scholarly journals Antidote to Civil War? European ‘small states’ and political legitimacy during World War II

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-135
Author(s):  
Ioannis D. Stefanidis

The experience of European small states involved in World War II varied widely. Not all of them entered the war as victims of aggression, and even those that did so did not necessarily share the same dire consequences of warfare and/or foreign occupation; they also exited the war in, sometimes dramatically different ways: a number of small states entered the post-war period relatively peacefully, other were plunged into civil war, while a third category experienced a measure of unrest short of civil strife. It is argued in this paper that, among the factors influencing the outcome of a European small state’s involvement in World War II, the political legitimacy of its government should not be underestimated. The impact of this factor was particularly felt during the sensitive transition period from war and/or occupation into peacetime. Reinterpreting existing material, it is further argued that, during the war, democratic legitimacy increasingly appeared to guarantee a safer ground for both withstanding wartime travails and achieving a relatively smooth restoration of free national institutions, without the risk of civil war.

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (2 (242)) ◽  
pp. 77-100
Author(s):  
Ioannis D. Stefanidis

This paper seeks to reopen the question of legitimacy, and in particular democratic legitimacy, as an important factor affecting the course of European ‘small states’ involved in World War II. It draws attention to previously neglected or understudied but crucial aspects of wartime legitimacy, eminently the role of recognition by foreign powers, the rhetoric of the ‘Big Three’ Allies regarding post-war Europe, and the relevance of democratic legitimacy as a powerful antidote to civil conflict during the period of transition into peacetime.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 142-156
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Timofeev

The article considers the perception of World War II in modern Serbian society. Despite the stability of Serbian-Russian shared historical memory, the attitudes of both countries towards World wars differ. There is a huge contrast in the perception of the First and Second World War in Russian and Serbian societies. For the Serbs the events of World War II are obscured by the memories of the Civil War, which broke out in the country immediately after the occupation in 1941 and continued several years after 1945. Over 70% of Yugoslavs killed during the Second World War were slaughtered by the citizens of former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The terror unleashed by Tito in the first postwar decade in 1944-1954 was proportionally bloodier than Stalin repressions in the postwar USSR. The number of emigrants from Yugoslavia after the establishment of the Tito's dictatorship was proportionally equal to the number of refugees from Russia after the Civil War (1,5-2% of prewar population). In the post-war years, open manipulations with the obvious facts of World War II took place in Tito's Yugoslavia. In the 1990s the memories repressed during the communist years were set free and publicly debated. After the fall of the one-party system the memory of World War II was devalued. The memory of the Russian-Serbian military fraternity forged during the World War II began to revive in Serbia due to the foreign policy changes in 2008. In October 2008 the President of Russia paid a visit to Serbia which began the process of (re) construction of World War II in Serbian historical memory. According to the public opinion surveys, a positive attitude towards Russia and Russians in Serbia strengthens the memories on general resistance to Nazism with memories of fratricide during the civil conflict events of 1941-1945 still dominating in Serbian society.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-574
Author(s):  
Dina Shatnawi ◽  
Price Fishback

Most studies of female workers in the 1940s focus on labor supply. We use the basics of supply and demand to measure the impact of WWII on the short- and medium-run demand for female workers in manufacturing. Demand rose for both salaried and production female workers during the war and then fell after the war. However, the post-war demands for both groups were substantially higher than before the war and higher than the levels that would have been reached had the demands followed a counterfactual growth path from the boom period in the 1920s.


1983 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Killingray

Much has been written and assumed about the impact of World War II on the political consciousness of African soldiers. It has been stated that as a result of their military service the veterans developed a new political awareness, and that consequently they played a singnificant rôle in the nascent nationalist movements of the post-war period. This argument has been presented more persuasively for East Africa, although some of the evidence produced to support the thesis appears at times rather thin. It has been strongly contested for West Africa.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Sylwia Bykowska

The article discusses the impact of World War II on the fortunes of the population of Gdańsk, which was incorporated into Poland together with eastern parts of Germany. The development of ethnic relationships in the areas described in post-war Poland as the "regained territories" was determined by the national idea. The German population was resettled, whilst the people of the Polish-German borderlands had to prove their ethnic usefulness by means of ethnic vetting. In Gdańsk, this applied mainly to the inhabitants of the pre-war Free City of Danzig.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Aygul Raimova ◽  

The article examines the state of science and education in Uzbekistan in the post-war period. The issues of opening new higher educational institutions, building schools and training personnel are investigated. The article analyzes the achievements of science, the exit of scientists of Uzbekistan into the international arena, achievements in the field of natural and humanitarian areas of science. In general, the article considers the attempts to reform the education system after the end of the Second World War, the difficulties associated with them, their positive and negative consequences, as well as the impact of education on the spiritual and cultural life of the country.


2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (s1) ◽  
pp. 79-96
Author(s):  
Per F. Andersson

During the decades after World War II, countries began shifting taxation from income to consumption. This shift has been associated with an expanding welfare state and left-wing dominance. However, the pattern is far from uniform and while some left-wing governments indeed expanded consumption taxation, others did not. This paper seeks to explain why, by exploring how experts influenced post-war tax policy in Britain and Sweden. Experts influence is crucial when explaining how the left began to see consumption tax not as a threat but as an opportunity. Interestingly, the influence of experts such as Nicholas Kaldor in Britain was different from the impact of Swedish experts (e.g. Gösta Rehn). I make the argument that the impact of expert advice is contingent on the political risks facing governments. The low risks facing the Swedish Left made it more amenable to the advantages of broad-based sales taxes, while the high-risk environment in Britain made Labour reject these ideas.


2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-107
Author(s):  
Branko Šuštar

SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN SLOVENIAN HISTORY TEXTBOOKSThe article examines the image of the 1936–1939 Spanish civil war as presented in Slovenian history textbooks for primary and secondary schools 75 years after the war. In textbooks, this topic is important for presenting the period before World War II in Europe as well as the social and political differences present in Europe at that time. The Spanish civil war raises questions of democracy, fascism, communism, social reforms, violence and revolution in Europe. Initially, the textbook authors briefly discussed the Popular front, democracy and elections, communists and revolution, as well as the support of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to Franco’s Nationalist faction and the support of Soviet Union to the Republican faction. After 1980, textbooks included a more detailed presentation of the broader social situation, the attitude of artists towards the Spanish civil war, and the impact of war on political divisions in Slovenia during World War II. The first textbooks generally mentioned that a number of Yugoslavs were fighting for the Republican faction, whereas later authors provided more information in accordance with research studies, i.e. that 500 Slovenians participated in the International Brigades.


Literator ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-96
Author(s):  
F. I.J. Van Rensburg

The period after World War II was characterised by regional wars in various parts of the world. During this time South Africa experienced its own regional war: the onslaught on the apartheid system, and the defence against it. Following a phase of internal strife of relatively low intensity, a hot war developed on both sides of the northern and eastern borders of the country with the Angolan war as the major flashpoint. The latter war exerted a marked influence on the local scene, where a civil war of low intensity developed. This article and its sequel record the ways in which Afrikaans poetry reacted to this many-faceted war. Facets highlighted are the way in which the military aspects of the war is portrayed, the manifestations of the struggle on the local scene, especially in the townships, the impact of the war on the spirit of the soldier and the civilian, and the moral stance adopted by poets towards the war. In conclusion, the characteristics of the war poem of this period are compared with those of the period preceding it. In this article the attention is focused on the war outside and within the borders of the country.


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