Staging Defeat: The Golden Cockerel and the Russo-Japanese War

Author(s):  
Marina Frolova-Walker

This chapter examines The Golden Cockerel as a pointed political satire, prompted and shaped by the concrete events of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist saturated the libretto with direct and recognizable references to the recent war, turning the opera into a kind of topical political theater. Here, Rimsky-Korsakov appears as politically radical, and returns to the idioms of the Russian Style—not in a spirit of nostalgia, but with the aim of inventing and mocking his previous values, and also mocking the Russian state, whose hubris had led to a humiliating defeat. Ultimately, the Cockerel became a distorting mirror in which the previous seventy years of Russian opera and its nationalist preoccupations found an unflattering reflection.

Author(s):  
Douglas L. Kriner ◽  
Eric Schickler

Although congressional investigations have provided some of the most dramatic moments in American political history, they have often been dismissed as mere political theater. But these investigations are far more than grandstanding. This book shows that congressional investigations are a powerful tool for members of Congress to counter presidential aggrandizement. By shining a light on alleged executive wrongdoing, investigations can exert significant pressure on the president and materially affect policy outcomes. This book constructs the most comprehensive overview of congressional investigative oversight to date, analyzing nearly 13,000 days of hearings, spanning more than a century, from 1898 through 2014. The book examines the forces driving investigative power over time and across chambers, and identifies how hearings might influence the president’s strategic calculations through the erosion of the president’s public approval rating, and uncover the pathways through which investigations have shaped public policy. Put simply, by bringing significant political pressure to bear on the president, investigations often afford Congress a blunt, but effective check on presidential power—without the need to worry about veto threats or other hurdles such as Senate filibusters. In an era of intense partisan polarization and institutional dysfunction, the book delves into the dynamics of congressional investigations and how Congress leverages this tool to counterbalance presidential power.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 219-236
Author(s):  
Andrey Yu. Dvornichenko

The abundant Russian historiography of the medieval history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian-Russian State) has become in the last decades the centre of the discussions and is often subject to groundless criticism. This historiography was not very lucky in the Soviet period of the 20th century either, as it was severely criticized from the Marxist-Leninist position. When discussing Russian historiography the author of this article is consciously committed to the Russian positions. There are no reasons to consider this historiography branch either Byelorussian or Ukrainian one, as that was really Russian historiography, - the phenomenon that formed under the favorable specific conditions of Russian Empire before the beginning of the 20th century. The said phenomenon can be studied in different ways: according to the existing then main trends and schools or according to their affiliation with specific universities of Russian Empire. But according to the author of this article the best way to study the issue is in accordance with the main concepts of history. And then the pre-revolutionary historiography appears as an integral scientific paradigm that turns out to be the most divaricate branch of the Lithuanian studies of the time. It created, in its turn, the most vivid and objective historical picture that can still serve as the basis for the studies of Lithuanian-Russian state.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-779
Author(s):  
E.V. Molchanova

Subject. This study focuses on the Finno-Ugric peoples carrying unique cultural customs and traditions. Objectives. I evaluate how various factors influence the demographic development of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Methods. Analyzing the current situation, I refer to official statistics and the Health for All database of the World Health Organization, statistical yearbooks of the Russian State Statistics Service. All data were organized as a special information system including several related blocks, such as economic development of locations, demographic situation, health and healthcare. Research was based on the comparative analysis of key medical-demographic and socio-economic indicators, and economic-mathematical apparatus. Results. I comprehensively evaluated the current situation macro- and mesoeconomically by gradually shifting from the comparison of countries to regional trends. I traced patterns of medical and demographic processes in the Finno-Ugric countries, such as Hungary, Finland and Estonia, and national autonomies across Russia. Conclusions and Relevance. I discovered that there is a certain relationship between a man and environment that translate into physical and physical health of people. They should be taken into consideration when outlining demographic development programs. The findings can be used to prepare regional medical and demographic documents, including the prevention of suicidal behavior and alcoholism and general medical services.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document