‘The International of the Conquered’– The Promethean Movement and Polish Authorities during 1926 – 1939

Author(s): Paweł Libera / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2018

“Prometheanism” meant the political cooperation of interwar Poland with non-Russian peoples and nations in Russia directed against the tsarist, and later the Soviet empire. The Promethean movement included representatives of Ukraine (Ukrainian People’s Republic – UNR), Caucasus (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mountaineers of the Northern Caucasus), Crimean and Volga Tatars, Turkestan and nations inhabiting Finland (Ingria, Komi, Karelia), as well as a part of the Don, Kuban and Terek Cossacks. This article focuses on the relations between the Polish side and individual nations and structures of the Promethean front, on those turning moments in its development, as well as on the political and organisational evolution of the Promethean movement.

‚HOCH‘ UND ‚NIEDRIG‘ – DIE DISKUSSION ÜBER POPULÄRLITERATUR IN DER ZEITSCHRIFT NYUGAT

Author(s): Zsuzsa Gáti / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2013

This article addresses the complexities of the distinction between “high” and “low” literature. I offer a brief survey of the development of so-called Unterhaltungsliteratur, or light fiction, in Hungary, followed by a presentation of the essays and articles on this topic in the Hungarian literary journal Nyugat (1908–1941), which the passing of time notwithstanding retain much of their relevance today.

“A Home Should Be a Home to All Its Sons”: Cultural Representations of Saint Stephen in Slovakia during the Interwar Period

Author(s): Miroslav Michela / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In August 2009 the waters of European politics and especially the Slovak-Hungarian diplomatic relations, were stirred up by an event linked with the unveiling of the equestrian statue of Saint Stephen in the Slovak border town, Komárno. The President of the Republic of Hungary, László Sólyom, who had been invited as a keynote speaker for this event, was not admitted to enter the Slovak Republic (SR). Although the resulting conflict originated mainly from already tense political relations, as has happened in other cases, events did not go without a historicist interpretation. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, reproduced the standard representation of Saint Stephen as the symbol of national oppression, when he commented that: “Under the Flag of the First Hungarian King Stephen the harshest magyarization occurred. Therefore let no one pretend that he was some sort of Slovak king. We have our own Svätopluk, not Stephen.” By contrast, the organisers of the statue’s unveiling were interpreting Saint Stephan as a symbol of cooperation and ethnical intertolerance. As the Mayor of Komárno, Tibor Bastrnák, pointed out “Saint Stephen founded and built a strong state of many nations where people lived with each other in peace.” However, they were criticised by the representatives of Slovakia that they had not shown enough interest and activities towards ensuring the parity participation of politicians, as it is usually the case in official state visits. In a pro-government periodical, the present day’s President of Matica slovenská, Marián Tkáč, called this act a demonstration of “Hungarian arrogance and superiority. And pride.” In the subsequent, often emotionally charged, discussions that followed, several conflicting narratives appeared concerning the importance of the ϐirst Hungarian monarch and saint of the Árpád family. At the same time, Stephen became a symbol of both “ethnic tolerance” and “national oppression”. The diplomatic incident in mentioned and, in particular, mentions of Saint Stephen also draw attention to the importance of historical narratives in public discourse.

“Anketa o kolonizaciji cigana” ili pokušaj koloniziranja Roma u Savskoj banovini

Author(s): Danijel Vojak / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2016

