From 1900 to 1923, five sessions of the International Congress of Historical Sciences were held in large cities in Europe, with a considerable conference size and the average number of participants of 700. The host cities were Paris in 1900, Rome in 1903, Berlin in 1908, London in 1913 and Brussels in 1923. During the fifth International Congress of Historical Sciences in Brussels 1923, it had passed a resolution to set up an International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS), a permanent organization belonging to the League of Nations that would convene regular meetings every five years and deal with other routine tasks.

Suspended during the two world wars, it has already been held 21 times so far. Apart form the three congresses which took place in the U.S., Canada and Australia, Europe has shown an absolute advantage in hosting the rest. Being the most influential academic activity of historical sciences, it enjoys the reputation of “Olympics of Historians”, with 1500-2000 historians from around the world in attendance in recent decades. The highest number of participants in former sessions has surpassed 3000.

The congress of the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS) went through three stages of development: During the two world wars, it took responsibility for transcending erstwhile nationalism and resolving divergences between historians of the opposing sides in the war. From 1950 to 1990, it focused on promoting contact, exchange and discussion concerning controversial topics between historians from the Eastern and Western camps. Through the 1990s to the beginning of 21st century, under the background of globalization, it stressed the importance of applying new methods on transnational historical researches and uniting intellectuals in the historical sciences from outside the Western countries.