The first world war as remembered in the countries of the eastern mediterranean

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This conference, organized by the German Institute for Oriental Studies in Beirut, the German Institute for Historical Studies in Rome, and the Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes in Istanbul, aimed to explore the political, social, and cultural impacts of the First World War and its remembrance as a historical event. Panel sessions focused on cultural memory in Italy, Greece, modern Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, examining how different cultures interpret historical change. Presentations sought to understand how these memory variations influence national identity and state formation. Key discussions revolved around the significance of the war in national cultural memory, questioning how it was remembered and its impact on political identity and self-conception in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Was it perceived as a global conflict or a distant war with minimal local involvement? Alternatively, was it viewed as a local struggle, a precursor to national independence? To analyze collective memory patterns, two panels were established: one addressing the political and social impact of the war, focusing on collective memories and self-understanding, and the other examining the symbolic processing of the war through monuments, historiography, autobiographies, and literature, including the narratives of Ottoman Army officers and the formation of national myths.