The Romani minority population has been living in the Croatian lands since the second half of the 14th century and is today one of the older minority groups in the region. The Croatian government began regulating their nomadic way of life in the late 16th century, attempting to permanently settle i.e. colonise them on a certain area. In a way, the Croatian government was as (un)successful in this attempt as other European governments, primarily because they failed to approach the problem in a systematic manner. The question of colonising the Roma was considered one of the most important steps towards regulating their position in society primarily because it was believed this would resolve the matter of their (constantly highlighted) criminality. The authorities in the Sava Banovina were faced with this – until then unsolvable – problem. Due to increasing public pressure and the initiative of the Križevci town government, the question of Roma colonisation was placed on the agenda of the Sava Banovina’s civil services. A significant number of local governments answered the mentioned “survey” by expressing their support, though only a small number of them were willing to provide funding for its implementation. The government of the Banovina then presented the problem to Ban Ružić, who demanded further clarifications and the gathering of more data on the Roma. Although there are certain indications that a part of the budget of the Sava Banovina and later the Banovina of Croatia was set aside for implementing “Gypsy colonisation”, it should be noted that they most likely weren’t spent for this purpose since the colonisation never took place. The reason why a special provision was never enacted could be related to the lack of initiative and cooperation between state, Banovina, and municipal authorities. The government of the Banovina of Croatia also tried to resolve this problem – certain newspapers reported that a special law concerning the Roma would be enacted, aimed towards preventing their nomadism and constantly-highlighted criminal activities. When the Ustasha government came to power in the Independent State of Croatia, it implemented a radical solution to the “Gypsy Question” – instead of colonisation, the Roma were subjected to deportation and mass killings in camps.

“Beauty has no price, for a beautiful woman has the world at her feet”: representations of the female body in advertisements printed in “Realitatea Ilustrată” magazine

Author(s): Vlad Mihăilă / Language(s): English Issue: II/2016

Printed interwar advertisements articulated a discourse that served both to promote specific meanings attached to femininity – physical beauty as a central social and symbolic female quality – and to define precise social sanctions that could be applied to women that did not know or follow normative beauty standards. Distinguishing constantly between what was desirable and what was repulsive, between the ideal and the imperfect, ad makers employed a series of visual and textual representations of the female body as a means to create a polarized and reductionist discourse, which in turn aimed to reduce the number and validity of definitions attached to femininity. The resulting symbolic antithesis stated that a beautiful woman was a model of social, economic and personal success, in stark opposition to the woman that did not value her physical appearance, doomed to live an unhappy and meaningless life, bereft of familial or professional fulfillment. This article will argue that representations of the female body created by the interwar advertising discourse played an important role in the structuring and dissemination of specific gender roles, expectations and stereotypes associated with femininity. The study is centered on qualitative analysis of a selection of ads printed between 1927 and 1940 in a well-known Romanian popular magazine – “Realitatea Ilustrată”.Printed interwar advertisements articulated a discourse that served both to promote specific meanings attached to femininity – physical beauty as a central social and symbolic female quality – and to define precise social sanctions that could be applied to women that did not know or follow normative beauty standards. Distinguishing constantly between what was desirable and what was repulsive, between the ideal and the imperfect, ad makers employed a series of visual and textual representations of the female body as a means to create a polarized and reductionist discourse, which in turn aimed to reduce the number and validity of definitions attached to femininity. The resulting symbolic antithesis stated that a beautiful woman was a model of social, economic and personal success, in stark opposition to the woman that did not value her physical appearance, doomed to live an unhappy and meaningless life, bereft of familial or professional fulfillment. This article will argue that representations of the female body created by the interwar advertising discourse played an important role in the structuring and dissemination of specific gender roles, expectations and stereotypes associated with femininity. The study is centered on qualitative analysis of a selection of ads printed between 1927 and 1940 in a well-known Romanian popular magazine – “Realitatea Ilustrată”.

“Ceza Sömürgesi” Ve Otor İteryanizme Kafkaesk Bir Yaklaşim

Author(s): Medine Sivri,Fulya Çelik / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 86/2016

In terms of literary history Franz Kafka is included in the new objectivism. He writes in a term that the destruction of the belief of enlightened mind could solve everything and irrational and intuitive dimension take the place of mind reaching the reality. In this term, including 1919-1932, the outcomes of the World War I, developments in the field of industry, science and technology, the impact of the economic structure on people and man’s being crushed under the domination of matter and for this reason turning into mass people are aroused again in the works of Kafka on fictional platform. The boundaries between subject and object are erased. The reality gets into pieces and details become important. In this study, proceeding from Kafka’s story called Penal Colony, who is the pioneer of the modern literary movement, bureaucratic/hierarchical dilemma of the most important component of modern society, man’s being crushed under the domination of matter and turning into authoritarian personality will be tried to analyze in the context of kafkaeskque elements with socio-psychological and autobiographical approach.

