scholarly journals The Place of Past Events in International Information Wars

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-163
Author(s):  
Alvydas Nikžentaitis
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Economic Potential ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Global Identities ◽  
Global Systems ◽  
Grand Duchy

This article presents an analysis of the role memory culture plays in information wars. Based on the examples of Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Belarus, it finds that the phenomenon of using the past in information wars can be explained as a fighting measure to entrench the authority of a given country in the eyes of the global community. This requirement emerged among countries in this region following the collapse of the old global systems and with the creation of new political blocs. Associations have been noticed between information wars that exploit the past and the growth of a country’s economic potential. For this reason, this foreign policy tool has not been used to the same degree in different countries in the region, nor did it start being used at the same time. Almost all the countries in the region started to massively exploit the past as a means of soft power only in the 21st century. This tool is especially significant in Poland and Russia, being used less often in Lithuania and Ukraine, and hardly at all in Belarus. The storylines of the past being used in information wars can be divided into two categories: Global identities, whose symbols have become Holocaust and Gulag figures; and symbols associated with the memory cultures and identities of separate societies, such as the idea of Slavic unity (in Russian-Ukrainian relations) or the past of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (in Lithuanian-Belarusian relations). The author predicts that the use of the past in information wars is set to intensify in the future, and as such, the teaching of expert skills is necessary to address this; at present, these skills are lacking in countries in the region.

scholarly journals The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish‑Lithuanian Commonwealth as an Ideological Foundation of the Unity of Intermarium?

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6(57)) ◽  
pp. 91-105
Author(s):  
Alvydas Nikžentaitis
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Central Position ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy

The article surveys the question how the past of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth of Both Nations is used in region’s cross‑border issues, and the question could it be the ideological basis for the idea of the Intermarium is raised. The analysis of the countries of the region revealed that these themes in Lithuania, Poland and Belarus are basicaly used for the creation of the identity of the societies, however in any country these topics of the past are not dominating, moreover in Ukraine the theme of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth of Both Nations is in marginal position. The central position in the memory culture of these societies take the events of the 20th century. Obviously such secondory position of the understanding of the events of the past showed the commemoration of the anniversary of the Union of Lublin in Poland in 2009. The analysis of the historical research demonstrates different view. Evaluations of the historians in four countries do not differ so cardinally as it was before 1990. Such situation is as a signal that probably it is a time to think about the preparation of the general textbook for schoolchildren of four countries, or synthesis of the history.

scholarly journals Donbass: when history is repeated in the fate of people

2019 ◽  
pp. 221-230
Author(s):  
O. O. Поплавський
Keyword(s):  
Economic Potential ◽  
Interethnic Relations ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Direct Support ◽  
Current Events ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Government ◽  
Almost All

The article analyzes historical parallels between the current events in the Donbas and the pages of its past from hundreds of years ago, when this region was at the center of a fierce struggle between various political forces, social strata and rival groups. On the example of the personal destinies of people who were somehow forced to lead regional separatist movements or become puppets in the hands of mainstream puppeteers, the inadmissibility of ignoring the laws of historical development is reminded for us. The fratricidal war in Donbas has been going on for almost five years. The region, like a hundred years ago, became the scene of a bloody war, uncontrollable chaos, significant human casualties, destruction of economic potential. Taking advantage of the direct support of the Russian Federation, the disorganization and destruction of the government of Ukraine in the Revolution of Dignity context, based on the historical experience of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog republic, the separatist leaders declared the creation of the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk «people’s republics». These leaders are very often conflict victims in Donbas. Over the past five years, a large number of people who held senior positions in so-called «people’s republics» have died. In this regard, it becomes interesting for us that, like a hundred years ago, almost all those who created the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog republic, held key posts in its leadership were somehow destroyed - shot during the years of repression, died as a result of mysterious accidents and catastro-phes, committed suicide. Of the 16 people’s commissars who were the founders of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog republic, almost all died a violent death. Most of these leaders were accused of anti-Soviet activities and shot during the years of repression. The fate of these people clearly shows how the attempts to intervene in the course of historical events end up by speculating on the complex topic of interethnic relations. The article deals with the analogy between the fate of today’s separatist leaders in the Donbas and their predecessors, who created the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog republic in 1918, emphasizes the need to study historical experience and analyze it in order to prevent similar phenomena in the future.

