(The End of) Communism as a Generational History: Some Thoughts on Czechoslovakia and Poland

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-329
Author(s):  
MARCI SHORE
Keyword(s):  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Great Hope ◽  
Sense Of Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Right ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Second World

AbstractThis article explores communism – including its pre-history and aftermath – as a generational history. The structure is diachronic and largely biographical. Attention is paid to the roles of milieu, the Second World War, generational cleavages and a Hegelian sense of time. Nineteen sixty-eight is a turning point, the moment when Marxism as belief was decoupled from communism as practice. The arrival of Soviet tanks in Prague meant a certain kind of end of European Marxism. It also meant the coming of age of a new generation: those born in the post-war years who were to play a large role in the opposition. The anti-communist opposition was organically connected to Marxism itself: the generation(s) of dissidents active in the 1970s and 1980s should be understood as a further chapter in the generational history of communism. Nineteen eight-nine was another moment of sharp generational rupture. The new post-communist generation, Havel's great hope, possessed the virtue of openness. Openness, however, proved a double-edged sword: as eastern Europe opened to the West, it also opened a Pandora's box. Perhaps today the most poignant generational question brought about by 1989 is not who has the right to claim authorship of the revolution, but rather who was old enough to be held responsible for the choices they made under the communist regime. There remains a division between those who have to account for their actions, and those who do not, between those who proved themselves opportunists, or cowards or heroes – and those who have clean hands by virtue of not having been tested.

State-run celebration of Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia (based on audiovisual sources)

2019 ◽  
pp. 251-268
Author(s):  
Timur Gimadeev
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Military

The article deals with the history of celebrating the Liberation Day in Czechoslovakia organised by the state. Various aspects of the history of the holiday have been considered with the extensive use of audiovisual documents (materials from Czechoslovak newsreels and TV archives), which allowed for a detailed analysis of the propaganda representation of the holiday. As a result, it has been possible to identify the main stages of the historical evolution of the celebrations of Liberation Day, to discover the close interdependence between these stages and the country’s political development. The establishment of the holiday itself — its concept and the military parade as the main ritual — took place in the first post-war years, simultaneously with the consolidation of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, until the end of the 1960s, the celebrations gradually evolved along the political regime, acquiring new ritual forms (ceremonial meetings, and “guards of memory”). In 1968, at the same time as there was an attempt to rethink the entire socialist regime and the historical experience connected with it, an attempt was made to reconstruct Liberation Day. However, political “normalisation” led to the normalisation of the celebration itself, which played an important role in legitimising the Soviet presence in the country. At this stage, the role of ceremonial meetings and “guards of memory” increased, while inventions released in time for 9 May appeared and “May TV” was specially produced. The fall of the Communist regime in 1989 led to the fall of the concept of Liberation Day on 9 May, resulting in changes of the title, date and paradigm of the holiday, which became Victory Day and has been since celebrated on 8 May.

"Iets ten voordelen van onzen jeugd". John Caremans, Edgar Lehembre, Remi Van Mieghem en de Vlaamse en Duitse intriges omtrent de Vlaams-nationalistische jeugdbeweging in 1942

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-193
Author(s):  
Frank Seberechts
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
National Union ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Youth Movements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
Youth Leader ◽  
Second World