“Futuristic geography”. The role of geographers in shaping the borders of East Central and South‑Eastern Europe, 1914‑1920

Author(s): Maciej Górny / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2013

This article represents an attempt to analyse the political desiderata underlying the activities of East Central European geographers during the First World War and in its immediate aftermath. These scholars, drawing on the achievements of German and French geographical studies, and who were frequently graduates from western European universities, employed sophisticated research tools and arguments in the service of legitimising national interests. The apogee of the political impact of their intellectual concepts came during the peace negotiations in Paris, but indirect evidence of the efficacy of this generation of geographers in the region can also be seen in the fact that they were to become points of reference and arsenals of knowledge utilized by the interwar revisionist propaganda of Germany and Hungary.

“Geisha Girls Strike”: An Overlooked Aspect of the Women's Labor Movement in Modern Japan

Author(s): Yuhei Yambe / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

This paper analyzes a geisha strike that occurred in Osaka on February 26, 1937. At Nanchi Gokagai (Osaka), the largest geisha district in modern Japan, about sixty geisha went on strike because the manager of the call-office refused to recognize the union they had formed. All geisha had to register with the call-office, but they had no voice in deciding the call-office's policies. The geisha strikers climbed Mount Shigi and stayed at Gyokuzō Buddhistt emple for several days. At the time, the strike caused a sensation. However the strike has not been the focus of attention in studies of Women's Labor Movements by Women's Studies scholars in Japan until recently. Geisha have seldom been viewed as 'regular' female workers. Rather, they are often treated only as victims of human trafficking and thus are marked by the stigma of 'being a prostitute.' Therefore, focusing on the geishas' self-representations and the high level of self-awareness seen in them, my paper discusses the Osaka geisha strike as a significant moment in the history of the women's labor movements that helped geisha to acquire confidence as women workers.

“I’LL PLOUGH IN FRONT OF THE EYE HOSPITAL...” - A NEW STYLE BALLAD

Author(s): Tamás Grynaeus / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2004

The hero of new style “hospital ballads” is either the patient or a well-known, highly esteemed eye specialist or head surgeon of a regional hospital. In the ballads, he is usually a real historical person mentioned by name. On the basis of these data, it can be claimed that the ballads were composed in the 20s or 30s of the twentieth century. A fragmentary text, lacking real tragedy of ballads and interwoven with lyric elements, was collected in 1961 in Orosháza (Békés County, South-East Hungary). Some variants of the “hospital ballad” collected earlier and several other variants found later as well as similar pieces show that it must have been a well-known, popular folk poetry genre, at least in the eastern part of the Hungarian language area.

“Retro-modernism” in Viața cea de toate zilele by Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu

Author(s): Elena Panait / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2015

“Retro-modernism” is a concept coined by critic Paul Cernat (Modernismul retro în romanul românesc interbelic [Retro-Modernism in the Romanian Inter-War Novel], Art Publishing, 2009) in view of defining a type of novel developed during the inter-war period as an alternative to prospective modernism, excessively used at that time. The “retro-novels” identified and analysed by Paul Cernat possess a distinct aesthetic physiognomy, marked by nostalgia for the atmosphere at the end of the nineteenth century, despite the modernist techniques employed at the level of the narrative discourse. Little known in the present day cultural space, Ștefana Velisar Teodoreanu (Lily Teodoreanu) tackles the question of the peripheral and provincial environments, suffocated by the lack of perspective in the characters’ destinies, especially in the case of feminine characters. Viața cea de toate zilele [Daily Life] (1940) may be described as retro-modernist, as the writer moderately approaches the theme of the woman’s condition, avoiding the excesses of militant and declarative feminism. The novel’s protagonist overcomes an identity crisis by assuming a superior understanding of the idea of commitment to her family. The reference points of the patriarchal organisation of the world are imperceptibly shaken by the heroine’s drama.