scholarly journals The Book of Psalms in the Church Slavonic Language from Norov´s Book Collection

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-53
Author(s):  
Jelena Celunova
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Slavonic Language ◽  
State Library ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Church ◽  
Grand Duchy

This article is devoted to the research of the Book of Psalms manuscript from A. S. Norovʼs book collection stored in the Department of manuscripts of the Russian State Library. The manuscript is written in the beginning of the 18th century in Church Slavonic language Polish letters. This manuscript has never been studied before, it is nonetheless of interest primarily as a Latin-graphic text, which is a transliteration of the originals in Church Slavonic. Very few such texts have survived, and almost all of them were created in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The article provides a complete description of the manuscript and analyses of its language peculiarities. The analysis has made it possible to identify Church Slavonic protographs of the manuscript, and also to establish that the manuscript was written by women (most likely nuns) for private use. Since the authors of the transliteration themselves had very good command of Church Slavonic, it can be assumed that the text was written to order. Against the background of the cultural and historical context of the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries it can be assumed that the manuscript was written by the nuns of one of the southwestern Russian Uniate monasteries who had moved to one of the monasteries in Russia at that time.

scholarly journals Modelling the interreligious relations in the early Orthodox polemics after the Union of Brest

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-24
Author(s):  
Oleg B. Nemensky
Keyword(s):  
Initial Period ◽  
Past Experience ◽  
Upper Class ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
The Past ◽  
Interfaith Relations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
The Church ◽  
Grand Duchy

The article dwells upon the Orthodox polemics on the relations with Catholics and the state power of Rzeczpospolita in the initial period after the Church Union of Brest in 1596. Two models of interfaith relations are distinguished, based on fundamentally diff erent assessments of the past experience under Catholic rule and the nature of the modern confl ict. The territorial divergence of these lines of controversy is determined, connected with the two main centers of public activity of the Orthodox population of the country. The highlighted dissimilarities were determined by signifi cant diff erences in the history of the entry into the Polish state of the aforementioned lands with a predominantly Eastern Christian popula-tion. The nature of the problems of the Orthodox population of these lands was largely determined by the diff erence in their historical experience and the confessional structure of their upper class. Already at the early stages of the debate (based on materials written before 1610), we can talk about the formation of two models of interfaith relations in the Orthodox milieu. One of them turned out to be associated mainly with the Vilna fraternal environment and was represented mainly by Orthodox fi gures in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the second — with the southeastern lands of the country, mainly with Lvov and the Ostrog circle.

scholarly journals Genealogical Researches of Karpiai Family: the Possibilities Evaluation of Prosopography Researches

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 100-120
Author(s):  
Rugilė Pangonytė
Keyword(s):  
Family Studies ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Promising Method ◽  
Genealogical Tree ◽  
Biographical Research ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Grand Duchy ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Karpiai – a famous noble family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – are distinguished by their political and educative activities. The family’s influence is most markedly observed in the 18th–19th centuries, when the most famous and active members of the Karpiai family had lived. This family has not received plenty of scholarly attention, though from time to time new studies do spring up. Almost all of them are oriented to analyzing the activities of separate members of the Karpiai family, while the family’s origin and genealogy researches are scarce. Recently, prosopography has been found to be a very promising method for analyzing noble families. It analyzes the person, their environment, social position, career, power amassment, political influence, and other factors, researching bonds between individuals and constantly evaluating them in an interplay aspect. Besides, in prospect, a prosopographic analysis creates an ideal base for a person’s historical biographical research. This article returns to the beginning of the Karpiai family, studies the theories regarding its legendary origin and the appearance of their progenitor’s in the Grand Duchy, and explains how the recent researches of the Karpiai family’s origin lay the foundation for productive prosopographic researches. Since in prosopography one of the most important methods is the genealogical one, this article discusses the topic of genealogical tree researches of the Karpiai family.

