"Continuities and discontinuities. Educational program of The Planned Parenthood Association in Krakow (1957 – 1993)"

Author(s): Barbara Klich-Kluczewska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2014

The article presents the program of sexual education prepared and offered by Krakow Branch of the Planned Parenthood Association in the wider context of socio-political situation in Krakow (1956 – 1989). Since the beginning of the Association’s existence, the special attention was paid to the development of educational program, which concerned the different aspects of „family life“. The article is going to answer the questions about its goals, the educational tools used to achieve them and its social targets. To accurately determine the position of the Association in the city‘s community I will analyse its foundation and activities in wider context of the pre-war traditions of the organisation and the activities regarding premarital counselling undertaken by the Krakow Catholic Church.

"Социалистический реализм" и драма болгарского творца (середина 40-х - середина 50-х годов)

Author(s): Nataliya Hristova / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 1-2/1998

1968 - четрдесет година после

Author(s): / Language(s): Serbian / Publication Year: 2008

1968 – Forty Years Later represents a collection of historiographical works of 26 authors from different countries (Serbia, Russia, Czech, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Germany) about the international relations and the foreign-relation temptations of Yugoslavia and also about the domestic circumstances in Yugoslavia during the years 1967-1969. The first part of the book is dealing with topics like: 1968 as the turning-point for Eastern Europe, „Prague Spring“ after the increase of Soviet pressure on Czechoslovakia (July 1968), „Prague Spring“ and the attitudes of the Hungarian leadership, its influence in Bulgaria, the phenomenon of the Czechoslovak opposition after the defeat of the „Prague Spring“ in 1969-1972, the year 1968 as a point of departure of the new Yugoslav foreign policy orientation, Yugoslav reactions to the crisis in the Middle East and dictatorship in Greece, Yugoslav-Soviet, Yugoslav-Romanian and Yugoslav-Italian relations in the days of the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia relations with the Federal Republic of Germany in 1960s, Yugoslav economic emigration in West Germany and the visit of the crew of Apollo 11 to Yugoslavia in 1969. The second part of the book is consisted from the works about Yugoslavia's activities in domestic and foreign policy after the intervention of the Warsaw Pact in Czecholsovakia in 1968, Yugoslav People’s Army’s ordeals in 1960s, the echo of the global student revolt of 1968 in Yugoslav youth and student press, student demonstrations in Belgrade and Yugoslavia in 1968, the case of Krunoslav Draganovic as one aspect of Yugoslav − Vatican relations, liberalization of Yugoslav theatre, and „rebellious“1968 in Istria. Most works are based on the new historical researches and they, after forty years, try to give a new answer and point of view on the issues connected with the happenings in 1968. The book contains also Chronology of the important events in 1968 and Bibliography of the selected Works on 1968.

1968. година – повратна за Източна Европа

Author(s): Iskra Baeva / Language(s): Russian / Publication Year: 0

The year 1968 was one of crisis, both for Eastern and Western Europe. There was a similarity in student-riots (in France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia), but mutual differences were much greater. An attempt at revamping the social system which had been established after WWII under Soviet influence was made in Eastern Europe in 1968. The new leadership of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, headed by Alexander Dubček undertook a reform with the goal of making the state socialism more democratic, in order to weld social security with human rights („socialism with human face”). In connection with reforms in the neighboring Czechoslovakia, Polish students stood up to protect intellectual freedoms. However, the government managed to stir up anti-intellectual and anti-Semitic sentiments and supress the dissatisfaction. Władisłav Gomułka came out against reforms. The changes in Czechoslovakia – abolition of censorship, preparation of the Action program with the aim of making socialism more democratic, economic reforms of Oto Šik – led to troubles in the relations between the countries of the Eastern Bloc. At meetings in Dresden (March 23), Moscow (May 8) and Warsaw (July 14–15), the leaders of the Warsaw-Pact countries increasingly criticized Czechoslovak reforms and demanded increasingly more determined that they be rescinded. Finally the danger of a reformist spill-over led to the decision to intervene militarily in Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968. The military intervention changed the relations in Eastern Europe. Yu goslavia and Romania felt endangered and they reacted sharply. The suppression of the ”Prague Spring of ‘68” influenced mostly the attitudes of Eastern Europeans. They realized the preservation of the system and power was more important in the Eastern Bloc than the interests of the society.

