When did the First World War really end? How many new countries appeared on the map then? What was the daily life of Europeans like in the post-war years? May any similarities to the contemporary world situation be seen in the events that happened a century ago?
These and other questions are answered by the open-air exhibition entitled "After the Great War. New Europe 1918-1923", which will be on display from April 4th to June 9th 2023, at plac Solidarności 1, by the Dialogue Centre Upheavals in Szczecin. The official opening of the exhibition will take place on April 13th at 2:00 P.M.
The exhibition, arranged by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity in cooperation with an international group of historians, attempts to synthesise the turbulent beginnings of the inter-war period, with a particular focus on the history of Central and Eastern Europe. It consists of more than 200 interactive archival materials - photographs, documents, videos, maps and individual testimonies of memory. Their rich selection documents and brings to light the unprecedented scale of the changes that took place in Europe between 1918 and 1923.
'We intend to show that the consequences of certain phenomena from 100 years ago are still tangible. By juxtaposing different interpretations of the processes that took place in our region after the Great War, we can also present the different sensitivities of individual nations and the diversity of images of this conflict recorded in collective memory.' says Professor Jan Rydel, coordinator of the Polish side of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS).
The First World War (1914-1918) completely changed the continent. More than a dozen new states grew up on the ruins of four superpowers. Almost all borders were redrawn, often in a wave of armed conflicts that continued to occur in the five years following the official end of the war. In numerous places, these processes were not completed until around 1923. As a result of the clash of different, frequently disparate rationales, a so-called New Europe emerged (a term first used by Czechoslovak President Tomáš G. Masaryk), in which some nations saw the outcome of the war as a great tragedy, while for others it was the culmination of efforts in the struggle for independence. All, however, were united by the effort to rebuild from the devastation of the war and by modernisation efforts taking place in the shadow of not only political, but also social, economic and cultural changes.
The content of the exhibition was decided upon by a group consisting of historians from 20 countries around the world. This group included Prof. Andrzej Chwalba, Prof. Robert Gerwath, Prof. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Prof. Jan Rydel, Prof. Jay M. Winter, Prof. Piotr Juszkiewicz. The curators of the exhibition are Dr Bartosz Dziewanowski-Stefańczyk (ENRS) and Dr Robert Żurek.
The exhibition "After the Great War. The New Europe 1918-1923" has been presented for five years as part of an international tour. It has so far visited twenty cities in thirteen countries: Prague (the Czech Republic), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Bratislava (Slovakia), Verdun (France), Berlin and Weimar (Germany), Wrocław, Kraków, Warsaw, Rijeka (Croatia), Poznań, Lublin, Vienna (Austria), Kaunas and Vilnius (Lithuania), Tallinn (Estonia), Darmstadt (Germany), Dublin (Ireland), Sibiu (Romania) and Trieste (Italy).
For more information on the project, the experts involved in preparing the exhibition and the international tour, please visit: www.enrs.eu/afterthegreatwar
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in English and Polish. The publication in electronic format is available at: https://enrs.eu/publication/after-the-great-war-exhibition-catalogue-pl
Szczecin, plac Solidarności 1
April 4th – June 9th 2023
Media contact:
Magdalena Żelazowska
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+48 500 395 489
Organizer
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Funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland under the 2017-2022 INDEPENDENCE Multiannual Programme
ENRS is financed by:
The European Network Remembrance and Solidarity is an international undertaking that aims to research, document and popularise knowledge of 20th century European history and ways of commemorating it with a particular focus on the period of dictatorships, wars and popular resistance to enslavement. The members of the Network are: Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, while representatives from Albania, Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Georgia also sit on its advisory boards. www.enrs.eu