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In the first post-war decade under the governments of Bolesław Bierut, the Church’s mission in Opolian Silesia was questioned by the communist authorities. After several years of preparation, the authorities decidedly went on the offensive at the beginning of the 1950s with the initial aim of weakening its „participation in the system” and ultimately of destroying those values of which the former had been guardian throughout the centuries of its existence. This was a true battle for the shape, character of the mission and spiritual independence of the Church. Shortly after the political change of October 1956, the authorities began to „tighten the screws” of its anti-Church politics once again. In December 1970 in Gdańsk, and then in other coastal cities, protest demonstrations broke out and were bloodily suppressed by the authorities. The Church and its Primate exerted their influence to pacify the populace, leading to atmosphere feeling of calm. The period from 1970 was meant to be, in the minds of the Marxists, a period when the state would enter the area of denominational politics in a phase of full normalisation of state-Church and social-religious relations. Liberalisation towards the Church proceeded slowly and against a background of resistance expressed by problems encountered during catechisation and church-building. The disturbances of June 1976 led to repression by the military police towards workers in Radom, Ursus and other centres. The government sought support from the Church which once again tried to reduce tension within society, but simultaneously demanded recognition of people’s human rights. Despite this, social defiance grew up to the creation and legalisation of „Solidarity” in 1981. This forced changes at the pinnacle of the government. General Wojciech Jaruzelski came to power and this led to the imposition of martial law. In terms of policy towards the Church, this was embodied in liberalisation, mainly in the form of the construction of religious buildings – the greatest number of churches was built during the last decade of the Polish People’s Republic. The communist authorities still did not suspend its actions aimed at rooting out the Church and religion from public life. An especially glaring example of this policy was the removal of crosses and other religious symbols from public places. Against the background of a growing socio-economic crisis, the Church authorities advocated negotiating an understanding between state authorities and the opposition. In this way, they contributed to the breakthrough which occurred in the political life of the country in the years 1989–1990.
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The diary was written by the teacher Helena Wróblewska, who came to Western Pomerania from the Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic. She received her education in post-war Poland and was first employed in office work, and then, after completing her education, fulfilled her dream by beginning to work as a teacher. Her story illustrates the societal progress and the steady and systematic work of a woman who recorded her memories from the perspective of a person with a stable professional and material situation, despite the collapse of her marriage. The author describes her own part in the reconstruction of the country after the destruction inflicted by the war, as well as in the development of the school system and care for the young.
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The Masurian region did not belong to those areas where it was possible to find attractive employment. The majority of workplaces in this area were either thoroughly looted or destroyed. This hindered the realisation of the plan for the rapid settlement and activation of the region's economy (this area never had many advantages to aid the development of industry). The decree from the plenipotentiary of the government of the Republic of Poland, Colonel Jakub Prawin, is not an incentive for potential settlers, and also overlooks the problem of the devastation of the local economic infrastructure. The letter relates to the issue of bringing, in the first instance, qualified workers to the Masurian region, who would be able to regenerate the economic potential of the region (in the majority of cases settlers came here aiming instead for a career in local government). Representatives of the local authorities were to aim to fulfil this goal, but the incentive to settle was to be the guarantee of advantageous living conditions to new arrivals.
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The article is an attempt at the delineation of a picture of the population of Upper Silesia in the years 1950–1989. This effected the basis of selected source materials from Polish and German archives. The focus of the report is also on the problem of differences in the perception of the population of Upper Silesia by Polish and German authorities (Federal Republic of Germany). The source of these differences was the fact that on both the issue of perception and the creation of politics regarding the people of Upper Silesia both countries, in a marginal manner, defined the meaning of the specifics of the Polish-German cultural borderland and its influence on the identifying features of its residents. In this way, the problem of the Polish and German rivalry about the identity adherence of Upper Silesians was born. This resulted, among others, in the phenomenon of emigration.
