Un funcționar și preocupările sale în afara oficiului: Ioan Corbu (1873–1954)

Author(s): Vlad Popovici / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 63/2024

The paper offers a short biographical glimpse on a Romanian civil servant from Transylvania at the beginning of the 20th century: Ioan Corbu. He spent most of his life in the service of Beszterce-Naszód/Bistrița-Năsăud County, first at the Orphanage see, then at the County Law Court, and had an average bureaucratic career. His interests however were lying closer to the field of arts and science, while his social- political opinions were made of entwined nationalist feelings and socialist ideals. He was part of the Romanian students’ committee during the Memorandum lawsuit, but shortly after he wrote a socialist manifesto, followed by an atheist one. In the early 1900s he developed an astronomical theory for which he claimed priority over professional scientists, wrote literature, popular science and social-political articles in the Romanian journals of the time. I. Corbu was actively involved in the 1918 political and administrative shift of power in his home county, but the regime change did not boost his career. Instead, he continued his scientific work related mostly to astronomy, trying to achieve national and international recognition, while at the same time editing a freely distributed personal review which became a sort of public diary. Throughout his life he constantly supported, actively and financially, many literary and scientific societies as well as civic initiatives. While the range, diversity and relentlessness of his activities greatly surpass the average civil servant preoccupations, they remain testimony of the multifold identities, loyalties and doctrinary options that characterized the Romanian middle class in Transylvania at the beginning of the 20th century.

Pád komunistických režimů sovětského bloku: selhali specialisté na sociální vědy?

Author(s): Miroslav Novák / Language(s): Czech Issue: 44/2024

The purpose of this paper is to examine a claim that we have encountered more than once in the academic literature: whether the social sciences failed to predict such a basic fact as the “domino” fall of communism in the Soviet bloc countries. In this article I first specify what can be expected from the social sciences in these matters. I begin with the most general one, namely whether statements about future contingent events can be qualified as true or false at all. I briefly refer here to the famous lines from Aristotle’s Peri herméneiás, according to which sense is only to regard one of the future possibilities as more probable than the opposite possibility. This is immediately followed – with reference to Daniel Bell, Seymour Martin Lipset and György Bence – by the distinction between “processes” and “events”. Accordingly, social sciences do not have the necessary tools to predict “events”; they can only guess in advance which medium‑term “processes” or trends are most likely. Having thus cleared the terrain, I have distinguished between, on the one hand, the breakdown of the Soviet Union and, on the other hand, the collapse of communism in the Soviet “bloc” countries (although the two are related), and I have selected three specialist(s) who seriously addressed these issues in their famous works, especially in the second half of the 1970s. They were Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, who focused only on the possible disintegration of the Soviet Union; Andrei Amalrik, who looked at the possible collapse of the communist regime in the Soviet Union, and Emmanuel Todd, who estimated what changes were likely to occur in the Soviet Union itself and how Central European countries like Hungary and Poland were likely to develop (differently from the USSR). Amalrik’s probabilistic “scenarios” of the development of the Soviet Union and Russia itself, and in particular Todd’s predictions of the “final collapse”, were in essence confirmed. Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, in turn, was quite correct in her assessment of the development of Russian nationalism and the future role of Islam. Having shown that the likelihood of the fall of communism in the Soviet bloc countries was not only predictable, but that some specialists had indeed predicted it, I then logically turned to the question of why the majority of social science specialists (not just so‑called Sovietologists or Kremlinologists) were so surprised and taken aback by the fall of communism in the Soviet bloc countries. I mentioned ideological and academic reasons. Of the academic ones I mention two. First, that in the 1960s and 1970s the so‑called theory of the convergence of the communist “East” and the liberal‑democratic “West” was quite widespread. Secondly, and above all, that in the United States, where there were by far the most representatives of the social sciences and “Sovietologists”, the so‑called revisionists became established within “communist studies” from the late 1960s onwards. The early collapse of the communist regimes in the Soviet bloc was something unthinkable to them.

