History Matters! Prizewinners selected for EUSTORY Youth Academies in 2013
After an intensive application process, 50 prizewinners of national history competitions have been identified for our 2013 academies: Young Europeans from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Ukraine will take part in the EUSTORY Youth Academies in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Helsinki, Finland in the autumn.
“Bridging the Gap of Civil War: Nation Building in Europe in the Aftermath of WWI” is the topic which 25 young Europeans are going to work on in Helsinki. The end of the First World War also marked the birth of new, independent states throughout Europe. When Finland gained its independence in 1917, the vacuum of power led to a Civil War, in which almost 37,000 people lost their lives. How does one deal with a conflict that has split a society, a war in which fellow citizens have fought against each other, neighbours against neighbours, fathers against sons? In order to understand what happened, the participants of this academy will examine the causes and the motives of the Finnish Civil War’s protagonists as well as the consequences it had for Finnish society. They will explore how – despite everything that happened – Finland dealt with and solved the problems that had divided the society and finally built a unified nation. On this basis recent events will be examined and possible strategies for nation building will be debated. Furthermore, the participants will discuss which consequences being part of a multicultural, supranational entity such as nowadays Europe or the globalized world has for a nation and its identity.
In Ljubljana 25 young prize winners will take part in the academy dealing with: “The End of Empires: New Borders, New States, New Loyalties?”. It aims at exploring various dimensions of identity and loyalty, highlighting the impacts of shifting borders. By the end of the First World War, Europe witnessed the decline and disintegration of the former German, Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian “Great Empires”. The participants of this academy will look into the consequences of this collapse using the example of Slovenia that changed its nationality several times during the 20th Century. But while changing nationality on paper seems to be nothing more than a bureaucratic act, the question of national identity and loyalty is much more complex: What happens to the rights and loyalties of minorities or citizenship and language policies? What kind of impact has a new nationality on international treaties and bi-lateral agreements? The main seminar venue is Ljubljana, but there will be excursions to places related to the decline of empires and the situation of minorities – such as the Slovenian-Italian border region close to Trieste. Last but not least, the prizewinners taking part in the seminar will also look at the consequences and implications of WW I for nowadays Europe.
The academy in Helsinki will start on 1 September, the one in Ljubljana on 6 October. The participants will share their insights and experiences on their live blog: http://eustory.wordpress.com