New Research project: The Great War from Below. Multiple Mobility and Cultural Dynamics in Belgium (1900-1930)

The project aims to analyze the long term societal impact of the First World War in Belgium through a bottom-up analysis of selected social groups: (1) veterans and war orphans, (2) pro-German collaborators and resistance fighters, and (3) forced labourers and war widows.

Koen Matthijs let us know that the framework programme BRAIN-be (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks) of BELSPO (the Belgium Science Policy Office) has identified the project “The Great War from Below: Multiple Mobility and Cultural Dynamics in Belgium (1900-1930)” for funding.

Koen Matthijs and his research group in Leuven will describe the life courses of these groups, using civil certificates, civil population registers and censuses. At the same time all information will be transferred into IDS.

Besides the Leuven Research Group Family and Population Studies (responsible for the development of the transversal methodological model), there are four other partners involved in the project: (1) Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (Cegesoma, Nico Wouters, coördinator), (2) State Archives in Belgium (Michaël Amara), (3) Universié de Namur (Axel Tixhon), and (4) Ghent University (Antoon Vrints).

The project is financed by the Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy, program BRAIN-be (Belgian Research Action through Interdisciplinary Networks).