The Legacy of the First World War in the Transcaucasia from the Perspectives of the New Humanities

Author(s):  
George Gotsiridze

The work discusses the legacy of the First World War - its positive and negative sides - which played an important role in the formation of the world processes in the post-war period and still preserves its viability.The actuality of the problem is backed by the fact that the relationship of the Trans-caucasian countries with the outer world is still problematic nowadays. We witness how the world’s political and economic map is changing and technical-scientific progress is tangible. In the conditions of the accelerated global processes, a general political, economic and cultural area is being formed, and a new world order is being formed with its difficulties, social catastrophes or cataclysms, conflicts, divergence and integration. At this time, it is of utmost importance to analyze historical problems from the past and seek ways to resolve them in the political relations of the South Caucasus, as in their attitude towards the outside world, understanding that unity is a necessary guarantee of strengthening the statehood of each country and that the perception of the Transcaucasia by the rest of the world as a unified political and economic sphere will simplify the Euro - Atlantic integration. The issue is discussed from the new humanitarian perspectives, which gives us the opportunity to determine the national verticals from experience received centuries ago, around which local or regional political consciousness should be unified in order to satisfy the national interests of each country in the Transcaucasia through closer cooperation.

Author(s):  
George Gotsiridze

The work discusses the legacy of the First World War - its positive and negative sides - which played an important role in the formation of the world processes in the post-war period and still preserves its viability.The actuality of the problem is backed by the fact that the relationship of the Transcaucasian countries with the outer world is still problematic nowadays. We witness how the world’s political and economic map is changing and technical-scientific progress is tangible. In the conditions of the accelerated global processes, a general political, economic and cultural area is being formed, and a new world order is being formed with its difficulties, social catastrophes or cataclysms, conflicts, divergence and integration. At this time, it is of utmost importance to analyze historical problems from the past and seek ways to resolve them in the political relations of the South Caucasus, as in their attitude towards the outside world, under-standing that unity is a necessary guarantee of strengthening the statehood of each country and that the perception of the Transcaucasia the rest of the world as a unified political and economic sphere will simplify the Euro Atlantic integration. The issue is discussed from the new humanitarian perspectives, which gives us the opportunity to determine the national verticals from experience received centuries ago, around which local or regional political consciousness should be unified in order to satisfy the national interests of each country in the Transcaucasia through closer cooperation.


Author(s):  
Stefano Musso

The present contribution is divided into two parts: the first is the transformations of the world of labour between the two wars, tracing the context in which totalitarian impulses of a fascist nature were affirmed; the second, closely connected to the first, tries to outline the methods and contents with which counter-democracy tried to gain consensus, even in the world of labour. We will try to retrace, in broad terms, some trajectories of change induced by the First World War, their evolution in the inter-war period, the influence that these changes exerted on the Second World War and beyond, with some reference to the post-war period.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz Zalega

The Wave of Social Radicalism and Its Impact on Silesian Uprisings, 1917–1923Three Silesian Uprisings (1919, 1920, 1921) all contributed to incorporating a portion of industrial Upper Silesia to Poland after the First World War. Until now, history has been emphasizing mostly the national nature of these upheavals. However, the revolutionary wave of between 1917 and 1923 left an enormous impact on the region, influencing the character of the aforementioned uprisings as well. Already in 1917, the Upper Silesia was witness to mass hunger strikes, and in 1918 the region became one of the important centers for the German Revolution. The Communist Party of Upper Silesia counted twenty thousand members, and its activity both affected and reflected a radicalization of sentiment in Silesian laborers. Two sides of the conflict over Silesia,the Polish and the German, both feared the communist influence, but at the same time they were forced by it to put forward more radical democratic and social slogans, as part of their propaganda. Raising of such voices was further encouraged by emergence of Workers’ Councils, by which the workers were drawn directly into the world of politics, and also by the post-war „democratization” of weaponry that led to armament of numerous worker communities.The author’s primary thesis is concerned with how the revolutionary wave influenced the character of the Silesian Uprisings – both in activity (strikes, laborer militias) as well as in dialogue (radical democratic and social slogans). This period in the Silesian history should not be reduced to a Polish-German conflict. Wpływ fali radykalizmu społecznego lat 1917–1923 na powstania śląskieTrzy powstania śląskie (1919, 1920, 1921) przyczyniły się do przyłączenia części przemysłowego Górnego Śląska do Polski po I wojnie światowej. W dotychczasowej historii podkreślano narodowy charakter tych zrywów, w których brali udział śląscy robotnicy polskiej opcji. Okazuje się jednak, że fala rewolucyjna lat 1917–1923 wywarła ogromny wpływ na ten region, w tym także na charakter wspomnianych powstań. Już w 1917 roku na Śląsku doszło do masowych protestów głodowych, a w 1918 roku region ten był jednym z ważnych ośrodków rewolucji niemieckiej. Komunistyczna Partia Górnego Śląska liczyła 20 000 członków, przede wszystkim jednak jej działalność oddziaływała na radykalizację nastrojów robotników, jak i ją też odzwierciedlała. Obie strony konfliktu o Śląsk – polska i niemiecka, obawiały się komunistów, ale też musiały pod ich wpływem wysuwać w propagandzie radykalne hasła demokratyczne i społeczne. Podnoszeniu tych haseł sprzyjały także powstające rady robotnicze, wciągające w świat polityki załogi fabryk, oraz powojenna „demokratyzacja” broni prowadząca do uzbrojenia licznych środowisk robotników.Główna teza autora dotyczy tego, że fala rewolucyjna lat 1917–1923 w ogromnym stopniu wpłynęła na charakter powstań śląskich – tak w sferze działań (strajki, bojówki robotnicze), jak i głoszonych haseł (radykalnie demokratycznych i społecznych). Tego okresu na Śląsku nie można sprowadzać wyłącznie do konfliktu polsko-niemieckiego.


