45 de ani de la constituirea „sistemului românesc pentru conservare şi restaurare a patrimoniului cultural” - un scurt istoric

Author(s): Dan Octavian Paul,Luminița Paul / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 10/2021

This paper presents a history of The Romanian System for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, in its 45 years of operation. The data are presented in two periods, 1975-1990 and from 1990 to the present. The system has organizational-functional elements and its own education and professional accreditation within the Ministry of Culture.

Monumente UNESCO din Nordul Moldovei cu pictură exterioară în pericol și urgența conservării acestora. Experiență anterioară și actualitate

Author(s): Oliviu Boldura,Maria Dumbrăvician / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 10/2021

The stated purpose of this article is to sensitize the specialists and responsible institutions on some conservation interventions that are required in the current situation, years after the first emergency interventions started in 1980 at Voroneț.

Разширяването на Европейския съюз и ролята на Украйна

Author(s): Ani Dimitrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2022

The war in Ukraine has led to a fundamental rethinking of European security, with further enlargement of both the EU and NATO being discussed today. Kyiv demanded a quick procedure for membership in the European Union, and the EU has categorically shown that Ukraine belongs to the European family. Enlargement policy has proved to be one of the most successful instruments in promoting political, economic and social reforms, as well as in consolidating peace, stability and democracy in Europe, proving that the European Union's enlargement policy is not purely technical process, but a geopolitical tool that also requires a more strategic approach. As a result of EU support, Ukraine is pursuing an ambitious fiscal policy, institutions are showing increasing resilience in their efforts to guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect and protection of minorities. The present academic research examines the possible scenarios for the development of the European Union and the war in Ukraine from now on. The possible scenarios are separated into two groups, “Emotional” and “Temporal”, and the combination between the two groups allows a total of 9 possible scenarios to be outlined.

BULGARIAN-GREEK DISPUTES ON THE PAGES OF PERIODICALS DURING THE 19th CENTURY (FROM THE POLEMICS BETWEEN ‘TSARIGRADSKI VESTNIK’ AND ‘BOSPHORUS TELEGRAPH’)

Author(s): Andriana Spasova / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The present article is focused on separate aspects of the political skirmish between two prominent representatives of the Bulgarian and Greek communities – Nayden Gerov (1823 – 1900) and Georgios Tsoukalas / Γεώργιος Τσουκαλάς (1804 – 1872). At the beginning of the 50s of the XIX century, the establishment of the Bulgarian school in Plovdiv gave rise to one of the first public disputes between the two ideologists in the context of the development of nationalisms. The article depicts some moments from the Bulgarian-Greek arguments on the pages of periodicals – ‘Tsarigradski vestnik’ and ‘Bosphorus Telegraph’. In a word duel, the two intellectuals resort to the specific pejorative rhetoric of subversion and slander. This strategic rhetoric is characterized by an intensified ideological load and lavish figurative argumentation, often accompanied by expressive ideologies, with a multitude of offensive words, provocations and critical comments. Through the use of such rhetorical techniques, the prominent socio-political figures aim not simply at the personal undermining of their opponent, but above all, at defending their own ideology and contestation of the alternative opinion. In the confrontation between the text strategies (some of them deliberately anonymous, allowing the identification of the people with the text) of N. Gerov and G. Tsoukalas, the two political programs are revealed in their contrast and convergence to the own / foreign ideological code.

