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The article looks through the changes in the memory of the Second World War as part of the transformations in the ideas that were established after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the Marxist-Leninist ideology dominance in the East European countries. The author offers her version of the transformations in the memory of the Second World War, while analyzing the process of the Holocaust ideas’ establishment and the need for condemnation of all totalitarian regimes. According to her, two parallel processes take place in Europe after 1989 – the establishment of the Holocaust as a main event during the whole world war, going from West to East, and the enforcement of the view for similarity between the two totalitarian regimes – the National-Socialist and the Bolshevik, going in the opposite direction. The second process of European revisionism requires not only condemnation of the Communist crimes against humanity in a way similar to the condemnation of the Nazi crimes through the Nurnberg tribunal, but also a full revision of the views on the reasons, the driving forces and the results of the Second World War. In such way, the confrontations between Russia and the West nowadays, related mostly to the accession of Crimea and the war activities in Ukraine, also have their impact on the past: 70 years after its end, the war is starting to look more and more not like a collision between the anti-Hitler coalition and the Axis powers, but like a fight between two totalitarian regimes, in which, for one reason or another, most of the then existing countries were included.
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This paper deals with the issue of the New Towns built in the 1950s in East Germany and Yugoslavia, in particular Eisenhüttenstadt in Germany and Velenje in Slovenia. The authors would argue that socialist New Towns have gained historical and public recognition over recent decades and seem to have adopted a sense of heritage, both on the local and national levels. This article discusses the interpretations and recognition of (post-) socialist towns as places of cultural and historical value, as well as the post-socialist practices of the locals with regard to the cultural heritage of their towns. The national and local recognition of both New Towns reflect their position at the time of their planning and building in the 1950s. Eisenhüttenstadt was a showcase town for East Germany and has currently been (inter-) nationally recognised as a new, model town, while lacking a local sense of heritage. On the other hand, plans for the new town centre of Velenje, its financing and construction, were initiated by the local authorities and the Coal Mine Company managers, with the substantial assistance of the town’s residents. While the New Town of Velenje immediately started to cultivate its mining identity, as well as the value of being a town built with the voluntary contribution of its residents, the heritage of Velenje being a new, modern town was and is discussed and contested locally and only partly nationally.
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China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative is designed as a development strategy and framework that focuses on connectivity and collaboration and clearly reads as an ambitious vision for transforming the political and economic landscapes of Eurasia over the coming decades via a network of trade and infrastructure partnerships. The “Belt and Road” run through the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asia economic circle at one end and developed European economic circle at the other, and encompassing countries with huge potential for economic development. The formation of the 16+1 framework is one of the most. The ‘16+1’ framework as one of the important achievements of China’s diplomacy, refers to different mechanisms and arrangements between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries. This cooperation framework has been widely accepted in Central and Eastern European countries and has moved on a fast track. The inclusion of the ‘16+1’ cooperation framework into the concept of the New Silk Road (“One Belt, One Road”) is the most important and promising element for the CEEC. The region is predestined to be the Road’s ‘hub’ and can be used during its construction, all the more so because the individual states and cities of the region have been aware of the opportunities connected to it. From the potential and future development of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative the platform “16+1” Bulgaria also expects to deepen cooperation in tourism, agriculture and food, energy sector, science, education and culture. Bulgaria is considered also a leader in the field of information technologies in Southeastern Europe and in the production of components for the automotive industry so it’s another opportunity for future Chinese investment in these emerging sectors in Bulgaria. Bulgaria declares strong commitment to support Chinese companies wishing to invest in Bulgaria in sectors in which Bulgaria has traditional advantages and those that provide high added value and increased competitiveness of the economy – engineering, automotive, electronics, information and communication technologies, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, agriculture and food industry, the creation of industrial zones and hi-tech parks. Bulgaria always emphasizes its desire to attract Chinese companies to invest in Bulgarian industrial zones, which can be obtained support from “National Company Industrial Zones”.
