Papers by Guy Bud
Historical Research, 2024
Historians have long remarked upon the political significance of the Allied armies from Continent... more Historians have long remarked upon the political significance of the Allied armies from Continental Europe which were established on British soil during the Second World War. Much less attention has been devoted to the implications of maintaining and expanding these forces amid the very particular circumstances of wartime exile. This article examines three aspects of the tension between the imperatives to secure as many men as possible for military service while maintaining the distinctly ‘national’ character of the force as a whole. The failure to mobilize emigrants and expatriates is examined in the first section, while the second section shows how soldiers could use national identities to their own advantage and pass between foreign armies. The final section examines the far-reaching political consequences of the often-obscured ethnic diversity within the ranks, focusing particularly on Jewish soldiers.
Journal of Belgian History , 2020
The article argues that the unique circumstances of the Second World War allowed the white popula... more The article argues that the unique circumstances of the Second World War allowed the white population of Belgian Africa to seek enhanced power and influence. Though ultimately unsuccessful, their experience is significant for several reasons, not least because it serves to illustrate a number of important longer term trends. These include the complex relationship between Europeans and both their own colony, at once dependent but resentful, and that with other European populations elsewhere in Africa. It does not aim to present a panoramic overview of the often disparate factions and political causes which emerged during the period. Rather, it focuses on two particular themes. The first is the sense of political possibility which was created by new relationships, between the Congo and other African colonial societies—and in particular South Africa. The second examines their experimentation with new forms of political mobilisation—loosely based on trade unionism—which would characterise the period. Taken together, these themes show a colonial population intent on seizing real power and influence from the colonial administration rather than passively following it, as is sometimes assumed.
M.Phil thesis, University of Oxford., 2017
Available in pdf on request. Abstract:
Neither Belgian Africa nor European colonial settlers hav... more Available in pdf on request. Abstract:
Neither Belgian Africa nor European colonial settlers have featured prominently in the extensive literature on the Second World War. This dissertation aims to address both of these subjects by focusing on the 30,000 Belgian colonials (coloniaux) who lived and worked in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi) in 1940–1945. Based on personal archives and colonial newspapers, it argues that the period should be seen as a distinct historical moment in which Europeans became increasingly assertive about their role within the colonial system.
The dissertation is structured in four thematic, but broadly chronological, sections. The first examines how the coloniaux attempted to assert their influence over the weakened colonial administration in the period of instability that followed the Belgian defeat in 1940. The second shows how the severing of ties with German-occupied Belgium fostered new engagement with the rest of colonial Africa—South Africa in particular—that led to a rethinking of colonial identities. The focus then shifts to the rise of assertive sectional politics (especially trades unionism) within the colonial population after 1942. The final chapter examines how the coloniaux imagined and planned the post-war future. The difficulties in reconciling the political developments in the colony with those of the metropolis after the liberation, and the emergence of a new post-war colonial philosophy, are considered in the conclusion.
Available in pdf on request.
BA dissertation, University of Oxford, 2015
This article, written as a thesis for the Final Honour School in Ancient and Modern History at th... more This article, written as a thesis for the Final Honour School in Ancient and Modern History at the University of Oxford, explores the German occupation of Belgium through the prism of two small towns (Philippeville and Mariembourg) in the Province of Namur. In doing so, it seeks to illuminate how the occupation shaped local and community identities and the wider effects of the approaches taken towards it.
Note: Deze verhandeling is enkel beschikbaar in pdf-versie op Ethesis.net.
Berkeley Undergraduate Journal of Classics 3 (1), 2014
Occupying a pivotal spot on the north-west coast of India in the first centuries CE, the Kingdom ... more Occupying a pivotal spot on the north-west coast of India in the first centuries CE, the Kingdom of the Western Kshatrapas remains one of the most neglected parts of India’s ancient past. As a key regional power, and part of the major ocean trade with Rome, this is unfortunate and deserves to be rectified.