“The Jew Is and Always Will Be Our Greatest Enemy!” Anti-Semitism in Slovak Radio Broadcast from the Reich’s Vienna Radio Station

Author(s): Michala Lônčíková / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

The international political situation and the Nazi plans for Central Europe culminated in the late 1930s. The organisation of the collaboration with pro-Nazi and separatist Slovak representatives accelerated after the “Anschluss” of Austria in March 1938. From then on, Slovak territory was only separated from Nazi Germany by the Danube River. The proximity of the two major centres – Vienna and Bratislava – enabled the Nazis to affect the political development of Slovak autonomy and influence public opinion to favor the break-up of Czechoslovakia through the use of various propaganda tools. Modern technology further shortened the distance between places that were already physically close to each other. The main aim of this paper is to focus on Slovak radio broadcasts from the Reich‘s Vienna radio station. It was established at the time of the Sudetenland crisis on 15th September 1938 and was organised by Ľudovít Mutňanský and Rudolf Vávra, members of the Foreign Hlinka Guard (FHG). Studying the period of Slovak autonomy is crucial for gaining an understanding of the original purpose for this broadcast – an attempt to influence public opinion in favor of the dissolution process. Taking into consideration the radicalisation of the broadcast pertaining to the racial perception of the Jewish community, contrary to the ideology of the Hlinka‘s Slovak People‘s Party (HSĽS) at that time, special attention is paid to the role of anti-Semitism in the Slovak program.

“THE MOST WARLIKE NATION” FROM “HEAVENLY BEAUTIFUL” ISLANDS: JAPAN IN MATAS ŠALČIUS’S TRAVELS

Author(s): Linas Didvalis / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The paper seeks to analyse the connections between Japan and Matas Šalčius (September 20, 1890 to May 26, 1940) who was a traveler, writer, journalist and prominent political figure in the inter-war Lithuania. Dynamic fate of Šalčius allowed him to start exploring distant lands comparatively early in his life. What made his explorations important is that he was eager to bring his knowledge and experiences back to Lithuania and share them by publishing articles and books.

“We beg you not to equate the names of Gypsies and knife-grinders with honest traders”. Itinerant Trade and the Racialisation of ‘Gypsies’ in the Czech Lands between 1918 and 1938

Author(s): Pavel Baloun / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

This article focusses on common contemporary associations of itinerant trades with ‘Gypsyness’and the consequent relationship between adopting anti-Gypsy measures and state intentions to regulate the profession of itinerant trades. By analysing the intended bill on itinerant trades, this article shows how administrative police terms such as ‘Gypsies’ and ‘workshies’ were intertwined. It further argues that limiting space for mobile, self-employed economic activities went hand in hand with legalising the status of second-class citizens in1927 when a new law On Wandering Gypsies was passed by the Czechoslovak Parliament.The article also analyses the agency of one particular itinerant traders’ association called Kotva (Anchor) and pays attention to the traders’ manifold defensive strategies. Because of their close contacts with Roma and Sinti (with whom they shared social and economic spaces)the traders sought to set themselves apart from Gypsies and to present themselves as ‘decentcitizens’, in other words part of the Czechoslovak nation. In their successful effort to shield themselves from being included in the new police register of ‘wandering Gypsies’, they reproduced and amplified the state aim to eliminate ‘work-shies’ among itinerant traders.The article thus deals with the process of racialization of the category of ‘Gypsies’ in interwar Czechoslovakia, with racialization here being presented as an intricate historical process which was influenced even by non-state historical actors.