Uit de papieren van jeugdleider John Caremans, die aan de zorgen van het ADVN werden toevertrouwd, krijgen we een duidelijker beeld van de geschiedenis van de Vlaams-nationalistische jeugdbewegingen voor en tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Caremans voert in 1942 in opdracht van zijn oversten ‘verkenningsopdrachten’ uit bij vertegenwoordigers van de nationaal-socialistische jeugdbeweging in Duitsland. Uit het verslag dat Caremans over zijn reizen opstelt en uit de naoorlogse ondervragingen van Caremans en van zijn chef, jeugdleider Edgar Lehembre, blijkt dat deze reizen naar Berlijn slechts een episode vormen in de strijd die gedurende de hele bezetting woedt tussen de verschillende jeugdbewegingen in Vlaanderen en tussen, de verschillende partijen en ideologische strekkingen in de collaboratie. Alle ingrediënten zijn aanwezig: de scepsis van een deel van de Nationaal-Socialistische Jeugd Vlaanderen (NSJV) tegenover de brute nationaal-socialistische machtshonger, het onbegrip en de machtspolitiek van Duitse instanties als het Deutsche Arbeiterfront (DAF) en de Hitlerjugend (HJ) tegenover de buitenlanders – zelfs wanneer die zich in de collaboratie inschakelen, de inmenging van Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond (VNV) en van de Vlaamsch-Duitsche Arbeidsgemeenschap (DeVlag)/SS. Het wordt duidelijk dat Lehembre en het VNV in deze strijd het onderspit zullen delven.________“Something on behalf of our young people”. John Caremans, Edgar Lehembre, Remi Van Mieghem and the Flemish and German machinations concerning the Flemish nationalist youth movement in 1942.The documents of youth leader John Caremans, which had been entrusted to the care of the ADVN, give a clearer picture of the history of the Flemish Nationalist youth movements before and during the Second World War. In 1942, Caremans was instructed by his superiors to carry out ‘exploratory missions’ among representatives of the National Socialist youth movement in Germany.The report written by Caremans about his travels and post-war interrogations of Caremans and his chief, youth leader, Edgar Lehembre, demonstrate that these trips to Berlin constituted only one episode in the struggle that raged throughout the occupation between the various youth movements in Flanders and between the various parties and ideological trends in the collaboration. All ingredients are present: the scepticism of a part of the National Socialist Youth of Flanders (NSJV) towards the brute National Socialist craving for power, the incomprehension and the power politics of German agencies, like the Deutsche Arbeiterfront (DAF) and the Hitlerjugend (HJ) towards foreigners – even when they engage in collaboration, the interference of the Flemish National Union (VNV) and the Flemish German Labour Community (De Vlag)/SS. It becomes clear that Lehembre and the VNV would come off worst in this combat.

scholarly journals FRANTIŠEK WEYR (1879-1951). ZAPOMNIANY NORMATYWISTA

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Bartosz Lewandowski
Keyword(s):  
Normative Theory ◽  
Law School ◽  
Scholarly Activity ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Second Republic ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
History Of ◽  
Main Representative ◽  
Theory Of Law ◽  
Second World

FRANTIŠEK WEYR (1879-1951): A FORGOTTEN NORMATIVIST Summary František Weyr (1879-1951) was one of the most outstanding adherents of the normative theory of legal science during the inter-war period. His scholarly activity was focused on the basic issues important for normativism, on which he embarked shortly before Hans Kelsen’s, and with no influence from Kelsen (Weyr published his earliest book in 1908). Weyr was one of the founders and the main representative of the Czechoslovak Neo-Kantian Law School, which was composed of his former students, members of the Faculty of Law at the Tomáš Masaryk University in Brno. Members of the Czechoslovak Neo-Kantian Law School engaged in numerous polemics on key normativist issues (e.g. the nature of legal norms). F. Weyr’s work in the philosophy of law made a salient contribution to the turbulent history of Czechoslovakia, exerting an influence from the auspicious years of the independent Second Republic (1918-1938), through the period of the Czech and Moravian Protectorate under Nazi German occupation during the Second World War, to the postwar period under the Communist regime and its miserable demise in 1990. Weyr is appreciated in Czech scholarship for his achievements in the theory of law. Although he was one of the key figures associated with normativism, often compared with his colleague H. Kelsen, his work in scholarship is not well known in the Polish theory of law.

scholarly journals The Women’s Question among the Masons of Russian Paris

Literary Fact ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 314-332
Author(s):  
Michela Venditti
Keyword(s):  
Literary Work ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
National Library ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
The North ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

The article is a introduction to the publication of the minutes of the meetings of the Russian lodge "Northern Star" in Paris, concerning the discussion on the admission of women to freemasonry. The proposed archival materials, deposited in the National Library of France in Paris, date back to 1945 and 1948. The women's issue became more relevant after the Second World War due to the fact that Masonic lodges had to recover and recruit new adherents. The article offers a brief overview of the women's issue in the history of Freemasonry in general, and in the Russian emigrant environment in particular. One of the founders of the North Star lodge, M. Osorgin, spoke out in the 1930s against the admission of women. In the discussions of the 1940s, the Masonic brothers repeat his opinion almost literally. Women's participation in Freemasonry is rejected using either gender or social arguments. Russian Freemasons mostly cite gender reasons: women have no place in Freemasonry because they are not men. Freemasonry, according to Osorgin, is a cult of the male creative principle, which is not peculiar to women. Discussions about the women's issue among Russian emigrant Freemasons are also an important source for studying their literary work; in particular, the post-war literary works of Gaito Gazdanov are closely connected with the Masonic ideology.

