Events

1 April 2008

France and New Zealand during the Great War/ La France et la Nouvelle-Zélande pendant la grande guerre

Calls for papers

Le Quesnoy, 3-4 November 2008
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS
On 4 November 1918, New Zealand troops stormed the fortified town of Le Quesnoy, in a successful battle that was their last of the Great War. Subsequent links were formed between soldiers and liberated civilians and to this day many Kiwis visit Le Quesnoy which is the only French town to have a sister city in New Zealand, Cambridge in the Waipa district. This conference will be held at the Le Quesnoy townhall and will bring scholars together to share their research related to New Zealanders on the Western front. The following themes will be addressed:

• Life in occupied France
• Life in the trenches for the "Diggers".
• Leaving New Zealand for the Western front
• The Māori involvement in the conflict
• Encounters between New Zealand troops and French soldiers/civilians
• First impressions of France/ romanticized image of France
• Invasion and liberation
• Commemoration and memorials
• Myths and realities of war
• Personal narratives

Abstract submissions:
Please e-mail an abstract (French or English) of about 200 words to the address below.

Medieval and Modern History

Organisation:

The University of Waikato and the town of Le Quesnoy