“The Gullet” of the War. The Molokans from the District of Yerevan and the Rusk Preparation for the Caucasus Front in 1877

Author(s): Mariyana Piskova,Kristina Popova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2015

The use of rusks for military needs became more and more important in the logistics of wars in the 19th century. The organization of preparation, preservation and transportation of rusks in 1877 was an “operation” according to the military documents left in the governmental archive. The Russian military command decided that the big part of the rusks needed for the Caucasus front had to be prepared by peasants – Russian settlers in the South Caucasus – especially by the so-called Molokans – as they did it for the first time in the Crimean War 1853 – 1856. The Molokans were one of the many Christian sects who lived in Russia during the 19th century, just like the Dukhobors, Mennonites and others. They rejected the participation in war because of confessional reasons. However, the war activities mobilized much more people than were actually involved in the direct armed clashes between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1877 – 1878. Religious minority populations in the Caucasus were mobilized to work night and day in harsh conditions – to dry, bake and transport flour and rusks, to load boots, camels and carts. Their resources were used for war purposes. Although the Molokans were among the sectarians who were against war and violence, their villages took part in the important work for military use.

Bibliography

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Miscellaneous languages Issue: 3/2015

Index

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Miscellaneous languages Issue: 3/2015

Концлагерът „Белене” и мюсюлманските общности (1964-1987)

Author(s): Zeynep Zafer / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2023

The imprisonment of Muslims in the Belene concentration camp, subsequently called forced settlement of a new residence, as the punitive measure in a more mitigated form, was applied against opponents of assimilation policy almost until the fall of communist power in Bulgaria. The article summarizes data on Turks and Pomaks who opposed the state decisions and repression, sent to the second division of the Belene concentration camp in the first two periods (1949-1953 and 1956-1959) of its history. Then we consider in more detail the imprisonment of Pomaks in relation of the change of names in the almost unexplored by this aspect 1960s and 1970s of the concentration camp. Finally, brief parallels are drawn between the internment in these two decades, and the last, largest forced internment of Turks (1984-1987) in the concentration camp in the name change campaign of 1984-1985 and the subsequent years of repression.

Сайтът „Изгубени в Прехода: историята в снимки“ като възможен освобождаващ наратив за Прехода

Author(s): Dena Popova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2023

The paper addresses the potential to challenge the dominant narrative of the official memory of the Transition period in Bulgaria through live archives. The specific website, Lost in the Transition: history in photos, is studied as an example of live space for memory reconstruction that could provoke authentic reflection about the recent past and provide a shared space for reflexive dialogue in the contemporary Bulgarian society. This dynamic process can result in a critical attempt to better understand the period and cocreate a liberating and empowering narrative.

Stories of our Grandmothers: How Modern Ukrainian Women's Literature Deconstructs the Soviet Myth about the Great Patriotic War

Author(s): Snizhana Zhygun / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

The article analyses how contemporary women’s literature deconstructs the Soviet myth of the Great Patriotic War under the influence of contemporary Russian aggression. This myth defined the narrative of World War II as a heroic sacrifice of the Soviet people. As a result, the diversity of experiences was suppressed and the memory of them was not formed. Since independence, Ukrainian culture has been restoring the gaps in history and memory, which has become especially important in the context of the ongoing war. Women’s literature participates in this process by focusing on women’s experiences, which are usually marginalized in the national-focused narrative. This study aims to identify the contribution of women’s literature to the process of decolonization. The object of the study is such women’s novels as The Museum of Abandoned Secrets by Oksana Zabuzhko (as a precursor to the modern treatment of the topic), Amadoka by Sofia Andruhovych, Because it Hurts by Yevgenia Senik, Eva’s Apples by Khrystyna Kotsira and Faride by Iren Rozdobudko. The study found that women’s literature most often addresses the topics of women combatants, deportations, and the Holocaust. In this way, the authors contribute to the process of returning to national history. At the same time, the study demonstrates the complex interaction of nationality and gender in contemporary women’s literature. As women’s literature also contradicts the traditional nationally oriented discourse, emphasizing female agency and appealing to multinational experience (except Ukrainian, Jewish, and Crimean Tatar). This understanding of the theme of the Second World War by contemporary Ukrainian women’s literature creates a context for the perception of the specifically female experience of the current war and resists attempts at ideological manipulation around women’s roles.

