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The paper discusses the phenomenon of the persistence of the military, political, and social function of the present-day Bohemian-Bavarian borderland, shaped by the mountain ranges of the Bohemian Forest and the Šumava. The authors have traced the development of settlement patterns in prehistory, the Middle Ages, and the modern period, extending their studies to cover also to recent times. The discussed area constituted a barrier that limited cultural influences from both sides, which is reflected in the discovered relics of material culture. The paper also discusses, using numerous examples, the symbolic role of strongholds and castles located on mountain peaks, which came down to demonstrating the presence of power over the surrounding territory. The Bohemian-Bavarian frontier can also be seen as a peculiar landscape of conflict, which through its morphological characteristics imposed a timeless borderland form of political, military and social organisation.
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The article presents the analysis of the list of the participants in the battle for Halych between the end of March and early April 1221. The main sides of the conflict were the King of Halych and the Hungarian Prince Coloman with his allies and the representative of the Smolensk branch of the Mstislavovids Prince of Torchesk Mstislav Mstislavich and his supporters. The scope of information provided in written records allows us to classify the aforementioned battle as one of the largest not only in Galicia (and more specifically for its capital) but in general – in the lands of the Rurikids until the Mongol invasion. This is confirmed not only by the results of the prosopographic studies carried out in this publication but also by unique for the Rus’-Hungarian inter-dynasty relationships – the first and only one instance when the Hungarian-Polish royal couple (King Coloman and his wife Salomea) by a Rus’ prince, their long imprisonment and further diplomatic negotiations on the conditions of their release. The brilliant victory of Prince Mstislav was determined both by the scale of resources mobilized for the campaign from the Kyiv, Smolensk and, the Cuman steppe and the unyielding attitude of Halych’s defenders. For over a year Coloman and his companions-in-arms fortified and actively defended the city. The fatality of the besieged King of Galicia’s position on the eve of the capturing of Halych by the Rus’ Princes was worsened by the absence of his father Andrew II in Hungary, who together with his wife, the eldest son Béla and daughter Maria, as part of the large delegation, travelled to the Bulgarian border at the beginning of March 1221 (a fact that Prince Mstislav was aware of), which prevented the Arpads to quickly come to the Coloman’s rescue.
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The aim of the study is to show the levels on which Polish women joined the endeavour to regain independence after the period of the Partitions. Principally, the study covers the time period from 1914 to the end of the Polish–Bolshevik War in 1921. However, in order to fully present the background of the pro-defence activities of Polish women, the text also refers to a number of events from the period preceding the outbreak of World War I. The activity of female combatants in the struggle for independence and establishment of national borders during the Second Polish Republic is also discussed. The text consists of two parts: in the first part, the author presents the participation of women in paramilitary organisations and armed struggle during World War I and their participation in the Greater Poland Uprising and in the battles for Lviv in Eastern Galicia. She also discusses the activities of women in the Legions, the Polish Military Organisation, and the Voluntary Legion of Women. The second part of the study presents the contribution of civilian women's organisations, in particular the Polish White Cross, to help soldiers and civilians injured in combat. The author points to the role played by the Women’s League for War Alert and the League of Women of Galicia and Cieszyn Silesia in securing the army's material base. Faced with the threat of the Bolshevik invasion, women not only actively supported the combatants, but also created a resilient defence propaganda machine in dozens of magazines. The author discusses the agitation campaign for joining the Volunteer Army. The activists of women's associations organised lotteries, festivities, and competitions, during which they raised funds to support the fighters. The sources of the paper are memoirs and the relevant period press, as well as contemporary monographs and scientific articles.
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In the last three decades of the 19th century, the rising popularity of bicycles attracted the attention of army commanders. Soon, they noticed the striking advantages of using bicycles, including speeding up the infantry’s movements. Another great benefit was that bicycles did not require much attention, unlike the most renowned yet demanding form of transportation – horses, which necessitated the presence of special troops in the cavalry to take care of the animals. Therefore, cycling proved to be the cheapest form of personal transportation for the army at that time. Since its establishment, the Czechoslovak army has used bicycle units. Each border battalion had its own company of cyclists. In the early 1930s, there were several studies on bicycle units and shortly after that, four bicycle battalions joined the cavalry brigades. In 1937, a fifth bicycle battalion was formed. These units were considered to be the most well-trained, forming a valuable part of the fast divisions. In 1938, bicycle battalions were a part of the operation against the uprising of Heinlein’s terrorists; bicycle units also operated on the territory of Subcarpathian Rus, suppressing the activities of Polish and Hungarian sabotage groups. The article discusses the history of the development of the Czechoslovakian bicycle units and scrutinises how the Czechoslovak military perceived this phenomenon. The paper also includes information about foreign bicycle units.
