Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)
4. Session / Séance. Strategies for Links with Historical Research / Stratégies de Communication envers la Recherche historique - Nebiker, Regula: Towards a New History of Europe (pre-integration period). The Archival Point of View / Pour une nouvelle Histoire européenne (avant l’intégration) (english 373 - français 382)
REGULA NEBIKER Towards a new History of Europe (pre-integration period). The archival Point of View This title leaves a certain amount of leeway for interpretation. To begin with what is understood by „new history of Europe“ needs to be defined. The first meaning of new history that springs to mind especially in the French text is naturally that, which is no longer so very new, epitomized by the Annales School. New history, can also be spoken of in a very general sense by referring to the very many unpublished surveys or investigations, to sources reconsidered and studied from a new angle, to history as it is written or ought to be written to day. In my presentation I am giving the widest meaning to the phrase new history, which encompasses those new questions, which might be raised at the present time by historical research. Nonetheless, I shall be referring particularly to recent history, to that of the 19th and 20th centuries. I also intend to give its full value to the word „towards“ in the title: I would also speak of what we as archivists might do for a new historiography of Europe. At the 62nd German Archive day in 1991, Wolfgang T. Mommsen, the German historian delivered an address on the theme „Remembering History. Transmission of historical soures and historical research“1. Here is how he defined the fields of inquiry of new historical research. It will have escaped no one’s attention, that in the course of recent deades, the field of historical study has spread across the whole spectrum of society, the activities of the state being no longer the exclusive objective of enquiry. Many disciplines associated with recent historical research, are no longer so directly interested in the activities of the state nor to the same extent, but in the underlying structures of actual day to day life and historical truth, which is hardly or only indirectly affected by the political events of the day1 2. „European History“ is not of itself a new subject of study. The European dimension of history of all periods has been studied and presented, chiefly at the political level in the detailed historical writings of the last century. A new history of Europe must place any new investigations within the framework of Europe as a whole, with studies which transcend political frontiers. Geographical, national, social and economic programmes are dearly visible in the reciprocal relationships, which they have between each other. In addition, the organisation of fields of enquiry which are to be compared are different one from the other and horizontal relationships and comparisons are hard to establish. 1 Cf. Der Archivar 45 (1992), col. 19-28. 2 Ibidem, col. 26. 373
