Theatre Policies of Soviet Stalinism and Italian Fascism Compared, 1920–1940s

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (04) ◽  
pp. 312-324
Author(s):  
Alexander Golovlev
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Research University ◽  
World War ◽  
Italian Fascism ◽  
Italian Experience ◽  
Post War ◽  
Austrian Studies ◽  
Time Frames ◽  
Comparative Examination

In this article Alexander Golovlev offers a comparative examination of the theatre policies of Fascist Italy and Stalinist Soviet Union. He argues that, although the two regimes shared parallel time frames and gravitated around similar institutional solutions, Italian Fascism was fundamentally different in its reluctance to destroy the privately based theatre structure in favour of a state theatre and to impose a unified style, while Stalin carried out an ambitious and violent campaign to instil Socialist Realism through continuous disciplining, repression, and institutional supervision. In pursuing a nearly identical goal of achieving full obedience, the regimes used different means, and obtained similarly mixed results. While the Italian experience ended with the defeat of Fascism, Soviet theatres underwent de-Stalinization in the post-war decades, indicating the potential for sluggish stability in such frameworks of cultural-political control. Alexander Golovlev is Research Fellow at the International Centre for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences, National Research University, Higher School of Economics / Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, and ATLAS Fellow, Centre d’histoire culturelle des sociétés contemporaines, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines/ Université Paris-Saclay. His most recent publications include ‘Sounds of Music from across the Sea: Musical Transnationality in Early Post-World-War-II Austria’, in Yearbook of Transnational History 1 (2018) and ‘Von der Seine an die Salzach: die Teilnahme vom Straßburger Domchor an den Salzburger Festspielen und die französische Musikdiplom atie in Österreich während der alliierten Besatzungs zeit’, Journal of Austrian Studies (2018). He is currently working on the political economy of the Bolshoi theatre under Stalinism.

The Importance of Reindeer in Northern Finland during World War II (1939–45) and the Post-War Reconstruction

ARCTIC ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna T. Turunen ◽  
Sirpa Rasmus ◽  
Asta Kietäväinen
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Food Transport ◽  
Cattle Farming ◽  
Post War

We studied the consequences of World War II (WWII, 1939–45) for reindeer herding in northern Finland, evaluated the significance of the livelihood for the population during and after the war, and identified the factors that made successful reconstruction of the livelihood possible. The study is based on qualitative content analysis of articles published in the professional journal Poromies (‘Reindeer Herder’) during the period 1931–67. Reindeer were an important source of food, transport, clothing, footwear, and skins for soldiers during the war. Approximately 220 000 reindeer were slaughtered to provide food, averting the compulsory slaughter of 88 000 cows. Herders’ skills were highly valued during the war. The herds and herders figured in the reconstruction of northern Finland and contributed to the war reparations owed the Soviet Union. During the period 1939–45 the number of reindeer fell dramatically, and the cession of Finnish territories to the Soviet Union and destruction of fences made herding difficult. In addition, the area of pastureland available to reindeer decreased. The combined effects of military operations, a labour shortage, an increased number of predators, and difficult weather and snow conditions led to losses of reindeer. The recovery of the livelihood to its pre-war level took 10 years. We argue that in addition to improved post-war pasture conditions—a result of decreased reindeer densities and favourable weather—the rapid recovery of reindeer herding can be attributed to the high motivation, diligence, and experiential knowledge of herders and the herding administration gained in rebuilding the livelihood after WWI (1914–18). Both groups understood that in northern Finland it would be economically wiser to invest in reindeer husbandry rather than cattle farming since reindeer are better adapted than cattle to the harsh climate and to forage grown in low-productive soils. Reindeer herding was based on natural pastures and labour, whereas cattle farming relied on crop cultivation, as well as expensive buildings, machinery, and fertilizers.