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On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. A week later, on June 29, the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the communist party (Bolshevists) of Ukraine (CP(b)U) issued a directive to the front-line party organisations, in which they called for the creation of partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight against the Wehrmacht. Special forces were established for this purpose, consisting of party members, Komsomol, and Soviet activists at the regional, city, and district levels. Already in early July, such a task force began to operate in Kharkiv. In addition to the aforementioned persons, the unit included employees of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs. The NKVD officers were responsible for the creation of local partisan detachments, and party and Komsomol workers were involved in the formation of underground units. In addition, the anti-German resistance included sabotage groups, scouts, signalmen, and a network of safe houses, also selected by the NKVD. Leaders of the party, Komsomol, Soviet authorities, heads of some enterprises, institutions, collective farms, NKVD employees, and medical workers operated behind the enemy lines. Special bases holding ammunition, food, medicines, and other necessary supplies were also formed to support the underground units. People who had collaborated with NKVD before the war became the operatives responsible for sending reports to the Soviets about the political and economic situation in Kharkiv and its environs, and the attitude of the local population towards the Germans, their allies, and collaborators.
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The assumption of the post of Prime Minister of Japan by General Tojo Hideki on 17 October 1941 was interpreted in London as a prelude to further aggressive actions on the part of Tokyo. The purpose of this article is to examine what steps the British government took to prepare for a potential confrontation in diplomatic and military fields. A key reinforcement of British forces was the creation of the Far East Fleet squadron intended to serve as a primary deterrent, which was done at the expense of weakening the position of the British Navy in other areas. In contrast, land troops in the Malay region received only token support. The Air Force was in the worst position, as there were far too few aircraft for defensive purposes and they were not of the best quality. However, due to the involvement on other fronts and supplying military equipment to the Soviet Union, it was impossible to deliver more weapons to Southeast Asia. In the area of diplomacy, the main effort was directed at securing guarantees of support from the United States. However, due to the Neutrality Acts and the general reluctance of the American public to participate in the war, only verbal promises of assistance were obtained. Cooperation with the Dutch East Indies authorities went much better and they remained the most important ally for the British Empire in the area. In addition, attempts were made to enlist the cooperation of Thailand, but London’s offer to that country remained extremely unattractive, as the British were unable to provide guarantees of territorial integrity for the Thais. All these factors, combined with a misreading of Japanese intentions, meant that Britain entered the armed conflict with Japan poorly prepared, leading to the defeat at the Battle of Malaya and the fall of Singapore.
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The report examines the People's Republic of China's (PRC) new espionage legislation. Attention is paid to the Criminal Code of the PRC, but also to the new Counterespionage Law of 2023, which seriously strengthens the legal measures to protect the security of the PRC. Views are provided on the legal approaches used in China, as well as the degree of risk to foreign persons and entities wishing to conduct business services in that country or employ Chinese nationals in light of possible espionage charges. At the legislative level, measures have been introduced to hinder the activities of foreign intelligence services and to protect state secrets of the PRC, but this creates risks for the normal business activities of foreign companies in PRC.
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The report presents the activity of the volunteer formations for disaster protection. The types of volunteers and the specifics of their use are examined. The results of a survey of the disposition of the population towards participating in volunteer formations for disaster protection in municipalities. The activities that the participants in the survey would like to perform, the stimuli, that would potentially increase the participation of the population in such formations and the potential reasons for its limited participation are presented.
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The report analyzes the characteristic features of the combat space for conducting unconventional warfare (Irregular Warfare-IW), taking into account the changes and peculiarities in the specifics and characteristics of combat actions at the current stage of the development of armed conflicts in different regions. By using the forms and approaches of intelligence anal-sis and taking into ac-count the requirements of the four successive stages of the intelligence cycle, the methods and ap-proaches are formulated for using the potential of the types of technical intelligence and of intelli-gence using the human factor in the interest of obtaining and interpreting information correspond-ing in volume and direction in the interest of the objectives and tasks of unconventional warfare (IW). The systematization of the obtained analytical assessments ensures the determination of the role and effects of conducting information and psychological operations with the use of modern information technologies in the preparation and implementation of unconventional combat actions (IW). The requirements for the specialized training of the analyst teams, performing analysis and evaluation of the obtained specific information regarding the characteristics of the unconventional battlefield and preparing the final intelligence product, have been determined in order of im-portance.