Povestea de viață ca document: formarea intelectuală a lui Iuliu Moisil (1859–1947)

Author(s): Lavinia Moldovan / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 38/2024

Deeply personal yet historically significant, the writings of Iuliu Moisil (1859–1947),an intellectual from Năsăud, preserve for posterity the trajectory of his professional and personallife, offering a meaningful perspective on the events that shaped his existence. His works capture not only his individual experiences but also the constraints and ideals of his generation’s era. Mosil’s journal, begun in 1878 and maintained for nearly seven decades, provides an authentic account of his life, integrating daily experiences, personal reflections, and insights into the social, educational, and political dimensions of the world he inhabited. Focusing on his educational journey, this article examines how Mosil’s writings reconstruct the atmosphere of his homeland, the organization of the border guards’ educational system, and the challenges he faced as a student in Vienna. By blending documentary fidelity with introspective reflections, Moisil creates a narrative that intertwines individual experiences with the values of his family and education, set against the backdrop of the Romantic era’s aspirations. His story reflectsa time defined by national ideals and profound societal transformations, offering a bridge between personal memory and collective history.

Raul Dona și sfârșitul Primului Război Mondial

Author(s): Petre Din / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 38/2024

Raul Dona is the paradigm of the Romanian intellectual who, in the context of Romania’s involvement in the First World War, participated in this conflict to achieve national aspirations.The support that fuels the impetus needed to overcome the feeling of insecurity and of joiningto Romania’s war effort is the ideal for national unification. His gestures decodes a multitude ofattitudes, values and beliefs that trigger the voluntary acceptance of the deprivations and sacrifices that imply any military conflict.His notes abound in information that focuses on the peace negotiations between the Romanianand Central Powers` officials for the country exiting the war, on the injustices generated by the local and central authorities which do not satisfy the real needs of Romanians manifested by the alarming increase in prices and the lack of medicines in hospitals. Furthermore, the diary is an illustration of the mood of Romanians facing the feeling of insecurity created by the general situation of military operations, speculation in most foods, the negative emotions generated by typhus and the regime of domination imposed by the Central Powers.The last diary notes refer to the hasty withdrawal of the German army from Bucharest and to thecollective enthusiasm caused by the accomplishment of the national aspirations. These compensatefor the sufferings generated by the war and the mentality of the German troops which from an instrument of power becomes a symbol of chaos and indiscipline, as Raul Dona states.

Цар Самуил († 1014) в историческата памет на българите през ХІІІ – ХІV в.

Author(s): Georgi N. Nikolov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

The memory of Tsar Samuеl (997 – 1014) among Bulgarians has been preserved for centuries after his death. This is clearly noted in a number of historical sources: the correspondence of the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan (1197 – 1207) with the Roman Pope Innocent III (1198 – 1216), the Synodicon of the Bulgarian Church (13th – 14th centuries), the 14th-century Bulgarian translations of the Byzantine chronicles of Symeon the Metaphrast and Logothete (10th century), Ioannes Zonaras (12th century) and Constantine Manasses (12th century). The memory of Samuel in the Bulgarian Tsardom in the 13th – 14th centuries is a specific expression of the enduring sense of historicity, which was also one of the characteristics of Bulgarian society in the middle Ages. Tsar Samuel is among the few Bulgarian rulers from the early middle Ages whose memory has been preserved throughout the centuries.

Войската на Българското царство в периода 976 –1018 г. Част 1. Въоръжение, родове войски и тактически способности на българската войска по времето на цар Самуил и неговите наследници

Author(s): Petyo Ivanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

The campaigns of the Kiev prince Svetoslav, as well as the subsequent war between him and the Byzantine Empire in the period 967 – 972, were of decisive importance for the fate of the Bulgarian Tsardom. The loss of the central territories not only incurred a decrease in the economic, demographic and military potential of the state, but also led to significant changes in its organization. The changes that occurred in the Bulgarian army were most noticeable in the way in which combat actions were conducted before the mentioned conflicts. While before AD 972 the Bulgarian rulers and generals relied exclusively on direct confrontation with the enemy in the open field, after AD 976 not a single battle of this type is known.

