The London Moment: Workshop Summary
Last October, the London Moment Project held a workshop in Bayreuth at the Alexander von Humboldt Haus. Researchers from around Europe met together over two days to discuss different aspects of how the European governments-in-exile had conducted themselves during the Second World War. There was a particular focus on the activities of Black London activists during the Second World War and how the governments maintained lines of communication amongst themselves, internally, and with outside groups.
Dr. Cassandra Mark-Thiessen (Universitaet Bayreuth) and Dr. Mirco Schoenfeld (Universitaet Bayreuth) chaired our first panel, during which Dr. Olly Ayers (Northeastern University) and Dr. Julia Eichenberg (Universitaet Bayreuth) presented their work mapping London. Dr. Ayers showcased his project entitled Mapping Black London, developed in conjunction with scholars in London and Boston. This project seeks to highlight centers of activity for Black activists in London during WWII, and has also expanded to documenting Black communities from earlier periods in the city’s history. The use of mapping technology has allowed them to show the physical dimensions of the recorded Black community in London and bring their experience of the city to the forefront. Dr. Eichenberg unveiled the London Moment’s very own map of buildings around London which housed the offices of the governments-in-exile, as well as certain pertinent landmarks. Our work is very much of a piece with Dr. Ayers’ as it shows the life of the city-within-the-city, bringing a sense of bustling vitality to the seemingly haphazard jumble of buildings in London. Furthermore, our map shows how extensively the continental governments were arrayed around the city, illuminating part of London’s multicultural character during the Second World War.
Dr. Artemis Ignatidou chaired our next panel, which included Dr. Jean Crombois’ (American University in Bulgaria) presentation on the negotiations of the Belgian government-in-exile with other governments in London, and Dr. Pawel Jakubec’s (University of Gothenburg) presentation of his research on the negotiations with the small governments-in-exile with their larger counterparts. Dr. Crombois discussed the precarity of the Belgian situation during the war as a smaller power. The Belgian exile government was unusual in that their monarch, Leopold II, was open to cooperating with the Nazis and personally contested the exile government’s claim to represent the nation. Initially stationed in France, the government was pressured into moving to London when Marcel-Henri Jaspar and Camille Huysmans sought to establish their own exile government. Hubert Pierlot and his cabinet moved to Britain and immediately had to begin asserting their legitimacy, including showing the other exile governments their authority over and access to the resources of the Belgian Congo. Dr. Jakubec spoke on a similar theme, but shifted his focus to the governments of Czechoslovakia, Norway, and Poland. While these governments had relatively few resources to offer the other Allied governments, they were still able to exercise their agency and establish a level of credibility. They had to establish unity within their own governments to effectively advocate for themselves. At the same time, they negotiated a line between their own interests and being cooperative with the bigger powers who were leading liberation efforts.
The third and fourth panels were held on the second day; Dr. Astrid Swenson (Universitaet Bayreuth) chaired the third. A former member of the London Moment project, Simeon Marty (Humboldt Universitaet – Berlin), presented his research into Pan-African activists in London during the war, then Dr. Vincent Kuitenbrouwer (Universiteit van Amsterdam) shared his presentation on how the Dutch government-in-exile represented their Indonesian colony during the war. Marty’s research can partially be seen as part of our map in the Panafrican Ideas story map. He is chiefly interested in the work of Black activists in London and how the city became a hub of anti-colonial activity. Figures like Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, and Una Marson lived in the city during the war and participated in a lively network of organizations. Marty explores how these anti-colonial groups formulated an alternate world order in which the colonial territories gained their independence to remain territories rather than become nation states. Dr. Kuitenbrouwer showed us how one government-in-exile exercised its colonial authority during the war, particularly in how the Dutch broadcast a particular image of Indonesia to Dutch citizens still in occupied Europe. This was principally achieved through the operation of Radio Oranje, the exile government’s official radio service. The government portrayed itself as a moral force in Indonesia to help shepherd the colony into becoming a modern society. At the same time, it ordered soldiers to crack down on the Indonesian independence movement with extreme violence.
Florian Kuehnel (LMU Munich) chaired our workshop’s final panel, which explored how some select women were able to contribute to the negotiations between exile governments from within and without official channels. Dr. Katja Seidel (University of Westminster) discussed her research into the life of Miriam Camp, an American State Department official. Through Camp’s work in various offices at the US Embassy in London, she played a significant role in the birth of the Marshall Plan. Dr. Seidel also spoke about how closely situated the American community in London was, elucidating a bit of what Camp’s day-to-day life would have looked like in an area known as “Little America.” This research explores not just who helped design and implement the Marshall Plan, but also raises questions about the state-sanctioned nature of relief efforts and their inner-workings. In the last presentation of our workshop, Dr. Eichenberg spoke about the lives of Dr. Ethel John Lindgren-Utsi and Lucy Phillimore to expose how women facilitated the work of the exile governments. Dr. Lindgren-Utsi had been a lecturer in anthropology at Cambridge before the war, and during the war she worked at Chatham House as a liaison officer for Allied forces. Phillimore was a wealthy socialite who often held parties which government officials attended. This made her a significant factor in the fostering of positive relations between the Allies despite her lack of a role in government. Their stories show how women were able to make important contributions to the exile governments in an era where social norms pressured them not to participate.
We are delighted to say the workshop was a great success and look forward to further collaboration on research regarding the governments-in-exile! Special thanks to the Alexander von Humboldt Haus, all of the attendees, and the Volkswagen Stiftung.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
jackteague (July 7, 2025). The London Moment: Workshop Summary. The London Moment. Retrieved April 21, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14ap3
























