The thematic issue is devoted to the influence of war on the emergence of new transnational communication spheres and experiences during the first half of the 20th century in Europe. While the interstate and civil wars during this period stand generally for a withdrawal to national or nationalistic positions, we can simultaneously observe increasing intertwining and convergence of European experiences that strengthened transnational references and networks during times of existential insecurity and threat. The case studies presented here reveal the importance, for the study of such references and networks, of peripheral regions, detention camps, resistance and exile, the participation in collective cultural production and the construction of common infrastructure. In an exemplary manner, they o er evidence for the emergence of trans-European structures, convergences and public spheres during the rst half of the 20th century that remained not without conse- quences for later developments. Thus, the thematic issue’s intention is to propose approaches for a broken Europeanisation narrative, in which divergence appears as constitutive – and not only restraining – element. In this way, it calls for a stronger consideration of transnational influences in the historiography of European wars during the 20th century.
Number: 1
Volume: 28
