Cera Zagora

Author(s): Vasil Gyuzelev / Language(s): Bulgarian

The present study is dedicated to a particular Bulgarian commodity, which gained vast popularity in the Middle Ages and was of high regard on markets in Europe, Asia and Africa – the Zagora wax, i.e. the wax, made in Bulgaria. The instances when it was mentioned in written records in the period between the 14th and the beginning of the 16th century have been traced out. An attempt has been made to study the fluctuations in its current market price of that time in Genoa, Venice, Florence, Damascus and Constantinople. The various names and designations it went under, as noted down in the records, have been systematically revised and placed together in a chronological chart. In the appendix applied to the study, there is a bulk of published documents, taken out mainly from the Datini archive in Prato (Italy): lading bills of ships, carrying goods from Romania (Kaffa, Tana, Constantinople, Negroponte, Modon, Coron and Corfu), along with price-lists for vendibles on offer at various market-places (Avignon, Alexandria, Venice, Genoa and Damascus). The aim of this very issue is, on the one hand, to mark the spot where wax made on the list of commodities, exported to Italy and Western Europe, and on the other – to register both the value and the demand for Zagora wax on the markets. By way of exemplification, facsimile reproductions of assorted documentation, as well as a photograph of the sculpture representation of Francesco di Marco Datini (1335–1410) have been applied to the study. The study makes a contribution mostly to the history of economics in Bulgaria, the Balkans and Europe in-between the 14th–15th centuries. It demonstrates the part cera Zagora had in the spread of popularity of Bulgaria of repute.

Nie chodzi (tylko) o Erikę Steinbach. Trzy mity niemieckiego dyskursu o wysiedleniach

Author(s): Anna Kwiatkowska-Drożdż / Language(s): English,Polish

The activity of the Federation of Expellees (German: Bund der Ver triebenen, BdV) and its chairperson Erika Steinbach, including efforts aimed at establishing the Centre Against Expulsions1 (ZgV) have been and will continue to be a source of controversy in Germany’s domestic policy, as well as in Polish–German and Czech–German relations. Steinbach has become a central figure in German inter-party conflicts and in disputes with the country’s immediate neighbours. In her efforts to gain more publicity for injustice and suffering in the German past she has resorted to controversial methods and has thus latched onto another stage in the historical debate on the consequences of World War II. This time it is related to and interpreted from the point of view of the German victims.

Између Европе и несврстаности. Југославија и Савет Европе 1960–1980.

Author(s): Ratomir Milikić / Language(s): Serbian

Пленники Сталина

Author(s): Viktor Vasylovych Karpov / Language(s): Russian

Investigation “Stalin’s Captives” is dedicated to the topic of Japanese prisoners in the USSR after the World War II, which has been a taboo for a long time. The cause of the Soviet Union entering into the war with Japan is shown clearly on the basis of rich archives documents. The book gives motives for Stalin’s taking decision to make use of Japanese soldiers and officers on the works in Siberia, Far East and Middle Asia. It shows the process of political re-education, as well as repatriation of Japanese civil population and military prisoners from the USSR to the native land. The book is intended for scientific, as well as for broad reader's audience.

ВАСИЛ ЛЕВСКИ. ИЗ КРИВИНИТЕ НА ЛИТЕРАТУРНАТА ИКОНОГРАФИЯ

Author(s): / Language(s): Bulgarian

Dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the birth of Vassil Levski, this collection gathers in one place the research efforts of literary writers and historians. The aim is tracing the way of the narrative about the historical personality to the sacred status of the national icon of the Apostle. The achieving of this scientific task intertwines the poetry of the "canonization strategist" (Hristo Botev), the words of today's lyricists, the memory of the associates, the "written by the hand of the Apostle", the results of an Olympiad in Taraklia (Moldova), the English press, the today’s children book and even the name of a mystical regiment The research efforts face the mystery of Apostle’s path into and out of monasticism, the words of veterans and philosophers, the ode and the rhapsody, the camera and the paint brush, the sound and the letter... To draw a never-ending journey, that will forever - and everywhere, accompany the Bulgarian spirit.