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An unequal alliance is the best instrument of a great power to legitimize the art of governance, foreign policy goals and objectives against a small power. In bilateral relations between a Small Power and a Big Power, in most cases the Small Power has been seen more as a satellite than an equal ally. However an alliance may not necessarily form under the same conditions for both countries because that unite interests may not be the same economic and military but rather political interests.This was the case of China and Albania, which began an unequal relationship between them. China was interested in its political propaganda line and to challenge Soviet influence in Europe, which was dominant within the communist bloc. Cooperation between PRA and CRP was extended to all areas. China was a model partner for Albania, which helped to move forward, while Albania played the role of the spokesperson of Chinese interests and attitudes in international organizations and in UN until the acceptance of China as a full rights member in October 1971. After this China began to pursue an “open doors” policy which was described as “Ping-Pong diplomacy” in the terminology of that time. In the ‘70s and later, China became a powerful global player, which cannot be easily overruled. Albanian leadership had to reconsider its position inside the communist bloc because the new strategy of China’s foreign policy caused resentment towards the Albanian communist leader. At this time China began to pay more importance to national interests, leaving in the background Marxist-Leninist ideology, which had served as an important groundwork of sino-Albanian alliance.
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Iako je struka davno usmenu književnost odredila kao djelo narodnog duha, nije nepoznata tendencija da usmena književnost bude istraživana i u okvirima državnih granica. Usmena tradicija ne poznaje državne granice, jer je ovaj vid umjetnosti riječi u potpunom neskladu sa tvorevinom kakva je država. Koncept državne usmene književnosti nerealniji je od koncepta državne pisane književnosti. Tu će nam kao najupečatljivija slika poslužiti koncept jugoslovenske narodne književnosti, koji biva promican pedesetih i šezdesetih godina 20. vijeka, isto tako i koncept narodne književnosti Sovjetskog saveza. Svi su takvi pokušaji bili kratkoga vijeka, jer su se temeljili na želji da se priroda oneprirodi.
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The rule of law concept has become a crucial factor in building democratic political systems and societies they represent. It seems that these societies have now internalized this element. On the other hand, developing countries, and post communist countries more specifically, have experienced many difficulties in building a new system based on the democratic model. The aim of this study is to analyze and explain the influence of an important factor in this process: the role of political elite behavior and the importance of institutional choices made right after the fall of the communist regime. The first part deals mainly with the conceptualization of the rule of law and the debates raised upon it. This will seek to define the concept and how it is used in this study. The second part analyzes the interaction between this concept and the communist regime and the role it had in those societies. Then, through a comparative approach, the central part of the study analyzes and explains how the strategies of institutional choices of the elite and that political conflict that characterized the latter, has influenced the process of rule of law consolidation in the first decade of the transition.
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The paper focuses mainly on the influence, during the period of communist regime, of the materialist and empiricist approaches used as a method to legitimize Socialism in Albania. The inherited legacy of this methodology during the years to transition marks a missed opportunity to adopt critical thinking in social sciences. Such an approach would have served contemporary social sciences and humanities in Albania as a way out to transform themselves and Albanian social reality to contemporary standards.
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Në këtë artikull Pierre Bourdieu ekspozon një sërë mekanizmash dhe faktorësh, si pasojë e të cilëve, media, më shumë se transparencë dhe kritikë të realitetit, prodhon fshehjen dheruajtjen estatus-quosë. Rëndësia, gjithnjëe mëe madhe, që i kushtohet kronikës së zezë dhe sensacionit, reduktimi i hapësirës për reflektim të mirëfilltë intelektual si pasojëe urgjencës televizive, pseudodebatet brenda njërrethitë ngushtë analistësh televiziv apo pseudointelektualësh, censura e padukshme që buron nga struktura e pronësisë dhe që brendësohet nga gazetarët, konkurrenca e egër mediatike që i detyron mediat të kërkojnë gjithnjë e më tepër lajmin e lehtë dhe spektakolar, që më shumë sesa diversitet prodhon uniformitet në media, janë vetëm disa nga elementët, që sipas Bourdieu prodhojnë një hapësirë meditike tejet problematike në Francë. Në pjesën e dytë të këtij artikulli Bourdieu përqendrohetmëspecifikisht tek televizioni dherritja e ndikimittëtij në hapësirën mediatike. Edhe këtu ai hedh një vështrim kritik mbi deformimet që ka prodhuar penetrimi itelevizionit në hapësirat politike, intelektuale dhe publike, nën trysninëe tregut dhe të komercializimit.