Conclusion

2014 ◽  
pp. 123-125
Author(s):  
Gerard L. Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
World War ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
New Developments ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
The World ◽  
Post War

The ‘Conclusion’ shows how the world was changed forever by World War II, during which around sixty million people had been killed, the majority of them civilians. There were huge losses in the Soviet Union and China, but the country most damaged was Poland. Massive destruction and economic dislocation characterized much of Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and portions of North Africa. The war and its ending also brought about enormous population movements. Countries faced massive reconstruction, the defeated had reparations to pay, and war criminals had to be dealt with. The war also provided new developments in technology and medicine, which transformed post-war life.

scholarly journals Encrypted Astronomy, Astral Mythologies, and Ancient Mexican Studies in Austria, 1910-1945

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Rohrbacher
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Main Section ◽  
World War ◽  
Astronomical Data ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Post War ◽  
Austrian Studies

This paper examines the beginnings of Austrian studies on ancient Mexico by analyzing the work of Damian Kreichgauer and Friedrich Röck in the early twentieth century. Both argued that a priest elite intentionally “coded” astronomical data in ancient Mexican manuscripts. The first section of the article sheds light on the theoretical background of this interpretation. The main section, based on numerous archival sources, is dedicated to the deciphering procedure elaborated by Röck, the first director of the Ethnological Museum in Vienna (today Weltmuseum Wien). Since Röck’s method seemed to revolutionize the discipline, it gained a great deal of attention from German Nazi authorities. The final section deals with Röck’s student Karl Anton Nowotny, who elaborated an ethnographic approach of ancient Mexican studies in Austria after World War II. This study provides new insights into the historical background of post-war ancient Mexican studies in Austria.

“To Resolve the Ukrainian Problem Once and for All”: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ukrainians in Poland, 1943–1947

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Snyder
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Ethnic Cleansing ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Post War

The complicated and violent interactions between Ukrainians and Poles during and after World War II have been the subject of competing Ukrainian and Polish historical interpretations. This article sifts through the historical evidence to determine why Ukrainian and Polish memories of that period are so much at odds. The fate of the contested territories of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia was decided ultimately by the Soviet Union, which imposed new borders on Poland. Once those borders had been established, the transfer of Poles from the newly enlarged Soviet Ukraine and the forced removal of Ukrainians from eastern Poland consolidated an “ethnically cleansed” post-war order.

scholarly journals Battle after Victory: Causes of the Post-War Crime Rate Increase (1945–1950)

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-70
Author(s):  
A. D. Popova
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Crime Rate ◽  
Rate Increase ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Gang Prevention ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Post War ◽  
Causes Of Crime

The article features the causes of the crime rate increase that occurred in the Soviet Union after World War II. The author studied archival documents of the Chief Department of Gang Prevention, as well as memoirs written by militia officers and common citizens. The increase in gangsterism and crime in general presented a serious challenge for the country that had just won the most terrible war in human history. The author managed to define two major causes of crime rate increase in the post-war years. The first was poverty, homeless children, substandard living conditions, and poor organization of public leisure time. The second included nationalist movements in some ethnic regions, uncontrolled weapon possession, and numerous largescale Bills of Oblivion. The post-war crime rate increase had complex causes and was a serious challenge for militia officers.

scholarly journals Educational contexts of migration. The case of East Prussia / Warmia and Mazury in 1945

2021 ◽  
pp. 268-285
Author(s):  
Izabela Lewandowska
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
World War ◽  
Central Poland ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
Post War ◽  
East Prussia

Millions of people were forced to emigrate when World War II came to an end in 1945. Migration processes were particularly pronounced in East Prussia, the German territory that was partitioned between Poland and the USSR after the war. Germans fled from East Prussia, and their farms were settled by newcomers from central Poland and the Eastern Borderlands that had been ceded to the Soviet Union. This article discusses the narrative surrounding the wave of post-war migration in Polish and German academia, museums and informal education. An analysis of textbooks and academic scripts revealed that this topic has received broad coverage in the German educational system. Museum exhibitions focusing on emigration from East Prussia and the Eastern Borderlands were also examined, and the results of the analysis indicate that German museums displayed a greater interest in the topic.In the last step, websites dedicated to migration issues were compared as a form of informal education. The comparison revealed a similar number of websites as well as similar levels of activity in Polish and German websites.

scholarly journals Rząd Polski na Wychodźstwie wobec zbrodni niemieckich w Polsce, 1939–1943. Uwagi do problemu