scholarly journals Prace konserwatorskie i badania architektoniczne klauzury dawnego opactwa cysterskiego w Krzeszowie po drugiej wojnie światowej

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 341-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Łużyniecka ◽  
Monika Dąbkowska
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The South ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

This article is about conservational and study works on the enclosure of an old cystercian abbey in Krzeszów, that were made after the Second World War. Post-war history of conservation of this monument exhibits two periods. The first one covers 50 post-war years, where only routine maintenance was done. The latter period began at the beginning of the XXI century. Since then fragments of the building were renovated piece by piece. Current cultural and touristic needs were taken into consideration.Revalorization of Krzeszów Abbey in years 2007-2008 and since 2014 revealed the basements and relicts of the groundfloor of the south and west wings of the complex. At the same time the architectural studies were made, resulting in new conclusions of transformations of this building.

scholarly journals Konspiratorzy w Policji Polskiej i Polskiej Policji Kryminalnej w Krakowie w latach 1939‒1945

2020 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-618
Author(s):  
Michał Chlipała
Keyword(s):  
Communist Regime ◽  
General Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Post War ◽  
Polish Government ◽  
Popular Image

Conspirators in the Polish Blue Police and Polish Criminal Police in Kraków during 1939‒1945 The article describes the history of Polish pre-war policemen who were forced to continue their service in the Polish Police in the General Government (the so-called Blue Police), created by German occupying authorities. Many of these policemen, faithful to the oath they had made before the war, worked for the Polish Underground State. In Kraków, the capital of the General Government, in the Autumn of 1939, Polish policemen began to create conspiracy structures, which gradually became one of the most effective Polish intelligence networks. Thanks to them, the Home Army, subordinated to the Polish Government-in-exile in London, could learn the secrets of the Kraków Gestapo and the German police. Despite the enormous efforts of the German counter-intelligence machine and the losses among the conspirators, they worked out the exact structure of the German forces in Kraków, helped the persecuted population and infiltrated secret German institutions. In post-war Poland, many of them experienced persecution at the hands of the communist regime. Most of them preferred to keep their wartime experiences secret. To this day their activities are poorly known, being suppressed by the popular image of a Polish policeman-collaborator created by the media.

scholarly journals The fate of one university in the context of changing borders in Central Europe (Kolozsvár — Cluj — Szeged)

2021 ◽  
pp. 353-385
Author(s):  
Alexander S. Stykalin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Old Kingdom ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War

An example of how epoch-making historical events in Central Europe affected the fate of an elite educational institution is the history of the second Hungarian university, founded in 1872 in the main city of Transylvania, Kolozsvár. This university was forced to leave Transylvania as a result of its reunification with the Kingdom of Romania in December 1918 following the First World War. Romanian professors from the “Old Kingdom” entered the university buildings built in the era of Austro-Hungarian dualism, located in the same city that changed its name from Kolozsvár, to Cluj. They were tasked by the new authorities to facilitate the integration of the region into Romania. The Hungarian University moves within the new borders of Hungary, to the city of Szeged. The creating of this powerful center of elite Hungarian culture became one of the essential directions of the cultural policy of the conservative regime. Its representatives saw the transformation of Hungary into a bastion of high European culture on the threshold of the Balkans as one of the ways to compensate for the enormous national infringement that the Trianon Peace Treaty of 1920 was for millions of Hungarians. The resettlement to Szeged, however, by no means put an end to the history of the Hungarian University of Transylvania. After the second Vienna arbitration for the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary (August 1940), the Hungarian university in Cluj was restored, and the Romanian one moved within the narrowed borders of Romania. In the post-war Romania, under the left-wing authorities, and later the communist regime, which was not interested in aggravating the Hungarian-Romanian contradictions, both Romanian and Hungarian universities functioned in Cluj for a decade and a half, until in 1959, amid the rise of Romanian nationalism, an independent Hungarian university was closed.