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Children who lived in the WWII and post-war period, under the occupation of Nazi Germany (1941–1944) and the Soviet Union (1944–1991), had their own assortment of games. Estonia suffered the fate of being on the battlefront twice – in 1941 and 1944. Among the traces of war that inspired children’s games were munitions scattered around the terrain. In 2013, the Estonian Folklore Archives of the Estonian Literary Museum organised a competition for collecting children’s games. In this paper, I examine the accounts about playing with munitions – mainly cartridges found on the terrain and real gunpowder – collected from people born in the period between the late 1920s and late 1940s. From a folkloristic perspective, I study the descriptions of games collected in the competition in two ways. First, I situate them in their historical-cultural context. The use of left-behind munitions for playing was characteristic of WWII as well as the post-war period and mostly typical of boys. The descriptions emphasise spectacular fireworks and loud cracking. The use of various means (e.g. glowing embers by children herding animals) for making loud sounds, but also real gunpowder in toy guns (sussik in Estonian) was also present in the earlier tradition. Although the respondents might not have perceived the risks associated with these activities back when they were children, their descriptions usually also include their adult point of view: these games were very dangerous. Some claim that they were not aware of the risks; others that they were able to assess them well; still others that they were simply foolhardy. The descriptions of games also reveal a certain perplexity – adult respondents are at a loss to explain why they did those things as children. Left-behind munitions could be obtained quite easily, while conventional toys or means for making them were severely lacking at the time. Thus, children played with whatever they could find and the use of munitions diversified the range of toys available to them. Secondly, I interpret the games with left-behind munitions as a type of game that tests the daring and foolhardiness of players. Dangerous games and risky-play games are discussed in several accounts of children’s games. Researchers suggest that playing dangerous games is driven by the will to make sense of risk-taking and responsibility. Child and developmental psychologists find that such games are characteristic of childhood and adolescence, and that playing them is necessary for normal development. Children’s risk-taking behaviour and testing the boundary between the possible and impossible is an integral part of coming of age and self-realisation during adolescence. Yet, development in the preschool age likewise implies testing one’s capabilities and experiencing the feeling of fear. Munitions were novel and fascinating, and enabled children to apply their inventiveness, sense their bravery, and experience excitement. On the other hand, due to frequent injuries and accidents, one could also find exactly the opposite attitudes toward munitions. Thus, for some people who grew up in that era, munitions are associated with games and new toys, but for others, they are associated with pains of loss and tragedy.
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This paper examines the fate of the family and economic archives of the Andrássy family after the confiscation of the property complex in Betliar and Krásna Hôrka after the World War II was over. Complicated property rights and changes in ownership resulted in the fact that the archives were put into keeping of the Agricultural Archives (Pôdohospodársky archív) in Bratislava. Local government and the administration of the State Cultural Estate in Betliar, who managed the remains of Betliar and Krásna Hôrka Castle as museums, sought to keep this family archive in its original place. However, this resulted in a forced transport of parts of this archive into the branch of the Agricultural Archives in Levoča.
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Ky shkrim analizon trashëgiminë komuniste të vendeve në tranzicion duke krahasuar dy raste studimore nga Europa Lindore, Poloninë dhe Shqipërinë, nga viti 1989 deri në vitin 1997. Theksi vihet në analizimin e faktorëve që sollën rikthimin e partive ish-komuniste në pushtet - ose siç u quajt nga Adam Michnik-u “restaurimi i kadifenjtë” - në një kohë të shkurtër pas rënies së komunizmit në këto dy vende, pastaj kulturën e tyre politike, profilin e partive politike, prirjet për absolutizëm politik dhe mosbesimin në institucionet politike. Ky shkrim argumenton që pavarësisht traditave të ndryshme, elitave politike apo kulturave të ndryshme, shumica e vendeve të Europës Lindore (përfshi këtu edhe Poloninë dhe Shqipërinë) kanë përjetuar rikthimin e partive ish-komuniste (kryesisht të rimodeluara si parti Socialiste ose Socialdemokratike) në pushtet shumë pak kohë pas rënies së regjimit komunist si një shenjë të mbizotërimit të trashëgimisë komuniste dhe si një ndryshim në kursin e reformave që u diktua nga nevoja e njerëzve për më shumë mirëqenie sociale dhe siguri në jetë. Kështu, edhe Polonia edhe Shqipëria u ndeshën me të njëjtat probleme të trashëgimisë komuniste, si prirjet autoritare të kryetarëve të shteteve, Walesa dhe Berisha, si dhe me “restaurimin e kadifenjtë”. Gjithsesi, siç argumentohet në këtë shkrim, ajo çka i dallon këto vende është konsolidimi demokratik, zhvillimi ekonomik dhe integrimi europian. Polonia i ka arritur të gjitha këto, Shqipëria është ende rrugës drejt arritjes së tyre.
