BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Plant protection in France and Germany from the 1930s to the 1950s : the case of the Colorado potato beetle - Margot Lyautey (EHESS\, Paris/T ùˆbingen) DTSTART:20181126T130000Z DTEND:20181126T140000Z UID:TALK110356@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Laura Brassington DESCRIPTION:In this paper\, I aim at proposing a French-German history of the rise of chemical insecticides from the 1930s to the 1950s using the Co lorado potato beetle as a case study. This particular insect was one of th e most feared agricultural pests after World War I. Being such a big threa t for food supply in France and Germany\, especially during World War II\, the potato beetle was considered as public enemy number one in agricultur e. It was also one of the first agricultural pests fought at a European le vel through chemical means\, and was contemporary to the advent of chemica l pesticides. Originating from the USA\, hence the name _Colorado_\, the p otato beetle infested Europe in the early 1920s\, starting in Bordeaux's h aven and then spreading year after year until the end of the 1950s. Furthe rmore\, this insect had strong cultural implications throughout the 20th c entury. In World War II German occupation soldiers were nicknamed 'Potato Beetles' ('Doryphores') by the French population because they were invader s and were known to eat a lot of potatoes. After the war\, the Colorado po tato beetle was presented in East Germany in communist propaganda to be a biological weapon used by the USA\, in order to sabotage socialist agricul ture with insects supposedly brought on German territory using planes. Thr ough a French-German history of the fight against the Colorado potato beet le\, I will try to show what comparative history can bring to the history of agriculture\, which is often studied inside national frames. LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR