Building on the dynamic initiated during a workshop held in 2024, this conference seeks to gather separate initiatives and to bring together specialists to address historiographical gaps concerning Spanish actions during the war. As few studies go beyond 1918, the conference examine these actions from a global perspective in the context of the 1920s by comparing them with the actions of other institutions and neutral countries, such as Sweden, Denmark, the Vatican and the ICRC.

This initiative is based on the conviction that this approach will produce more inspiring, relevant and compelling research for understanding the connections between institutions across multiple countries and sources written in multiple languages. This is especially promising given the rich archives produced by the Spanish monarchy during the war, which have recently been included by the UNESCO in its «Memory of the World» Programme.

The conference will also provide an opportunity to broaden the disciplinary, geographical and temporal scope of First World War Studies. The aim is to develop an integrative perspective on humanitarian action and ‘transnational neutrality’, examining the humanitarian challenges faced by neutral countries and institutions that were literally caught in the crossfire on different fronts.