[Aaus-list] CIUS News Release: “Contested Ground: The Legacy of the Second World War for Eastern Europe” Conference, 23-24 October 2015

[CIUS Communications]

Dear Colleagues, Friends and Supporters, Editors,

Attached, please find the latest press release (in PDF and in the body of
this e-mail) issued by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies,
University of Alberta, on the upcoming international conference titled
“Contested Ground: The Legacy of the Second World War for Eastern Europe”
(23-24 October 2015).

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





*Edmonton Conference to Examine the Impact of WWII on Ukraine and Eastern
Europe*

(CIUS-Edmonton, 17 June 2015)  The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies,
in partnership with the Centre for U.S.-Ukraine Relations, is organizing a
major international conference to examine the political, social and
economic consequences of the Second World for the people and postwar states
of Eastern Europe. Titled “Contested Ground: The Legacy of the Second World
War for Eastern Europe,” the gathering will take place at the University of
Alberta on 23-24 October 2015 and will be open to scholars, students and
members of the general public.

While the defeat of Nazi Germany liberated millions from fascist
dictatorship and led to the establishment of democratic governments in
Western Europe, in the areas occupied by the Red Army any sense of freedom
was short-lived as Communist and pro-Soviet regimes were imposed and
maintained through a combination of force, intimidation, deceptive
propaganda and rigged elections. Discussions will primarily be focused on
the immediate as well as long-term repercussions that the Yalta and Potsdam
agreements had for those that fell within Moscow’s “sphere of influence” or
were subjected to varying degrees of pressure from the Kremlin. The
Ukrainian postwar experience is to be compared and contrasted with that of
other countries which ended up as members of the Warsaw Pact or as uneasy
neighbours of the Soviet Union. Besides the Cold War and the lingering
effects of the devastation wrought by the bitter conflict, the conference
will also consider how narratives of the war were shaped by the official
histories adopted by different governments, distorted by post-war
propaganda, and contested in the memories of veterans and survivors. Of
course, the legacy of Second World War has acquired new relevance due to
Putin’s annexation of Crimea, the hybrid war in eastern Ukraine, and the
Kremlin’s escalating military threats directed at former Soviet republics
and satellites.

A distinguished group of scholars has already agreed to present papers at
the Edmonton conference. These include such experts from overseas as Paul
Goble (Tartu University, Estonia), Yitzak Brudny (Hebrew University of
Jerusalem), Hakan Kirimli (Bilkent University, Turkey), and former Polish
Minister of Defense Janusz Onyszkiewicz (International Centre for
Democratic Transition). Among the American participants are Norman Naimark
(Stanford University), Mark Von Hagen (Arizona State University), Janusz
Bugajski (Centre for European Policy Analysis) and Ariel Cohen (Institute
for the Analysis of Global Security). These will be joined by Ukrainian
scholars like Yuri Shapoval and Vladyslav Hrynevych of the National Academy
of Sciences of Ukraine, as well as leading specialists from several
Canadian universities.

James Sherr of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs)
in the United Kingdom will be the featured speaker at a public banquet to
be held on 24 October to mark the conclusion of the conference. A
world-renowned authority on Russia and Ukraine, he will address the theme "The
'Peace of 1945' and the Current State of Affairs in Ukraine." More details
will be provided as further arrangements are made. A limited number of
tickets will be available for the dinner, which will also mark the
beginning of the 40th anniversary commemorations of the Canadian Institute
of Ukrainian Studies.

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For more information please go to:
http://ukrainian-studies.ca/2015/06/16/edmonton-conference-to-examine-the-impact-of-wwii-on-ukraine-and-eastern-europe/
.

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Kind regards,

.........................................

Communications Team

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies

4-30 Pembina Hall, University of Alberta

Edmonton AB  T6G 2H8

Canada

780.492.2026   Fax (780) 492-4967

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