We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
The article presents the history of the contact between Aleksandra Kołłontaj and the Wallenberg family. The first meetings between the Russian diplomat and the influential family of Swedish bankers took place in the 1930s during the negotiations concerning the return of the Russian gold kept by the bank owned by the Wallenbergs. Prior to the outbreak of WWII this first female ambassador met members of the Wallenberg family in a sanatorium. Undoubtedly, the encounters of Marcus Wallenberg with Aleksandra Kołłontaj affected the situation of Finland during WWII. Without their common involvement in the case, the history of Finland during the war with the USSR might have been totally different. The backstage information about the relationship between Aleksandra and Raoul Wallenberg is also very interesting. Unfortunately, we are unable to answer many questions and clarify doubts as long as the majority of the Russian archives devoted to the secretary of the Swedish diplomat remain secret.
More...
At the beginning of 1946 the enterprise referred to as the State-owned Landed Estates (PNZ) was set up. In West Pomerania two such districts were established: in Szczecin and in Koszalin. The latter was one of the biggest in Poland; Władysław Czarnecki was appointed director in September 1946. Many landowners whose landed estates had been taken away and divided into smaller parts worked for the PZN in the years 1944-1945. The management board of the enterprise was known for its negative attitude towards the so called “people’s authority” and for its support of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) headed by Stanisław Mikołajczyk. After the general parliamentary election to the sejm in January 1947 and Mikołajczyk’s escape from Poland in October 1947, the communists intensified their attacks on the management board of the PNZ. In April 1948, thirteen people were arrested following a fictitious accusation of sabotage; seven of them, including Czarnecki the director, were prosecuted at the Military District Court in Szczecin. The show trial took place in August 1948. The accused were sentenced to long terms in prison, while Władysław Czarnecki was sentenced to death. After appeal, the Supreme Military Court changed the death sentence into fifteen years’ imprisonment and alleviated the sentences of the remaining convicted people. One of them died in jail in February 1950, while the remaining were gradually released in the years 1950-1955. In January 1957, the Supreme Court acquitted all of them.
More...
After the Second World War, the region of Western Pomerania changed its religious face from Protestant to Catholic as a result of political decisions. As the Polish territory was moved to the west, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church also shifted. Not only secular settlers but also priests had to adjust to those exceptional circumstances. Usually treated as part of the institution they created, they have not yet been fully described as one of the groups of migrants. However, their role was crucial for the settlement and land development by believers, the Church and the Polish state. The aim of the article is to answer the questions who those clergymen were and how they dealt with this unusual challenge. In the literature on the subject, such issues as settlement processes in the Western and Northern Territories, the creation of the church administration, and relations between the state and the church have been widely described. Relations between priests and believers or relations among clergymen themselves are still less known. The documents available in the archives of state and church provenance allow to examine the priestly environment, which also underwent the stage of adaptation and integration with the foreign material and social environment. The historical and comparative method of research led to the establishment of several conclusions, including the most important one that the priests who came to Western Pomerania in the first decade after the war were not homogeneous. Their diversity concerned origin, education, customs or age, but also their attitude towards the so-called Regained Territories, their duties, church discipline or the new authority in Poland. This disintegration, often accompanied by prejudices and stereotypes, constituted the specificity of the religious life of the region and from this point of view is worth examining.
More...