Известието на Степанос Таронски (Асохик) за подготвян династичен брак между комитопулите и Македонската династия – опит за изясняване на някои спорни моменти

Author(s): Yulian Todorovski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

The purpose of the present study was to shed more light on some controversial moments from the notice of the Armenian historian Stepanos of Taron, also known as Asoghik, in connection with the negotiations between the Cometopuls and Emperor Basil II (976 – 1025) for the conclusion of a dynastic marriage. It focuses mainly on two issues: 1) establishing the identity of the metropolitan bishop of Sebasteia, mentioned by Asoghik as the main actor in the negotiations between the two parties, and whether his participation can be accepted as credible; 2) clarifying the question of who had led the negotiations from the Bulgarian side; what were the reasons for resorting to such a diplomatic means; are there other sources that confirm, albeit indirectly, his story; and is the negativism of some researchers justified regarding the authenticity of the event described.

Национално честване „1010 години България помни цар Самуил“

Author(s): Georgy Nikolov Nikolov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

Emily Greble, "Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe"

Author(s): Adnan Jahić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 10/2024

Review of: Emily Greble, "Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe", Oxford University Press, Oxford 2021, str. 354.

Powstanie i działalność Fundacji „Mater Dei” w Malborku (2007–2023)

Author(s): Agata Grochowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 25/2024

This article introduces the activities of the ‘Mater Dei’ Foundation, which was established on 25 May 2007 in Malbork. Its main objective became the effort to restore the mosaic figure of the Madonna in the outer niche of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Malbork Castle. This monumental sculpture, made of so-called artificial stone, was the first Prussian realisation of the depiction of a crowned Madonna en plein pied raising the Child on her left arm. Its creation was connected with the completion of construction work on the extension to the castle church in 1343. Unfortunately, the statue was completely destroyed during the war effort in 1945. The article presented here is divided into paragraphs introducing the following in turn: the rebirth of civic associations and foundations in Poland after the collapse of the communist system, the creation of the Mater Dei Foundation, the stages of the rebuilding of the statue of the Madonna of Malbork, and further activities of the Mater Dei Foundation.

Jiří Štaif a sociální dějiny 19. století

Author(s): Michal Pullmann,Jakub Rákosník,Matěj Spurný / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2 (32)/2020

The article presents social historian Jiří Štaif ’s significance in the Czech academy, with particular reference to the concepts of modernization, revolution and the formation and transformation of the national elite. Štaif ’s social history of modernization em phasizes both individual and collective historical agents and their imaginations, es pecially their values and goals. Conceiving trends in modernization in the Habsburg empire during the long 19th century as occurring within a triangle of human goals, so cial practices, and intended as well as unintended consequences, he examines the he gemonic struggles of modern elites and the ways in which elites, whether established or otherwise, acquired clients for their goals. He also examines revolutions as a com petitive field in which the specific goals, ideals, and strategies of various groups tend to become redefined. In particular, his reading of the 1848 revolution in the Habsburg empire emphasizes the strategies imagined by Czech national elites in relation to their clientele and their competitors. From that vantage, he explains the specific program matic moderation of Czech national elites in the 19th century, as detailed in his thesis on a circumspect elite, and the success of established elites in the Habsburg empire in suppressing the revolution in 1849. Altogether, Štaif ’s approach to conceiving the history of society, not only Czech national society, has significantly influenced Czech historical scholarship as a whole by casting social history in a key role.

THE ORIGIN, FAMILY AND STUDIES OF MAJOR GENeRAL IOAN D. CULCER

Author(s): Andrei Popete Pătrașcu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 39/2024

Major General Ioan D. Culcer represents an important personality in Romanian military history, but his origins, family and studies have been insufficiently analyzed in previous research. In a period when Romanian historiography is moving more and more towards the reevaluation of historical figures, the reconstruction of Ioan Culcer's biography proves to be an important undertaking. This research involves rigorous work in various sources, from local and national archives to libraries and private collections, to gather relevant information about his life and career. His origins, family and upbringing are central to understanding his career path and the values he promoted as a military leader. Culcer was distinguished not only by his strategic qualities during his service, but also by the influence he exercised among his contemporaries. This paper tries to contribute to a better understanding of his impact in the context of the Romanian military elites, underlining the need for a more detailed and nuanced analysis of his biography, which reflects his true value.

