Peace Museums

This book is the first comprehensive study of the history, nature, and purposes of peace museums, comprising twenty-one essays by a leading authority in the field. It presents a powerful argument for the need for this new kind of museum that informs and inspires visitors that a world of peace and nonviolence is both necessary and possible.

Whereas there are numerous museums about war and the armed forces, museums about peacemaking and peacemakers are rare; indeed, the very concept of peace museums is still largely unknown. This is a reflection of the traditional writing and teaching of history which is dominated by narratives of war and warriors, with little or no attention being paid to the history of efforts to prevent and abolish war. Peace museums are ideal instruments to bring the long, fascinating, and vitally important history of peace to life for a large public. Among the essays included are histories of two (forgotten and unknown yet) heroic efforts to prevent World War I, and then World War II, through museums that educated and alerted visitors about the disasters ahead if war was not avoided, and ways to steer a different course following the catastrophe that was the Great War.

At a time when a barbaric war in Europe, continuing wars in Africa, and ominous threats of war in Asia, are raising the specter of nuclear war and World War III, the need for anti-nuclear bomb and anti-war museums is greater than ever. Such museums are essential for the development of a global culture of peace and nonviolence. The book provides inspiration and hope for everyone interested in efforts to overcome an existential threat to civilization that is wholly man-made.

Auteur
Peter van den Dungen was Lecturer in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford (UK) for nearly four decades (1976-2015). He is also the founder of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) and was its general coordinator for 25 years (1992-2017). In addition to his many publications on peace museums, he has published widely on peace history and a culture of peace. In 2021 he received the Peace History Society's Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding scholarship and service to Peace History.

Contenu

Chapter 1. Jan Bloch's International Museum of War and Peace in Lucerne, 1902-1919 (1981).- Chapter 2. Ernst Friedrich's Anti-War Museum in Berlin, 1925-1933 (1986).- Chapter 3. Peace Museums (1986).- Chapter 4. On the Creative Principles, Message and Thematic Content of a Peace Museum (1993).- Chapter 5. Peace Education: Peace Museums (1999).- Chapter 6. Monuments of a Uniting Europe (2005).- Chapter 7. Preventing Catastrophe: The World's First Peace Museum (2006).- Chapter 8. Exhibiting Peace: Projects and Initiatives in the Netherlands, 1900-1930s (2008).- Chapter 9. Towards a Global Peace Museum Movement: A Progress Report, 1986-2010 (2009).- Chapter 10. Towards a Bertha von Suttner Peace Museum in Vienna, 1914-2014 (2010).- Chapter 11. The Role of Peace Museums in Promoting a Culture of Peace (2012).- Chapter 12. Projecting Peace Through History and Museums (2013).- Chapter 13. The History of World Peace in 100 Objects: Visualizing Peace in a Peace Museum (2014).- Chapter 14. The Price of Peace: Rare Books of Peace (2000).- Chapter 15. The Role of Museums for Peace in Preventing War and Promoting Remembrance, Historical Truth and Reconciliation (2014).- Chapter 16. Peace Education Through Peace Museums (2015).- Chapter 17. Abolishing Nuclear Weapons Through Anti-Atomic Bomb Museums (2016).- Chapter 18. A Short History of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) on its 25th Anniversary, 1992-2017 (2017).- Chapter 19. Peace Museums and Public Education (2017).- Chapter 20. The Heritage of Peace: The Importance of Peace Museums for the Development of a Culture of Peace (2017).- Chapter 21. Conveying the Reality of War: Vasily Verestchagin The greatest painter of the horrors of war that ever lived (2020).