In this paper, the authors examine the yard goods industry in Zagreb in the 1960s, in the context of the Yugoslav textile industry. Due to the complexity of the textile industry as a topic, the paper examines a longer period, from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, as it has been accepted in historiography.Using an analytical-interpretative method, qualitative and quantitative results have been obtained from newspapers and journals from 1959 to 1972. A chronological overview of the studied periodicals has shown more clearly the impressions of the political and economic events on the development and business of the textile industry. The influences of the so-called ‘small reforms’ of 1961, the economic reform of 1965, and the events of 1968 and the subsequent liberalisation process are noticeable. The difference between the first and second half of the 1960s is particularly prominent. The first half was characterised by the production of heavy woollen fabrics for making women’s and men’s tops, particularly coats. The textile industry was slow to adapt to the market through its reorganisations, i.e. attempts to merge, change product ranges, and switch from heavy to light, artificial fabrics. Simultaneously, there was a reorientation towards foreign markets, which had numerous problems related to the import of poor raw materials and finished fabrics as well as exports aimed at keeping labour costs low. Other significant problems were bonification and the trading of imported textiles on the black market. In the second half of the decade, following international trends, the focus was on producing textiles from artificial fabrics, which were easier to maintain, cheaper, and expressed new social trends, especially making the lives of employed women easier.In the 1965–1971 period, stronger demands to transition to a market-based business model are evident in the yard goods industry, but a strong influence of the state is also visible in various aspects: firstly, through ideology, as there was an effort to achieve full employment, develop industry and cities, which led to overemployment and employment that was not in line with the needs of the market; secondly, through direct interference in business activities via legislations, such as the regulations on compulsory export; thirdly, through the Yugoslav international policy of non-alignment, but maintaining simultaneous economic links with the West, which led to unequal relationships (forced import of large quantities of goods, much of them of poor quality, and cheap exports). Insufficient investment in modernisation, which was the result of income being diverted to salaries, led to a lack of competitiveness on the new consumer market. This paper concludes that, despite all modernisation and liberalisation processes, obsolete technology, an unqualified female workforce, and the lowest income among all industries were permanent problems of the yard goods industry from 1959 to 1971.
More...
The organisation of the new government in the immediate aftermath of the war in Croatia encompassed and largely relied on the formation and development of judicial institutions and the accompanying legal regulations. This paper analyses the circumstances and conditions in which the judicial system was established and the tasks set before the post-war judiciary. It was essential to review how the regulations were standardised and how regular (circuit and district) courts and short-lived ‘special’ courts, whose consequences were far-reaching, operated. It is important to highlight the significance of public prosecutors in Croatia. Through analysing archival sources and the available literature, an attempt was made to determine the extent that the legal vacuum that appeared after the severance of all ties with the pre-war laws made it easier to implement the new system, which sought to secure not only its own legality, but also the legitimacy of its authority.
More...
Rikard Vikert (1889–1941) was the last chief of the Zagreb police before the beginning of World War II in this region. He remained at this post only for a short time. Despite this, immediately after the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, he was declared one of the most wanted persons of the new regime. The reasons for this were related to his earlier policing activities, especially his performance as the head of the Sarajevo police (1935–1940), when he was responsible for the cruel treatment of political dissidents of the old Yugoslav regime.He was trained to perform police duties as early as the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, acting as part of the armed forces, i.e. the gendarmerie, immediately after the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He was well-accepted in centralist circles because he voluntarily left the Austro-Hungarian army and joined the Serbian army at the very beginning of the Great War. In this way, he gained the trust of Belgrade’s political elites, which found him suitable for larger police tasks, due to the fact he was an educated officer. From 1923, he was employed by the Ministry of the Interior, and climbed the administrative ladder within the police apparatus. He experienced a professional zenith when he became the chief of the Zagreb police, where he tried to oppose the increasingly strong attempts of members of the Ustasha and communist movements to break the old order. After the entry of German forces into Yugoslavia and the proclamation of the puppet Independent State of Croatia, he and his associates fled Zagreb, trying to find refuge in Sarajevo. There, at the end of April 1941, he committed suicide while resisting an attempt of the Ustasha police to apprehend him.
More...
O izložbi Ako tebe zaboravim… Holokaust u Hrvatskoj 1941. – 1945. Zadnje odredište Auschwitz, Francuski paviljon u Zagrebu, 5. veljače 2020. – 21. travnja 2020., koju su priredile Nataša Mataušić (Hrvatski povijesni muzej, Zagreb) i Rajka Bućin (Hrvatski državni arhiv, Zagreb) pisao sam u dva navrata, na portalu Historiografija.hr i u Časopisu za suvremenu povijest.
More...
