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The global history of the First World War is still in its early stages. This article proposes to contribute to its development by “de-Europeanizing” the historiography of the conflict and suggesting some of the ways scholars can move beyond “centers” and “peripheries” to combine different spatial scales of analysis. First, it demonstrates the need to look beyond the European theaters of the war and investigate spaces hitherto deemed to be marginal: despite their distance from the epicenter of the combat, these regions were traversed by tensions directly linked to the conflict and witnessed major transformations between 1914 and 1918. Second, it invites researchers to focus on elements such as the environment, natural resources, or diasporas, which make it possible to break out of a national framework of analysis and to do justice to the global impact of the Great War. This twofold approach underlines the value of a new geography of mobilization and belligerence, one that matches the diversity of experiences and reflects the truly global dimension of the First World War.
Prenant acte du fait que l’histoire globale de la Première Guerre mondiale n’en est encore qu’à ses balbutiements, cet article propose de « déseuropéaniser » l’historiographie du conflit en dépassant la dialectique des « centres » et des « périphéries » et en combinant les échelles spatiales de l’analyse. D’une part, il s’agit de déplacer le regard depuis les théâtres européens de la guerre vers des espaces communément considérés comme marginaux, mais dont l’éloignement de l’épicentre des combats n’empêcha pourtant pas qu’ils soient parcourus de tensions directement liées au conflit et qu’ils connaissent des mutations majeures entre 1914 et 1918. D’autre part, il convient également de placer la focale sur des objets de recherche tels que l’environnement, les ressources naturelles ou les diasporas, qui se prêtent particulièrement bien à des approches émancipées des cadres nationaux de la réflexion et permettent de restituer l’impact global de la Grande Guerre. De cette double démarche émergent ainsi les bases d’une nouvelle géographie des mobilisations et de la belligérance entre 1914 et 1918, susceptible de rendre compte du caractère authentiquement mondial que revêtit la Première Guerre mondiale et de la diversité des expériences vécues du conflit.
In August 1914, the European powers had gone to war with rudimentary air services and embryonic aviation industries. Once airplanes proved themselves as a means of reconnaissance and, most importantly, of artillery spotting, air commanders required more of them to conduct effective aerial operations and prevent enemy aerial reconnaissance. The second aim led to armed aircraft and then the development of specialised pursuit, or fighter, aircraft. The battles of Verdun and the Somme forced the codification of aerial combat tactics and brought home the importance of mass. Military aviation did not determine the outcome of the First World War, but the airplane did establish its very real significance in support of the army and especially the artillery on the battlefield. Theory and wishful thinking after the Great War focused on strategic aviation and nearly drove the lessons of tactical aerial importance and success from the minds of post-war observers.