L’historien Blagovest Njagulov et sa contribution à l’historiographie bulgare des migrations et des minorités

Author(s): Lyubomira Valcheva-Nundloll / Language(s): French Issue: 1-2/2024

Blagovest Njagulov, a prominent historian, dedicated his career to studying modern, contemporary, and comparative history, with a particular interest in ethnic policies and minorities. His doctoral thesis on Dobrudja marked the beginning of a brilliant career at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His research shed light on underexplored aspects of the history of Bulgarians abroad, especially in Romanian Banat. He adeptly navigated diverse cultural and linguistic contexts, contributing to a rich and nuanced historiography. His work also illuminated the complex Bulgarian-Romanian relations, the issue of minorities, and the challenges of historical memory, particularly in the context of European integration. In addition to his academic endeavors, Njagulov was an engaged actor in civil society, supporting Bulgarian organizations abroad and actively participating in initiatives aimed at strengthening ties with Bulgarian communities worldwide. In this regard, this article also aligns with the recent renewal of reflection on the biographical method in Bulgarian historiography.

Пътища за демографско възстановяване на Източния дял на Горнотракийската низина през XV–XVI век

Author(s): Stefan Dimitrov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2024

In these studies, with the help of unpublished Ottoman tax registers from the group of tapu tahrir defterleri, stored in the funds of the Ottoman Archives in the city of Istanbul, the question of the ways of demographic recovery of the settlements in the Eastern part of the Upper Thracian Lowland in the period 15th – 16th c., a consequence of the military actions conducted in the area in previous centuries. For the realization of the set goal, in addition to the mentioned Ottoman Turkish documents, the achievements of modern historiography on these problems were also used. It was established that the region suffered greatly from the military actions in the period of the 12th – 14th c. At the end of the 15th c., the demographic crisis was overcome as a result of the settled slaves, freed slaves, representatives of various nomadic groups, population from the areas of military actions and the voluntary or forcibly resettled population from other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Examples of both Muslim to- non-Muslim and Christian-to-Christian slavery are presented.

За съдбата на немюсюлманското население от Централния дял на Дунавската равнина и Предбалкана по време на Дългата война (1593–1606)

Author(s): Krastyo Yordanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2024

This article aims to elucidate the demographic consequences of the military campaigns led by the Wallachian voivode Mihai Viteazul south of the Danube River, as well as the possible events that took place during the First Tarnovo Uprising of 1598. The main sources used for comparison are the timar register of the Nikopol sanjak from 1579 and the two cizye registers from 1599–1602, which detail the non-Muslim taxpayers in the Nikopol and Tarnovo vilayets. The research method involves comparing data from different years across two or more registers, a preferred approach in previous ethno-demographic studies. This comparison allows for the calculation of population numbers and changes over time. The records clearly indicate significant demographic shocks in the regions of Oryahovo, Nikopol, and Pleven, with many villages and towns that flourished in 1579 becoming severely depopulated. The author attributes these changes to the devastation and population displacement caused by Mihai Viteazul’s 1598 campaign. According to the cizye register of the Tarnovo vilayet, drawn up shortly after the events of 1598, the total number of non-Muslim households in the Tarnovo region slightly increased in 1599–1600 compared to the 1579 timar register. This finding supports the notion that the First Tarnovo Uprising was not widespread and did not cause significant demographic upheavals, which would be expected in the case of a major uprising and subsequent Ottoman reprisals.

Компилация с претенции за професионална историопис

Author(s): Vera Boneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2024

Book review: Indjova, Iva. The Gabrovo municipality during the Revival period. Gabrovo: Ex-press, 2022. Second edition.

Научната фантастика и социалните промени във Великобритания. („Селото на прокълнатите“ и „Денят, в който Земята се запали“)

Author(s): Magdalena Vlastanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2023

The report’s thesis illustrates how science fiction represents changing in British society’s hierarchy and popular feminine and masculine role’s in it in late 1950s and early 1960s. Two British films from the highest point of genre, between 1953 and 1963, are examined, because of their inner messages. The main methods of working are comparison and analysis. The concrete tasks are researching “Village of the Damned” from 1960 and “The Day Earth Caught Fire” from 1961 and to show how they represent new role of Britain in Cold war context.

