«After the Storm: The Year 1812 in the Historical Memory of Russia and Europe»: International Conference (May 2012, Moscow)

After the Storm: The Year 1812 in the Historical Memory of Russia and Europe

International conference at the German Historical Institute (DHI)

Moscow, 28-30 May 2012

Organisers: Dr. Denis Sdvižkov (DHI Moscow) and
PD Dr. Guido Hausmann (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg)

The Napoleonic epos has often been compared to a storm: if 1812 was the period "Before the storm" for Theodor Fontane, the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin referred to the same year as the actual "storm of 1812". There is no doubt, however, that the year 1812 proved to be the ultimate trial of endurance for the Petrine Empire. The war was described as "national" and "patriotic" as early as 1812 and subsequently "groza 12 goda" (the "Storm of 1812") was primarily associated with the rhyming "ostervenenie naroda" ("the people's fury").

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the invasion of Russia by Napoleon's Grande Armée, this international conference will discuss the aftershocks the upheaval of 1812 caused and the deep marks it left in historical memory. The conference aims to contribute to a critical discussion of Russian cultural memories of 1812 and to place the memory of 1812 in the larger context of Russia as an empire and Russia in/and Europe.

Historical research on collective memory - in both its practice and policy facets - focuses on the constructivist character of the modern nation. In past Russian/Soviet history this approach was mainly confined to the Second World War. In contrast, the consequences of the "Storm of 1812" were mainly seen in the context of social history and the history of ideas: the appeal of an aristocratic culture drew sustenance from the Decembrist legend (the "children of 1812") and the topos of a "golden century".

The international conference takes as its starting point the hypothesis that Russia's military victory over Napoleon in 1812 was just as important in the construction of the Russian nation as its "prehistoric" legends and that we can therefore justifiably refer to a myth of origin. However, the Napoleonic Wars were also of utmost importance for the emergence of a nationalist sensibility in Poland and Lithuanian as well - two countries which had no state structures of their own at all in the 19th century. In contrast, what was most typical of the politics of memories of 1812 and the subsequent period in Western Europe, above all in France?     

In this context the conference not only aims to contribute to a differentiated and comparative interpretation of the year 1812 which surmounts isolated interpretations which take Russia as their sole point of reference, at the same time it also aims to stimulate interdisciplinary research.

Four sections are planned:
1. The politics of memory in transition
2. The agents and practices of memory
3. Medialization and historical memory (architecture, painting, music, literature, cinema, Internet, etc.);
4. Cultures of remembrance relating to 1812 in an imperial and comparative context.

The international conference will be held in Moscow from 28 - 30 May 2012 in the rooms of the German Historical Institute (DHI). The Institute will pay the travel expenses of conference participants and provide accommodation. Please contact either Dr. Denis Sdvižkov (denis.sdvizkov@dhi-moskau.org) or PD Dr. Guido Hausmann (guido.hausmann@geschichte.uni-freiburg.de) with any lecture proposals you may have by 31 January 2012.

Proposals should include the following information:

Name, address, institutional allegiance and professional position, proposed topic and a brief précis of its contents (up to 5000 characters). Lecture texts will be sent to all participants before the conference begins; the presentation at the conference is restricted to 15-20 minutes. Selected talks will be published.

We will provide you with the information you need about conference languages and translating facilities in good time.

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Illustrations: 1812. Saying Farewell, by Evgenii Demakov (1991)
On the front page: French Withdrawal from Moscow, by Ianuarii Sukhodolskii (1844)