The Second World War, with regard to its consequences, was one of the most important developments of the 20th century. The devastating effect of the war manifested itself in almost all European cities, particularly in Germany. Millions lost their lives in this war and all belligerents suffered from it. On the other hand, the Second World War is of great importance not only for the destruction it caused but also for the radical changes it brought along in the international relations. Immediately after the war, international relations were rearranged on an ideological basis. Consequently, international relations turned into a confrontation zone where capitalist states led by the United States and communist states led by the Soviet Union clashed. The Soviet efforts to spread communism worldwide and the policies it pursued to this end caused a deep concern in the capitalist states, primarily in the USA. Therefore, the struggle against communism initiated by the USA shortly grew worldwide and resulted in significant developments in regions close to the communism sphere thanks to the American incentive. Thus, the security and defense problem in strategically important regions such as the Balkans, the Middle East and Turkey necessitated the search for cooperation. In this regard, Turkey, as a state located close to the communism threat, took its position by the Western Powers led by the USA and became a member of the NATO in 1952. Accordingly, Turkey initiated its efforts to build a security and defense zone against communism. As a result, thanks to the intense efforts of Turkey, the Balkan Pact was formed on 28 February 1953 with the participation of Turkey, Greece and Yugoslavia. One year later, the pact was transformed into the Balkan Alliance, a military defense treaty, on 9 August 1954 as a result of Turkish efforts, establishing an important cooperation against the communist threat.
More...
The publication deals with a short episode of the Court of Appeal in Bialystok between 1949-1950. It is part of the author's research work on the problem of reconstruction and transformation of the common judiciary during the period of building the socialist system in Poland in the first decade after World War II. Moreover, the aim of the publication is to answer an important, immediately emerging question; why the Court of Appeal in Bialystok was established at all? This was closely related to the fundamental changes that were taking place in the common judiciary in the years 1944-1954, which led to the politicization of the justice system. However, the reforms were not limited to the systemic adaptation of the judiciary to the needs of the authorities. The changes went much further, towards carrying out staff purges and eliminating from the judiciary pre-war judges who did not want to submit to political pressure and ideological indoctrination. The establishment of the Court of Appeal in Bialystok was part of the planned reorganization of the common court system, which was supposed to simplify the staff exchange process. That is why the publication also widely concerns the general changes that took place in the judiciary during this period. This approach helps to show intentions of the authorities and true reasons of establishing the Court of Appeal in Bialystok. These are presented in the decisions taken at the meetings of the Collegium of the Ministry of Justice and fragments of the reports of the Judicial Supervision Department, as quoted in the publication.
More...
August Marić, born in 1885, served as a junior general staff officer in the Austro-Hungarian army before and during the World War I. In 1919 he joined the royal army of the new Yugoslav state. He achieved a successful career and became a general. This was unusual because he was a former Austro-Hungarian officer and Croat, and the royal Yugoslav army was dominated by officers of the former royal Serbian army. Axis forces invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941. General Mari was captured by Germans, although Yugoslav forces under his command fought well against more powerful German forces. Marić joined the regular army of the newly proclaimed Independent State of Croatia (NDH), becoming the chief of its general staff. Soon he was kicked out of the army and accused of helping Serb and communist uprising against the NDH. In fact, Marić was obviously a victim of the power struggle among senior Croat officers. He was soon rehabilitated because of his good relations with general Glaise von Horstenau, the German army representative in Croatia, whose friendship with Marić dated since the days when they both served in the Austro-Hungarian army. After the war many senior NDH officers were executed or imprisoned by the Yugoslav communists, but Marić successfully presented himself as a victim of the Ustasha regime. He died in 1957.
More...
The Croatian Stale Parliament (Hrvatski državni Sabor - HDS) was summoned in February 1942. From February, 23 to 28, there were 9 plenary sessions held. The Parliament was also summoned on the Annual session on 10th and 11th April 1942 and finally at the closing session on 28th December 1942. HDS acted as a single-dome assembly, while the head of the state determined the criteria for nominating its members. Among 143 members of HDS there were mostly Croatian members chosen at the 1938 elections, living members of the 1918 elections, members of the Croatian Party of Right (Hrvatska stranka prava), Ustasha officials, and members of the Croatian Peasants' Party who absented to a remarkable degree. Original documents do not leave any doubt that HDS in 1942 was in fact an outcome of the authoritarian system and not one of an electoral democracy, Jn the writing of the law theoretician E. Sladović we find arguments that the executive authorities of the NDH, the Head of the Stale and the Govemment, are independent in regard to the HDS. HDS had undergone considerable Constitutional restrictions.
