What Black Death was to Western Europe, Communism was to Central and Eastern Europe

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Piatkowski
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Education For All ◽  
External Shocks ◽  
The West ◽  
Economic Stagnation ◽  
Classless Society ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Returns On Investment

I argue in this chapter that despite its ultimate social, economic, and moral bankruptcy, communism imposed on Poland after 1945 sowed the seeds of the country’s economic success after 1989. The old, feudal social structures were bulldozed to snap Poland out of growth-inhibiting extractive society equilibrium, creating a classless society, boosting social mobility, and securing good quality of education for all. Forced industrialization and unprecedented labour movements supported solid GDP growth rates in Poland until the 1960s, but low returns on investment, lack of technological progress, and external shocks caused declining growth rates in the 1970s, and economic stagnation in the 1980s. I conclude that the assumption that if Poland had returned to capitalism after 1945, it would have developed as quickly as the West, is simplistic. I show that a capitalist Poland would have faced significant challenges to growth, and convergence with the West would not have been guaranteed.

scholarly journals Activity of Albanian emigration in the West towards the issue of Kosovo and Metohija (1945-1969)

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255
Author(s):  
Igor Vukadinović
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
National Committee ◽  
The West ◽  
Health Institutions ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Second World

After the Second World War, a large number of members of the fascist regime of the Kingdom of Albania found refuge in Italy, Turkey and the countries of Western Europe, where they continued to politically act. The leading political options in exile - Balli Kombetar, Zogists and pro-Italian National Independent Bloc, decided to cooperate with each other, so they have formed the Albanian National Committee in 1946. The turning point for the Albanian extreme emigration in the West is Operation Valuable, by which the United States and Great Britain sought to overthrow the Communist regime of Enver Hoxha in Albania. Although the operation failed, strong ties were forged between US and British intelligence and Albanian nacionalist emigration, which were further intensified in the 1960s. Xhafer Deva, who was dedicated to act on the annexation of Kosovo and Metohija to Albania, immigrated to the United States in 1956 and established cooperation with the CIA. Albanian emigration in the West applied different methods in politics towards Kosovo and Metohija. Some organizations, such as Xhafer Deva's Third Prizren League, have focused on lobbying Western intelligence. The Bali Kombetar Independent, headquatered in Rome, paid particular attention to working with Albanian high school and student youth in Kosovo and Metohija. The Alliance of Kosovo, formed in 1949, was engaged in subtle methods of involving Albanian nationalists in Yugoslav state structures, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav People's Army, and educational and health institutions in Kosovo and Metohija. Albanian emigration was also involved in violent demonstrations in Kosovo and Metohija in 1968, and cooperated on this issue with the Communist regime of Enver Hoxha in Albania.

scholarly journals Re-orienting the ‘West’? The Transnational Debate on the Status of the ‘West’ in the Debates among Islamist Intellectuals and Students from the 1970s to the Present

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-47
Author(s):  
Farish A. Noor
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
The West ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The Status ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The 1960S

This paper will look at the process of transnational transfer of ideas, beliefs and value-systems, with a special emphasis on the transfer of Islamist ideas and ideals through the vector of student movements and organisations that were set up in Western Europe and North America as well as the rise of a new generation of Islamist intellectuals in Malaysia in the late 1960s for whom the idea of the ‘West’ was turned on its head and re-cast in negative terms. It begins by looking at how the ‘West’ was initially cast in positive terms as the ideal developmental model by the first generation of post-colonial elites in Malaysia, and how – as a result of the crisis of governance and the gradual decline in popularity of the ruling political coalition – the ‘West’ was subsequently re-cast in negative terms by the Islamists of the 1960s and 1970s who sought instead to turn Malaysia into an Islamic society from below. As a consequence of this dialectical confrontation between the ruling statist elite and the nascent Islamist opposition in Malaysia, the idea of the ‘West’ has remained as the central constitutive Other to Islam and Muslim identity, and this would suggest that the Islamist project of the1970s to the present remains locked in a mode of oppositional dialectics that nonetheless requires the presence of the ‘West’ as its constitutive Other, be it in positive or negative terms.

