Student Theatre in Poland: Vehicles of Revolt, 1954–57 and 1968–71

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-172
Author(s):  
Juliusz Tyszka
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Performance Studies ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Student Organization ◽  
Democratic Institution ◽  
Post War

Polish student theatre was a unique artistic movement in the Soviet post-war empire, with a liberty of expression unparalleled elsewhere in the Soviet bloc. As in every political system, in any country, its creators and its public were students and young intellectuals. These theatre-makers used the umbrella of the Polish Students' Union – a surprisingly democratic institution in a totalitarian political order – and all attempts at their repression were usually appeased by the activists of the student organization, often the friends and supporters of the theatre-makers. After the creation of the Socialist Union of Polish Students these activists became more dependent on the Communist Party, but the Party establishment decided, in the period of the ‘thaw’ (1954–57), that the student artistic movement would be maintained as a kind of artistic kindergarten for avant-gardists and supporters of artistic and political revolt, to let them manifest their beliefs within the well-guarded, limited territory of student cultural centres. However, the young rebels overcame these restrictions and created a focus of artistic opposition which had a wide social and artistic influence, especially during subsequent periods of political crisis. Juliusz Tyszka was himself an activist in the student theatre movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Now an NTQ advisory editor, he is head of the Unit of Performance Studies, Institute of Cultural Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University at Poznań, Poland.

The German Communist Party

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Marcuse
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Future Role ◽  
German Politics ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Systematic Program

This chapter focuses on the Communist Party of Germany. Prior to 1933, the German Communist Party was an important force in the German political system and one of the three largest political parties. The report states that since its dissolution in 1933 by the Nazis, the party has continued to exist, both inside and outside Germany. At present, the German Communist Party is the only pre-1933 party which has formulated a systematic program and developed tactics to exploit the conditions which it anticipates will exist in Germany. The chapter considers the historical position of the German Communist Party in German politics, its present strength, and the plans by which it hopes to become a political force in post-war Germany. It also discusses the impact of the Free German movement on both the current policy and the future of the party. Finally, it reflects on the possible future role of the Communist Party in Germany.

Perspectives on Triggering Communism's Collapse

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-143
Author(s):  
Tony Kemp-Welch ◽  
Andrzej Korbonski ◽  
Michael Szporer
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Communist Government ◽  
A Chain

Marjorie Castle's volume in the Harvard Cold War Studies Book Series, Triggering Communism's Collapse: Perceptions and Power in Poland's Transition, discusses events in the late 1980s that induced the leaders of the Polish Communist party to open negotiations with senior opposition figures, including the head of the still-banned Solidarity trade union. Preliminary talks in 1988 led to agreement on the holding of Round Table talks, which formally began on 6 February 1989 and ended two months later, on 5 April 1989, with arrangements to hold partly free parliamentary elections in early June. Contrary to the expectations of both the regime and the opposition, those elections resulted in an overwhelming victory for Solidarity, starting a chain of events that led to the formation of the first non-Communist government in a Soviet-bloc country since 1948. Three distinguished experts on Poland comment on Castle's analysis of Poland's transition and offer their own assessments of the importance and legacy of the Round Table talks.

The Mensheviks and NEP Society in Russia

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Brovkin
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Soviet Regime ◽  
New Period ◽  
History Of

AbstractContemporary scholarship on the development of the Soviet political system in the 1920s has largely bypassed the history of the Menshevik opposition. Those historians who regard NEP as a mere transition to Stalinism have dismissed the Menshevik experience as irrelevant,1 and those who see a democratic potential in the NEP system have focused on the free debates in the Communist party (CP), the free peasantry, the market economy, and the free arts.2 This article aims to revise some aspects of both interpretations. The story of the Mensheviks was not over by 1921. On the contrary, NEP opened a new period in the struggles over independent trade unions and elections to the Soviets; over the plight of workers and the whims of the Red Directors; over the Cheka terror and the Menshevik strategies of coping with Bolshevism. The Menshevik experience sheds new light on the transformation of the political process and the institutional changes in the Soviet regime in the course of NEP. In considering the major facets of the Menshevik opposition under NEP, I shall focus on the election campaign to the Soviets during the transition to NEP, subsequent Bolshevik-Menshevik relations, and the writings in the Menshevik underground samizdat press.

Revitalizing the State's Urban “Nerve Tips”

2000 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 806-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Read
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Base Level ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Party State ◽  
Mao Era

While observers of China have always paid attention to the “base-level” administrative institutions and mass organizations created by the Communist party-state, urban Residents' Committees (RCs; jumin weiyuanhui) have received relatively little study in recent years. Though the RCs remain pervasive in most areas of most cities and engage the energies of millions of activists and volunteers, this neglect is understandable. During the Mao era, Western writing on neighbourhood organizations emphasized their role in helping to police and administer the harsh political order that gripped the cities. In the 1980s and 1990s, the authorities have yielded much greater space to a private sphere in which law-abiding individuals are relatively free from intrusion. Instruments of state penetration such as the RCs have seemed less worthy of analysis. They also lack the requisite autonomy to qualify as part of an emergent civil society, and moreover their limited progress in serving as a focus for democratic participation earns them much less international attention than their rural equivalents, the Villagers' Committees. They may even seem worthy of derision rather than study; merely mentioning the term juweihui often brings an amused smile to people's faces, as it connotes ageing, officious busy bodies poking into people's personal matters.

