Greedy Elites and Poor Lambs : How Young Europeans Remember the Great War

The present study examines current social representations associated with the origins of the Great War, a major event that has profoundly affected Europe. A survey conducted in 20 European countries (N = 1906 students in social sciences) shows a high consensus: The outbreak of the war is attributed to the warring nations' leaders while the responsibility of the populations is minimized. Building on the concept of social representation of history (Liu & Hilton, 2005), we suggest that the social representations of the Great War fulfill social psychological functions in contemporary Europe. We suggest that WWI may function as a charter for European integration. Their content also suggests a desire to distinguish a positively valued ingroup ("the people") from powerful elites, construed as an outgroup.Peer reviewe

100 years after: What is the relation between pacifist attitudes and social representations of the Great War?

In this article we use a social representational perspective on a large sample of European students to consider the interplay between pacifist attitudes and representations of World War I (WWI). WWI gave rise to pacifist movements across the globe. Across 10 European countries (NSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Tourisme de mémoire, usages et mésusages : le cas de la Première Guerre mondiale

Les ruines et les champs de bataille de la Première Guerre mondiale vont immédiatement devenir des allégories du corps des combattants et de la douleur de la nation. Diffusée par la propagande, les images du désastre accusent l’ennemi et deviennent le symbole visible du sacrifice national. Mais c’est au lendemain du conflit que le tourisme se déploie vraiment et selon des logiques à la fois différentes et ambiguës : les familles et les anciens combattants viennent en pèlerinage sur les lieux où sont tombés les leurs, les curieux viennent confronter leur imagination à la réalité des lieux parfois de manière malsaine, tandis que les sinistrés espèrent pouvoir reconstruire plus vite leur lieu de vie grâce à l’apport de ces pèlerins et de ces curieux.Ruins and battlefields of the First World War will immediately become allegories of the whole of the combatants and of the pain of the nation. Disseminated by propaganda, images of disaster accuse the enemy and become the visible symbol of national sacrifice. But it is only after the war that tourism really unfolds and only according to various and ambiguous patterns: families and veterans come on pilgrimage to the places where friends and family perished, the curious ones come to confront their imagination to reality in a sometimes unhealthy and misguided way, while the victims hope to rebuild they lives thanks to these pilgrims and curious tourists.De ruïnes en slagvelden van de Eerste Wereldoorlog werden meteen allegorieën van de lichamen van de strijders en het verdriet van de natie. De beelden van de ramp, door de propaganda verspreid om de vijand te beschuldigen, werden het zichtbare symbool van het nationale offer. Maar onmiddellijk na het conflict ging het toerisme pas echt van start, via een tegenstrijdige en dubbelzinnige logica. Families en oud-strijders kwamen op bedevaart naar de plekken waar hun naasten waren gesneuveld, nieuwsgierigen kwamen op soms ongezonde wijze hun verbeelding toetsen aan de realiteit ter plaatse, terwijl de slachtoffers dankzij de bijdrage van die pelgrims en nieuwsgierigen hoopten de plek waar ze leefden weer sneller te kunnen opbouwen

Broqueville, Charles Marie Pierre, Baron de

Charles de Broqueville, chief of the Belgian government during the First World War, acted as liaison between the king and the Belgian government. He supported the king in his attempts to obtain peace and his efforts to break free from the Allies

Max, Adolphe

Adolphe Max, the mayor of Brussels, was known for his peaceful resistance against the Germans and his resulting jail-time. He was considered by the Belgian public as a hero of the Great War