2015 ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Wanda Jarząbek
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Criminal Policy ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
World War ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Post War ◽  
Polish Government

The policy of the Polish government in exile during World War II has been the subject of numerous studies, but it still seems reasonable to trace their relation to crimes committed on Polish soil. The aim of this article is not to present the whole problem, but just outline the attitude towards German crimes. It must be remembered that the Polish government was also confronted with the occupation policy of the Soviet Union and the crimes committed in Volhynia and Galicia by Ukrainian nationalists. The final caesura of the article is the President’s decree of on punishment for war crimes released on March 30, 1943.The Polish government was of the opinion that the crimes should be punished primarily on the level of individuals who committed them, but the consequence of the criminal policy of the Third Reich should be the adoption of such a post-war policy against Germany that would guarantee compensation for victim countries, including compensation for material damage, and lead to a change in the German mentality, which was blamed partly responsible for the policy of the Third Reich. Such an attitude was shared by the anti-Hitler coalition countries.On the practical level, the Polish government’s policy had several stages. Initially, they collected information, tried to make it public and sough the cooperation of other countries. Despite numerous doubts were reported, they decided to amend the Polish criminal law to allow punishing war criminals more proportionally, as they thought, to the committed acts. The government’s activity probably influenced the attitude of the Allies, although it is difficult to accurately recognize and describe this issue. As a result of the situation after World War II, the new Polish authorities pursued a policy of punishing the guilty. Due to the international situation, i.e. the growing conflict between the coalition partners, many criminals escaped  punishment.

Gender and the Construction of Wartime Heroism in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Kirschenbaum ◽  
Nancy M. Wingfield
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Relative Lack ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Entire Nation ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Post War ◽  
War Commemoration

During World War II, the Soviet media featured both male and female military heroes as part of an effort to mobilize the entire nation for the protection of hearth and home. The wartime hero cults inspired post-war commemoration in both the Soviet Union and in countries it `liberated' from Nazism. However, no single Communist/Soviet model of commemoration and heroism was imposed on post-World War II Eastern Europe. The relative lack of female heroes constituted one of the most striking differences between the `cults' of the war in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. The difference can be explained in part as a consequence of the very different Soviet and Czechoslovak wartime experiences. The absence of female heroes also points to post-war differences in how the two states' leaders understood and employed the legitimizing potential of the war. These differences in turn shaped the post-Communist fate of hero cults in both countries.

scholarly journals An Examination of American Diplomacy During the Tehran and Yalta Conferences

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ariel Davis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
World War ◽  
Liberal Internationalism ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Post War

Since the end of World War II, the United States has been a leading proponent of liberal internationalism and Western democratic values around the world. Modern historians generally agree that the post-war order, which produced multi-national institutions and promoted democracy, free trade, and peace, was largely shaped by the United States and the other two Allied powers, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. This paper explains how the Tehran and Yalta Conferences served as early examples of President Franklin Roosevelt’s vision for international cooperation and American global leadership. Specifically, this essay analyzes how Roosevelt used these conferences to unite the other Allied powers in an effort to end World War II and establish the foundations for the liberal international post war order. To demonstrate the significance of these conferences and their role in the development of the liberal post-war order, conference minutes between the leaders of the Allied powers and their respective foreign policy experts are analyzed. Academic writings from military and international historians are also used to evaluate the execution and outcomes of the agreements reached during these conferences.

scholarly journals Obóz narodowy wobec koncepcji federacyjnej w czasie II wojny światowej

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 256-274
Author(s):  
Dariusz Miszewski
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Global Level ◽  
World War ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

During World War II, the national camp preached the idea of imperialism in Central Europe. Built peacefully, the Polish empire was supposed to protect the independence and security of countries in Central Europe against Germany and the Soviet Union, and thus got the title ‘the Great Poland’. As part of the empire, nation-states were retined. The National camp was opposed to the idea of the Federation, promoted by the government-in-exile. For the ‘National camp’ idea of federation in the regional, European and global level was an anachronism. Post-war international cooperation was based on nation-states and their alliances.

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