What Can Be Learned from Shell Fragments? Examples from World War II Battlefields in the Maritime Alps

Shells were the most deadly weapon used during the conflicts of the twentieth century involving industrialized nations. Astronomical numbers of them were produced and fired, making shell fragments the most common artefact to be found on modern battlefields. An understanding of shell fragments can therefore be useful to the battlefield archaeologist. This paper discusses the three main components of artillery shells and mortar shells: the body, the fuse and the rotating band for artillery shells or the tail-fin assembly for mortars. Analysing the fragments of these components can provide important information, including nationalities, types, and calibres of shells used in an area. Body fragments are the least useful, but can prove helpful if they are large, or contain markings, threads, or fragments of band seat. Rotating band fragments are extremely characteristic as well as easy to find, and a single fragment is usually sufficient to determine the exact type of shell it came from. Tail-fin assemblies are also specific of the mortar shell they were used on. Fuses are typically covered with highly informative markings such as dates of manufacture, lot numbers, or factory codes. Because the information derived from the analysis of various shell fragments is a cheap and relatively easy way to help maximize the understanding of a battlefield that is being investigated, any archaeologist working on a modern battlefield should familiarize themselves with this topic.     

Beyond Recall: Searching for the Remains of a British Secret Weapon of World War I

This article discusses the development of the Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector, a massive British flamethrower that was used against German trenches in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Built underground within tunnels below No Man’s Land, this secret weapon was an attempt to use technology to break through German defences and reduce British casualties. The flame projector was the most effective flamethrower developed in WWI, but proved to be too inflexible and expensive to be widely used.     

Constituencies of conflict and opportunity: Land rights,narratives and collective action in Darfur

Grievance-based narratives are a primary component of civil wars. While present among the general population affected by conflict, the variants held by the segment of the population most proximate to the armed factions – constituencies – play a primary role in the development and conduct of a conflict. Such narratives can coalesce around specific volatile issues and enable non-combatant constituencies to participate in the conflict through the use of specific 'legalities' or legal precepts. These legalities facilitate the engagement of sets of collective action that are opposed to those derived by constituencies of the opposing side. However such constituencies and their narratives are also where potential opportunity resides for peace-building, both during and subsequent to hostilities. This article looks at the case of Darfur to examine these ingredients, with a focus on land rights as the volatile set of issues around which narratives have developed. In Darfur, opposed narratives which maintain how and why groups claim and deserve access to land and territory, and how groups were unjustly displaced or excluded from lands (and hence power), became solidified and acted upon prior to the conflict to become a primary driver in the current war. In certain cases however narrative change has led to interaction between members of opposed constituencies for the purpose of exploring cooperative arrangements.     

Be Part of the Story: A popular geopolitics of war comics aesthetics and Royal Air Force recruitment

This paper provides an analysis of images associated with the British Royal Air Force's recent ‘Be Part of the Story’ war comic-styled military recruiting campaign. Set around literatures in popular geopolitics, the paper builds on the concept of comic book visualities to suggest that the ‘Be Part of the Story’ images reproduce longstanding war comics conventions, and coherently represent the complex, relational and spatially disparate battlespaces of the present. The paper, firstly, provides a detailed history of war comics as they have mediated war to publics, and argues that war comics should figure more strongly in future studies of popular geopolitics. Secondly, it argues that more than simply part of a pervasive ‘cultural condition’ of militarization, military recruitment is a vital medium through which states and militaries view, and choose to represent their role in the world. Lastly, it demonstrates that ‘Be Part of the Story’ reproduces the violent visions, metaphors and cultural designations integral to state-centric narratives of global politics, and specifically, spatial principles inherent to network-centric warfare.     

1940年代初期河北省沦陷区联庄会研究

联庄会是中国特定历史条件下产生的。1941年太平洋战争爆发后河北省沦陷区的联庄会是日伪拼凑的乡村"群众自卫组织",是"乡村协同体"建设的重要形式。实质上河北沦陷区联庄会是日伪对付中共领导的敌后人民抗日战争而精心组建的伪组织。中国共产党以抗日民族统一战线思想为指导,对联庄会进行了卓有成效的争取工作。探讨河北省沦陷区联庄会的建立和主要活动,以及中共争取联庄会的斗争,有助于进一步深化对华北沦陷区日伪统治和华北沦陷区抗日活动的研究。     

2012年度青岛胶州湾及附近海域水下考古调查工作的收获和意义

2012年国家文物局水下文化遗产保护中心与青岛市文物局联合组织开展了青岛海域以胶州湾附近海域为重点的近代军事水下文化遗产调查工作。工作尝试以区域视角和专题形式展开。为了提高工作效率和针对性,调查工作分为两部分,一是前期的基础工作,从文献档案角度搜集沉船线索,梳理沉船相关信息,为水下考古调查提供基础;二是开展水下考古物理探测,获取相关的探测信息。本文即是对工作过程和取得成果的初步报道。     

银元主币流通与上海洋厘行市的更替

墨西哥鹰洋成为近代中国流通最广的银元主币,历时长达60余年之久。1914年后开铸的袁世凯像新币,逐渐取代鹰洋成为流通中的主币。上海钱业公所和其后的上海钱业公会深谙流通中主币的消长变化态势,审时度势,先后于1915年和1919年取消龙洋和鹰洋行市。鹰洋行市的取消进一步促使国币通行成为主币,使货币兑换市场逐步走向统一,降低社会交易成本;同时也为废两改元准备了条件,促进了近代货币统一化进程。     

《河南通史》评议

《河南通史》是河南省“八五”社会科学规划重点项目成果,填补了河南地区没有地方通史的空白。该书在研究特色上有自己的特点和优长之处,也有较高的学术价值。主要表现在:既在全国整体中写河南,又注意突出河南地方特色;注重中国古代历史上的一些重大问题的研究;资料翔实,既广泛运用典型的正史资料,又充分使用方志资料,并重视使用考古资料,实现了考古与文献资料的结合;注意吸收学术界的最新成果,观点多有创新。不足之处是,某些观点还有可商榷之处,各卷之间的布局不够均衡,某些部分显得单薄。     

从海龄之死看鸦片战争时期官方与民间的英雄认同

海龄由于其不恰当的军事手段,导致矛盾激化,矛盾聚焦于海龄在京口的活动、死亡方式。围绕其死亡方式,各方争端不断,持续长久。争端方对此各执一词,镇江人利用流言否认海龄殉节,与官方直接对立。争端折射出官方与民间在认同上的差异。