Who Framed Theatre? The ‘Moment of Change’ in British TV Drama

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine MacMurraugh-Kavanagh ◽  
Stephen Lacey
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Television Drama ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
British Drama ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The University

It has long been the received wisdom that television drama has become increasingly ‘filmic’ in orientation, moving away from the ‘theatrical’ as its point of aesthetic reference. This development, which is associated with the rejection of the studio in favour of location shooting – made possible by the increased use of new technology in the 1960s – and with the adoption of cinematic as opposed to theatrical genres, is generally regarded as a sign that the medium has come into its own. By examining a key ‘moment of change’ in the history of television drama, the BBC ‘Wednesday Play’ series of 1964 to 1970, this article asks what was lost in the movement out of the studio and into the streets, and questions the notion that the transition from ‘theatre’ to ‘film’, in the wake of Ken Loach and Tony Garnett's experiments in all-film production, was without tension or contradiction. The discussion explores issues of dramatic space as well as of socio-cultural context, expectation, and audience, and incorporates detailed analyses of Nell Dunn's Up the Junction (1965) and David Mercer's Let's Murder Vivaldi (1968). Madeleine MacMurraugh-Kavanagh is the Post-Doctoral Research Fellow on the HEFCE-funded project, ‘The BBC Wednesday Plays and Post-War British Drama’, now in its third year at the University of Reading. Her publications include Peter Shaffer: Theatre and Drama (Macmillan, 1998), and papers in Screen, The British Journal of Canadian Studies, The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, and Media, Culture, and Society. Stephen Lacey is a lecturer in Film and Drama at the University of Reading, where he is co-director of the ‘BBC Wednesday Plays’ project. His publications include British Realist Theatre: the New Wave and its Contexts (Routledge, 1995) and articles in New Theatre Quarterly and Studies in Theatre Production.

The legal status of emigrants from Russia in the first years after the October Revolution of 1917 (on the example of North Caucasians)

2021 ◽  
pp. 645-659
Author(s):  
Anzor A. Murdalov ◽  
Rustam A. Tovsultanov
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Second World War ◽  
October Revolution ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
International Convention ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Second World

Emigration has been known to mankind for more than a century. We name the factors contributing to emigration, give examples from the history of emigration both abroad and Russia. We emphasize that at the present time, Russian citizens emigrate to other countries, using the right to freely leave the state, and can also have dual citizenship under Russian law, or renounce citizenship, and then get it again. We pay special attention to the settlement of the territory of North Caucasus, which began in the 8th – 7th – 6th – 5th thousand BC. We analyze the features of emigration of people from North Caucasus after the October Revolution of 1917. The specifics of the emigration of people from this region of country are emphasized. Thus, the majority of people emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, and then moved to Europe. We indicate that in fact, after the adoption of the Decrees of the Central Executive Committee, the SNK of RSFSR in 1921, “On the deprivation of the rights of citizenship of certain categories of persons who are abroad” many emigrants from Russia, including North Caucasians, have become disenfranchised. This circumstance greatly influenced the publication of the Nansen passport (it was introduced in 1922 and became widespread in 1924), according to which emigrants were granted a number of legal and social rights. In addition, it is applicable to emigrants from Russia, including from the North Caucasus, in 1922 and 1926. The Geneva definition of “Russian refugee” was given, and the International Convention on the International Status of Refugees of 1933 created an alternative to naturalization for refugees from Russia. Subsequently, before the outbreak of the Second World War, people received, as a rule, the citizenship of the countries in which they began to live.

‘If you strike a King you must kill him’: Sir Archibald Salvidge and the Revolt of Liverpool’s Conservative MPs, 1927-1928

2020 ◽  
Vol 169 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Paul A. Nuttall
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Second World War ◽  
News Story ◽  
World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City ◽  
Second World ◽  
Local Party

In the spring of 1927, Liverpool’s Conservative MPs concluded that the local party was not equipped to counter the rise of Socialism in the city. They therefore demanded significant changes were made to the structure of the Liverpool Conservative Party. At the head of the local party was Sir Archibald Salvidge, a ruthless political operator who was determined not to give up the powers he had accrued over decades of service. What began as an internal row between Salvidge and seven rebel MPs became a national news story, and the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Conservative Party Chairman became entangled. In many ways, the row represented the moment when Liverpool’s pre-war rowdy Unionism clashed with Stanley Baldwin’s post-war consensual conservatism; and the outcome of the dispute determined the character of Liverpool’s politics until the outbreak of the Second World War.

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