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Nebojša Popov, Larma i muk Konstantin Obradović, Kriza je okončana — šta dalje? Ljubiša Rajić, Sto godina Boutros Boutros-Ghali , Međunarodno pravo — iluzije i stvarnost Obrazovni nivo stanovništva i razvoj Dragoš Ivanović, Svi Miloševićevi blefovi Skupštine kao topli zec Vesna Pešić, Signali — nekada i sada Safet Bandžović, Medijska kampanja protiv Sandžaka Vlastimir Stevanović, Šticovanje straha Po ugledu na prošlost Ljudi važniji od para Ljubiša Rajić, Trag novca Rade Veljanovski, Organizovano i aktivno do cilja Šarena jaja i šarene laže Rade Veljanovski, Preživljavanje kao nepatriotski čin Jedinstvo i smrt Prvaci na žrtveniku Dušan Mojsin, Kad volem, volem... Programski dokumenti Maraton sa preponama Olivera Milosavljević, Kongres-izam Čudna asimetrija Slobodanka Jovanović, Pisac ratni plen Ekonomija nebeskog naroda Gabriela Pajević, "Privođenje" kulture "poslovniku" Mario Kopić, Postmoderna politika sredine Branko Milanović, Zašto sam počeo da pišem? Istvan Bibo, Hitlerizam i Versaj Slobodanka Milićević, Zajedno uprkos svemu Bogdan Bogdanović, Reviji "Danas", Povodom teksta pod naslovom "Nisam Srbin jer se stidim", objavljenog u tjedniku Danas, od 12. travnja 1994; str. 36-38 Akim Đilas, Nerealnost nacionalnih fanatika Mi® drag Stanisavljević, Kolaži laži
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The article aims to present in broad outlines and to make some remarks on the main aspects of the past and above all the present of the historical Bulgarian studies abroad or the study, teaching and popularizing of Bulgarian history abroad. Besides publications on the topic, the author has used the archival fund of the Center for Bulgarian Studies, which is stored in the Scientific Archive of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, information from websites and his personal observations. The stimulated and controlled upsurge of Bulgarian studies abroad during the period of socialism and its decline in the conditions of democratization is explained primarily by the direct connection between the Bulgarian state policy, on the one hand, and the Bulgarian studies, on the other. The topic of the historical Bulgarian studies abroad poses the question of the boundaries in the research on Bulgarian history. The boundaries imposed between the states by big politics, but also those established by the various professional and personal backgrounds and realizations of the historians, has resulted in a multitude of historical interpretations of the past. Therefore, the question of whether a history “without borders” is possible cannot get a positive answer. The common subjects and topics of research connect historians abroad and those in Bulgaria, and entail the need for their better mutual information and communication. The “external” viewpoints of the past sometimes confirm the “inner” ones, but in other cases they offer important correctives, such as: rethinking of the “closed” national visions of Bulgarian history; its more successful inclusion into the regional and world historical processes; enhancing the links of history with other sciences and the interdisciplinarity of research.
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The paper presents observations on the pilgrimage of Bulgarians in Romania. On the one hand, the research interest focuses on pilgrimages of representatives of the Bulgarian communities in Romania to famous monasteries and churches in the country. At the same time, the tendencies in the crossborder pilgrimages of Bulgarians from Bulgaria visiting churches and monasteries in neighbouring Romania are presented. Personal observations and field interviews, as well as materials in the media on the topic under consideration, are used as source material. Bulgarians visit in Romania religious topoi popular among the Christians, especially places related to Bulgarian history. In this sense, these pilgrimages are an expression of religious feelings and of national identity. Observations on pilgrimage as a religious practice show that this traditional form offers to believers meaningful messages for their spiritual world and social life.
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The article examines the Peace Corps programs in Central and Eastern Europe after the end of the Cold War, based on archive documents. After developing volunteer programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America for 30 years, in the early 1990s, the Peace Corps received a historic chance to expand its activities in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc and help strengthen American influence in the region. The historical reconstruction of the organization’s activities in the different countries makes it possible to outline the main goals of the Peace Corps and to determine its effectiveness as a “tool” of American “soft power”.
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Established in September 1980, NSZZ “Solidarność” was not only a trade union, but also a great social movement, and a school of democracy for its own members. Starting from the democratically elected works committees, through National Coordinating Commission, the apogee of this social movement was the 1st National Congress of Delegates of NSZZ “Solidarność” which took place in the autumn of 1981.