One su naše danas

Author(s): Matej Vrebac,Emina Bošnjak / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian

Razgovori o hrabrim ženama koje nisu pristajale na slijepu poslušnost i koje su prkosile pravilima okoline u kojoj su živjele i borile se za bolje prilike inspirišu na traganje .... traganje kroz vrijeme za pojedinkama koje su pomjerale granice ustaljenog načina ponašanja u svijetu, nekonformističkim djelovanjem u svojoj okolini, i šire. Upravo je to radila grupa ljudi – razgovarali su i tragali – dijeleći uvjerenje da je feminizam važan i da je važno ponovno čitati historiju. Svjesno su odbacili načelo važnijeg iskustva, koje feminizam svakako i problematizuje, i u pisanju su išli za ličnim osjećajem, jer je lično uvijek i političko. Pred vama je rezultat njihovog rada. U nastavku ćete otkriti koje su to žene pomjerale okvire koje im je društvo nametalo. Nadamo se da će i vas njihove priče inspirisati, a da će vas poster sa likovima nekih od njih, koji ćete naći u knjizi, obradovati. To su naši pokloni vama.

POSLEDNJA INSTANCA – KNJIGA II

Author(s): Srđa Popović / Language(s): Serbian

Србија и руска револуција 1917. Нове теме и изазови

Author(s): / Language(s): Serbian

Две револуције на тлу Русије, фебруара и октобра 1917. Годи не имале су далекосежне последице на цео турбулентни 20. век. Русија неће бити творац и гарант мировних уговора после Првог светског рата, чиме ће нехотично охрабривати ревизионизме поражених или држава незадовољних новим поретком. Револуција и грађански рат унели су у европску свакодневицу појам „бољшевизам“, који постаје синоним за свако зло против кога се ваља борити свим средствима, па и у савезу са „црним ђаволом“. За Србију, то је била далекосежна промена тектонског карактера. Може се само нагађати да ли је била тежа неизвесност у току јулске кризе 1914. или губитак ослонца 1917. године. Прошло је сто година од тада. Руска револуција је као тема историчара крајем 20. века постепено маргинализована. Поистовећивана је са идеологизованим клишеом и постепено је подвргавана ништа мање идеологизованој ревизији или друштвеном забораву. [...]

A strategic continuation, a tactical change. Russia’s European security policy

Author(s): Marek Menkiszak / Language(s): English

1989 marked the beginning of a short but intense period of thorough geopolitical changes in the eastern part of Europe. The simultaneous weakening and liberalisation of the communist regime in the USSR led by Mikhail Gorbachev, the gradual limitation of Moscow’s economic and political support but also its shrinking control over the countries in the Soviet bloc and domestic political crises inside these countries led to a rapid downfall of the communist governments in Central-Eastern Europe. The military, economic and political structures of the Soviet bloc were dissolved within a timeframe of just two years, and the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist in December 1991, to be replaced with fifteen new independent states. The Russian Federation became the main successor to the USSR as it, albeit seriously weakened, inherited a large section of the Soviet empire’s resources and had to redefine its interests in the new post-Cold War European and global order that was being formed.

Strategiczna kontynuacja, taktyczna zmiana. Polityka bezpieczeństwa europejskiego Rosji

Author(s): Marek Menkiszak / Language(s): Polish

Rok 1989 zapoczątkował krótki, ale intensywny okres głębokich zmian geopolitycznych we wschodniej części Europy. Jednoczesne osłabienie i liberalizacja reżimu komunistycznego w ZSRR pod przywództwem Michaiła Gorbaczowa, stopniowe ograniczanie wsparcia gospodarczego i politycznego, ale też kontroli Moskwy nad państwami bloku radzieckiego oraz wewnętrzne kryzysy polityczne w tych państwach doprowadziły do szybkiego upadku rządów komunistycznych w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej. W ciągu dwóch lat zostały rozwiązane struktury wojskowe, gospodarcze i polityczne bloku radzieckiego, wreszcie w grudniu 1991 r. przestał istnieć sam Związek Radziecki, na miejscu którego powstało 15 nowych niepodległych państw. Głównym sukcesorem ZSRR stała się Federacja Rosyjska, która, choć poważnie osłabiona, odziedziczyła dużą część potencjału radzieckiego imperium i na nowo musiała zdefiniować swoje interesy w kształtującym się postzimnowojennym ładzie europejskim i globalnym.