This piece, by Guy Bud, an Undergraduate at Oxford University, deals with the coins of the region and asks what their stylistic aspects can tell us about the cultures which mixed in the region at the time. Looking at the Roman, Hellenistic and local coinage traditions, the article engaged with the idea of cultural transition and influence in this very singular context.
(Written 2013)
Conference papers by Guy Bud
From the Personal to the Global: Lived Experiences of the Second World War (SWW Network Scotland Conference, Univ. of Edinburgh, 9-10 June 2023., 2023
Although frequently mentioned in passing, the “armies-in-exile” have attracted relatively little ... more Although frequently mentioned in passing, the “armies-in-exile” have attracted relatively little focused scholarly examination. This paper, adopting a comparative focus, attempts to draw out an under-appreciated global theme in their histories.
As Belgian, Dutch, Czechoslovak, Norwegian and Polish governments-in-exile began to reconsolidate their political positions through 1940 and 1941, they sought to enhance their meagre military resources through far-reaching plans to recruit among emigrant and expatriate communities across the world, notably in the Americas. In so doing, they drew on well-established traditions of military mobilisation along emigrant networks stretching back at least as far as the First World War.
Although many were certainly keen to enlist, others were not. The paper examines the changing power of national ties to mobilise new recruits in an era of increasing economic and political assimilation and other local pressures. Confronted with the perceived arrogance of exile governments who often seemed to take their support for granted, emigrants and expatriates adopted a range of strategies to avoid attempts to conscript or otherwise entice them into the exile armies often pitting competing national claims against one another.
Although never meeting overly inflated expectations, such efforts profoundly shaped the composition and politics of the exiled armies themselves. Several thousand soldiers from these backgrounds entered the armies-in-exile. They often formed a distinct and highly visible presence within companies and battalions and were separated from their compatriots by a shared sense of mistrust as well as differences of background, motivation, and sometimes even language. Hybrid identities such as these posed a particular challenge to contemporary rhetoric depicting “contributions” to Allied victory in solely national terms.
Aside from contributing to studies on wartime exile politics and emigration, this paper points more generally to the ability to emphasise or downplay particular aspects of personal identity to negotiate competing and even directly conflicting claims to political allegiance with wider relevance, for example, to the study of engagement with resistance and collaborationist forces in German-occupied Europe.
"The West African Experience in World War II" (H-Net West Africa/Winston-Salem State University),... more "The West African Experience in World War II" (H-Net West Africa/Winston-Salem State University), 17 Oct. 2020. Online symposium.
Armageddon: The Second World War in Comparative Perspective (Second World War Research Group/Univ... more Armageddon: The Second World War in Comparative Perspective (Second World War Research Group/Univ. of Wolverhampton), 13-14 June 2019.
Paper examines how conscious comparisons with the other colonial empires based in London during the Second World War shaped Belgian colonial policy after 1940
Presentation at the annual conference of the Second World War Research Group at King's College, L... more Presentation at the annual conference of the Second World War Research Group at King's College, London (KCL) on 22-23 June 2017. It addressed the growing political assertiveness of white settlers in wartime Africa which also formed the basis of my M.Phil thesis.
A short article based on the talk can be found on the SWWRG's blog.
Paper presented at the Researching Africa Day 2017 conference, hosted by the African Studies Cent... more Paper presented at the Researching Africa Day 2017 conference, hosted by the African Studies Centre at the University of Oxford (4th March 2017).
Paper presented at the Art/Money/Crisis conference at the University of Cambridge (29-30 April 20... more Paper presented at the Art/Money/Crisis conference at the University of Cambridge (29-30 April 2016).
The talk focuses on the German occupations in Western Europe during WWII. It argues that material culture - and above all Numismatics - has the potential to make a useful contribution to understanding the ideology and political transitions of the period. This, it is hoped, will complement existing textual and archival approaches already well-established.
I argue that the widespread redesign of coinage in German-occupied France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway in 1941 represents a wider shift in the way the concept of the state and nationalism was envisaged. At the same time, this change actually hints at a more profound shift in the way that the Germans themselves perceived their role as occupiers.