More...
Review of: Mario Jareb - GEORGE LEPRE, HIMMLER'S BOSNIAN DIVISION. THE WAFFEN SS HANDSCHAR DIVISION 1943-1945, Schiffer Military History (Schiffer Publishing Ltd.), Atglen, PA, SAD, 1997., 378 str.
More...
The 1950 commission investigating the number of victims of the National Struggle for Liberation established numbers which confirmed those recorded earlier by the Commission for war damages in 1946 and those recorded later by the Commission for investigating victims of the Second World War in 1964. However, up until now, the results made by the 1950 Commission have been unjustifiably neglected by researchers. They were never officially published, but were kept secret and the materials were unavailable to researchers at the Archive of Yugoslavia in Belgrade. The results of the 1946 Commission were unacceptable to authorities because the number of victims registered for the "anti-fascists" were smaller by half than the figures established for the deaths of "enemies of the people." The 1950 Commission investigated only the number of losses suffered on the side of the Movement for National Liberation. For Croatia, 159 193 deaths were counted. The list of victims was tabulated with respect to place, manner, and year of death, nationality, gender, occupation, and age.
More...
This work publishes the previously unpublished report of Frane Sulić, sent from Split on 19. June 1941., to the deputy head of state and minister of theology and education, dr. Mile Budak, which speaks to the political mood of Croatians from the littoral regions. According to the Rome accords and the exchange of correspondence between Mussolini and Pavelic, Split was, along with Korčula, to remain under Croatian civil administration, but at the end of June 1941, and inspite of official protests by Croatian authorities, the Italians were able to impose their civilian administration in Split as well as Korčula, Sulić's report to dr. Budak from June 1941 is an interesting addition to the historical record of the first weeks of the Independent State of Croatia and for that reason it is published in its entirety.
More...
Review of: Hrvoje Matković - Jere JAREB, Državno gospodarstvena povjerenstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske od kolovoza 1941. do travnja 1945., Zagreb 2001. 799 str.
More...
A prominent figure in the Romanian army, General Gheorghe Avramescu entwined his name with the liberation of Northern Bukovina, in early July 1941, and of north-western Transylvania, on October 25, 1944, later leading the Romanian 4th Army in the battles for the liberation of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. On March 2, 1945, while he was on the front in Czechoslovakia leading the Romanian 4th Army in the Operation “Zvolen – Banska Bystrica”, he was summoned to the headquarters of the 40th Army (which included the Romanian 4th Army) led by General Zhmachenko, where he was arrested by the Soviets. The reasons for his arrest are not clear to this day, the most common supposition referring to his involvement in an anti-Soviet military action, which aimed – in collusion with the Romanian legionaries that sought shelter in Germany, under the command of Horia Sima – to turn the weapons against Soviet troops with German help and thus to avoid Romania’s fall under Soviet occupation. According to the information provided by the Soviets 18 years later, in 1963, the General lost his life on March 3, 1945, in an air-raid by the German aviation. In the first half of the 1960s, the Romanian authorities opened an inquiry meant to finally shed some light of the “Avramescu case”. This article presents a report prepared by the head of the Department of Military Counterintelligence, in which the minister of the Romanian Armed Forces was informed on the conclusions of the inquiry: General Avramescu did not intend to turn weapons against Soviet troops, despite some pressure to do so, and the “information provided by the Red Cross of the USSR that Avramescu Gheorghe died on March 3, 1945, in an German air raid, is unsubstantiated”, the general being seen alive on March 14, 1945.
More...
How could a state and its leadership abandon without resistance millions of its citizens and almost a third of its territory, like Romania did in 1940? It’s a disturbing question and simply blaming the external factors is not sufficient, nor fair to the Romanian society. The events from the summer of 1940 are all the more shocking considering that the regime the King himself and his regime were pushing the pedal of nationalism, promising the citizens of Greater Romania that every swath of land will be defended under any circumstances, at any cost.
More...