ABSTRACT

This volume focuses on the uses of collective memory in transatlantic relations between the United States, and Western and Central European nations in the period from the Cold War to the present day. Sitting at the intersection of international relations, history, memory studies and various "area" studies, Memory in Transatlantic Relations examines the role of memory in an international context, including the ways in which policy and decision makers utilize memory; the relationship between trauma, memory and international politics; the multiplicity of actors who shape memory; and the role of memory in the conflicts in post-Cold War Europe.

Thematically organized and presenting studies centered on the U.S., Hungary, France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the authors explore the built environment (memorials) and performances of memory (commemorations), shedding light on the ways in which memories are mobilized to frame relations between the U.S. and nations in Western and Central Europe. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and historians with interests in memory studies, foreign policy and international relations.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

Toward a study of memory policy in transatlantic relations

part I|1 pages

The politics of memory on two sides of the Atlantic

chapter 2|9 pages

The politics of history in Europe

National myths, musealization and social memory

part II|1 pages

“Lafayette, we are here”

chapter 3|27 pages

“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds”

The memorial roots and transatlantic legacies of the U.S. military cemeteries abroad

chapter 6|19 pages

The aesthetic of war commemorations in France

The D-Day celebration in 2014

part III|1 pages

Memory in Central European transatlantic relations

chapter 8|32 pages

Memory unravelling

The 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian uprising in U.S.–Hungarian relations

chapter |6 pages

Conclusions

A memory strategy/policy for the future?