This paper is a refined version of one given to the OU Numismatic Society in the summer of 2014.
Book Reviews by Guy Bud
Canadian Journal of African Studies, 2024
Canadian Journal of African Studies, 2023
Journal of African History., 2022
Journal of African Military History, 2020
The Journal of Military History, 83/1, 2019
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Papers by Guy Bud
Neither Belgian Africa nor European colonial settlers have featured prominently in the extensive literature on the Second World War. This dissertation aims to address both of these subjects by focusing on the 30,000 Belgian colonials (coloniaux) who lived and worked in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi) in 1940–1945. Based on personal archives and colonial newspapers, it argues that the period should be seen as a distinct historical moment in which Europeans became increasingly assertive about their role within the colonial system.
The dissertation is structured in four thematic, but broadly chronological, sections. The first examines how the coloniaux attempted to assert their influence over the weakened colonial administration in the period of instability that followed the Belgian defeat in 1940. The second shows how the severing of ties with German-occupied Belgium fostered new engagement with the rest of colonial Africa—South Africa in particular—that led to a rethinking of colonial identities. The focus then shifts to the rise of assertive sectional politics (especially trades unionism) within the colonial population after 1942. The final chapter examines how the coloniaux imagined and planned the post-war future. The difficulties in reconciling the political developments in the colony with those of the metropolis after the liberation, and the emergence of a new post-war colonial philosophy, are considered in the conclusion.
Available in pdf on request.
Note: Deze verhandeling is enkel beschikbaar in pdf-versie op Ethesis.net.
This piece, by Guy Bud, an Undergraduate at Oxford University, deals with the coins of the region and asks what their stylistic aspects can tell us about the cultures which mixed in the region at the time. Looking at the Roman, Hellenistic and local coinage traditions, the article engaged with the idea of cultural transition and influence in this very singular context.
(Written 2013)
Conference papers by Guy Bud
As Belgian, Dutch, Czechoslovak, Norwegian and Polish governments-in-exile began to reconsolidate their political positions through 1940 and 1941, they sought to enhance their meagre military resources through far-reaching plans to recruit among emigrant and expatriate communities across the world, notably in the Americas. In so doing, they drew on well-established traditions of military mobilisation along emigrant networks stretching back at least as far as the First World War.
Although many were certainly keen to enlist, others were not. The paper examines the changing power of national ties to mobilise new recruits in an era of increasing economic and political assimilation and other local pressures. Confronted with the perceived arrogance of exile governments who often seemed to take their support for granted, emigrants and expatriates adopted a range of strategies to avoid attempts to conscript or otherwise entice them into the exile armies often pitting competing national claims against one another.
Although never meeting overly inflated expectations, such efforts profoundly shaped the composition and politics of the exiled armies themselves. Several thousand soldiers from these backgrounds entered the armies-in-exile. They often formed a distinct and highly visible presence within companies and battalions and were separated from their compatriots by a shared sense of mistrust as well as differences of background, motivation, and sometimes even language. Hybrid identities such as these posed a particular challenge to contemporary rhetoric depicting “contributions” to Allied victory in solely national terms.
Aside from contributing to studies on wartime exile politics and emigration, this paper points more generally to the ability to emphasise or downplay particular aspects of personal identity to negotiate competing and even directly conflicting claims to political allegiance with wider relevance, for example, to the study of engagement with resistance and collaborationist forces in German-occupied Europe.
Paper examines how conscious comparisons with the other colonial empires based in London during the Second World War shaped Belgian colonial policy after 1940
A short article based on the talk can be found on the SWWRG's blog.
The talk focuses on the German occupations in Western Europe during WWII. It argues that material culture - and above all Numismatics - has the potential to make a useful contribution to understanding the ideology and political transitions of the period. This, it is hoped, will complement existing textual and archival approaches already well-established.
I argue that the widespread redesign of coinage in German-occupied France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway in 1941 represents a wider shift in the way the concept of the state and nationalism was envisaged. At the same time, this change actually hints at a more profound shift in the way that the Germans themselves perceived their role as occupiers.