”TERRIBLE THINGS, THOSE JEWELS”. THE COMINTERN’S DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNISTS IN EGYPT, GREAT BRITAIN, IRAQ, AND THE UNITED STATES

Author(s): Elisabeth Bishop / Language(s): English Issue: XVI/2019

Between the two World Wars, a Hollywood film introduced “tsarist jewels” as an index to individuals' positions between communist virtues and capitalist temptation. While in Russian, language assigns “Maria” the nickname “Masha”, and those who love her best call her “Mashenka” ; for “Natalia” the nicknames include “Natasha”, “Nata”, “Natashenka”, “Natik”, and “Natusik” etc. In Russian, the female given name “Nina” is exceptional, in that it links a linguistic diminutive. There is no “Ninotchka”. Yet, as specious as its title might be, a diamond parure in the film Ninotchka (1939) resonated against historical realities because the Soviet Union exported precious stones, both legally and illegally, and these exports became a source of corruption to leftists around the world. This analysis of ComIntern-organized transfer of cash and gems out of the U.S.S.R. and into the hands of communists in Egypt, India, Iraq, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States draws on primary documents as well as secondary sources to assess the impact of jewel smuggling on Communist institutions and structures of organization.

”СТРАТЕГИЈА” ЛАЖНОГ МИРА У КУЋИ (ЕКОНОМСКИ ОДНОСИ ИЗМЕЂУ РЕГИОНА У КРАЉЕВИНИ ЈУГОСЛАВИЈИ)

Author(s): Slobodan Vuković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 4/2005

Topic of the article are economic relations between regions in Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the first period of forming the united state. Research results, contrary to the common views in mostly propagand articles reveal that north-western regions of the country developed on the count of south –east part of the country. These parts gain this advantage in the first five years when serbia n political elite was busy with making of new united state and with harmonization of political and economic relations among its heterogen parts. Advancement of north-.west regions was assured through change of valute due to conjucture. Because of this Slovenia and Croatia gained in the first five years 3/5 of summ investments in the whole industry. At the same time central government passed high customs for industrial products paralel with export customs for agricultural products making thus price scissors favourable for transfer of income from agriculture to the industry of more developed regions.

„A haza legyen minden gyermekének hazája” - A Szent István-kultusz reprezentációi Szlovákiában a két világháború közötti időszakban

Author(s): Miroslav Michela / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 02/2015

The study is dealing with an analysis of political and symbolic levels of the cult of St. Stephen in (Czecho)slovakia during the inter-war period. The author primarily focuses upon the manner in which this formally religious cult was transformed into a „national”. He deals with his representations in Hungarian and Slovak nationalist discourses after the establishing of the Czechoslovak Republic. Different cultural representations of St. Stephen point out to significant confessional, ideological and national narratives, which constructed the cult in the 20th century. The author highlights the fact that the principal consensus was not even arrived at within the proper „nation states” despite the efforts of Slovak and Hungarian ruling elites to enforce their unified (and mutually antagonistic) politics connected to St. Stephen. Although it is not possible to speak about the fully unified „Slovak” or „Hungarian” narrative in connection to St. Stephen’s cult, the author primarily devotes himself to the trends embodied in the power and cultural elites. At the same time he attempts to draw some attention to some micro-levels of the topic. In Czechoslovakia a relatively negative and disapproving attitude towards the cult of St. Stephen gradually prevailed as the cult was linked to the idea of enforced assimilation and practice by the Hungarian elites in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1867–1918). Contrary to that, the dominant part of the Hungarians living in Czechoslovakia shared same beliefs as in Hungary. However, after 1918 St. Stephen came to represent a type of transcendental guarantor that „the extraction from a national community” would not be permanent. Representations reproduced in the inter-war period and disseminated through education in schools and at home also reflect the contemporary situation to a large degree. The author highlights that the past – as a tool of political legitimation – takes on tropical meanings.

