Page 22 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

22 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

les continents y trouvent leur compte. C’est d’ailleurs une ville carrefour – et non la capitale
- qui a été choisie pour cadre de notre Congrès. A l’intersection des mondes roman, germa-
nique, et slave, Trieste est aussi une fenêtre ouverte sur la Méditerranée, qui relie l’Europe,
l’Asie et l’Afrique.
Those who haven’t got sea legs, needn’t worry: mentally speaking, we do not need to
travel by sea, to return to another port at the extremeties of the southern hemisphere – you
have understood that I want to speak about Cape Town in South Africa. The proceedings of
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the 33 International Congress of Military History have just been published and we will be
able to plunge back into the temperate climate of the austral winter and relive the intense mo-
ments that the South African Commission provided us for last year. Many thanks to General
Mollo and his team for having shared with us the culture and history of a fascinating region,
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for the quality of their welcome and the 33 congress which was of an excellent academic
level.
During last spring, our friend and Vice-President, Dr. Allan Millet was our host in New
Orleans during the meeting of the Executive Board, while attending the remarkable collo-
quium on cinema and World War II. I thank him a lot for his part in organising it all and profit
from the occasion to congratulate him for winning the Pritzker Military Library Literature
Award 2008, which honours his entire career as a military historian. I’d also like to salute
Dr. Hans Pawlisch, who will succeed Dr. John Lynn as president of the American Commis-
sion for Military History, which, once more, has come in force (more than 40 members are
present, taking part in no more than five lectures and round tables)!
La Commission française d’histoire militaire, qui fêtait cette année sa 75e année d’exis-
tence, m’a aussi fait l’amitié de m’inviter, au début du mois de juin, à une très intéressante
journée d’étude à Paris, qui portait sur la diplomatie militaire. Je l’en remercie, en la person-
ne de ses président et secrétaire général, le Dr. Jean Avenel et le Dr. Pierre-Emmanuel Barral,
et j’adresse aussi un salut amical au Pr. Jean-Nicolas Corvisier de l’Université d’Arras, à qui
je demanderai de transmettre nos meilleures salutations à notre président d’honneur, le Pr.
andré Corvisier.
Malgré des difficultés de financement auxquelles une solution durable est à l’étude, le
tome 29 de la Bibliographie internationale d’histoire militaire est fidèle au rendez-vous. Je
salue donc le travail assidu accompli par le Major Dimitri Queloz et son équipe pour mener
à bien cette tâche dans des conditions plus incertaines que par le passé. Je profite aussi de
l’occasion pour souligner que, si la Bibliographie existe, partiellement, sous format numé-
rique, c’est notamment grâce à la Commission italienne d’histoire militaire, qui héberge la
Bibliographie sur son site web. Qu’elle en soit également remerciée !
One of our very active correspondents of the International Bibliography of Military His-
tory was Captain Igor Amosov of the Russian Commission for Military History. Unfortu-
nately, Igor has left us, as has Dr. Mario Duic of the Austrian Commission. I heard yesterday
that our old friend and colleague, General and Doctor Jehuda Wallach, from Israel, died some
days ago. He was not only a historian but also a famous commander during the different wars
of Israel. I’d like to offer my condolences to their colleagues and families and invite you to
observe a moment of silence.
Several commissions have sent word on their activities and publications. I invite you all