THE IDEOLOGICAL MELTING POT: SALONICAN SOCIALISTS AND “EMPIRE” DURING THE SECOND CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD (1908 – 1912)

Author(s): Pelin Tığlay / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

This paper examines the attitude of socialist groups in Ottoman Salonica from different ethnic backgrounds to the conflict between empire and nation-state during the first term of the Second Constitutional Era (1908 – 1912) in the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution. Following the stories of Abraham Benaroya (1887 – 1979), the renowned Jewish printing worker, and Dimitar Vlahov (1878 – 1953), the esteemed Macedo-Bulgarian political activist, and their interactions with like-minded socialists from Bulgarian, Greek, Jewish, and Turkish origins, I analyze how these particular socialist organizations in Salonica integrated Ottomanism, or the imperial nationalism which pursued the equality of Ottoman citizens and the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, into their class politics. Using a wide array of sources which include parliamentary minutes, newspapers and memoirs, I argue that socialist activists in Salonica, in the heyday of nationalism, believed in the possibility of a socialist future within the Ottoman Empire. Notwithstanding their disagreements with the elected Ottoman government, Salonican socialists openly opted for the constitutional and ethnically heterogenous empire rather than its disintegration and territorial accession to the homogenized Balkan states.

Монография за Kримската война (1853 – 1856) и българските земи, представени посредством оригинален френски източник от епохата

Author(s): Lubomir Krastev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2022

Късчета от неподправения респект на Иларион Макариополски

Author(s): Atanas Shopov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2022

Национална научна конференция „Eпохи, личности, памет“

Author(s): Apostol Matev,Diana Dimitrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2022

Long-term Consumer Price Dynamics in Bulgaria, 1750 – 2020

Author(s): Martin Ivanov,Ralitsa Ganeva,Kaloyan Ganev / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

In this paper we explore the long-term developments of consumer prices in Bulgaria for the period 1750–2020. The discussion draws on a component-based index of consumer prices constructed by the authors. We consider both nominal price-level time series and real prices of selected essentials (bread, meat, sugar, tobacco, alcohol, and construction goods used by households). For the reviewed period, we identify two major inflationary episodes, namely the two World Wars and the interwar period, and the period of post-communist transition. For the former, we compute an increase of the price level of about 46 times. For the latter, we arrive at a mind-blowing analogical result of over 3800 times. A curious finding concerns the communist period. Contrary to popular beliefs established through a massive propaganda of no-inflation socialist economies, we discover an overall increase of the price level for that period of nearly 4 times. Real prices of individual commodities are calculated by deflating nominal figures by the value of the corresponding base consumer price index. The inspection of their dynamics leads to uncovering hidden insight related to the developments of specific markets. Also, it allows to assess more clearly the similarities and differences of real price evolutions over different political regimes. For example, we find that the real price of bread in the times of communist rule did not contrast markedly with its levels in preceding and succeeding periods. Another example points to the conclusion that in the years of EU membership, the real prices of most commodities that we consider follow a path of decline. This suggests that statements on the economic developments in those years which rely heavily on the popular perception of lower affordability should at least be taken with a grain of salt. The availability of our results could facilitate further explorations into the nature and specifics of the economic and social development of Bulgaria over a long period of time.

Външнотърговски дилеми на българския пазар през 50-те – 70-те години на XIX век

Author(s): Ivan Roussev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The article presents Bulgarian market main foreign trade relations in the period of its foundation, i.e. in the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s. The Bulgarian lands foreign trade during this period is presented as an attempt to answer the question which foreign markets have the strongest influence on the processes in the Bulgarian economic space. The research paper is based on primary archival sources from the French Diplomatic Archives (Archives diplomatiques du Ministère des Affaires étrangères), mainly on reports of French consuls in Plovdiv (Philippopolis), Varna, Kustendje (Constanța) and Tultcha, on the data of archival sources and published research results concerning large Bulgarian companies such as “Evlogiy and Hristo Georgievi”, “Hristo P. Tapchileshtov” and others. The main conclusion of this article is that the foreign trade dilemmas facing the Bulgarian market in the third quarter of the 19th century in the alternative between the East and the West were decisively resolved in favour of the West, in favour of Western and Central Europe. Cereals, silkworm cocoons, rose oil, wool and tobacco are exported from the Bulgarian lands to the European markets while colonial and manufactured goods are imported. Another important conclusion is necessary – since its consolidation in the middle and in the third quarter of the 19th century, the Bulgarian national market is closely connected to the free European market and this is a good reason for the Bulgarians to adjust to the free market behaviour – a behaviour that’s not tied with political interventions or ideological interventions.