Dreams of Civil Society Two Decades Later: Civic Advocacy in the Czech Republic

Author(s): Jiří Navrátil,Miroslav POSPÍŠIL / Language(s): English

This study focuses on the key aspects of Czech civil society two decades after the revolution of 1989. More particularly, we explore a particular function of civil society – the political, representative, contentious, or advocacy function – and deliberately leave aside the others. In other words, we stress the “political” sense of the concept of civil society that was proposed and developed by many thinkers (for overview see Keane 1998; Cohen, Arato 1999; Kaldor 2003). This study acknowledges that the concept is inextricably linked to the notion of political order or democracy and that its political dimensionis a key aspect that distinguishes this social sphere from the state, family, or economy. Some of the contemporary normative perspectives on civil society propose an ideal type of civil sphere that prevents the powers of the state and the market from invading the lives of citizens (e.g., Habermas, Skocpol, Ehrenberg).

Ozbrojené konflikty po konci studené války

Author(s): / Language(s): Czech

Did the Cold War, or rather the end of it, represent any kind of fundamental milestone in armed conflicts? Answering this question became the central research focus of a project undertaken by a group of specialists from the Department of International Relations and European Studies at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University as part of the grant funded project “Armed Conflicts in International Relations after the end of the Cold War”. The project was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic. To a certain extent the team of authors attempted to summarize the research that has so far been conducted in this field and to present a more complex picture of the kind of changes that have actually occurred within armed conflicts over the last two decades and what the reasons for and consequences of these changes are. What is certain is that the end of the Cold War did not put an end to armed conflicts as such. On the contrary, latent tension which manifested itself through fractional armed conflicts, mostly on the periphery, had many more opportunities to develop after 1990 and grew into conflicts which a number of powers became involved in. Europe – the continent in which the Iron Curtain was located, but which had been spared open armed conflict throughout the entire duration of the Cold War – in the early nineties was to witness the most extensive violence to have occurred there since the end of World War II.

Cesty za svobodou - Kurýři a převaděči v padesátých letech 20. Století

Author(s): Libor Svoboda,Pavel Vaněk,Petr Blažek,Petr Mallota,Jiří Řezníček,Slavomír Michálek,Martin Tichý / Language(s): Czech

Přechody státních hranic a působení kurýrů a převaděčů po únoru 1948 patří v posledních letech bezesporu k nejfrekventovanějším tématům z dějin protikomunistického odboje a odporu. Hlavní důvody jsou podle mého dva. Téměř kolem každého kurýra, který překročil státní hranice a po určitou dobu se v utajení pohyboval na československém území, se vytvořil okruh osob, někdy i hodně široký a rozvětvený do různých koutů republiky. Po dopadení kurýrů nebo jejich nejbližších spolupracovníků StB většinu těchto osob obvykle pozatýkala. V následujících procesech pak byly stovky kurýrů a tisíce jejich opravdových nebo i jen náhodných spolupracovníků odsouzeny k vysokým trestům odnětí svobody a více než čtyřicet z nich dostalo trest absolutní. Přesná čísla nemáme bohužel dosud k dispozici, faktem však je, že velký počet protistátních skupin, jejichž členové byli pozatýkáni a odsouzeni v letech 1948–1955/56, byl v bližším či vzdálenějším styku s cizinou, a to právě prostřednictvím některého z kurýrů.1 Procesy související s kurýry a převaděčstvím se tedy přímo či nepřímo dotkly velkého množství lidí nejen na úrovni centrální, ale i v regionech.