scholarly journals Russian-Chinese Treaties: Milestones and Zigzags of History. II. 1945 – 2021

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yury TAVROVSKIY
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
The West ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Media ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
High Level ◽  
Expert Community

Continuing with the review of the most significant treaties between the USSR/Russia and China, the author highlights the distinctiveness and positive impact of the treaties of 1945 and 1950. The departure from them and the ideological rift of the 1960s and 1980s had dramatic implications for both powers. The author attributes special importance to the currently valid 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation that mounted bilateral relations to an unprecedented high level. This even stimulated ideas either to supplement it with new articles or to conclude a new alliance treaty. While the idea produced discussions in the expert community and the media of both countries, the two parties have not shown readiness so far to enshrine in a legal act the newly acquired quality of bilateral relations. However, the escalation of U.S.-Chinese confrontation and the new "cold war" the West launched against Russia are calling for such a step, for the geopolitical prospects for Russia and for China are as closely linked as their past.

scholarly journals The Restoration and Conservation of Islamic Monuments in Egypt

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-580
Author(s):  
Salim A. Elwazani
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Land Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Historic Buildings ◽  
Architectural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
First Time

This book is about the care of the Islamic architectural heritage inEgypt. The book's salient ideas amount to an argwnent for the necessity ofcare based on the implied quality of significance attached to monwnentsand urban districts as material testimonies to the country's history and culturethrough successive Islamic periods. The argument is supported by aseries of papers dealing with the causes of physical deterioration of thesetestimonies and the strategies and procedures for preserving them.That existing buildings endure deterioration in their structural andmaterial integrity over time poses no question. Familiar climatic elements,such as temperature and humidity, as well as normal use, dictate an incessantrate of deterioration. But eminent dangers, especially for historic buildings,stem from the oppressive acts of humans and nature. Widespreadindustry, population growth, land development, and wars all contribute tohwnan-generated building threat and deterioration; floods, hurricanes, andearthquakes, on the other hand, spearhead a gamut of natural forces ofbuilding deterioration.Relishing the value of architectural heritage and recognizing the needfor its protection have prompted many nations to develop plans and programsof protection. To clarify issues crucial to protection efforts, debateintensified, particularly in Western Europe and the United States, sincethe early years of the twentieth century. These issues revolved aroundsuch sweeping questions as why (rationale), what (scope), and how(means and methods) to protect historic buildings. The "why" debate resolutionsshaped the philosophy of preservation, and such a philosophyshaped, in tum and at least in principle, the answers for the "what" and"how" questions.Architectural heritage protection endeavors entered the internationalarena during the 1960s. Worldly conventions, charters, and organizationscame into existence in order to foster cooperation between world membersin the area of preservation. This situation presented opportunities, often forthe first time, for developing countries to initiate or strengthen preservationefforts at home. These opportunities were enhanced through programs ofinternational bodies, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific,and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council onMonuments and Sites (ICOMOS). However, opportunities to strengthen ...

Searching for new Sources of growth. Are the Developing Countries Catching up with the Developed ones?

2015 ◽  
pp. 30-53
Author(s):  
V. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
The West ◽  
Catching Up ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Divergence ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Relative Standing

This paper examines the trajectory of growth in the Global South. Before the 1500s all countries were roughly at the same level of development, but from the 1500s Western countries started to grow faster than the rest of the world and PPP GDP per capita by 1950 in the US, the richest Western nation, was nearly 5 times higher than the world average and 2 times higher than in Western Europe. Since 1950 this ratio stabilized - not only Western Europe and Japan improved their relative standing in per capita income versus the US, but also East Asia, South Asia and some developing countries in other regions started to bridge the gap with the West. After nearly half of the millennium of growing economic divergence, the world seems to have entered the era of convergence. The factors behind these trends are analyzed; implications for the future and possible scenarios are considered.