Къде и защо не се появява предприемаческо съсловие през възрожденската епоха

Author(s): Ivaylo Naydenov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

During the Bulgarian National Revival period there were settlements across Ottoman Bulgaria where a number of public figures, revolutionaries and businessmen were born and raised. The reasons for the appearance of such alert people are numerous and interrelated. Among the factors can be mentioned the specific natural and climatic conditions, the favourable geographical location of such settlements; the awake public atmosphere in them; intensive development of craft production and trade; availability of near and distant markets; the institutional changes in the Ottoman Empire; etc. On the other hand, it seems that very important are social, family and human capital– assets that are purposefully created and maintained in such settlements. The purpose of the current article is to shed light on regions and settlements where rapid economic and social development was not available in the 18th and 19th centuries. The main question I will try to give an answer is why an entrepreneurial class did not emerge in some regions and settlements during the Bulgarian National Revival period. There are several factors that contributed to the fact that a Bulgarian entrepreneurial class did not appear in regions such as the Black Sea area, the western and south-eastern Bulgarian lands (with some exceptions), etc. The factors are as follows: the privileged status of the local population in the 16th and the 17th centuries did not have a positive impact on the socio-economic processes later; the low influence of the Tanzimat reforms; the absence of more active market relations; the slower incorporation of some of the mentioned regions into the emerging national market; the lack of a larger urban centre in the region of Gorna Struma, which would stimulate more active economic processes and connections in the region and beyond it; the presence of competing ethno-confessional groups (Greeks, Jews) that have entrepreneurial experience and contacts; the specific economic conditions that helps to cultivate archaic mentality in some regions; the complete or partial absence of social and family capital; the lack of human capital, as well as institutions (such as secular schools, etc.) that could contribute to its creation and maintenance; the lack of Greek cultural influence, which contributed to the formation of people with a particular economic thinking and behaviour in other regions. There are regions and settlements across Ottoman Bulgaria that did not impress with their dynamic socio-economic and public development during the National Revival period. Their historical destiny deserves to be researched because it could give us a more realistic idea of the socio-economic transformations that took place in the 18th and especially during the 19th century.

Кооперацията – партийната надежда за успешна стопанска модернизация в България (края на XIX – началото на ХХ век)

Author(s): Milko Palangurski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The restored in 1879 modern Bulgarian state found itself in a difficult economic situation. With its economic backwardness, the political parties in the country were persistently looking for models who could allow them to accelerate and catch up with the other European countries. One of the ideas was to use the cooperative as a tool to catch up with the century's lag. However, the situation in the economic sector was such that practical actions were mainly in the area of “Raiffeisen cash registers” and "popular banks", while other types of cooperatives were practically invisible in real economic exchange. In their documents, all organizations gradually accepted the need for a policy of "patronage", which must be carried out with the mechanisms of state policy, especially through the financial sector and ensuring access to cheap credit from the cooperators. Some parties, especially those from the leftist and populist sector, accepted that the cooperative idea can be useful only with direct political intervention in the sector and even through organizational connection between parties and active cooperatives. This early model of authoritarian impulses was extremely persistent in Bulgarian politics and survived even the entire twentieth century. This leads to a distortion of economic relations and a steady increase in state intervention and control over cooperative networks.

Княжеското търговско агентство в Дедеагач - експеримент в българската външна и икономическа политика (1897–1901)

Author(s): Angel Zlatkov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The article analyzes the creation of the Bulgarian Trade Agency in Dedeagach as an experiment in the Bulgarian foreign and economic policy at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. It regards the initiative as an attempt to expand the economic influence of the Principality of Bulgaria in European Turkey in the middle of the Eastern Crisis (1894-1898). Despite the public opinion, which favored a military solution to the Bulgarian national question, the prime minister Dr. Konstantin Stoilov decided to stay neutral and to use the crisis to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries. The Agency functioned only 4 years - from 1897 to 1901, when it was closed due to financial difficulties of the Principality. The Author uses the official correspondence of the Trade Agency with the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the local authorities and private companies to trace the activity of the commercial agent Konstantin Hadzhidimitrov and to show the main problems of the traders and entrepreneurs in the Ottoman empire. The paper presents case studies, which show the complicated trade relations in the Balkans, and seeks an answer to the question if the Bulgarian experiment was successful.