scholarly journals Trakai Castle Court Acts of 1660–1661: Typological and Language Characteristics

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-115
Author(s):  
Viktorija Ušinskienė
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Reference Book ◽  
Court Records ◽  
Local Courts ◽  
Vilnius University ◽  
Language Characteristics ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Grand Duchy

The paper deals with the local court records of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) from the collection of Vilnius University. The study of Trakai Castle Court documentation of 1660‒1661 (F7–TPT, 1660‒1661) allows us to conclude that the chancery work in local courts in the GDL was highly developed at the time. The system of documents’ drawing up and registering was clearly regulated and structured, taking into account the needs of state and public life. Almost all types of court records were composed according to well-defined canons, owing to which we can speak about certain genres of legal documentation that had developed apparently by the end of the 16th and the middle of the 17th centuries. The manuscript written in Polish and Ruthenian languages is important for research of Lithuanian, Polish and Byelorussian history. The abundance of accumulated information enables us to consider it as unique reference book that reflects changing sociolinguistic situation of the GDL. From the middle of the 17th century, Polish starts to significantly dominate in legal documentation, thus forces Ruthenian out of court by the end of the century.

scholarly journals Celebrating “the Joyful Revolution”: about commemoration of the Constitution of May 3rd in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Menotyra ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Balaišytė
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
Visual Expression ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Town ◽  
Grand Duchy

The article discusses how the ratification of the 3rd of May 1791 Constitution was celebrated in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This event, understood by the contemporaries as the beginning of the new epoch, inspired organization of both official and spontaneous celebrations all over the country. While analysing the content and visual expression of these events, it is sought to disclose how these festivals of “the new epoch” were formed and what they looked like, what transformations of the society had inspired them. These celebrations were a tool and product of “the Joyful Revolution”: they were used for patriotic upbringing and unification of the society in the presence of outward threats, though, at the same time, the high spirits of the “revolutionary” time inspired spontaneous festive events. The organizers of such celebrations were mostly the representatives of middle nobility and townspeople, as they had become the most active supporters of the ruler and implemented the reform programme. There were especially many initiatives by townspeople, who due to the new law felt the full-fledged citizens of the state. Similar to earlier celebrations of state significance, almost all festivities were dedicated to the ruler, who was pictured as the father of the nation and creator of the Constitution. A new image of the ruler was started to propagate: the portrait of a king-patriot working for the wellbeing of the homeland and its citizens. The ideas of the “citizens’ nation” encompassing all social strata of the Republic were actively manifested. Acts of the nobility oath to the town law were very important for unification of the society in a symbolic sense; they demonstrated the fraternity of all estates. It is worth mentioning here the demonstration of military attributes and military capacities in order to strengthen the morale of population in troublous times. The article covers in more detail the decorations created for the Constitution anniversary by a nobleman Vincentas Ignacas Marevičius (Wincenty Ignacy Marewicz) in his homestead near Lukiškės, which most visually demonstrated the new structure of the society entrenched by the Constitution. These celebrations of the “3rd of May epoch” could be held for quite a short time and thus failed to create new rituals and symbols. Maybe this was the reason why texts were so important in their décor and explained anew the meanings of symbols applied in earlier celebrations.

The Case Study of the Land of Navahrudak

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-67
Author(s):  
Uladzimir Kananovich
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
The Past ◽  
Region I ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy

