Ali Bassam Zahid

Profile

Upon completing an MA in Black Sea and East Mediterranean Studies at the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki, Greece, I returned to Spain where I undertook another MA, this time in Contemporary History at the Universitat de Barcelona. Since then my research has centred around the Greek International Brigade volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and the ramifications of the conflict a decade later during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949).

Research interests

I have a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Southampton and a Master of Arts in the Black Sea & East Mediterranean Studies from the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki. In September 2024, I gained an MA in Contemporary History from the Universitat de Barcelona. My current doctoral research is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council via the White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities.

During my studies in Spain and Greece, I discovered the involvement of Greek volunteers in the Spanish Civil War had largely bypassed scholarly attention and I began to compile a database of the Greek volunteers. In conjunction with the CRAI de la Pavelló archive, in Barcelona, the database offers a rich means to fill the vacuum within the story of the Greek Internationals in Spain. Together we hope the database will help relatives trace family histories and offer the public a chance to learn about their important history. I continue to build the database and with the help of the International Brigades Memorial Trust (IBMT), I have launched an appeal to descendants of the Greek volunteers to help supply further information.

With the IBMT I have also published the article ‘From the Spanish and Greek Civil Wars and into Exile’ (2024). In 2024, I also presented a research paper, ‘The Odyssey of the Greek International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War’, at a colloquium organised by the Society of Modern Greek Studies. The colloquium, organised with the help of City University London, introduced Greek and international scholars to the emerging debate about Greek International Brigade volunteers.

My research also aims to disentangle the ramifications of the Spanish Civil War for Greek politics after the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). In collaboration with the Universitat de Barcelona, my most recent MA dissertation, ‘Waves Across the Mediterranean: Transnational Solidarity Resurrecting the Legacy of the Spanish Civil War during the Greek Civil War’ (2024), explored how Greek communists aligned their struggle to the post-civil war guerrilla war in Spain. After their time with the International Brigades, the memories, personal stories, transnational antifascist solidarities and internationalist ties forged in Spain significantly shaped the strategies drawn by the Greek communists at the start of the Greek Civil War. I hope to publish the dissertation in article form shortly.

Awards

(2023, May 17). ‘Certificate of Excellence’ in recognition of outstanding contribution to the Master of Arts in ‘Black Sea and East Mediterranean Studies’ at the International Hellenic University (Thessaloniki; Greece).

Conferences

Zahid, A.B. (2023, April 25 & 26). ‘Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics in Ukraine: Stalin’s Imperial & Pan-Slavic Model of Geopolitics Revived by the War in Ukraine.’ From Crimea to Suez: Shifting Balances in Geopolitics and Continuities Across History in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Zahid, A.B. (2024, September 17). ‘The Odyssey of the Greek International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.’ Graduate Research Colloquium Society of Modern Greek Studies.

Publications

Zahid, A.B. (2024). ‘From the Spanish and Greek Civil Wars and into Exile.’ International Brigade Memorial Trust, September 30.

Zahid, A.B. (2024). ‘The Odyssey of the Greek International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.’ The Journal of Historical Association – under peer review.

Zahid, A.B. (2023). ‘No Pasaran!’ The Lausanne Project, July 23.

Qualifications

• University of Southampton: Second Class Honours (Upper Division)
• International Hellenic University: 9.75/10
• Universitat de Barcelona: 8.65/10

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for the History of Ibero-America
• War Studies
• History
• Memory, Trauma and Violence
• Politics, Diplomacy, and International History