Смесените търговски камари в България. Създаване и стопански инициативи (1920–1940)

Author(s): Liliana Veleva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

In the period between the two World Wars, the development of international trade is determined by the general conditions of the world economy, the profound geopolitical changes and the specificities of the individual national economies. In a complex and dynamic situation, the different countries and their governments are moving towards the implementation of effective approaches and forms to solve their foreign trade problems. In this context the possibilities of creating mixed chambers of commerce are also discussed. The emphasis is placed on: the prerequisites for their creation, the internal organization and membership, the main directions of their activity etc. Institutions are also viewed through the lens of bilateral economic relations and political interests.

Нормативна уредба на частната стопанска дейност в България (края на 40-те – 70-те години на ХХ век)

Author(s): Kostadin Paev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

Although total condemnation of private property as a major source of social and thus the political conflicts in society, the private initiative in the economy as a tool for exploitation of man by man, communist ideology was unable to eliminate completely them, neither in the people’s thinking, nor in the legal system of socialism and the real business. The present paper makes periodization of this legislation and focusing in particular on one of the least-known stages in its development. The free professions as lawyers, musicians, artists and others, private medical services, as well as agricultural activities and cooperative associations, are excluded from the study. A priority place is given to crafts, trade and services provided by private individuals. In the legal framework of private economic activity during the time of socialism, two main periods are outlined: the first from the late 1940s to the 1970s, which is the subject of the present study, and the second – in the 1980s. The Constitution of 1947 does not, in principle, reject the possibility of exercising private economic activity. It contains provisions that can be classified into three groups: 1) directly concerning the stimulation of private business initiative; 2) provisions indirectly related to this activity, and 3) restrictive provisions. In the 1950s, some of the old forms of private economic activity in the field of small trade and services, which the totalitarian regime in the country allowed due to objective circumstances, still continued to exist. The 1960s saw a trend towards stagnation and restriction of private economic activity, which trend intensified and reached its peak after the adoption of the new constitution in 1971 until the end of the 1970s. Only later, in the 1980s, the authorities resorted to a change of strategy and the search for new forms of economic activity by private individuals.

Петър Габе и неговата дилема: изграждане на жп линия Девня-Добрич или на модерно пристанище в Балчик

Author(s): Tsvetolin Nedkov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

On the basis of a heterogeneous source material, the study reveals the public, economic and strategic rationale of the construction of the Devnya – Dobrich railway line instead of the modetnization of the port Balchik. Tanks to P. Gabe this railway was launched on December 1, 1910. The construction of the railway cost state 5 milion BGN. This amount is much smaller than the one needed for modernization of the, port in Balchik. It helps to strengthen the economic life of Dobrich and also the agriculture of South Dobrudzha.

Из историята на земеделското кредитиране в Габрово и региона (1878–1912)

