Introduction. Minority History: From War to Peace

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the First World War centenary, the introduction considers the place of minority groups in Europe’s commemorative plans. It argues that the governments of Britain, France and Germany have largely stuck to conventional narratives of the conflict, which have for the most part ignored diversity. Within local communities, however, far more innovative work has taken place; some of which has uncovered the variety of spaces that minority soldiers and civilians occupied during the First World War. The introduction concludes by considering historical writing on minorities in conflict and by outlining the agenda for this current volume.