A Kominform a történeti irodalomban

Author(s): Gábor Székely / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 0

A Matter of Defi nition: The Birth of Socialist Realism in the West

Author(s): Natalia Skradol / Language(s): English / Issue: 46/2016

The reflections in this article concern the creation, definition, and use of a concept that, while supposedly pertaining to the sphere of literature and the arts, was central to the ideology and culture of socialist societies: socialist realism. The article discusses transformations in Western reactions to the vocabulary and practice of socialist realism after its introduction as a formal doctrine in the USSR in the early 1930s, and after the creation of the Soviet Bloc in the late 1940s. The author argues that initial attempts by external observers to make sense of the term and related policies were refl ective of the semantics of the early Cold War in general. Exploring the vicissitudes of its (mis)understanding by Western journalists, intellectuals and politicians can help us understandthe mechanism behind much of intercultural and political communication between the two camps.

A Minor Affair or an Impotant Factor? (IMRO-Groupings in Bulgaria after the Second World War)

Author(s): Naum Kaichev,Ivanka Nedeva / Language(s): English / Issue: 3-4/1998

A pártállam árnyékában

Kapitalista olimpia helyett Barátság Játékok

Author(s): Nikoletta Sipos-Onyestyák / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2015

With the goal of promoting peace, the modern Olympic movement was born on the eve of the 20th century, burdened with political and ideological tensions, therefore international conflicts have always had an effect on the summer Olympics. After World War II, despite the fact that the world had become bipolar, sports could continue to surmount the political, social and ideological differences between countries for some time. But in the 1980s, the conflict between the Soviet Union and the USA became so intense that the Olympic Games became the theatre of waging international conflicts with political leaders resorting to the means of boycott. The group of participants was not complete either at the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, or in Los Angeles in 1984. In compensation, the athletes of the Socialist countries boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics could participate in the A-category Friendship Games in the summer of 1984. Staying away from the Olympic Games, however, deeply wounded everybody, and the “surrogate Olympics” provided opportunity for abuse. Even though the Olympics became victim of power politics in the 1980s, it managed to rise renewed from its ashes as the leaders of the biggest powers of the world realized that they need to resolve their political conflicts elsewhere. In 1989-1990, the transformation of world order and the series of regime changes provided a new framework and new possibilities for managing international sport relations.

ABD İSTİHBARATINDA YAŞANAN DEĞİŞİMLER

Author(s): Sait Yilmaz / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 13/2012

Dünyada istihbaratın güvenlik, dış politika, savunma, özel şirketler ve teknoloji ile dansı her gün yeni örnekler ile başımızı döndürüyor. Geçtiğimiz döneme Wikileaks, El Kaide lideri Bin Ladin’in öldürülmesi damgasını vururken, Arap Baharı adı verilen Orta Doğu ayaklanmaları ile savunma-sosyal medya-istihbarat işbirlikleri bir kez daha öne çıkıyor. Siber alanda her gün yeni bir teknolojik gelişme ile karşılaşıyoruz. 11 Eylül 2001’den beri Batılı istihbarat servisleri büyük bir değişim geçirmekte, yeni güvenlik ortamına adapte olabilmek için teknolojiyi önlerine katarak yarışmaktadırlar. Görüntü ve sinyal istihbaratı için uzayda yapılan yarışa, ekonomik istihbarat alanındaki yarış eklendi. Son 50 yıldır istihbarat alanındaki reform girişimleri sadece teşkilat düzenlemeleri ile istihbarat örgütlerinin bir yere varamayacağını göstermiştir. İstihbarat reformları sadece prosedürel değişim değil, yeni durumlara kendini adapte edebilecek şekilde kültürel değişimi de gerektirmektedir. Bu makalede önce istihbarat alanında reform çalışmalarına daha sonra CIA’dan başlayarak, Amerikan istihbarat sisteminde son dönemde yapılan çalışmalara yer vereceğiz.

About Us and Our Neighbours: History Textbooks in the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine

Author(s): Sergiu Musteata / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2017

The principal research question pursued by this work is as follows: How do the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine present one another in their history curricula and textbooks? How do the history textbooks of each of these three countries present the relationship between majorities and minorities?This book is thus focused on two main objectives: first, to generate improved understanding of the state of the discipline of history in these countries via discussion of reforms to and debates around history curricula in each country, and second, to shed light on the ways in which history textbooks in each of the three countries represent the other two and their peoples.Curriculum development and textbook production in all three countries still remain centralised. Textbooks are produced by state and private publishing houses. Most textbooks are curriculum-based and developed according to the guidelines issued by the Ministries of Education. Through their textbook publishing policy, these ministries control the content and quality of textbooks. History curricula and textbooks in all three countries have progressed, but we still encounter many problems. Among them are the following:• the content of curricula and history textbooks continues to place too much emphasis on national aspects to the detriment of the world, regional, and local dimensions of history;• it reflects the history of wars and violence instead of giving more space to periods of peaceful coexistence, cooperation and cultural communication, or of mutual enrichment between various social groups as well as between nations;• it neglects regional history and cultural and historical links with neighbouring countries;• as it stands, it causes problems in history education and the development of ethnic identity, as well as the relationship between “Us” and “Others”;• it leads to or accepts poor textbook design.The relationship between national and European history remains a closely debated topic in all three societies. Their shared reality, as evidenced by this study, is that all three countries are currently not presenting one another in any meaningful way in their history textbooks at all educational levels. In all three countries, history education and textbooks are dominated by political history and narratives of victimisation. National histories do not pay attention to their neighbours.History textbooks play an important part in the process of collective identity formation, building a relationship with the past and creating an image of the “other”. The content of textbooks determines, in many cases, students' attitudes to their neighbours. Therefore, in order to improve the situation in history education and to develop a tolerant approach to “others” in history textbooks, there is a great need for joint efforts by politicians, professionals and members of civil society in Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.