Изключителен принос. Книгите на френския пътешественик от XIX век д-р Ами Буе вече са с академично издание на български език

Author(s): Ivan Roussev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

Corruption Practices in Homes for Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Neuropsychiatric Hospitals in the People's Republic of Bulgaria during the 1940s ‒ 1970s

Author(s): Georgi Todorov / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

This article seeks to trace the 'hierarchical' interconnections of corruption across three levels ‒ institution, society, and the state ‒ through an examination of institu-tions for mentally disabled children and the neuropsychiatric hospitals in the People's Republic of Bulgaria. The article focuses on several micro-historical cases between 1940s and 1970s, where we find clear direct and indirect evidence of financial and material abuses, even though inspecting authorities did not make any formal accusa-tions in the courts in any of these cases. Seeing the institutions as part of the so-called "personal network society”, whilst taking into account the objective realities of the era (e.g. personnel shortages, a "shortage economy"), the article theorizes a "paternal-istic form" of corruption, which is essential to all hierarchical levels. The analysis draws on documents from care homes and neuropsychiatric hospitals located in state archives in Sofia and other regions, as well as the archives of the Ministry of People’s Health and Social Welfare.

Eine verhängnisvolle Verstrickung – die Zusammenarbeit von Jugendhilfe und Psychiatrie in der Geschichte der Heimerziehung

Author(s): Manfred Kappeler / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2024

The article traces the intertwined history of psychiatry and youth welfare in Germany, highlighting concerning continuities that persist to the present day. In the late 19th century, psychiatry and youth social work in Germany developed their professional identities in parallel, with psychiatry emerging in adult "lunatic asylums" and youth welfare arising from the practice of "compulsory education" of children and adoles-cents in reformatories. As psychiatry transitioned into a medical discipline, youth welfare was formalized through legislation derived from Article 55 of the 1871 Ger-man Penal Code. Both fields were practised in large institutions of the "total institu-tion" type analysed by Goffman. The discourse around ‘neglected’ children quickly became associated with eugenic-racist, psychiatric and criminological ideologies. The eugenic-psychiatric paradigm dominated even reformist-pedagogical views in the years following World War I, with the new generation of psychiatrists further classify-ing and pathologizing youth. During this period, social work organisations ‒ Chris-tian charities, liberal-humanist, social-democratic ‒ did not oppose the racial-eugenic discourse, but rather paved the way for Nazi population politics. The 1933 law on forced sterilization, enforced in early 1934, was a result of this ideological continuity. Even after 1945, the careers of many psychiatrists, like Werner Villinger, demonstrate the persistence of eugenic thinking in post-war Germany. In summary, there remains a demand for critical reflection on the histories of psychiatry and youth welfare in Germany.

Aging and Institutional Care During Late Socialism: The Case of the Elderly People’s Home in the Village of Pelishat, Bulgaria

Author(s): Denitsa Nencheva / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

This paper will discuss the problem of the institutionalization of care for the elderly during the period of late socialism in Bulgaria. I will examine a specific case – that of the Elderly People’s Home in the village of Pelishat (Pleven Province), whose development follows the trajectory of displacement to spatial and social peripheries, typical of similar institutions. For this purpose, I will analyze a set of archival documents dating from the second half of the 1960s until the end of the 1980s. The analysis will take into account the socio-historical context of the practical and ideological role of (institutionalized) social care, as well as the government’s attempts to deal with factors such as the (negative) demographic trends in the country at that time and the deepening discrepancies between the official image of universal modernization of Bulgarian society and the economics of shortage.The main focus of the text however, falls on the dynamic interplay of care and medicalization, and the ideological construction of the everyday life space of the residents who find themselves in a situation of shared accommodation (in dormitory), medical interventions and the auxiliary e conomy of the home. These aspects of life are usually normalized through categories such as “medical services”, “culturtherapy”, “personal hygiene”, “living conditions”, “labor activity” and others. The analysis of the ideological framing of institutional life can help trace the implicit and explicit discourses and set of disciplining techniques aimed at the facility residents and staff, as well as study the traces of successful adoption of or failure to follow the Party’s official line.

Implications of EU Economic and Financial Sanctions against Russian Federation

Author(s): Roxana Trifonova / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

In view of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the provocation of the conflict in Donbas in 2014, the EU adopted and implemented Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 in reaction to Russia’s measures undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity as well as the sovereignty and independence of the country. This period is characterized by erosion of bilateral trade and economic relations between the EU and Russia. After the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union adopted a new series of economic and financial sanctions towards Russia: restrictions on trade; a SWIFT ban for certain Russian banks; restrictions on Russia’s access to the EU’s capital and financial markets and services; a ban on transactions with the Russian Central Bank and others. In the autumn of 2022 the conflict further escalated with the so-called “partial mobilization” in Russia and the further unlawful referenda for annexation of Ukrainian territories. Two years later (February 2024), the war is still raging and the European Union continues its policy of adopting new packages of sanctions against Russia. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of these sanctions on the Russian Federation as well as the implications of the contra-measures from the Russian Federation towards the European Union.

