scholarly journals Mass Arrivals of Poles in the 1980s as a Symptom of Political and Economic Changes in the Eastern Bloc

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
Joanna Sadowska

The article concerns the subject of mass Ukrainian-Polish contacts in the last decade of the USSR. Documents produced by the Polish consular services and the political police allow for the study of Poles’ travel across the eastern border. They were visiting Ukraine e.g. as employees of cultural and commercial institutions, construction companies, participants of official delegations, students of Soviet universities, trainees, participants of trips and — the most frequent — individual tourists. The most important were informal contacts, almost all visitors tried to trade illegally. The intensification of these trips (in 1988 Ukraine was visited by 700,000 Poles), their circumstances and character were the effect of the progressive disintegration of the communist system, which had been taking place in Poland since 1980 and in Ukraine since 1985. The deepening economic crisis increased interest in the transportation of goods across the border and their illegal sale as a source of household supplies or income. Weakening state structures were unable, or unwilling, to effectively counteract this practice. The progressive liberalization of travel regulations increased the number of visitors, who were interested not only in business but also in Ukraine’s past and culture, especially in monuments of Lviv. Poles sometimes demonstrated their critical attitude to the Communist regime, manifested freedom or religious attitudes and often broke harsh Soviet rules. The militia and secret service found them to be troublesome guests. However, non-political people-to-people contacts, virtually nonexistent after WWII, were established and renewed then. These relations developed into close neighborly cooperation after the fall of the USSR.

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 837
Author(s):  
Terézia Rončáková

Repression and persecution by the totalitarian communist regimes have significantly affected the fates of Christian churches and believers in the countries of the “Eastern Bloc”. Many members of the clergy and laypersons were incarcerated, tortured and persecuted, several bishops suffered exemplary punishment in the propaganda-driven show trials and a few of them were later beatified or canonized across the world (by the Catholic Church). Focusing on the literature originating in Slovakia, this meta-report aimed to summarize the key authors’ essential works and to examine the question as to whether—and to what extent—faith was a contributing factor in the collapse of the communist regime. What was the role of the churches and believers in the struggle against communism? How and to what extent believers were involved in the resistance movements and the political and economic transformation of their countries that were set in motion by the collapse of those regimes? Based on an analysis of hundreds of books and articles on the subject, essential ideas were extracted, categorized and presented. The works of the persecuted authors were the subject of a detailed qualitative content analysis. Thus, four overarching dimensions (philosophical, intimate, personal and social/political) and fourteen categories related to the experience of faith were identified.


2019 ◽  
Vol 262 ◽  
pp. 07009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Józef Myrczek ◽  
Piotr Tworek

A variety of insurance options are used when managing risk in the construction industry. Numerous insurers operating on the Polish market provide suitable types of insurance, thus allowing participants of a construction process to obtain a comprehensive cover against almost all potential risks. Therefore, ‘all-risks’ types of insurance is of particular importance in case of construction and assembly activities. In addition to this instrument, the paper also deals with other forms of insurance used in the construction sector in Poland, which apply to various aspects of activities conducted by actors involved a construction project. This is the main topic of the paper, which also outlines the theory on the subject as well as providing the results of empirical research carried out in this area and emphasizing the practical applicability of the discussions. Consequently, the key aim of the paper is to present the issues related to insurance in the construction industry as a method of financing risk in operations of construction companies. The paper adopts a synthetic approach to these issues. The paper also reviews the related scholarly literature.


2016 ◽  
pp. 37-53
Author(s):  
Jerzy Łazor ◽  
Wojciech Morawski

The political discourse in Poland in the final years before the fall of communism in 1989, was based on a strong opposition between the authorities and the rest of society. Even then, however, support for the opposition was not unanimous, and it was even less so in previous years. Most Poles considered the communist system forced, exogenous, oppressive, unacceptable, and supported by the Soviet threat. Still, individual reactions were varied: there were different paths to be taken through communism. The authors of the paper discuss how these paths contributed to differing recollections of the period. They focus on the collective memory of political parties and politicians, particularly on the controversial question of collaborating with the communist regime and the rights to veteran status among the former opposition members. It is a story of two types of memory: the one stressing reconciliation and the other pushing the distinction between former regime representatives and democratic opposition members


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-141
Author(s):  
Gabriela Glăvan

Abstract Although one of the most influential figures of Romanian Communism, Elena Ceaușescu has been the subject of a rather limited literature exploring her historical figure. I intend to revisit the political humour of Romanian communism in order to reveal the manners and strategies employed by this type of folklore in affirming the hyperbolized clichés that defined the dictator’s wife in the public mind of that age. I also intend to bring into discussion the common traditional prejudice that blamed Elena Ceaușescu for her husband’s catastrophic politics that impoverished and isolated Romania in the Eastern Bloc.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Małek