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Provat se opinioni shoqëror shqiplar përgjatc këtyre dekadave ka qenë për një intcgrim të shpejtë evropian le vendil lë lij janë të paknndërshtucshme. Bile, mund të thuhet pa asnjë ndrojtje se këto prova shkojnë shumë më larg dhe më thellë ndër vite. Njëra nga këto prova pati një fund tragjik sepse u shtyp me forcë, me rreptësi dhc me propagandë prej pushtetit totalitar aty nga fillimet e viteve ‘70. Pak më parë se kjo kohë, regjimi (ende nuk është botuar ndonjë dokument që ta shpjegojë bindshëm se për çfarë shkaku), u duk sikur e çliroi pak rripin e propagandës dhe të censurës ndaj artit, kulturës dhe letërsisë evropiano -perëndimore. Dhe brenda shumë pak kohësh publiku, konsumatori i artit dhe i letërsisë, vetë krijuesit, regjisorët, ndofta edhe vetë organizatorët e ngjarjeve artistike në nivel kombëtarnisën, qoftë edhe duke imituar, të drejtojnë antenat e ndërgjegjes drejt Perëndimit.
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Angeles, Mr. Kemal Arikan, was shot at close range in his car when he stopped for red traffic lights on his way to work, on January 28, 1982, by Armenian terrorists who had planned and even rehearsed the assassination weeks ahead of time. The echoes of this tragic murder were, as expected, heard all over the world. The reactions shown by the Armenian community in general were drastically around the world, but especially in the United States of America and Turkey. The memoirs indicate that the reactions of the Armenian community in America to this wanton murder were drastically different than those shown by the Turks in America as well as by the members of the general public who are neither Armenians nor Turks. Arikan’s life was justified since Arikan was a genocide denier. Turks were in deep shock and profound sorrow, and with the exception of a few reactions, generally seemed to have remained in a silent, submissive mode. The reactions of the third group, i.e. the American public at large, differed from both the Armenians and the Turks. Most in public who were neither Turks nor Armenians were condemning the terrorists unconditionally and were emphasizing the necessity in a civilized country of solving problems through dialogue, not violence. It was observed that some in public, who were deemed to be under the influence of the Armenian narrative, exhibited reactions similar to those of the Armenians. The importance of memoirs becomes self evident at this point, as the reactions of various communities are recorded moment by moment. This way, a snapshot of an era is taken by the help of memoirs and this data, important from many aspects, is made available in the form of primary sources, to the benefit of the researchers in History, Sociology, and other disciplines.
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During the Cold War (most certainly in 1970–90) nuclear weapons were stored in Poland under the strict control of the Soviet Army. In case of war these weapons were to have been made available to Polish Army units.
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Social attitudes toward communism in Poland encompassed the whole spectrum of attitudes, from affirmation, through adaptation, to resistance and dissent. The most developed and institutionalized form of dissent was the opposition movement. Komitet Obrony Robotników (Workers’ Defence Committee), later transformed into the Social Self-Defence Committee ‘KOR’ was a new of type opposition against the communist regime; it created a political alternative and new methods of system contestation, which were followed by other groups in the democratic opposition in the 1970s. The main features of the KOR opposition model are: openness, acting without violence, absence of hierarchic organization, decentralization, legalism, solidarity, specified social objectives, political self-limitation, ethical radicalism, pluralism and civic virtue.
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Jak to się stało, że po 1989 r. Kościół rzymskokatolicki w Polsce potrafił tak błyskawicznie roztrwonić olbrzymi kapitał społecznego zaufania? I jeszcze ciekawsze – jak to się stało, że ten sam Kościół w tej samej Polsce potrafił następnie ten kapitał w dużej mierze odbudować?
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The aim of the article is to discuss the opinion-forming journalistic genres which appeared in the Lodz magazine "Teatr Lalek" in the years 1982– 2002. The publication consists of two parts. In the first one the history of the magazine and its content were discussed, in the second one present the analysis of article, polemic and a review. The task of the article is also to determine what functions are performed in the magazin by selected journalistic genres.
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