Al Doilea Război Mondial – Crâmpeie din imaginea ostaşului sovietic în memoria românilor

Author(s): Livia Coroi / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: XIV/2014

The image of the soviet town takes form through the veterans` testimonies and through a collective memory of those from Brad and the surrounding areas. The historical research approach is based on the usage of qualitative methods and through such a mean, especially,being activated the autobiographic memory. The veterans have seen the soviet town as an enemy between the 22nd of June 1941 and the 23rd of August 1944, and then as an ally until 9th or 12th of May 1945. Distinct of the war rigors, the soviet enemy (mainly the Russians and not the Kazaks) was having a human dimension, presenting a somewhat clemency towards the defeated Romanian soldier. The inter-human relationships were being dominated by suspicion during the alliance, the Romanians cutting off the interactions with them, thus it did not exclude moments of communication and support. The veterans` testimonies help shaping the image of the soviet town and, through the light of the report with the rest of the population, the pieces of information given by them,here, being filled by those of the locals who were children or young women during the war. Witnesses talk about Russians storming in their houses, usually their behavior being abusive, frequently drunk, raping women, committing crimes and forcefully taking control over food and other goods. The image at this point is mostly negative, but even here the distinction between the Russians and the others, more exactly the Kazaks, is made, to the disadvantage of the last. Despite these happening 60-70 years ago, the stories were told with great detail, especially due to the dramatic experiences occurred due to the war.

Around the Bloc: US-Soviet Relations on ‘Hair-Trigger’ Alert in 1983

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 12/15/2015

Britain wants to bar the release of papers showing a close call between the Cold War superpowers.

Az új orosz állami történetfelfogásról. Három historiográfiai ujjgyakorlat

Author(s): Gyula Szvák / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 0

BOYCOTT OF THE LOS ANGELES 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES AS AN EXAMPLE OF POLITICAL PLAY-ACTING OF THE COLD WAR SUPERPOWERS

Author(s): Michal Marcin Kobierecki / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2015

Sports boycott is one of the most important dimension of sport colliding with politics. The subject of the article is the boycott of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, one of the most spectacular boycotts, which was conducted by communist countries.It is widely recognized, that Los Angeles Olympics were boycotted as a result of a similar action by Western countries towards Moscow Olympics in 1980. However, evidence proves that there was no decision concerning communist boycott of Los Angeles Olympics until a few months before the Games. Preparations to the Olympics were on their way, but unexpected change of Soviet leader resulted in the boycott.Safety reasons were the declared reason for the boycott of the Soviet Union and 13 other communist countries. Nevertheless, it is evident that the real reasons were connected with the political game of USSR. The probable actual aims were the desire to hit the first ever privately financed Olympic Games and to make it harder for American president Ronald Raegan to be reelected. Naturally, at least partly it was also a matter of revenge for boycotting the Moscow Games.

