War and Society

Watch Now: Battle of the Atlantic with Ted Barris

In the 20th century’s greatest war, one battlefield held the key to victory or defeat – the North Atlantic. It took 2,074 days and nights to determine its outcome, but the Battle of the Atlantic proved the turning point of the Second World War. For five and a half...

Eyewitness Canada: Armed Convoy Security, West Germany, 1977

Eyewitness Canada explores the firsthand accounts of Canadians whose perspectives were shaped by historical experience. Public and academic historians present untold stories, inviting readers to reflect on how the lessons and challenges of the past shaped the present...

Apply now for 2023 Battlefield Study Tours!

Student Battlefield Study Tour, 26 May - 12 June 2023 Are you an outstanding graduate student, undergraduate, or very recent graduate from a Canadian university who wants to understand the role Canadians played in the liberation of Europe in the World Wars? This year...

New Articles are Available from Canadian Military History

Vol. 31, No. 2 Summer / Autumn 2022Pursuit to Valenciennes 1918 The Fate of Soldiers at the Point of Capture BRIAN PASCAS Abstract: This article tracks the Canadian Corps’ pursuit of the retreating German army in the last weeks of the First World War. As French...

Meet the New Managing Editor of ‘Canadian Military History’

We would first like to thank Brittany Dunn for her terrific work as Managing Editor of Canadian Military History. Brittany worked through the pandemic with her usual efficiency and professionalism, and is stepping back to devote more time to her doctoral studies....

Watch Now: The Irish Canadian Rangers with Terry Copp

The Irish Canadian Rangers began as a Militia Regiment in 1915 after Catholic and Protestant Irish agreed to cooperate. After the battle of Second Ypres, the regiment contributed a full company to the 60th Battalion and began a campaign to persuade Sam Hughes to...

New Articles are Available from Canadian Military History

Vol. 31, No. 2 Summer / Autumn 2022"A Very Fine Plan in the Memory of Our Boys" Commemorating the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute Second World War Dead DAVID ROSS ALEXANDER Abstract: The memorial plaques dedicated to the First and Second World War dead...

Irene Gammel Wins 2020-21 C.P. Stacey Award

Scholar Irene Gammel named winner of the 2020-2021 C.P. Stacey Award for I Can Only Paint: The Story of Battlefield Artist Mary Riter Hamilton.

Watch Now: To Help Win the Fight with Stacey Barker

The Second World War brought many crucial changes to the lives of Canadian women, including the opportunity for wider military service. Recruits who joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division, and the Women’s Royal Canadian...

Recent Posts

Eyewitness Canada: Armed Convoy Security, West Germany, 1977

Eyewitness Canada explores the firsthand accounts of Canadians whose perspectives were shaped by historical experience. Public and academic historians present untold stories, inviting readers to reflect on how the lessons and challenges of the past shaped the present...

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War is a near-constant aspect of the human experience. For better or worse, it has fundamentally shaped societies across the world.

The War and Society collective exists to foster research, education, public outreach and discussion of historical and contemporary conflict. It acknowledges the importance of conflict as well as its diverse and far-reaching impacts which extend beyond the battlefield.

The War and Society collective encompasses a vast array of topics. The Centre’s researchers study the conduct of specific campaigns and wars, analysing how conflicts were fought, why specific decisions were made and how certain outcomes occurred. They also explore the social and cultural aspects of war, including the medicalisation of conditions like “shell shock” or “PTSD,” and wartime experiences on the battlefield and at home. Still, others explore the short- and long-term effects of war on individuals and social change, peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives by local and foreign governments and collective modes of remembrance and commemoration of past conflicts.

Ultimately, the War and Society collective examines the totality of war and endeavours to understand how it has shaped the past and present.

War and Society Events

There are no upcoming War and Society events at this time.