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This article discusses the evolution of the Polish agricultural sector, its struggle for survival since 1945, and the effects of this struggle on the Polish economy. The article provides insights and conclusions about the flaws of the communist economic system and central planning policies, the successes and problems of the Polish transition to a free market system, the effects of EU policies on the agricultural sector, and the depth of the relationships between the agricultural sector and the national economy. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact of the Poland-EU Association Agreement and the effect of preaccession policies on the agricultural sector. The analysis indicates that EU accession has not solved the structural problems of the Polish agricultural sector such as overemployment, farm size, and lack of capital. However, EU accession provides the potential for a better future if a stable economic environment is created and if foreign capital is attracted.
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The review of: 1) Christopher Clauge and Gordon Rausse, eds., The Emergence of Market Economies in Eastern Europe (Cambridge Mass.: Basil Blackwell, 1992). 2) Janos Kornai, The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992). 3) Janos Kornai, Highways and Byways in Reform and Post-Communist Transition (Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press, 1994). 4) Barry Naughton, Growing Out of the Plan: Chinese Economic Reform, 1978-1993 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).
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In the summer of 1993, an American businessman friend negotiating privatization deals in East Central Europe questioned me about gender inequality in the region. He said he was surprised to find that several of the top financial executives of large, state-owned enterprises he met at the negotiating tables were women. Since this is one of the most important and prestigious positions in a capitalist corporation, he concluded that women in newly democratized East Central Europe have achieved a level of gender equality unheard of in other parts of the world. [...]
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The article presents an analysis of historical memory narratives conveyed to high school students during history classes. Of particular interest is the way in which history teachers shape their in-class narratives in the context of narrative conflicts between the cultural memory and the politics of history of the country’s government and the historical consciousness of the national group the teacher belongs to. The article claims that, in such cases, the way teachers shape their narratives pertaining to the past is a product of their agency and the strategies they adopt regarding the official narratives. The article distinguishes three strategies concerning government narratives (Hall1980): hegemonic, negotiated, and oppositional. The article is based on observationof history classes conducted in a Vilnius school with Polish as a teaching language, as well as interviews with history teachers employed by the school. The research carried out shows that, when it comes to selecting the strategy, a key role is played by theteachers’ emotions resulting from their personal experiences. In the Vilnius school, the experiences connected with one’s national group were the deciding factor.
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The article aims to analyze the history of Bulgarian-American relationship after the end of the Cold War with an emphasis on the changes that occur in the scientific and educational contacts between the two countries. The study is based on unpublished documents from the Scientific Archive of the Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS),Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the „Commission for Disclosure of Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens with the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Armed Forces“, official documents and published data of American educational and research institutions, as well as the research of leading authors and participants in the events. The analysis of the changes in the bilateral cooperation after the end of the Cold War found the educational exchange programs of the U.S. Nongovernmental Organizations to be incapable of rapid transformation in line with the new political realities. Their place was taken by the American universities, which proved to be far more “flexible” and able to respond to the changing needs of time.
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The year 2020 saw the centenary of the return of Pomerania to Poland, which regained access to the Baltic Sea. This event, along with many other issues connected with the establishment of the Polish state after the First World War, has been the subject of historians’ research for years. This also applies to history educators who analyse the contents of school textbooks. The author of this article, which is consistent with this research trend, decided to analyse dozens of the most popular textbooks for teaching history in secondary schools used by Polish pupils over the past 30 years, i.e. in the period from 1990 to 2020. The article primarily uses the philological and comparative methods. The undertaken analysis helped to distinguish from the school textbooks three main threads concerning Poland’s return to the Baltic Sea, namely the speech by the President of the United States Thomas Woodrow Wilson of 8 January 1918, the resolutions of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Poland’s Wedding to the Sea of February 1920. As a result, it has been shown that these issues have an adequate place in textbooks, as far as it was required by curricula for teaching history in the 1990s, as well as the later reformed curricula created during the first two decades of the present century. This results from the fact that practically all analysed textbooks provide basic facts concerning the circumstances of the retaking of part of Pomerania by the Republic of Poland after the end of the First World War, which are presented with a short commentary and sometimes with additional content for learning, and with particular consideration of international conditions of this process. What should be noted in the analysed textbooks is that they are free of ideological influences, which had been visible in Polish history textbooks before 1990.
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