THE POETIC NOSTALGIAS OF VESNA PARUN IN THE POETRY COLLECTION THE WIND OF THRACE

Author(s): Liudmila Mindova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

During her stay in Bulgaria in the 1960s, Vesna Parun formed strong friendships with leading figures on the Bulgarian literary scene, and Bulgaria became a kind of second homeland for her. Here she wrote her poetry collection The Wind of Thrace, which not only testified to her enchantment with Bulgarian nature, culture, and history but also served as an important document for the development of her poetic views. Through the Thracian myth and Bogomilism, through the images of Sozopol, Nessebar, and the Hermit of Rila, as well as through the irony and anti-dogmatism in the Sofia poetic and philosophical circles, Vesna Parun began to infuse the image of Bulgaria in her poetry with strong nostalgic sentiments. In this way she traced mental bridges between her native home and language and her new Bulgarian homeland, which could not be completely destroyed even after the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968 and her expulsion from Bulgaria. Vesna Parun is a known and valued poet in Bulgaria, and her work has not lost its impactful influence.

Definiowanie kultury inspirowane prawami człowieka w świetle zmagań o zachowanie języka ukraińskiego

Author(s): Piotr Krajewski,Paweł Onufrijuk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 65/2024

Artykuł porusza kwestię kultury i dziedzictwa kulturowego pośrednio i bezpośrednio nawiązujących do praw człowieka w świetle trwającej wojny w Ukrainie. Jest namiastką ukazującą znaczenie dążeń Ukraińców do zachowania własnego języka i świadomości narodowej wskazującej na wewnętrzne przekonanie istnienia odrębności kulturowej, pielęgnowanej mimo długotrwałych nacisków zewnętrznych.Celem artykułu jest poruszenie kwestii znaczenia (w odniesieniu do praw człowieka) kultury narodu, której najbardziej naturalną emanacją jest jego język; chodzi o problem, z jakim zmaga się „od zawsze”, doświadczając zewnętrznej presji imperializmu kulturowego.Wieloletnie i dramatyczne w swych konsekwencjach działania administracyjne i prawne Rosji uderzające w środowiska intelektualne i w samą kulturę, nie przyniosły spodziewanych rezultatów; nie dały ich również próby propagowania subiektywnie prezentowanych wersji wydarzeń historycznych mających usprawiedliwiać naciski i zmagania o rozszerzenie własnej sfery wpływów. W końcu, podkreśla też wagę zachowania dziedzictwa kulturowego Ukrainy, jako elementu, który, jeżeli zostanie zniszczony, nie powróci już do stanu sprzed konfliktu zbrojnego; będzie dowodem pogwałcenia praw człowieka.

По пътя на дипломацията: непознатият д-р Хараламби Сърмаджиев

Author(s): Aleka Strezova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

This text explores the life and work of Dr. Haralambi Sarmadzhiev, a Bulgarian diplomat from the late 19th century. His career began as a legal adviser and confidant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Denominations, and later he served as a diplomatic agent in Belgrade and Vienna. The article highlights his role in the 1898 International Anti-Anarchist Conference. It also delves into his personal life, including his marriage to Elena Pulieva, an heir of Evlogy Georgiev, and examines the fate of his family after his untimely death and the political changes in Bulgaria post-1944.

Владимир Викторов-Топоров – несправедливо забравеният руски кореспондент в България по време на Балканските войни

Author(s): Nikita Gusev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

This article explores the coverage of the Balkan Wars by V. V. Toporov (Viktorov), a correspondent for the Russian newspaper Rech in Sofia. Over fifty of his publications from this period reveal various aspects of military operations, as well as the structure of the country and its army. However, more significant are his reports on pressing issues. Toporov was one of the first to inform the Russian public about the Serbization and Hellenization of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia. Additionally, he defended the honor of the Bulgarian army in a debate with L. D. Trotsky over war crimes. Following the Balkan Wars, Toporov was preparing a book in which he planned to argue that Bulgaria‘s actions in 1913 and 1915 were forced by external circumstances. Using publications from Rech, correspondence between the journalist and the editorial board, as well as P. N. Milyukov’s archives and other documents, the article reconstructs this stage of the journalist’s life connected with Bulgaria and his defense of its interests.