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The report analyzes the rapidly developing processes in the changed geostrategic environment, which with the beginning of the new century are being activated, changing and emerging as increasingly contradictory. The ever-increasing geopolitical contradictions, both in the global and regional aspects, which pose a threat to the Bulgarian geo space, are investigated. These processes also affect Bulgaria, as a participant in the international security system. For this reason, clarifying their genesis, driving forces and motives would help to build an adequate vision and behavior of the country in an increasingly complicated geopolitical and geostrategic situation. Constantly increasing security threats, risks and challenges have a significant impact on societal security, which is directly dependent on the development of the war in Ukraine and migration processes in Europe.
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The article examines the possibility of protecting files containing personal data or sensitive information using envelope encryption. The principle of this type of encryption, its advantages and disadvantages compared to other types of encryptions is described. Examples of the practical use of envelope encryption for working with files, the content of which must be protected, and access to the information in them should be possible only for certain users.
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The importance of innovation activity for modern development has been examined and the main concepts and definitions related to the field of innovation activity have been derived, and based on the achievements of leading researchers in this field, a generalized definition of the term innovation has been proposed. The place and importance of innovation for the defense industry is noted.
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The aim of this paper is to describe the main advantages of the application of different types of planar antennas in security based on their design, functionalities, and limitations, considering that they are suitable for various applications such as AM radio (0.5 MHz – 1.6 MHz) and FM radio (88 MHz – 108 MHz), Wi-Fi (2.4 – 5 GHz), Bluetooth (2.4 GHz), control of access through identification systems with radio frequency tags (Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and mobile data. The analysis of software products for the simulation modeling of a wide variety of microwave devices, including planar antennas, contributes to the correct selection of a product that will satisfy the requirements for the credibility of the research and the reliability of the generated results.
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The text discusses aspects of the emergence of geopolitics as a theory based on the synthesis of knowledge from history, geography and political science. Attention is paid to the geopolitical dimensions of national state power. It briefly defines what constitutes great (great powers), middle and weak states and their role in global politics. The elements characterizing the national power of a country are mentioned. A brief definition of military conflict is defined, as well as expectations of what types of military conflicts will eventually be fought in the world. A proper assessment of the country's place, interests and capabilities in the new security environment is presented as a basis for making the right choices.
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Bulgaria occupies a strategic territory playing an important role in the formation of world politics. The challenges arising from this fact outweigh the advantages. Imperial interests intersecting on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, both now and in history, is forced to wage a constant struggle for independence and sovereignty. The post-socialist period allowed the emergence of organized crime, which subsequently grew into international organized criminal groups, the influence of which continues to grow to this day. The positions that the Republic of Bulgaria occupies in the international rankings related to economic indicators, corruption, demography, crime, etc., show that the society is experiencing enormous difficulties in the transition to a Parliamentary Republic and the building of democratic traditions.
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The paper presents a review of counter drone measures in contemporary warfare. An emphasis is put onto small and tactical UAVs. Open sources freely available over Internet are used for the review. The conclusions are made in order to suggest the adoption of such know-how in Bulgarian armed forces
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The report examines issues related to the establishment and activities of the National Resistance Front (NFS) in Afghanistan. The organizational structure, leadership and ideological platform of the NFS are indicated, as well as the forms of resistance to the rule of the Taliban Movement (TM). The reasons why the NFS is currently the only opposition force opposing Taliban rule are analyzed as well. The report focuses on the Taliban operations in the north-eastern Afghan provinces against NFS forces, with a focus on Panjshir province.
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The transition from an industrial and post-industrial economy to the so-called "digital economy" or an economy based on the networked use of information and communication technologies at the beginning of the 21st century has been considered as a major factor for economic growth. The overall construction of a digital ecosystem within global and national economies has been assessed as a significant component of economic development and an institutional basis for sustainable growth, competitiveness and a high standard of living. The formation is traced and a generalized definition of the concept of "digital economy" is given, and the leading role of information and communication (digital) technologies in the modern economy is emphasized.
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The system of generally speaking “standard” and additional or “alternative” education (training), and the form of self-training characteristic of the armed forces, form a complex result necessary for building, maintaining and developing over time the capabilities of the troops and forces with a direct impact on national security. The concept of national security is extremely broad, which is why the current development emphasizes on the specific role of training and especially on the self-training of the personnel. Deduced is the dependence between the level of education and the results in the quality of activity of the systems, and hence the overall level of preparation.
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