Praha objektivem tajné policie

Author(s): Jan H. Vitvar ,Pavel Žáček,Anna Pavlíková,Miroslav Urbánek,Vladimír Bosák / Language(s): English,Czech

On March 1, 1948, the original nucleus of the unit of the Communist political police specializing in the surveillance of individuals was created, starting with fourteen men. Shortly before its dissolution, in the year 1989, its final successor – the Surveillance Directorate (Directorate IV of the National Security Corps – SNB), in the strength of 795 servicemen and women of the State Security Service (StB) – was capable of shadowing not only 523 Czechoslovak and other state officers (some even repeatedly), but also a whole range of stationary premises, including twelve embassies. Before starting to fulfill its designated tasks, the Surveillance Directorate, the same as a host of other security services, went through tempestuous organizational and personnel development. At first its equipment for the documentation of surveilled “subjects” was very poor: in September 1949, policemen-tails of Sector V of the State Security Headquarters had at their disposal only one camera, and on top of that a so-called open (undisguised) one, which they did not sufficiently make use of in their operations. Only later, the national enterprise Meopta stepped in to produce very good cameras of a small size with the name Mikroma, which were integrated into the tails’ gear.2 In October 1951, a special State Security school was launched in Veltrusy, whose aim was to prepare instructors of future training courses in the field of surveillance. In March 1953, the “tailing school” (as they themselves called it) linked up with this school. The instruction of young perspective policemen took place over six-month cycles. In individual courses, trainees learned the theory and practice of surveillance, how to take photo-documentation, reveal the identity of individuals (the “ustanovka,” or roughly, “detection,” a term adopted from the Soviet model), and manage collaborators. In addition to perfunctory instruction in the basics of socialist law, they were liberally indoctrinated in the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. The return of the first functionaries from the professional security school in the Soviet Union meant the application of the Soviet State Security Service (KGB)’s experience to a full extent. The Directorate’s school moved first to Vojkov, and later, in 1956, to Slapy.

Między „sensus catholicus" a „uchrześcijanionym nacjonalizmem”. Sztuka Kościoła rzymskokatolickiego na Górnym Śląsku wobec dyskursów narodowych

Author(s): Jerzy Gorzelik / Language(s): Polish

The book addresses the much-neglected topic of permeating of nationalist ideas into spaces of Catholic worship and of Catholic-nationalist discourses being monumentalised by means of church art. The field of research is Upper Silesia - an area of competition between supporters of various identity programs. The author shows how from the beginning of the 20th century to modern times the elites of the Church, supported by artists and public authorities, used art to build nations and other imagined communities. Moreover, he analyzes iconographic programs and narratives, associating themes and motifs with myths, symbols and historiosophical constructs. The book gives an image of the dilemmas faced by Catholics in the era of intensive nation-building processes.

