Kiel Uprising: Women's activism and the German Revolution November 1918

This project seeks support for the writing, rehearsing and production of a new play that highlights women's role in the Kiel Uprising of 1918 and the production of a fixed, touring and online exhibition supported by educational outreach and online teaching resources that draws on the findings of the AHRC international network grant 'Women's Organisations and Female Activists in the Aftermath of War: International Perspectives 1918-1923'. In that project, an interdisciplinary team of international scholars explored the role of female activists and their organisations in shaping the new Europe in the post- war period, identifying the period immediately after the war as a distinctive period full of radical potential during which the renegotiation of gender relations took place under unstable and highly volatile conditions of unprecedented social, economic and political strain. One major and very under- researched area that emerged from the collaboration was the importance of the role played by women in the revolutions that were a major feature of post- war societies in central and eastern Europe. This is not reflected either in academic or popular accounts of the end of the war, and the revolutionary end to the war in Germany and how that shaped the post -war period is virtually unknown in the UK.
Centenary commemorations in the UK so far have emphasised the military aspects of the conflict - commemoration of those who opposed the war has largely been marginalised. Where the German perspective has been included at all, it has been to reinforce stereotypes of German militarism. This project aims to challenge this and broaden public understanding of German anti- militarism, first by telling the story of the German Revolution that brought the war to an end in November 1918 and established democracy on German soil, and secondly by putting the ordinary populace, especially the women who actively opposed the war and supported the revolution, centre stage. This approach has the effect of challenging the gender of the revolution, hitherto presented almost exclusively as a masculine story due to the current focus on the military and revolutionary leaders in the majority of historical research on this subject.
The follow- on project will highlight women's role in the German revolution of 1918, with a particular focus on Kiel as the starting point of this key historical event. It will write women into the historical accounts, public knowledge and commemorative activities surrounding the centenary of the end of the war in November 2018 in both the UK and Germany. The play will tour in Britain and Germany, following the path of the revolution. The PI is already acting as consultant to events planned for Kiel, namely a major exhibition planned to run for the year 2018 in the Maritime Museum and a new opera commissioned for the occasion that will be premiered in Kiel in November 1918.
The Peace Museum in Bradford is keen to include the German perspective in plans to mark the centenary of the end of the war in 2018 and to look at the revolution in the broader context of anti-war activism in Germany. An exhibition based on the choices individuals made in 1918 that led to the collapse of the German war effort would invite the visitor to reflect on the moral questions surrounding an individual's duty to the nation and to humanity in wartime.
Bent Architect are a socially engaged theatre company committed to bringing lesser- known histories onto the stage. Following the success of the production England Arise!, which toured in 2014, the writers and directors are keen to produce a companion piece that tells the story from the German point of view and which emphasises the role of women in the choices that ended the war.

The project blends academic research and performance-based engagement. Beneficiaries will be the partners, audiences and participants. The project will encourage a more outward-facing and empathetic understanding of how WW1 was experienced by Germans and will use the shared legacy of the war to unite rather than divide the two nations. It will discuss the dilemmas facing women in revolutionary peace activism and explore the relevance of historical insights into present day approaches to women's peace-building and post-conflict resolution.
Bent Architect (BA) and the Peace Museum (PM) will benefit from the PI's high level research and German language skills to access materials on German resistance to war. PI and PDR will gain an insight into the creative process of transforming research into dramatic form and will benefit from Wright and Barrett's experience of curating and preparing an exhibition for a non-academic audience. PDR will gain valuable professional skills in project management, archival research, public engagement and collaboration with non-academic partners, while the research undertaken for this project builds on and feeds into Sharp's publication plans and teaching practice.
England Arise! (2014), based on primary research into the lives and wider social and political context of Conscientious Objectors during WWI, toured in the UK for 3 weeks and reached a live audience of over 4,500. The associated educational outreach work with local history groups, peace groups, schools and university students reached over 1,750 participants during the tour. It is anticipated that numbers in the UK will be similar or higher for the new play, given the word of mouth reputation of BA and the PI's contacts developed during the centenary. In addition, the planned tour of Germany will benefit a new audience and introduce an aspect of shared commemoration and understanding so far lacking in British WW1 centenary commemoration priorities.
The PM is the only accredited Peace Museum in the UK and has a current footfall of over 2,200, to be boosted by a 47K Arts Council grant. It engages in outreach and educational work among community groups and in schools and has produced educational materials on a range of contemporary and historical peace campaigns. Bradford itself is a culturally diverse area, with over 30% from BME or migration backgrounds and the museum's educational work engages with disadvantaged groups. Wright, co-Director of Bent Architect, has worked as educational outreach officer and project manager for the Bradford Peace Museum since June 2015 and was responsible for designing and delivering the current Choices exhibition, based on the moral choices made by individuals to support or oppose their nation's war efforts. This has attracted over 2,000 visitors since its opening in April 2016.
The participatory element of the Choices project has engaged a diverse range of participants, particularly from low socio-economic backgrounds and those who would not normally engage with heritage projects. Participants have attended from schools, youth offending settings, community, mothers', religious and armed forces groups, and have been delivered with a translator for Urdu-speaking community groups. The planned exhibition is aimed at similar audiences, while the educational outreach programme and accompanying material will make it suitable for use in schools at all levels of the National Curriculum. It will tour within the UK, using Barrett and Sharp's peace history network contacts to publicise the tour and the online materials. It will benefit diverse audiences by encouraging reflection on the moral choices made by those who oppose war or challenge authority and on the nature of democracy and social responsibility in an increasingly connected world where local and national choices have global implications.