Author(s): Rositsa Zlatinska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The text presents and analyzes the foundation and the work of the agricultural case in Gabrovo. With the gradual economic development the need of organized agricultural credit system becomes greater. As a result of this need emerged first, albeit primitive, credit institutions – agricultural cases. Their main goal is to implement a financial support to farmers and increase the production and the income of agricultural sector. Farmers need low interest loans to develop their activities. In the 60s and 70s of the 19th century major source of capital for farmers were usurers. Most of them lend money in poor conditions. There are several cases in which the obligations of farmers grow a lot and they were forced to sell a lot of their property to pay back to the usurer. The cases lend money under better conditions than the usurer. The interest rate is fixed at 1% per month or 12% per year. On the other hand, the interest rate of the usury loans is between 3–5% per month and 36–60% per year. The difference is obvious, it leaps to the eye. Yet, there are a lot of cases when farmers use the services of the usurer instead of these of the agricultural cases. During the whole period both organized and unorganized credit forms develop and operate together. The positive results of the work of the agricultural cases are visible. But they also have a lot of problems. The biggest one is the lack of enough money and a lot of problems with their administrative structure, their personal and the procedure of lending money. After such a long time of existence and much reorganization the cases cannot cope with their problems and disadvantages. Evidence of the role and the importance of agricultural cases is the fact that they continue to work in the Ottoman Empire and in Bulgaria after the Liberation of 1878.

Туризмът в Пловдив през ХХ век: фактори, развитие, проблеми, политики, ресурси

Author(s): Vidin Sukarev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

This study is based on documents from Plovdiv State archive, newspapers, scientific researches, popular publications, handbooks, memories. The results are presented in synthesized variant. Until the second half of 30s the tourism in Plovdiv was accepted as outdoor excursions, especially in the mountains. The local tourist associations were branches of Bulgarian tourist association and Youth tourist union. The biggest achievement of Plovdiv tourists until the end of Second world war was the construction of hut “Zdravets”. The new status of Plovdiv Fair as international since 1937 initiated development of “economic tourism”. A Tourist committee was created by Plovdiv municipality and took measures for city advertisement and preservation of the cultural heritage. Unfortunately, the war ended these promising activities. Several years of economy transformations and postwar crises followed the coup d’état on 9 September 1944. The development of International fair and the preservation of cultural heritage, the main tourist resources, restarted at the end of 40s and especially in 50s. Other important area of investments was the near territory of Rhodopes. Different trade deficits and stock delivery problems accompanied the tourism during the communist regime. The termination of private entrepreneurship put a continuous trend of reduce or slow increase of tourist establishments. At the end of 1989, the beds in hotels were approximately 3000 but the Fair needed not less than 15000. The rest were supplemented by private accommodations – a paradox for socialist state and economy. Despite such disadvantages, Plovdiv was awarded with European gold medal for preservation of cultural heritage in 1979 and hosted three World EXPOs (1981, 1985, 1991). During the decade of democratic changes, last of the 20th century and this research, Plovdiv confirmed its importance as a center of cultural and event tourism. The International fair multiplied its exhibitions, the State hotels were privatized, the number of private tourist venues grew rapidly. Plovdiv municipality was the main contributing authority throughout the whole period.

The Clash of Narratives: Armenian and Turkish Narratives on the Events of 1915

Author(s): Mustafa Tayfun ÜSTÜN / Language(s): English Issue: 31/2022

This paper focuses on narratives about the resettlement of Armenians in 1915. It seeks to understand how a variety of Armenian and Turkish political actors shape international politics by re-narrating the events and pursue to reconstruct the reality in a way that favours their interests. In contrast to previous works highlighting historical and legal perspectives, this paper does not aim to prove or disprove their allegations if the resettlement of Armenians was genocide or not. Rather, I propose to contribute to the literature on aesthetic sources of International Relations by analysing two movies; namely, “The Promise” and “The Ottoman Lieutenant“ to identify how the process of reconstruction and representation have been maintained by Armenian and Turkish political actors. Later on, the power and influences of narratives will be discussed in the nexus of the international relations and diaspora politics.

„Rozkaz: zniszczyć cmentarz!”. Mikuliszki 1944–2022

Author(s): Tomasz Balbus / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2022

For several months, the repressive apparatus of the regime of Alexander Lukashenka has been liquidating Polish military cemeteries located in Belarus, including the quarters of Home Army soldiers. Deliberate destruction of places of national remembrance, demolition of soldiers’ tombstones, and razing to the ground monuments erected in honor of the fallen is known from history as a classic of the activities of the Soviet services. The Belarusian regime is doing what the Bolsheviks did before.