The paper examines the process of forging a new historical memory in a particular area of the late medieval and early modern Eastern Europe. Because of contemporary intellectual controversy in present-day Lithuania and Belarus over its role in the early Grand Duchy of Lithuania, I have chosen for the study the historical land of Navahrudak. In order to elucidate the role of Navahrudak in the past, I have tried to investigate what a ruling class in Navahrudak did really remember of its past, as well as what was forgotten and why, in the specific conditions of the early sixteenth-century of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. First of all, by utilizing primarily such historical evidence as chronicles and by focusing mainly on the memories of dukes who had ruled in the region, I tried to understand the process of how the region’s historical memory was being forged. My research clearly reveals that most of what we actually know about Navahrudak’s past appears as nothing else as the sixteenth-century construction, initiated primarily by the contemporary Lithuanian chancellor Albertus Gastoldus and forged by a remarkable team of Renaissance intellectuals employed in the grand ducal chancellery. Their vision of the region’s past was greatly influenced by the actual political, social and even personal (familial) considerations and was clearly aimed at glorifying Navahrudak’s past, by highlighting especially Navahrudak as Lithuania’s first political center, where Albertus Gastoldus had began his political career and where also the political and economical interests of his kin were located.

scholarly journals Tobacco Taxation in Old-Time Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1 ENGLISH ONLINE VERSION) ◽  
pp. 57-77
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Naworski
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
The Times ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Tobacco Taxation ◽  
Tobacco Monopoly ◽  
All Diseases ◽  
Grand Duchy

The article deals with taxation of tobacco and tobacco products in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After tobacco was imported into Poland, its use spread extremely quickly; initially it was used as snuff, and from the 18th century onwards, smoking in pipes became prevalent. Importantly, tobacco and tobacco products were then regarded as a medicine to prevent and cure almost all diseases. Duties on tobacco/snuff were first imposed in 1643 in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in the Crown tobacco monopoly was introduced in 1659. From that time, tobacco/snuff duties were imposed regularly in Lithuania; in the Crown duty on these products was imposed once again in 1677, and then in the 1690s tobacco monopoly ended throughout the Polish Republic. The issue was revived only in the times of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, when tobacco monopoly was introduced, initially managed by a private company called Kompania Tabaczna, and then, in the 1690s, by the state-owned Manipulacja Tabaczna. However, over the whole period under consideration, revenues from tobacco/snuff taxation were relatively small.

Provincial Politics in the Habsburg Empire: The Case of Galicia and Bukovina

1985 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Ciuciura
Keyword(s):  
Common Features ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Continuity ◽  
The Common ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Polish Culture ◽  
Small Parts ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Provincial Politics ◽  
Grand Duchy

The creation of an Austrian province, titled “The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria” (“with the Grand Duchy of Cracow” added later) was the result of the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. The addition of this territory to the already imposing number of Habsburg's realms was ostensibly based on the dubious claim of the Hungarian kings to sovereignty over the medieval Ruthenian (Ukrainian) realm of Galicia and Volhynia. Under the subsequent Polish rule, the southern part of this duchy was organized as thewojewództwo ruskie(Ruthenian [Ukrainian] Province), which was one of the several provinces in the so-calledZiemie Ruskie(Ruthenian Lands) of the Commonwealth, or rather of theKorona(Kingdom of Poland),vis-à-visthe Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Galicia as an Austrian creation included small parts of the adjacent Ruthenian provinces of Podilia (Podole), Volhynia and Belz, (i.e. Galicia proper), and in the west also the province of Cracow, with territorial enclaves, really medieval relics, such as the “Duchy of Oświȩcim [Auschwitz]” and “Duchy of Zator” (i.e. the non-historical “Western Galicia”). Under Austrian rule, Galicia became a common home for Ukrainians (officially called Ruthenians) in the eastern counties and Poles in the western counties. Many Poles lived in Galicia proper. The Polish or Latin-Polish culture deeply influenced the Ukrainian population. However, it stubbornly, though inarticulately, maintained a sense of ethnic community with the Ukrainians who lived under the Russian imperial rule. A prominent Polish historian (and for more than a decade President of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow), Stanislaw Smolka, ascertains the “common features” of the “ethno-historical indivudiuality” known in Polish history as Ruś (Ruthenia) which had been “dormant through the centuries but never moribund [obumarla].” This Ruthenia “at the present attempts to find for herself a new distinguishing name and wants it to be ‘Ukraine'.” He also determines “the historical continuity” in the past of the old Ruthenia of Yaroslav and Monomakh and the “Ruthenian Lands” of the Commonwealth.

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