Deadline: September 15, 2026
The European Research Council Advanced Grant “The Global War on Civilians, 1905-1945” seeks a Postdoctoral researcher on the Soviet Union’s home front and the war on Soviet civilians in the Second World War. The project is hosted by the Centre d’Histoire of Sciences Po in Paris, France.
We investigate how the transnational circulation of knowledge and practices culminated by World War II in systematic attacks on civilians and the creation of home fronts that mobilized civilians. The Principal Investigator is Prof. Sheldon Garon.
The Postdoctoral Researcher will research the following topics:The Soviet Union’s construction of a “home front” during the interwar era and war years—involving the mobilization of civilian women and men for food provision, civil defense against aerial bombardment, war production, and maintaining “morale.”The role of “transnational learning” and foreign models in the making of the Soviet home front.Nazi Germany’s war on Soviet civilians, combining aerial bombardment, artillery attacks, and blockades of the civilian food supply. Notable were Germany’s Hunger Plan and campaigns to blockade and starve Soviet cities in Leningrad, Kiev, Kharkiv, and elsewhere.The mass organization of civil defense (passive defense) against aerial bombardment.
Application deadline: 15 September 2026
Expected start date: 1 January 2027
For complete information about the position and the application procedure: LINK.
Applications to be sent to the ERC project manager Alexandra Shubenkova: alexandra.shubenkova@sciencespo.fr