Gallipoli Conference Attracts International Interest

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Some of the world’s pre-eminent First World War historians will come together at a major international conference to be held in Canberra next March to commemorate the centenary of the landing on Gallipoli.

Gallipoli 1915: a century on will explore the eight-month-long Gallipoli campaign from all sides - its impacts upon the countries and soldiers that fought as well as the effect on the population back home, and the historical legacy.

Internationally renowned experts, historians, researchers and authors from the major countries that contributed military forces will gather to share their perspectives.at the conference, jointly hosted by the Australian War Memorial and the Australian National University.

Australian War Memorial Director, Dr Brendan Nelson, said it was a rare occasion to have so many internationally renowned First World War historians presenting and participating in the Gallipoli conference.

“Gallipoli, while it was a gallant defeat, was effectively Australia’s coming of age in the world – it provided a fledgling nation with its place on the world stage and its context in history,” he said.

Australian National University historian Professor Joan Beaumont, author of the book Broken Nation which recently shared the prize for history in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards said that, for all its fame, there is much about Gallipoli that we can still learn.

“This conference will place Gallipoli in its global context. For Australians who can’t get to Gallipoli itself, this will be a memorable way to mark this important national event,” she said.

Australian War Memorial Head of Military History, Mr Ashley Ekins, said the conference speakers cover many areas of expertise and knowledge across a wide range of disciplines and technical fields, including history, art, battlefield archaeology, marine exploration, material culture, and even music.

“This will be a unique event, combining many distinctive approaches from different disciplines and speakers from many nations. It is the one conference not to miss in the centenary year,” he said.

Speakers will include such authorities as: Professor Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War at Oxford University; Professor Robin Prior of Flinders University, author of Gallipoli: the end of the myth; Mr Kenan Çelik OAM, Turkish expert guide to the former battlefields of the Gallipoli peninsula; and Mr Les Carlyon AC, author of the best-selling and prize-winning volumes Gallipoli and The Great War.

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