This paper is a refined version of one given to the OU Numismatic Society in the summer of 2014.
Book Reviews by Guy Bud
Neither Belgian Africa nor European colonial settlers have featured prominently in the extensive literature on the Second World War. This dissertation aims to address both of these subjects by focusing on the 30,000 Belgian colonials (coloniaux) who lived and worked in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi) in 1940–1945. Based on personal archives and colonial newspapers, it argues that the period should be seen as a distinct historical moment in which Europeans became increasingly assertive about their role within the colonial system.
The dissertation is structured in four thematic, but broadly chronological, sections. The first examines how the coloniaux attempted to assert their influence over the weakened colonial administration in the period of instability that followed the Belgian defeat in 1940. The second shows how the severing of ties with German-occupied Belgium fostered new engagement with the rest of colonial Africa—South Africa in particular—that led to a rethinking of colonial identities. The focus then shifts to the rise of assertive sectional politics (especially trades unionism) within the colonial population after 1942. The final chapter examines how the coloniaux imagined and planned the post-war future. The difficulties in reconciling the political developments in the colony with those of the metropolis after the liberation, and the emergence of a new post-war colonial philosophy, are considered in the conclusion.
Available in pdf on request.
Note: Deze verhandeling is enkel beschikbaar in pdf-versie op Ethesis.net.
This piece, by Guy Bud, an Undergraduate at Oxford University, deals with the coins of the region and asks what their stylistic aspects can tell us about the cultures which mixed in the region at the time. Looking at the Roman, Hellenistic and local coinage traditions, the article engaged with the idea of cultural transition and influence in this very singular context.
(Written 2013)
As Belgian, Dutch, Czechoslovak, Norwegian and Polish governments-in-exile began to reconsolidate their political positions through 1940 and 1941, they sought to enhance their meagre military resources through far-reaching plans to recruit among emigrant and expatriate communities across the world, notably in the Americas. In so doing, they drew on well-established traditions of military mobilisation along emigrant networks stretching back at least as far as the First World War.
Although many were certainly keen to enlist, others were not. The paper examines the changing power of national ties to mobilise new recruits in an era of increasing economic and political assimilation and other local pressures. Confronted with the perceived arrogance of exile governments who often seemed to take their support for granted, emigrants and expatriates adopted a range of strategies to avoid attempts to conscript or otherwise entice them into the exile armies often pitting competing national claims against one another.
Although never meeting overly inflated expectations, such efforts profoundly shaped the composition and politics of the exiled armies themselves. Several thousand soldiers from these backgrounds entered the armies-in-exile. They often formed a distinct and highly visible presence within companies and battalions and were separated from their compatriots by a shared sense of mistrust as well as differences of background, motivation, and sometimes even language. Hybrid identities such as these posed a particular challenge to contemporary rhetoric depicting “contributions” to Allied victory in solely national terms.
Aside from contributing to studies on wartime exile politics and emigration, this paper points more generally to the ability to emphasise or downplay particular aspects of personal identity to negotiate competing and even directly conflicting claims to political allegiance with wider relevance, for example, to the study of engagement with resistance and collaborationist forces in German-occupied Europe.
Paper examines how conscious comparisons with the other colonial empires based in London during the Second World War shaped Belgian colonial policy after 1940
A short article based on the talk can be found on the SWWRG's blog.
The talk focuses on the German occupations in Western Europe during WWII. It argues that material culture - and above all Numismatics - has the potential to make a useful contribution to understanding the ideology and political transitions of the period. This, it is hoped, will complement existing textual and archival approaches already well-established.
I argue that the widespread redesign of coinage in German-occupied France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway in 1941 represents a wider shift in the way the concept of the state and nationalism was envisaged. At the same time, this change actually hints at a more profound shift in the way that the Germans themselves perceived their role as occupiers.
This paper is a refined version of one given to the OU Numismatic Society in the summer of 2014.