MAJOR ALEXANDRU SOCEC'S DIPLOMATIC – MILITARY MISSION IN SWEDEN (II)

Author(s): Stelian-Cătălin Ghițuleasa / Language(s): English Issue: 39/2024

This abstract highlights a valuable contribution to military historiography by bringing to light, for the first time in Romanian historical studies, the diplomatic and military mission of Major Alexandru Socec in Sweden in 1901. The mission, undertaken under the patronage of King Carol I of Romania, took place during special Cavalry and Infantry maneuvers held in the Nordic kingdom in July and August of that year. The memoir captivates readers with a fascinating description of the Swedish Cavalry's uniforms and equipment, especially notable as Socec himself served in this branch. Additionally, the text provides highly valuable information about the organization of the Swedish Army at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the defense and attack tactics of its Cavalry, which was considered one of the most elegant and well-organized in the world at the time. Of particular interest are the observations of King Carol I's and Romania's representative regarding the character traits of Swedes and Norwegians, whose way of life was genuinely exemplary. In 1901, the two nations were part of the Swedish-Norwegian Union, which dissolved in 1905 following Norway's withdrawal due to dissatisfaction with Sweden's dominant role in the Union, especially in foreign policy. As in the first part, I have chosen to place a few words in square brackets and add some commas omitted by the author to make the text more appealing. Otherwise, I have reproduced, in its original form, a captivating excerpt that will be continued in the next issue of the journal.

DELIBERATIVNA DEMOKRATIJA – ISTORIJA JEDNE IDEJE

Author(s): Ivana Janković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2012

Deliberative democracy finds its model in ancient democratic practices. Among modern thinkers, theorists of deliberative democracy find inspiration in Rousseau's political thought and his concept of the "general will", especially in his persistence that the general will is not a mere aggregation of individual wills. However, the idea of “general will”, public interest, and the care for the common good of the community, has been widely criticized as it appears that it does not leave the place for individual rights and freedoms. The goal of this paper is to to show that deliberative democracy does, indeed, strats of with individual rights and freedoms, but that it does not allow for democratic procedure to be reduced to the aggregation of individual preferences. Theorists of the deliberative democracy call into question the assumption that a collective decision-making procedure should be understood solely according the voting model. Through a process of public and rational discussion, voters do revise attitudes and initial preferences. Thus, as a result they reach either unanimous agreement or bring preferences closer to single-peakedness. In this way the model of deliberative democracy avoids paradoxes and problems that aggregative model of democracy encounters.

Squares, Circles and Triangulations. Roman Jakobson, the Prague Linguistic Circle and the Intellectual Configurations of Interwar Prague

Author(s): Patrick Flack / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This paper offers a contextualization of the sociointellectual and epistemological position occupied by Roman Jakobson and the Prague Linguistic Circle in interwar Czechoslovakia. It does so by emphasizing the systematic role of Russian and Ukrainian émigré communities, and proposing a partial reconstruction of the intellectual network in which Jakobson and the Prague Linguistic Circle were involved. This contextualizing effort strives to underscore how Jakobson and the Prague Linguistic Circle were not only the agents, in Czechoslovakia, of a major international scientific project – the development of phonology and modern linguistics –, but also the direct product of the local interactions – across the concrete urban spaces and squares of Prague – of a whole spectrum of “minor” or “national” traditions, from Russian social philosophy and Eurasianism to Austrian (Brentanian and Neo Herbartian) psychology or Czech positivism. In particular, the paper highlights the “triangulated” nature of intellectual exchanges in Prague, which played out not only as bilateral, explicit dialogues, but also through a pattern of indirect intersections facilitated by the overlapping participation of many actors in otherwise distinct groups or circles.