A note on John Hawkins (1761–1841) and the Hawkins archive

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-268
Author(s):  
R. J. CLEEVELY
Keyword(s):  
Major Part ◽  
Reference Lists ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S

A note dealing with the history of the Hawkins Papers, including the material relating to John Hawkins (1761–1841) presented to the West Sussex Record Office in the 1960s, recently transferred to the Cornwall County Record Office, Truro, in order to be consolidated with the major part of the Hawkins archive held there. Reference lists to the correspondence of Sibthorp-Hawkins, Hawkins-Sibthorp, and Hawkins to his mother mentioned in The Flora Graeca story (Lack, 1999) are provided.

Studying Modern Arabic Literature

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
Global Culture ◽  
The West ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
The Face ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Modern Arabic

This book is devoted to the life and academic legacy of Mustafa Badawi who transformed the study of modern Arabic literature in the second half of the twentieth century. Prior to the 1960s the study of Arabic literature, both classical and modern, had barely been emancipated from the academic approaches of orientalism. The appointment of Badawi as Oxford University's first lecturer in modern Arabic literature changed the face of this subject as Badawi showed, through his teaching and research, that Arabic literature was making vibrant contributions to global culture and thought. Part biography, part collection of critical essays, this book celebrates Badawi's immense contribution to the field and explores his role as a public intellectual in the Arab world and the west.

Book Reviews

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 88-107
Author(s):  
Louise K. Davidson-Schmich ◽  
Jennifer A. Yoder ◽  
Friederike Eigler ◽  
Joyce M. Mushaben ◽  
Alexandra Schwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Print Media ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The West ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
German State ◽  
East German ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

Konrad H. Jarausch, United Germany: Debating Processes and Prospects Reviewed by Louise K. Davidson-Schmich Nick Hodgin and Caroline Pearce, ed. The GDR Remembered:Representations of the East German State since 1989 Reviewed by Jennifer A. Yoder Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945-1970 Reviewed by Friederike Eigler Peter H. Merkl, Small Town & Village in Bavaria: The Passing of a Way of Life Reviewed by Joyce M. Mushaben Barbara Thériault, The Cop and the Sociologist. Investigating Diversity in German Police Forces Reviewed by Alexandra Schwell Clare Bielby, Violent Women in Print: Representations in the West German Print Media of the 1960s and 1970s Reviewed by Katharina Karcher Michael David-Fox, Peter Holquist, and Alexander M. Martin, ed., Fascination and Enmity: Russia and Germany as Entangled Histories, 1914-1945 Reviewed by Jennifer A. Yoder

Building hydrosocialism in Czechoslovakia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 610-633
Author(s):  
Jiří Janáč
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
State Socialism ◽  
Communist Society ◽  
The West ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
Reflexive Modernity ◽  
The 1960S

Throughout the period of state socialism, water was viewed as an instrument of immense transformative power and water experts were seen as guardians of such transformation, a transformation for which we coin the term 'hydrosocialism'. A reconfiguration of water, a scarce and vital natural resource, was to a great extent identified with social change and envisioned transition to socialist and eventually communist society. While in the West, hydraulic experts (hydrocrats) and the vision of a 'civilising mission' of water management (hydraulic mission) gradually faded away with the arrival of reflexive modernity from the 1960s, in socialist Czechoslovakia the situation was different. Despite the fact they faced analogous challenges (environmental issues, economisation), the technocratic character of state socialism enabled socialist hydraulic engineers to secure their position and belief in transformative powers of water.

Deterioration in the Water Quality of Groundwater in Some Municipal Water Extraction Plants in Finland

1979 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 171-190
Author(s):  
Pertti Lahermo ◽  
Jouko Parviainen
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Extraction ◽  
Groundwater Extraction ◽  
Dissolved Solids ◽  
Municipal Water ◽  
The 1960S

In this study the changes in the quality of groundwater are described on the basis of material collected at some groundwater extraction plants situated mainly in urban areas. The causes of the marked increase in the content of dissolved solids are evaluated from the 1960s onwards.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document