Claire Morelon

Claire Morelon is a Lecturer in Modern European History (19th Century) at the University of Manchester's Department of History. Her research focuses on Habsburg Central Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between war, revolution, and social order. She holds a dual PhD from the University of Birmingham and Sciences Po, following earlier studies at Sciences Po and Yale University.

Her major work includes the upcoming monograph Streetscapes of War and Revolution: Prague, 1914-1920 (Cambridge UP, 2024), analyzing urban transformations during World War I and the shift to nation-states. Her current project explores opposition to democratization in late Habsburg Austria, examining employer strategies, anti-worker mobilizations, and fears of social unrest. Methodologically, she integrates sensory history and material culture, such as studying wartime disruptions to soundscapes via church bell requisitions in Austria-Hungary.

Dr. Morelon has held fellowships at the University of Padua and the Queen’s College, Oxford, and has received awards including the Stanley Z. Pech Prize for Best Article (2020). She contributes to the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at Manchester and her work aligns with UN SDGs addressing peaceful societies and sustainable communities.

Her research outputs span articles in Past & Present and Austrian History Yearbook, as well as chapters in edited volumes. She actively supervises PhD students focusing on East Central Europe’s 19th- and 20th-century conflicts and revolutions.