RELIGION AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR TRENDS IN RECENT HISTORIOGRAPHY IN BELGIUM

In the 2014 edition of the Jan Roes Lecture in Nijmegen, the Dutch historian Jan Bank (Leiden) called the interaction of "Religion, churches and war" a cultural confrontation.1 This characterization hits the mark and directly raises the issue of historians' changing perceptions of the interaction. But how far have historians gone in researching this topic? What are the relevant developments? What trends can we identify in the historical research? Treating such a subject requires a somewhat encyclopedic or factual approach. While not always the most exciting of approaches, it does encourage reflection on the interaction between historical scholarship, culture and society. It also uncovers other approaches and perceptions and affords insight into the interactions and the changing or evolving perceptions of successive generations. In any case it is a valid scholarly approach to cultural and even social history.