The Security History Network is pleased to announce an upcoming lecture by Dr. Anna Ross, who will present her recent article published in Past & Present (2024), titled “Property and the End of Empire in International Zones, 1919–1947.”
Hosted by The Security History Network
Date/Time
12 May, 17:30-19:00
Walk-in at 17:15
Location
Drift 27 – 0.72
In the aftermath of the First World War, a number of contested territories on the borders of the former German Empire were placed under international administration by the League of Nations. These “international zones,” later mirrored in regions across North Africa and Latin America, occupied an ambiguous position in the emerging international order. Neither fully sovereign nor easily incorporated into nation-states, they became sites of prolonged uncertainty, experimentation, and political negotiation.
Dr. Ross’s lecture explores how these zones functioned as laboratories of collective security, and how their ambiguous legal and political status gave rise to unexpected forms of political activity. By focusing on questions of property, governance, and sovereignty, Ross sheds new light on how international interventions reshaped local societies and reconfigured imperial legacies well into the mid-twentieth century.
The talk will be of particular interest to students and scholars working on modern European history, imperial and postcolonial studies, international relations, and legal history. More broadly, it invites reflection on how historians conceptualize “order” in the twentieth century and challenges conventional narratives that frame the period primarily through the rise of nation-states.
We warmly invite everyone interested to join this event and engage in discussion with Dr. Ross.
Dr. Anna Ross is a historian of modern Europe, with a particular focus on Germany, Central Europe, and their wider global interactions. Her research explores key themes such as the revolutions of 1848, processes of state-building, imperial governance, and the internationalisation of political order.
Her current work examines the reorganisation of territory after the First World War, specifically the creation of so-called international zones: spaces placed under international administration that challenged conventional notions of sovereignty and empire. Through this research, she contributes to broader debates on how international governance reshaped political authority in the twentieth century.
Dr. Ross joined the University of Sheffield in 2024. Prior to this, she served as Associate Professor in Modern European History at the University of Warwick. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2013 and subsequently held a Junior Research Fellowship at Nuffield College from 2013 to 2016.
In addition to her research and teaching, Dr. Ross is co-editor of the journal German History, published by Oxford University Press.
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