Elisabeth Piller

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Dr Elisabeth Piller is an IRC post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for War Studies. Her project explores the global history of Great War humanitarianism, focusing on the worldwide relief efforts on behalf of occupied Belgium. The project assesses how and why Allied and neutral publics around the world chose to alleviate the distant suffering of Belgians and how this unprecedented process of humanitarian mobilization affected the Great War and modern humanitarianism.

Before coming to UCD, she received her B.A. in the United States, M.A. in Germany and PhD in Norway. Her PhD thesis explores the transatlantic dynamics of cultural demobilization in the 1920s. In particular, it shows how systematically post-war Germany tapped into its remaining cultural capital to “re-win” the sympathies of a powerful United States and to build transatlantic momentum for a revision of the Versailles Treaty.

Her work has appeared in a number of journals and edited volumes, including Immigrants and Minorities, the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era and the Journal of Contemporary History.

Contact: elisabeth.piller@mail.com

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