Alfred Marshall a jeho prínos pre ekonómiu

Author(s): Ivana Kuraková,Timotej Šagúl / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 2/2024

Alfred Marshall was a prominent economist whose work significantly influenced economic theory. As a co-founder of the Cambridge school of neoclassical economics, he systematized classical economic theories and developed the theory of marginal utility. Born in 1842, Marshall's early life was marked by strict education under his father, leading him to excel in mathematics at Cambridge. Despite health issues and professional challenges, he made substantial contributions to economics, including his seminal work, "Principles of Economics," which introduced key concepts like consumer surplus and price elasticity of demand. Marshall's approach emphasized partial equilibrium analysis and the importance of marginal utility in determining prices. He also supported women's education and believed in the role of economics in improving human welfare. His legacy includes mentoring notable economists like J.M. Keynes and A.C. Pigou, and his methodologies continue to influence modern economic thought.

Trecutul sub lupă: Istoricul Constantin Kiriţescu urmărit de Securitate

Author(s): Silviu B. Moldovan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3-4/2024

The author of a highly regarded synthesis on Romania's participation in the First World War, Constantin Kirițescu (1876-1965), was investigated by the Securitate in 1945 following a denunciation, accused of being "guilty of the country's disaster" under the legislation enacted after the Second World War. However, he was removed from the criminal investigation and found not guilty.In 1957, he was investigated and arrested again, this time accused of possessing and disseminating prohibited writings containing anti-communist and anti-Soviet ideas in two of his manuscripts—one a memoir and the other about Romania's participation in the Second World War. Despite this, he was once again removed from criminal prosecution, and the confiscated manuscripts were returned to him. The first manuscript was published in 1979, while the second was only published after the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. The persecutions faced by Constantin Kirițescu are emblematic of the fate of the generation that achieved the Great Union of 1918.

Vasile V. Moisescu: piramidologul evanghelic român

Author(s): Bogdan Emanuel RĂDUŢ / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2024

Vasile V. Moisescu, best known as Vasilică Moisescu, was a Romanian evangelical intellectual, perhaps one of the best known of the 20th century, and a scholar with various fields of interests, especially the theological and pyramidological one. Appreciated by some, but challenged by others, between 1958 and 1964 he was a political prisoner for religious reasons, and then the rest of his life he was put under surveillance by the political police – Securitate, being considered an „enemy of the regime”. Around him, he coalesced a group of believers, who in time came to be known as „Moisişti”, most of whom were arrested and imprisoned with him. His biography reveals two realities of the era. On the one hand, the condition of the Evangelicals in the first decades of the communist regime, and on the other, the condition of intellectuals during the same period.

Život a dílo Josepha Flavia

Author(s): Steve Mason / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2024

The works of Josephus (37 – ca. 100 CE) have been extensively cited ever since he wrote them. Strangely enough, however, hardly any of his many users, prior to the 1980s, asked basic questions about the structures, themes, and audiences of these compositions – about what he meant to convey, using his typical language, rhetoric, and contexts guides. Yet how can we use his material if we do not know what he meant by it? This essay provides a brief orientation to Josephus’ life and to reading his works as intelligent compositions. It is not meant to be definitive on any point, but it provides enough documentation that readers may further investigate these questions without limit, for their own purposes.

≪ Anatomie comparée des mots ≫ Intervention épistémique naturalistę dans l’introduction du „Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française” (1870) d’Auguste Brachet

Author(s): Karol Krzyżosiak / Language(s): French Issue: 12/2024

This article investigates the naturalist epistemic intervention in Auguste Brachet’s introduction to his Etymological Dictionary of the French Language, focusing on its impact on the conceptualization of key topics in the history and evolution of languages. The primary research question addresses how Brachet’s naturalist approach influences linguistic understanding. Utilizing a cognitive semantics framework, the study reveals that Brachet’s intervention transcends mere rhetorical flourishes, functioning as a cognitive device that facilitates the transfer of abstract ideas. The research employs a qualitative analysis method, drawing parallels between the comparative anatomy of living organisms and the explanatory regimes of the natural sciences. The findings demonstrate that these analogies provide mental images that enhance comprehension of complex linguistic mechanisms.