Author(s):  
Michele Nicoletti

Carl Schmitt’s thought on international relations appears from the outset to be profoundly informed by his reflections on the philosophy of history. In this the German jurist seems to be fully consonant with the climate of his time, of that generation which saw the 19th century ‘concert of Europe’ crumble beneath their feet into the great tragedy of European civil war which began with the First World War. The collapse of the world order thus almost inevitably leads him to question the meaning of history and to be influenced by the ideas of the end of the world and of history, and by the symbols and metaphors connected to this theme, which have been part of Western culture for centuries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-514
Author(s):  
Udith Dematagoda

This article explores Wyndham Lewis's experience of the First World War, and its influence on his varied artistic output. It interrogates how Lewis's initial ambivalence towards an emergent technological society shifted through direct encounters with mechanized warfare, and speculates on the effect of these upon his post-war writing and criticism. By contrasting Lewis's thought against that of his Italian Futurist contemporaries, I will demonstrate the centrality of their divergent conceptions of masculinity in accounting for this opposition – and how Lewis's critique of technological society prefigures contemporary opposition towards the post-humanist philosophy of Accelerationism.


Author(s):  
Igor Lyubchyk

The research issue peculiarities of wide Russian propaganda among the most Western ethnographic group – Lemkies is revealed in the article. The character and orientation of Russian and Soviet agitation through the social, religious and social movements aimed at supporting Russian identity in the region are traced. Tragic pages during the First World War were Thalrogian prisons for Lemkas, which actually swept Lemkivshchyna through Muscovophilian influences. Agitation for Russian Orthodoxy has provoked frequent cases of sharp conflicts between Lemkas. In general, attempts by moskvophile agitators to impose russian identity on the Orthodox rite were failed. Taking advantage of the complex socio-economic situation of Lemkos, Russian campaigners began to promote moving to the USSR. Another stage of Russian propaganda among Lemkos began with the onset of the Second World War. Throughout the territory of the Galician Lemkivshchyna, Soviet propaganda for resettlement to the USSR began rather quickly. During the dramatic events of the Second World War and the post-war period, despite the outbreaks of the liberation movement, among the Lemkoswere manifestations of political sympathies oriented toward the USSR. Keywords: borderlands, Lemkivshchyna, Lemky, Lemkivsky schism, Moskvophile, Orthodoxy, agitation, ethnopolitics


Author(s):  
James Muldoon

The German council movements arose through mass strikes and soldier mutinies towards the end of the First World War. They brought down the German monarchy, founded several short-lived council republics, and dramatically transformed European politics. This book reconstructs how participants in the German council movements struggled for a democratic socialist society. It examines their attempts to democratize politics, the economy, and society through building powerful worker-led organizations and cultivating workers’ political agency. Drawing from the practices of the council movements and the writings of theorists such as Rosa Luxemburg, Anton Pannekoek, and Karl Kautsky, this book returns to their radical vision of a self-determining society and their political programme of democratization and socialization. It presents a powerful argument for renewed attention to the political theories of this historical period and for their ongoing relevance today.


Author(s):  
Gregory A. Barton

After the death of Gabrielle Howard from cancer, Albert married her sister Louise. Louise had been pressured to leave Cambridge as a classics lecturer as a result of her pro-peace writings during the First World War. After working for Virginia Wolf, she then worked for the League of Nations in Geneva. Louise was herself an expert on labor and agriculture, and helped Albert write for a popular audience. Albert Howard toured plantations around the world advocating the Indore Method. After the publication of the Agricultural Testament (1943), Albert Howard focused on popularizing his work among gardeners and increasingly connected his composting methods to issues of human health.


Balcanica ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 107-133
Author(s):  
Dimitrije Djordjevic

This paper discusses the occupation of Serbia during the First World War by Austro-Hungarian forces. The first partial occupation was short-lived as the Serbian army repelled the aggressors after the Battle of Kolubara in late 1914, but the second one lasted from fall 1915 until the end of the Great War. The Austro-Hungarian occupation zone in Serbia covered the largest share of Serbia?s territory and it was organised in the shape of the Military Governorate on the pattern of Austro-Hungarian occupation of part of Poland. The invaders did not reach a clear decision as to what to do with Serbian territory in post-war period and that gave rise to considerable frictions between Austro-Hungarian and German interests in the Balkans, then between Austrian and Hungarian interests and, finally, between military and civilian authorities within Military Governorate. Throughout the occupation Serbia was exposed to ruthless economic exploitation and her population suffered much both from devastation and from large-scale repression (including deportations, internments and denationalisation) on the part of the occupation regime.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Klengel

The radical aesthetic of the historical avant-garde movements has often been explained as a reaction to the catastrophic experience of the First World War and a denouncement of the bourgeoisie’s responsibility for its horrors. This article explores a blind spot in these familiar interpretations of the international avant-garde. Not only the violence of the World War but also the experience of a worldwide deadly pandemic, the Spanish flu, have moulded the literary and artistic production of the 1920s. In this paper, I explore this hypothesis through the example of Mário de Andrade’s famous book of poetry Pauliceia desvairada (1922), which I reinterpret in the light of historical studies on the Spanish flu in São Paulo. An in-depth examination of all parts of this important early opus of the Brazilian Modernism shows that Mário de Andrade’s poetic images of urban coexistence simultaneously aim at a radical renewal of language and at a melancholic coming to terms with a traumatic pandemic past.


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