Turkey in Crisis: Some Contradictions in the Kemalist Development Strategy

1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özay Mehmet
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Half Century ◽  
The Right

The recent crisis in Turkey has been described primarily as a political crisis caused by an unworkable political system under attack from organized terrorism from both the right and the left. While this may be valid as an immediate cause, there are some structural and ideological contradictions in the Turkish economic system which must also be highlighted. These contradictions have evolved gradually over the last half century in the course of Turkey's efforts to achieve industrial and economic growth. They have been exacerbated in particular by a process of lopsided industrialization after 1960 which, as in most other developing countries, has resulted in increased poverty and unemployment while achieving overall growth rates of 6 percent or better.

scholarly journals How successful was Joseph Stalin in establishing Soviet Union as a superpower?

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31
Author(s):  
Jakub Majkowski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact

This essay will firstly address the extent of Stalin’s achievements in leading the course for domestic policy of the Soviet Union and its contribution towards maintaining the country’s supremacy in the world, for example the rapid post-war recovery of industry and agriculture, and secondly, the foreign policy including ambiguous relations with Communist governments of countries forming the Eastern Bloc, upkeeping frail alliances and growing antagonism towards western powers, especially the United States of America.   The actions and influence of Stalin’s closest associates in the Communist Party and the effect of Soviet propaganda on the society are also reviewed. This investigation will cover the period from 1945 to 1953. Additionally, other factors such as the impact of post-war worldwide economic situation and attitude of the society of Soviet Union will be discussed.    

scholarly journals Hvor vi altid kan være sammen

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (121) ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
Bertel Nygaard
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Democratic Leadership ◽  
Reform Program ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War

The Danish Social Democratic propaganda movie The Dream of Tomorrow was produced for the first post-war parliamentary election in Denmark in October 1945 to illustrate the project of social happiness as inscribed in the new electoral program of the party, Denmark of the Future. The vision of a future welfare state in the program was informed by new conceptions of the feasibility of relatively far-reaching social reform within capitalism, but also by concerns about the post-war strengthening of the Communist Party as a rival to the traditional hegemony of Danish Social Democracy, promp­ting the Social Democratic leadership to emphasize the radical nature of the change envisioned by the program. In the movie this specific political conjuncture of programmatic renewal and tactically determined rhetorical radicalism was translated into a synthesis of a political orientation towards immediate change and a utopian narrative of imaginary social happiness, seeking to appeal especially to young workers radicalized by the experience of occupation and resistance during the war. The overall result, however, was an uneasy balance between a political reform program and a utopian vison tied to the main ideological coordinates of the present, projected onto a future in which history seemed to have ended.

scholarly journals Niemiecka droga do demokracji i gospodarki rynkowej jako przykład dla państw Europy Wschodniej

2017 ◽  
pp. 123-135
Author(s):  
Martin Dahl
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Political System ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
World War ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Democratic Political System

The German experience with democracy and the market economy can be particularly valuable for other European countries for at least two reasons. Firstly, after World War II, the Germans effectively and permanently managed to enter the democratic political system based on the market economy. Initially, the economy was implemented only in the western part of the country and since 1990 all over the country. Secondly, after the collapse of the former Soviet bloc, Central European countries greatly benefited from German political solutions. This means that in favourable conditions, these experiences can be a valuable source of inspiration for other countries, especially those in Eastern Europe.This study is a result of research conducted in 2016 as part of the project ‘Germany and Russia in a multipolar international order. Strategic vision and potential alliances’ with the support of the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation. It consists of four parts. Part I is an introduction to the issues analysed. Part II shows the genesis and characteristics of the democratic political system of Germany. Part III contains an analysis of the German experience with the implementation of the market economy. In Part IV, the author presents his conclusions of how and to what extent Eastern European countries can use the German experience in reforming their political systems and what conditions they would have to meet.

scholarly journals Collections of Japanese Art in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2(6)) ◽  
pp. 109-123
Author(s):  
Alla Ozhoha-Maslovska
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Political System ◽  
Art Museum ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Literature Information ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Art Collections ◽  
Japanese Art ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 19Th Century

The stages of the formation of Japanese art collections on the territory of Ukraine from the beginning of the 19th century to the present are highlighted on the basis of archival materials, periodicals and professional literature. Information about Japanese collections of the pre-war and post-war periods are systematized, while their composition and sources of formation are determined. The influence of the socio-political system on the development of the process of collecting Japanese art in Ukraine is also analysed. The sources of the formation of collections of Japanese art in the collections of The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv, Odessa Museum of Western and Oriental Arts, the Chinese Palace of “Zolochiv Castle” Museum-Reserve, as well as Kharkiv Art Museum are explored. Finally, modern tendencies in the collection of Japanese art in Ukraine are determined.

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