„A vak Sámsonoknak meleg szívvel” Első világháborús hadirokkantak ábrázolása az Ellenzék című kolozsvári napilap hasábjain

Author(s): Júlia-Réka Vallasek / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 04/2019

„AGRARNE REFORME“ KAO OSMIŠLJENE POLITIČKE MJERE U CILJU STOLJETNE UZURPACIJE IMOVINE I EKONOMSKOG SLABLJENJA BOŠNJAKA U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI

Author(s): Izet Šabotić / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Issue: 21/2018

The assimilation of Bosniak property in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of changes in property-ownership relations, lasts more than a century. This process took place by passing political measures “laws and bylaws” under the pretext of implementing The agrarian reform. As a result, there has been a significant change in the ownership structure of land and other real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly to the detriment of Bosniaks, and for the benefit of other nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The “Agrarian Reforms” were carried out on several occasions: in the Ottoman period from 1858 to 1878, in the AustroHungarian period from 1878 to 1918, and especially from 1918 to 1941, and from 1945 to 1948. The aforementioned agrarian processes influenced the change of the ownership structure, and in the way, there was a significant economic weakening of the Bosniak element in this period. The economic weakening of Bosniaks was done by implementing other socio-political and economic processes, such as: nationalization, confiscation, sequestration, expropriation and arondation. By these political measures, the property of Bosniaks has been significantly reduced, and therefore their economic strength and power, and the living space has been significantly reduced. All of these processes were carried out under the pretext of “reforms”, and they were accompanied by adequate legislation, which enabled them from a legal and practical aspect to smooth implementation.

„And she helped four thousand people become citizens of the United States” - Christine Przybyła-Long

Author(s): Joanna Wojdon / Language(s): English Issue: 06/2016

Christine Przybyła-Long is one of the 9 milion Americans of Polish ori¬gins living in the United States. Her descendatns came to Chicago during the mass migration from the turn of 20th century and she was born there in 1931. In her account Christine Przybyła-Long tells about her childhood and a life of a family belonging to the “Old Polonia”. She gives a lot of at-tention to the situation of Poles who migrated to the United States after WWII and to her own political involvement into Polish American affairs after 1990, that was crucial in the case of granting four thousand people american visas.

„Ardealul pentru ardeleni” – federalism, autonomie și regionalism în discursul lui Alexandru Vaida-Voevod (1918-1923)

Author(s): Daniel Citirigă / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 11/2019

At the end of the First World War, by uniting Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania, Romania’s territory and population doubled, and some political leaders in these provinces proposed the development of a certain regional autonomy. Despite the fact that interwar Romania would continue the tradition of centralism in the Old Kingdom, however, in the first years after the war there were intense discussions about the form of state organization. In this sense, through the present study we followed, on the one hand, the historiographical debate in Romania, on the occasion of the Centenary, on topics such as the Alba Iulia Resolution, autonomy and regionalization, and on the other hand, we analyzed the discourse of one of the most important political leaders in Transylvania: Alexandru Vaida-Voevod. A political figure with an intense activity at the beginning of the 20th century in Austro-Hungary, member of the Budapest Parliament, then Prime Minister in Romania and member of the Romanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, he was to become the most well-known voice that supported the acquisition of a regional identity for Transylvania. Thus, if in private discussions with Ion I. C. Brătianu, Vaida-Voevod even promoted the idea of federalization of Romania, in the public space he supported regionalization. Our case study is based on the formula “Transylvania for Transylvanians”, used during an interview by Alexadru Vaida-Voevod, which would provoke heated debates between the representatives of the Transylvanian National Party and their opponents. By the formula mentioned above, Vaida drew attention to the Transylvanians “dissatisfaction with centralist policies, on the one hand, and on the other, he supported the idea of a regionalism that would satisfy the regions” desire to contribute to the distinct development of the country.