The Hauts-de-France region bears witness to the sacrifice and commitment of many women during the First and Second World Wars. In the military cemeteries of Flanders, Artois and the Somme, as well as on the Opal Coast, headstones commemorate the many women who fell in the service of others. To pay tribute to these silent witnesses to a commitment that has long remained on the fringes of the great war stories, the University Library of the Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale (ULCO) in Boulogne-sur-Mer will host the traveling exhibition “Fighting Women”, loaned by the Department of Culture of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans, from February to April 2026. This exhibition invites visitors to engage in an in-depth reflection on the often-overlooked memory of women and their struggles in the 20th century – both as direct participants in conflicts and as key figures in social and political struggles.
The international conference “Women in War in France, Britain, and Ireland in the early 20th Century”, organized alongside the exhibition, aims to question and expand our understanding of what it means to be a “woman in war.” How should this concept be defined? Should the term be limited to those who took up arms on the battlefield, or should it also include those who fought for rights or contributed indirectly to conflicts and thus deserve recognition? Through the experiences of women in France, Britain, and Ireland, this conference will explore the multiple forms of women’s engagement and the obstacles they faced in securing recognition and a legitimate place in the collective memory of their nations.
The early 20th century, marked by two world wars and struggles for independence or emancipation from male dominance, provides the historical framework for this reflection. The early decades, in particular, saw women mobilize in innovative ways – not only in military conflicts but also in civil and social rights movements, often remaining on the margins of official and military narratives. The conference will focus on how their involvement has been remembered, often minimized or erased, and will examine both the historical mechanisms that led to their invisibilization and the subsequent processes of rehabilitation and commemoration. The discussions will be structured around several key thematic axes.
The first axis will examine how women in war have been represented in historical narratives, literature, and the arts of the three countries under study. While some women were forgotten or ignored in official accounts, others were later rehabilitated or even celebrated. The contrasting cases of Constance Markievicz (1868–1927), a key figure in the 1916 Irish uprising, Vera Lynn (1917–2020), a British singer whose weekly radio show comforted British troops during World War II, and Madeleine Riffaud (1924–2024), a French resistance fighter engaged in operations against Nazi occupation, illustrate these variations. Comparative studies between France, Britain, and Ireland will help analyze how literature and the arts have acknowledged – or overlooked – women’s contributions. The conference will explore in particular testimonies, biographies, and autobiographies of women in war to highlight the tensions between individual memory and collective erasure.
The second axis will address legal and administrative developments regarding the recognition of women’s involvement in conflicts, particularly concerning military honours, pensions, and veterans’ rights. In France, Britain, and Ireland, women often faced institutional resistance – or even outright exclusion – from military and political recognition. To what extent did their initial struggle extend into a second battle for equal rights? In 1925, for example, Margaret Skinnider (1893–1971), an Irish revolutionary severely wounded during the 1916 Easter Rising, was denied a pension on the grounds that she was a woman – an emblematic case of institutional resistance and unequal recognition between men and women. She only received her pension in 1938.
The third axis will explore how women’s struggles have been represented – or omitted – in commemorative policies, in public commemorations and memorial landscapes. Monuments, statues, and plaques dedicated to women are often marginalized or absent. Aesthetic and symbolic analyses of these commemorations will help question their visibility and significance in public spaces. For instance, despite Edith Cavell’s (1865–1915) national funeral at Westminster Abbey in 1919, does the 1920 statue dedicated to her in London emphasize her role as a nurse and martyr more than her active participation in resistance efforts? Other women who contributed to war efforts or social struggles have seen their achievements relegated to the background. Case studies of memorial projects dedicated to prominent female figures will enrich this reflection on the presence – or absence – of women’s struggles in collective memory.
The fourth axis will investigate the transnational aspects of women’s engagements in resistance movements, struggles for independence, or participation in major power conflicts. How do the experiences of these women compare across national contexts? While some women’s actions were shaped by their specific historical and cultural environments, others transcended national borders. This is exemplified by Louise de Bettignies (1880–1918), who was posthumously awarded the French Légion d’Honneur, the Croix de Guerre with palm, and the British Military Medal, as well as being named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Additionally, have the struggles of French, British, or Irish women influenced one another? Through historical revisions and 20th-century debates, this axis will also explore how these women have been incorporated into local, national and international commemorative policies.
Finally, a fifth theme will look at the possibility of setting up and developing a form of remembrance tourism centred on women in war. While many commemorative sites highlight the role of male combatants, how can the female contribution be fully integrated into historical and remembrance tourism circuits? Could military cemeteries, commemorative plaques and museums be a starting point for rediscovering these forgotten figures? Could the headstones of First World War nurses or memorials dedicated to female members of the Resistance in France or across the Channel inspire wider initiatives aimed at highlighting these women whose commitment left their mark on history?
This bilingual French-English conference aims to provide a critical and transnational space for reflection on the memory of fighting women, their place in history, and the legacies of their struggles. Its objective is to contribute to a greater recognition of their role in 20th-century conflicts while emphasizing the contemporary stakes of their memory.