Britansko-jugoslavenski odnosi od Bagdadskog pakta do sueske krize

Author(s): Ante Batovic / Language(s): Croatian / Publication Year: 0

Despite occasional disagreements, relations between Yugoslavia and Great Britain since the end of the Second World War remained relatively good. In the post-war period, Great Britain was rapidly losing its global influence, with the Suez Crisis representing the final blow. Yugoslav criticisms of British moves in connection with the Baghdad Pact and, somewhat later, of the Israeli-Anglo-French intervention in Egypt have been seriously accepted in Foreign Office, although the risk that these frictions could turn into a major crisis in relations between the two countries actually never existed. Yugoslavia did not have direct interest in these events and criticism served Yugoslav politics to show the consistency of its non-aligned policy. Namely, since the early 1950s, Yugoslavia has acquired a special status in strategic deliberations of Western diplomats due to opposition attitude that it took toward the Soviet Union and anti-Soviet influence it exerted on Eastern bloc countries. Strong and independent Yugoslavia remained a priority for the West even after Stalin’s death in 1953, and after normalization of Soviet- Yugoslav relations in 1955. From the military point of view, Yugoslavia was a buffer which protected Italy and partly Austria on the North and Greece on the South from direct Soviet threat and, although outside military blocs, it could expect NATO support in case of a Soviet attack. From the political point of view, Yugoslavia with its specific road to socialism, served excellently to the West in Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia’s influence on Eastern bloc satellite states was not as big as Tito used to stress. However, the fact that the West supported the maintenance of an independent communist Yugoslavia speaks in favour of the fact that Yugoslavia’s influence on events in Poland, Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia nevertheless existed. With its policy that could be described as balancing on the edge, Yugoslavia developed strong international activity during the 1950s. However, it was caused more by Tito’s attempt to protect his independence in relation to the Soviets and also to justify cooperation with the West, then by declared consistency in avoiding alignment in Cold-War blocs. Non-alignment was a good way to reconcile these two contradictions, and although Tito was certainly aware of its shortcomings and relatively small influence on global political events, there remains the fact that he has excellently used the opportunity presented by the situation he faced in 1948 and given Yugoslavia’s modest geopolitical possibilities turned it into a significant international factor, particularly among Third World countries, which it remained until its break-up in the early 1990s.

Brunnbauer, Ulf. Globalizing Southeastern Europe. Emigrants, America, and the State since the Late Nineteenth Century. New York, 2016

Author(s): Valentina Sharlanova,Petia Bankova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2016

Bulgaria and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) during 1960s and the Beginning of 70s of the XX Century – between Beijing and Moscow

Author(s): Evgeniy Kandilarov,Kim Soyoung / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2015

The paper traces the dynamics of the sharp shifts in the relations between Bulgaria and DPRK during the Cold War period within the context of the dramatic clash in the world communist movement caused by the Sino-Soviet split at the beginning of the 60s. Through the exam of the relations between Bulgaria from one side, known as the most faithful ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold war period, and the DPRK from the other side which was one of the very tender spots within the bipolar global rivalry between the superpowers, the authors put under analyzes and verify the rationalities of the position and actions of the North Korean state within the Sino-Soviet split as well as the position of the Soviet Union toward DPRK during the dramatic change of the whole paradigm of the Cold war in East Asia from the end of 60s and the beginning of the 70s. The relations between Bulgaria and PDRK during that phase of the Cold War period clearly show how two small countries who were very much dependent on the big Communist powers as Soviet Union and PRC could have their own place and to play their particular role within the geopolitical and ideological changes and clashes in the International communist movement during the 60s. The documents show how in the bilateral relations those countries are trying to defend their own interests too as well as to play the role of a significant part in their allied policy sometimes related with the task of keeping a very delicate and difficult balance. At the same time it shows how no matter of some sharp ideological clashes and disagreements as well as some unfavorable diplomatic incidents like the one with the four North Korean students in Bulgaria, leading to a heavy diplomatic crises and unpleasant consequences, both countries took the advantage of the new change in the general geopolitical situation in the East-West relations during the Cold war at the end of the 60s and the beginning of 70s that offered them a new possibilities and opportunities for more favorable shift in the relations between Bulgaria and North Korea.

Bulgaria and the Balkan Pact (1953–1954)

Author(s): Jordan Baev / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

The tripartite Balkan pact between Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia, established with the treaties of Ankara of 28 February 1953, and of Bled of 9 August 1954, was discussed quite scanty in the contemporary historiography. It was described as a rather curious example of an „unthinkable treaty” between states with opposite political systems or a „virtually moribund” alliance since the beginning. The paper aims to reveal the Bulgarian official reaction and comments on the establishment of the Balkan Pact and the consequent joint military and political activities of the three Balkan states. The research is based mainly on a large number of newly available Bulgarian political, diplomatic, security, and military records; in particular, the reports and cipher correspondence from Bulgarian diplomatic missions in Ankara, Belgrade, and Athens.

Bulgarian Intelligentsia and the Reforms in the Sphere of Culture at the End of 1980s.

Author(s): Evgenia Kalinova / Language(s): English / Issue: 3-4/2015

At the end of 1980s the effects of the Second Cold war and Gorbachev’s “perestroika” force Bulgarian Communist leader Todor Zhivkov to attempt to overcome the economic crisis and to remain in power through quick and large-scale economic reforms. Until the summer of 1987 Zhivkov unsuccessfully seeks Soviet approval of Bulgarian reforms. Without it, he is forced to react quickly. The new model, known as the “July concept”, is approved in July 1987 and charts a way towards limited pluralism in the economic and political spheres. The Bulgarian intelligentsia shakes off its apathy. In 1988 it emerges openly on the political scene, which forces the authorities to pay particular attention to it, alongside economic and ethnic problems. The present paper deals with these reforms and the relations between the regime and the intellectuals until the end of the state socialism.