Moj zavičaj kroz vrijeme

Author(s): / Language(s): Croatian

Ne jednom smo si postavili pitanje zašto bi mladi ljudi trebali imati odnos prema prošlosti!? Većinu vremena tijekom našeg obrazovanja, nemamo velik interes za povijest. Često ju smatramo dosadnom i nepotrebnom. Međutim, dođe vrijeme kada si počnemo postavljati važna pitanja o kojima odgovore tražimo upravo u osobnim rukopisima i stranicama ispisanima povijesnim podacima koje nam mogu pomoći razumjeti uzroke sukoba, ratova i stalnih kršenja ljudskih prava. Uzroke i načine ljudskog stradanja koje nas vode traženju puteva solidarnosti i pozitivne društvene akcije, pamćenja i sjećanja. Zašto bi mlade prošlost trebala zanimati i kako danas dovodimo u vezu prošla zbivanja i život mladih danas? Vjerojatno se nećete iznenaditi, no mladi ljudi imaju odnos prema prošlosti, oni ga stvaraju i on se u njima stvara svakodnevno. Kroz obiteljske priče, iskustva naših susjeda, nastavne sadržaje, medije... Ključno je pitanje kakav je to odnos. Stvaramo li odnos prihvaćanja svega što čujemo ili ipak u tom odnosu spram prošlih zbivanja ima prostora kritičkom razmišljanju, selekciji sadržaja, korištenju kvalitetnih izvora informacija? Kakvom vidimo ulogu osobnih iskustava, kakvu priču o ratu i miru ona pričaju? Jeste li znali da su mladi najčešće korišteni instrument totalitarnih režima 20. stoljeća? Jeste li znali da mladi uglavnom nemaju pristup objektivnim interpretacijama povijesnih zbivanja utemeljenih na činjenicama? Jeste li znali da su mladi ljudi danas aktivni pronositelji isključivih političkih ideja i govora mržnje? Što mislite zašto je tome tako? Kako mladi mogu postati nositelji pozitivnih promjena, poruka solidarnosti i kulture mira? U pogledu na prošlost važnim ističemo suočavanje s istom, s bolnim posljedicama sukoba i ratova, s mnogobrojnim stradanjima nedužnih – djece, mladih, žena, staraca, muškaraca... Ističemo važnost suočavanja s istom jer se pokazuje da se povijest ponavlja. Važno je učiti iz nje. I sami poznajete izreku – povijest je učiteljica života! Čemu nas ona uči? Razmislite o nekim aspektima vašeg života danas, utjecajima koji su vas formirali – stavovima i iskustvima vaših baka i djedova. Kakvu odgovornost mladi ljudi imaju oko toga? Složit ćete se da je naša odgovornost kao mladih pripadnika/ica društva u kojemu živimo upravo način kako ćemo živjeti i graditi naša društva, na vrijednosnim temeljima ravnopravnog i uvažavajućeg odnosa spram svih ljudskih bića i njihovih prava i sloboda. Uz tu odgovornost, važna je i ona kako ćemo pričati povijesne priče i govoriti o prošlim zbivanjima, kako ćemo prenositi iskustva naših predaka. Naposljetku, važan je i naš stav prema teškim posljedicama ratova i svh oblika društvene isključivosti i političkoga nasilja koji nas i danas u modernim društvima okružuju. Upravo zato odlučili smo se na promišljen i sustavan doprinos dijalogu o prošlosti i kulturi sjećanja na stradanja i otpor nasilju kroz obogaćivanje nastave povijesti i nastavnih materijala. Željeli smo da taj dijalog unese kvalitetnije poznavanje i razumijevanje povijesnih zbivanja kod mladih, ali i da ih potakne na aktivno istraživanje povijesti njihova zavičaja – mjesta stradanja, mjesta sjećanja, mjesta otpora... Ove smo godine istražili zavičaje Osijeka, Zagreba i Opatijsko-liburnijskog kraja. U suradnji sa III. Gimnazijom Osijek, zagrebačkom Gimnazijom Lucijana Vranjanina i opatijskom Gimnazijom Eugen Kumičić kao i Volonterskim centrom Osijek i Muzejom Slavonije, Centrom za mirovne studije i Udrugom antifašističkih boraca i antifašista Opatije i Liburnije, u kasnim ljetnim, jesenskim i ranim zimskim mjesecima učili smo, razgovarali i istraživali ‘Moj zavičaj kroz vrijeme’ - kako smo i nazvali zajednički projekt – u vrijeme Drugog svjetskog rata i poraća te naslijeđe antifašizma na ovim prostorima. U tijeku istraživanja, suradnju smo ostvarili i sa nizom drugih vjerskih i manjinskih organizacija, koje su s nama podjelile njihova iskustva ovih teških događaja. Željeli bismo da nam se više srednjih škola u Hrvatskoj pridruži u otkrivanju povijesti krajeva koja su obilježila teška stradanja u Drugom svjetskom ratu i poraća, ali i antifašističkog otpora za vrijeme i poslije rata koji je jednako tako ostavio duboke tragove u kulturi hrvatskoga društva.

