The Second World War impacted people’s interpersonal relationships in diverse and significant ways. Existing relationships often became strained by distance as families and friends were separated as a result of conscription, directed labour, bombing and evacuation. With the prospect of only sporadic reunion, individuals were compelled to nurture relationships through letter exchange. New relationships also emerged, forged in barracks, units, homes, local communities and workplaces, some fleeting, others more permanent, enduring decades after the war.
How did people living in such perilous times actually feel about each other as both existing and new relationships were stress tested by conflict? Much has been written about shifting wartime political and class relationships, but despite the recent welcome emotional turn in historical studies of the Second World War, the ways in which people’s affective connections were impacted remains critically under- explored.
Bringing together scholars working on any type of emotional relationship between individuals or groups during, or impacted by, the Second World War, this symposium will produce a wealth of
original and deeper insights into how people behaved towards, communicated with, and felt about one another in wartime.
Papers topics may include, but are not limited to:
– Romantic and sexual relationships
– Queer relationships
– Friendships
– Familial relationships
– Human-animal relationships
– Work-based relationships/friendships
– Military relationships/friendships
– Medical and welfare relationships
– Intergenerational relationships /friendships
– Relationships on screen and in print
– Emotional legacies of war/ Remembered wartime relationships
We welcome and encourage papers which focus both on Britain and beyond, including civilian and military experiences.
If you would like to propose a paper, please send a 250-word abstract along with a brief bio to [email protected] by December 18th 2026. A cross-section of the papers presented will be published in History: the journal of the Historical Association.
Please let us know if you would like to be considered for inclusion.
Please note that there will be no conference fee. Attendees are expected to cover their own travel, subsistence and accommodation expenses.
Organisers:
Professor Juliette Pattinson, King’s College, London – [email protected], Dr Linsey Robb, Northumbria University – [email protected] and Dr Frances Houghton, Open University – [email protected]