Call for Papers: Relations between Britain and France in World War Two
Institut Français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh, 3 May 2017
Roundtable speakers: Professor Peter Jackson (Glasgow) and Dr Emile Chabal (Edinburgh).
When war was declared in September 1939, Britain and France stood together as allies with similar
democratic traditions, levels of military and economic strength and global interests. Within less than a
year, however, the two states had severed diplomatic relations and become bitter enemies. This one-day
workshop seeks to explore the trajectory of relations between Britain and France over the course of the
Second World War. While historians have often highlighted how military defeats and political tensions
caused mutual suspicions rooted in centuries of imperial and naval rivalries to resurface, this workshop
aims to examine how the interconnections between the two states were critical to their survival and
future.
We invite speakers to interpret this subject in its broadest sense. Possible topics might include:








Diplomatic relations between Britain, Vichy France and the Free French
Military and intelligence relations
Propaganda and perceptions
The SOE and British roles in French resistance activities
The RAF bombing campaign in France
The liberation of France
Colonial rivalries between Britain and France, 1939-45
Legacies of the war in postwar relations between Britain and France
Proposals for papers of 20 minute or for panels of two or three papers are invited. We particularly invite
contributions from postgraduate students and overseas scholars. Paper proposals should comprise a paper
title, abstract of 300 words and a one-page CV in a single pdf file. Please send proposals to Dr Karine Varley
at: [email protected] by 3 April 2017. Funding assistance will be available to contribute towards
speakers’ travel expenses.
The workshop will be followed by a public roundtable discussion on the lessons and legacies of the Second
World War for relations between the UK and France today. Roundtable speakers include Professor Peter
Jackson (Glasgow) and Dr Emile Chabal (Edinburgh).
The workshop is part of a wider two-year project funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh on ‘Relations
between Britain and France in World War Two’, led by Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro and Dr Karine Varley,
University of Strathclyde.