Sjećanja na rat - U Pakracu, Lipiku i okolnim mjestima

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Croatian

Publikacija Sjećanja na rat u Pakracu, Lipiku i okolnim mjestima nastala je kao rezultat nastojanja Documente da se zabilježe sjećanja ljudi koji su preživjeli rat na području Pakraca, Lipika i okolnih mjesta. Cilj nam je bio zabilježiti nepisane priče iz ne tako davne prošlosti koja će nas, htjeli mi to ili ne, još dugo zaokupljati. Vjerovali smo da će pokušaj rekonstrukcije ratnih zbivanja na tom području i prenošenje subjektivnog iskustva ljudi koji nisu bili nositelji političke moći, ni kreatori političke povijesti, omogućiti uvid u naizgled skrivene aspekte života na području zapadne Slavonije i produbiti spoznaju o prirodi i tijeku ratnih sukoba 90-ih.

Suočavanje s prošlošću u Hrvatskoj - stavovi i mišljenja aktera i javnosti u Poraću

Author(s): Kruno Kardov,Dražen Lalić,Vesna Teršelič / Language(s): Croatian

Mnogi se pitaju, na prvi pogled logično i opravdano, koja je uopće svrha suočavanja s prošlošću. Prema njima, umjesto bolnoga i beskorisnoga pa i štetnoga suočavanja s minulim nasiljem i zločinima, pojedinci, narodi i društva trebaju ostaviti prošlost iza sebe i sasvim se okrenuti (boljoj) budućnosti. Iako prihvaćamo dobrohotnost većine tih kritičara, nas troje autora ove knjige spadamo među ljude koji se ne slažu s tvrdnjama o uzaludnosti ili štetnosti suočavanja s prošlošću, i to iz više razloga. Ponajprije ističemo razlog koji je po našem mišljenju najvažniji: suočavanje je ne samo potrebno nego i nužno zbog svih kojima prošlost uopće nije prošlost, već je traumatiziranost zbog neposredno ili posredno pretrpljenoga nasilja u ratnim i drugim sukobima osnovna odrednica njihove sadašnjosti, a nekima i budućnosti. Takav odnos prema prošlosti imaju milijuni ljudi koji žive u mnogim zemljama i na različitim kontinentima.

Küreselleşen Dünyada Kadın ve Siyaset II

Author(s): / Language(s): Turkish,English

Although the development of the women's movement in Ottoman society was different from that in Western countries, it is a fact that they were affected by the women's movement and publications that developed in the West. As a result of the liberation of the press, communication and transportation opportunities that started with the Tanzimat era, the Ottoman intellectual was able to follow the developments in Europe closely. This follow-up broadened the horizons of literate Ottoman women by providing close monitoring of western women's organizations and women's media. Ottoman men also supported the women's movement that flourished in the Ottoman Empire, sometimes by opposing the modernist protectionist discourse, and sometimes by including women writers in their publications. In this study, the formation of Ottoman feminism is examined based on Ottoman women's magazines published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the writings of Ottoman male intellectuals of the period. The work in which feminist theory of history forms the theoretical framework of the historical process of the emergence of feminism in the world and its debate in Ottoman society, and argues that the roots of the discussions on feminism lie in the late Ottoman women's publications and associations, and extend to the struggle they waged with Ottoman men. It produces a discourse contrary to the expression of women's movements and feminism identified with the Republican period. Archive work was carried out and discussions over the concept of “feminism” were analyzed in Ottoman journals published between 1908-1920.

Hans Delbrück i narodziny nowoczesnej historii wojskowości. Twórczość – koncepcje – recepcja

Author(s): Michał Norbert Faszcza / Language(s): Polish

Hans Delbrück (1848–1929) was one of the most recognizable scholars of his time; his historiographical work aroused controversy not only during his life, but also after his death. He had the courage to oppose the commonly held view that academic historians have no competence to deal with the military aspects of history. He promoted the opinion that military history remains closely connected with political, social, economic and cultural issues, in which he overtook the French ‘Annales’ school. His views have permanently shaped the face of the whole specialty, and his many years of struggle to bring military history to universities led to stripping war of its false romanticism.