The Legacies of War on Political Identities and Behavior

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

What are the effects of wartime processes and war outcomes such as repression, propaganda, and conquest? This panel collects innovative contributions to the historical political economy literature that studies the effects of war on political attitudes and identities. Papers in the panel share a historical focus on 19th and 20th century Europe, the use of new observational data, and a particular attention to the causal mechanisms behind the enduring legacies of war. Together, the contributions to this panel provide new theory and evidence of how wars leave enduring marks on the attitudes and behavior of those affected, and a better understanding of why war legacies differ across sub-populations.

Alexander De Juan, Felix Haass and Julian Voß investigate the long-term effects of World War II on right-wing mobilization in Germany, emphasizing the role of early framings of wartime violence. Through 30 years of daily surveys, the study demonstrates that in regions exposed to early Allied bombings Nazi propaganda instilled narratives of collective war victimization that could be later mobilized by far-right parties. The findings significantly contribute to understanding the sources of divergent long-term effects of violence in inter-state war.

Focusing on Alsace-Lorraine, a region annexed twice between 1850 and 1938, Roberto Valli studies the identity effects of territorial conquest. Challenging established notions that war hardens identities, the paper illustrates how conquest can incentivize elites to adopt the identity of the conquering nation, while simultaneously producing increasingly regionalist narratives. The research sheds light on the complex relationship between nation-building, regionalism, and the assimilation of elite identities.

Exploring the role of collective memories in shaping the long-run legacies of violence, Giacomo Lemoli and Gloria Gennaro focus on the Italian front of World War II. The authors theorize how politically activated memories transmitted through family and community ties influence individual and collective behavior. Utilizing an original, geo-targeted online survey and historical data, the study demonstrates how local memories of war experiences influence contemporary political attitudes and support for the radical right in Europe.

Addressing the mechanisms driving post-conflict mobilization, Sergi Martínez Solero and Dylan Potts examine the impact of Nazi repression in Norway. The study distinguishes between the effects of repression on women and farmers, revealing contrasting outcomes driven by pre-existing social networks. Through the analysis of individual-level data and municipality-level panel data, the research sheds light on how repression shapes political networks, with lasting legacies for political mobilization in the aftermath of conflict.

Sub Unit

• Division 7: Politics and History

Individual Presentations

• Revisiting History, Reshaping Politics: The Effects of Confronting In-Group Atrocities - Alexander De Juan, Osnabrück University; Julian Voss, Osnabrück University; Anton Peez, Goethe University Frankfurt; Sascha Riaz, Harvard University

• Territorial Conquest, Regionalism, and the Assimilation of Elite Identities - Roberto Valli, Princeton University

• War Violence, Nationalism, and Party Support: Evidence from Italy - Giacomo Lemoli, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse; Gloria Gennaro, ETH

• Post-conflict Network Dynamics - Sergi Martinez, European University Institute; Dylan Potts, LSE

• Is the Past in the Past? The Impact of Historical Events on Defence Attitudes - Alexandra Jane Richards, Simon Fraser University

Chair

• Roberto Valli Princeton University

Discussant

• Jan Henryk Pierskalla Ohio State University