World wars and world views. Arabic perceptions of World War
I and World War II
This project researches Arabic perceptions of the First and Second
World War from the first half of the twentieth century and their
relevance to the shaping and development of Arabic self-perceptions
and world views. The study centres around two groups: firstly,
military and civilian participants of both world wars, mainly
combatants and propagandists, and secondly, civilian observers
and chroniclers, mainly publicists, historians, philosophers and
Islamic religious scholars from Egypt and Syria/Lebanon. Research
will focus on their perception of the wars, which is shaped by
their diverse local and temporal, as well aspolitical-ideological
and social perspectives. The various perceptions will be compiled
and correlated, and analysed with regard to their significance
for the Arabic or Islamic self-perceptions and world views that
were in the process of development in the era in question.
The research projects intends to complement the historiography
of world war effects, which to date has mainly concentrated on
Europe, by focusing on the repercussions of the First and Second
World War on the cultural and intellectual life in Arabic societies.
We will attempt to determine how perceptions of the wars influenced
the emergence and development of self-perceptions and world views,
articulated in the form of nationalist, socialist and Islamic
or Islamist ideologies. One part of the project will deal with
the perception of active participants in the war, while the second
concentrates on observer perceptions.
project publications 
Images of war. Arab participant experiences in World War I and
World War II
Katharina Lange
This section of the project focuses on perceptions of immediate
war experiences and war memories articulated by active Arab participants
on both sides of the respective military alliances.
Up to now research on the two world wars has not given sufficient
attention to non-European combatants and civilians. In order to
close this gap and contribute to a more complete description of
the effects and consequences of both world wars for Arabic societies,
the project explores accounts of war experiences by military and
civilian Arab participants. The locally and temporally diverse
perspectives of Arabic actors on the two wars will be investigated
by evaluating written and oral sources, with a regional emphasis
on Egypt and Syria/Lebanon. In the evaluation of individual experiences,
memories and perceptions, the emergence of collective memories
and traditions of world war experiences of Arab participants will
be taken into consideration and analysed with reference to the
results from the second part of the project.
World views. World War I and World War II as historical experiences
for Arab intellectuals
Lutz Rogler
The second half of the project investigates perceptions and interpretations
of the First and Second World War by Arabic intellectuals, and
their relevance to the shaping and development of their self-perceptions
and world views. The effects of the world wars specifically on
the history of ideas, as they became relevant in discourses and
debates during the inter-war years and after the Second World
War, will be considered. The publicists, historians, philosophers,
political ideologues and religious scholars who played an important
role in collective processes of historical interpretation and
orientation in the public discourse of their societies will be
at the centre of the analysis. Regionally the project will concentrate
on Egypt and Syria/Lebanon. The research will focus on the broader
cultural and intellectual dimensions implicated as a result of
the world wars, rather than investigate these perceptions as mainly
political events that directly influenced Arabic societies and
their emancipatory endeavours. For this reason, the investigation
is not limited to contemporary perceptions, but will explicitly
include representations and interpretations from a temporal distance.
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