Ever since the beginning of our project, we have aimed to collaborate with a diverse, interdisciplinary group of accomplished scholars, and one of them includes Costanza Bonelli! She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Padua as part of the University STARS Grant programme.

“The world at present apparently wants both the war system and peace.” So observed H.C. Engelbrecht and F.C. Hanighen in "Merchants of Death" (1934). Their words captured a central contradiction of the interwar years. #globarms #euguns #unipd #dissgea #armshistory

At the beginning of the 20th century, Italy was far from being the global firearms producer it is today. Even its domestic civilian gun market was heavily shaped by foreign competition. #euguns #globarms #gunhistory #italianhistory #unipd #dissgea

Our friend, Dr. Rosamund Johnston, has just published an article on Czechoslovakia’s Cold War arms towns as sites of military globalisation with Sage Journals! (journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...) #euguns #globarms #linkingarms #unipd #dissgea #univie #recetvienna #gunhistory #armshistory

Modern biathlon was invented by a Swede in 1960, but the sport has its roots in both Sweden and Norway. While Scandinavian biathlon culture is largely civilian today, pre-Second-World-War competitions were heavily influenced by militarism and a rhetoric of national defence and shooting prowess.

Mauser became a household name in the gun industry in the late nineteenth century, specialising in bolt-action rifles. #euguns #eugunssnippets #gunhistory #germanhistory Image source: 1) Illustrirte Zeitung 150.1918, 1. Halbjahr, Nr. 3888–3913 (Internet Archive) 2) Wikimedia Commons

Last week, on March 18 and 19, we were hosted at @charlesuni.cuni.cz by our friends from Linking Arms, a project studying arms production in Austria and Czechoslovakia in the years 1954-1994 and based at @recetvienna.bsky.social.

And, last but not least in the presentation of our team, Beatrice Bezzon! She is an administrative project officer at the University of Padua, where she oversees the financial and administrative management of EU-funded research projects, including EU-GUNS. #euguns #unipd #dissgea #dissgea_unipd

On February 20, the EU-GUNS and GlobArms projects co-organised a workshop on self-defence and private security, which was co-funded by the Franco-Italian University. #euguns #globarms #gunhistory #europeanhistory #frenchhistory #italianhistory #sorbonne #unipd #dissgea #dissgea_unipd

We are officially closing today's event with concluding remarks from @matteomillan.bsky.social. Thank you, @sorbonne-universite.fr and the Franco-Italian University, for making this exchange of ideas possible. #euguns #globarms #gunhistory #europeanhistory #sorbonne #unipd

Our last panel is chaired by the head of our project, @matteomillan.bsky.social, and includes papers from Laura Schettini and our team member, @roxanebm.bsky.social. The topics are firearms in French households as well as women's self-defence in France and Italy. #euguns #globarms #unipd #sorbonne

Our next panel, which is chaired by Alexandre Frondizi and includes papers from Éric Fournier, Gilles Favarel-Garrigues and Laurent Gayer, focuses on handguns and revolutionary self-defence as well as private security companies in the city of Rennes. #euguns #globarms #sorbonne #unipd #frenchhistory

Now our colleague, @azzab.bsky.social from the GlobArms project, is talking about private security guards in French industrial companies at the beginning of 20th century #globarms #euguns #frenchhistory #europeanhistory #unipd #sorbonne

A member of our research team, Lorenzo Pera, is now discussing his research on the relationships between private security companies, bourgeois identity and self-defence in Liberal Italy #euguns #globarms #unipd #sorbonne #gunhistory #italianhistory

We continue the discussion of the Algerian War with a paper from Samuel André-Bercovici #euguns #globarms #unipd #sorbonne

Sylvie Thénault is speaking about violence and "counter-terrorism” during the Algerian War of Independence #euguns #globarms #unipd #sorbonne

Now Félicien Faury is talking about the commercial logic and politicisation processes behind the self-defence market in contemporary France #euguns #globarms #unipd #sorbonne

Today's conference, entitled "Le Prix de L'Autodéfense" (The Price of Self-Defence) and organised in cooperation with @sorbonne-universite.fr, opens with an introduction from the organisers, @roxanebm.bsky.social and @azzab.bsky.social, and is followed by a paper from @arnaudhoute.bsky.social .

