenses, the speakers addressed the complexity of the relationship both between the state and the churches and between the churches themselves.

The speakers were:

  • Frank Sysyn, University of Alberta (Canada)
  • Oleksandr Lysenko, National Academy of Sciences (Ukraine)
  • Regina Elsner, University of Münster (Germany)

The panel was chaired by Ricarda Vulpius, University of Münster (Germany).