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The old maps are a cultural heritage of great historical importance. Maps’ great value is also a set of data documenting socio-economic changes.</p><p>Kashubia is a cultural region in northern Poland. In written sources, the name Kashubia appears in the XIII century. The range and boundaries of historical lands that were part of Kashubia are the subject of disputes between historians. Generally, it was referred to the territories of the Duchy of Pomerania, and in modern times - the area between Łeba River and Parsęta River. Over time, this name appeared widely to describe the areas of the Gdańsk Pomerania.</p><p>In the 20th century, Kashubia as a community underwent huge changes in the political, socio-economic and cultural spheres. At the beginning of the 20th century Kashubians lived in a Prussian state, repressive towards this community, as well as all Poles. In the interwar period they were divided into three parts &amp;ndash; the largest lived within the borders of the Second Polish Republic, the second in the Free City of Gdańsk, the third remained within Germany. During World War II, the elite of this community was almost completely murdered. After the war, the authorities of the Polish People's Republic were very distrustful towards the Kashubians; the renaissance of Kashubian cultural activity took place after the political breakthrough of 1989.</p><p>The twentieth century also brought a great social revolution: intensive urbanization, industrialization, educational revolution and migration movements.</p><p>Kashubian culture can not be limited to a variety of local culture, created by a small community and its needs. It was for a very long period of time, but from the moment when the Kashubian regional movement (XIX century) appeared, a single, nation-wide culture began to take shape. The separateness and specificity of the material and spiritual heritage of Kashubia is determined by the communal awareness of history, the community of tradition, language and religion, which at the same time does not exclude the internal identity diversity of Kashubians.</p><p>The aim of the presentation is to show the territorial changes of Kashubia as a reason for shaping the cultural specificity of the region. Historical and contemporary maps of Kashubia constitute the subject of analysis.</p>


2022 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-218
Author(s):  
Mark Kramer

Abstract In late December 1991—some 74 years after the Bolsheviks had taken power in Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin—the Soviet Communist regime and the Soviet state itself ceased to exist. The demise of the Soviet Union occurred less than seven years after Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Communist Party. Soon after taking office in March 1985, Gorbachev had launched a series of drastic political and economic changes that he hoped would improve and strengthen the Communist system and bolster the country's superpower status. But in the end, far from strengthening Communism, Gorbachev's policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (official openness) led inadvertently to the collapse of the Soviet regime and the unraveling of the Soviet state. This article analyzes the breakup of the Soviet Union, explaining why that outcome, which had seemed so unlikely at the outset, occurred in such a short period of time.


Panoptikum ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 69-77
Author(s):  
Katarina Mišikova

The non-existence or deficiency in the production of popular genres in the history of Slovak cinema after the split from Czech Republic in 1993 has been a much discussed subject in the Slovak filmmaking community. It is a common belief among both filmmakers and film critics, that due to the lack of popular genre traditions and financial difficulties of film production, Slovak cinema is not able to attract domestic audiences and is primarily focused on the arthouse and festival circuit. This overt simplification, however, has in recent years been challenged by the emergence of several films that introduced generic novelties into Slovak cinema. The paper deals with two major representatives of this popular genre upheaval that were successful at the box office: the political thriller Candidate (2013) by Jonaš Karasek and the detective story The Red Captain (2016) by Michal Kollar. Both films are literary adaptations touching upon the subject of continuity of the communist regime after the democratic turn in 1989. Although not unanimously critically praised, they both gained considerable attention thanks to presenting an alternative to the realistic arthouse social drama trend of Slovak fiction film. The text examines innovations that these films introduced into popular genre discourse of Slovak cinema by concentrating on prominent storytelling and stylistic techniques derived mainly from mainstream popular cinema and offer some preliminary thoughts on reasons underlying their successful reception among domestic audiences.


Liquidity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
M. Koesmawan ◽  
Darwin Erhandy ◽  
Dede Dahlan

In order to meet the needs of living which consists of primary as well as secondary needs, human can work in either a formal or an informal job. One of the informal jobs that is became the subject of this research was to become an ojek driver. Ojek is a ranting motorcycle.  Revenue of ojek drivers, accordingly, should be well managed following the concept of financial management. This research was conducted for the driver of the online motorcycle drivers as well as the regular motorcycle drivers they are called “The Ojek”. Ojek’s location is in Kecamatan (subdistrict) Duren Sawit, East Jakarta with 70 drivers of ojeks. The online ojeks earn an average of Rp 100,000 per day, can save Rp 11,000 to 21,000 per day, while, the regular ojek has an average income per day slightly lower amounted to Rp 78,500, this kind of ojeks generally have other businesses and always record the outflow of theirs money. Both the online and regular ojeks feel a tight competition in getting passengers, but their income can help the family finances and both ojeks want a cooperative especially savings and loans, especially to overcome the urgent financial difficulties. Almost all rivers, do not dare to borrow money. They are afraid of can not refund the money as scheduled.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Nur Syafiqah Hussin ◽  
Naqiah Awang ◽  
Farah Husna Mohd Fatzel

Covid-19 is an unprecedented crisis that has affected almost all industry players including education. It has transformed our way of life and introduced a new normal to how things are done. As an effort to contain the outbreak of pandemic Covid-19, universities have shifted to online learning. In line with this, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has decided to execute open and distance learning (ODL) for the current semester until 31 December 2020. ODL introduces a different learning environment as compared to the traditional classroom that requires students to be self-reliant in learning new things. Hence, the purpose of the study is to explore students’ experiences in the process of knowledge transfer through ODL specifically for accounting subjects. A questionnaire was distributed to students who were taking the subject of Introduction to Financial Accounting and Introduction to Cost Accounting in UiTM Pahang Kampus Raub and a total of 206 responses were received. The study found over half of the students enjoy learning through ODL but only one-third were looking forward to having ODL for the next semester. Poor internet connection is the main reason found in the study that makes ODL not preferred by the students. At the same time, few features were highlighted by the students about ODL such as the advantage of pre-recorded video to catch up the new material and flexibility for them to learn at their own pace.


Author(s):  
Timur Gimadeev

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.


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