Meet our expert on the Italian gun history, Lorenzo Pera! He is a graduate of the University of Pisa and the universities of Firenze and Siena, where he obtained his PhD. His research interests focus on the history of fascism and WW2, including the cultures and practices of fascist violence.

Our team, consisting of Roxane, Andrea and Matteo as well as Lorenzo Pera, will present their work on self-defence, guns as material objects and private law enforcement agencies. Sign up for the event at sophie.lhermitte@univ-paris1.fr. #euguns #globarms #gunhistory #europeanhistory #sorbonne #unipd

The event, entitled “Le prix de l’autodéfense. Acteurs et actrices, armes et dispositifs de sécurité privée en France et en Italie (19e-21e siècle)ˮ, has been co-funded by the Franco-Italian University and will take place on February 20 at Centre d'Histoire du 19e siècle in Paris.

EU-GUNS & GlobArms are not slowing down and coming to you with a new event! In cooperation with @arnaudhoute.bsky.social from @sorbonne-universite.fr, @roxanebm.bsky.social, @azzab.bsky.social and @matteomillan.bsky.social are organising a symposium on self-defence and private security in FR and IT.

EU-GUNS & GlobArms are not slowing down and coming to you with a new event! In cooperation with @arnaudhoute.bsky.social from @sorbonne-universite.fr, @roxanebm.bsky.social, @azzab.bsky.social and @matteomillan.bsky.social are organising a symposium on self-defence and private security in FR and IT.

We're back with our series of staff introductions, and @martinjx2.bsky.social is up next! Born and raised in Stockholm, he studied history at the universities of Uppsala, Edinburgh and Gothenburg...

The annual meeting of @historians.org is over! We were there to present the GlobArms and EU-GUNS projects as well as discuss the state of research on the history of guns with our colleagues from the US and Europe in a three-session panel entitled "Gun Culture and Gun Control in the USA and Europe".

At @historians.org, we met new and old friends. EU-GUNS & GlobArms have been collaborating, among others, with the @recetvienna.bsky.social Linking Arms project. The PI of that project, Rosamund Johnston, was there to talk about it. Find out more about the project at: www.recet.at/research/pro...

Dr. @rblakebrown.bsky.social of @historysmu.bsky.social was a visiting professor last month at @unipd.bsky.social in #Italy. His activities included a guest lecture on "Canadian Gun Culture and Firearm Regulation, 1867-1935". @euguns.bsky.social @matteomillan.bsky.social #SMUHistory #artswithimpact

EUGUNS@euguns.bsky.social · 8mo ago

1) On December 15, Prof. Blake Brown (@rblakebrown.bsky.social) from St Mary’s University (Canada) will deliver a guest lecture as part of Prof. Matteo Millan’s course „Politica e violenza in età contemporanea”, entitled „Canadian gun culture and firearm regulation, 1867-1935”.

On Dec. 18 in #Italy, Dr. @rblakebrown.bsky.social of @historysmu.bsky.social presented at a @euguns.bsky.social / #GlobArms conference on New Perspectives on the History of Firearms. His topic was "Charles Stark and Firearms Retailing in late 19th-Century Canada". #SMUHistory

Roxane Bonnardel Mira@roxanebm.bsky.social · 8mo ago

@azzab.bsky.social and @matteomillan.bsky.social's conference starts today! @rblakebrown.bsky.social inaugurates the workshop with a microhistorical investigation on a Toronto-based arms retailer.

What a day at the AHA! The EU-GUNS folks put together three outstanding panels on US-Europe gun history. So good!

EUGUNS@euguns.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The 3rd part of our panel, "An Armed Nation Versus a Disarmed Continent? Gun Culture and Gun Control in the USA and Europe", chaired by @drewmckevitt.bsky.social at the annual meeting of @historians.org in Chicago, is going on now. #aha2026 #euguns #globarms #gunhistory #armshistory

The head of our project, @matteomillan.bsky.social, is now outlining the EU-GUNS project, its goals and lines of research. #aha2026 #euguns #gunhistory