From National Autonomy to Independent State: The Bund in the Face of the State of Israel, 1948-1989

The title of the article ’From National Autonomy to Independent State‘ refers to the gradual change that occurred in the wake of the Holocaust with respect to the Bund’s refusal to recognize the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people during its first forty years. Yet notwithstanding the historical anti-Zionism ideology of the Bund, the movement never wavered in its identification with the State while remaining critical of Israel’s policy towards the Arab refugee problem created by the War of Independence (1948-1949).

Croatianess and Children’s Popular Culture

This paper examines the discursive formation of Croatianness (hrvatstvo) during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s and the post-war era, focusing mainly on the domain of popular culture. In this analysis of Croatian children’s popular culture, the main emphasis is on chocolate bar stickers and sticker albums manufactured by Kraš. At the time, the company had published Cro-Army chocolate stickers and the accompanying Croatian army sticker album, Knights’ Tales, about Croatian history and various historical events, and Maki, a sticker album of Catholic saints. In relying on theoretical and methodological frameworks of representational and discourse theory regarding national identity and fantasy, this paper shows one of the ways in which Croatianness was formed in children’s popular culture through three main aspects – war, history, and religion

Wars and Foreign Interventions in Greece in the 1820s

In Greece, the 1820s is a well-remembered decade. Many things happened which future Greek generations can study and learn. In the beginning of the decade (1821), some Greeks rebelled against the Ottomans, but, parallel with this War of Independence, they, as did so many times in their heroic past, started fighting between themselves (1823-1825). The Olympians intervened, as in Homer’s masterpieces, and “independence” came as a result of a direct foreign (divine) intervention by Britain (Poseidon), France (Athena) and Russia (Hera). This began first in the battlefields in 1827, and then at the negotiation table in 1832. This paper looks at the reasons of all of these three types of events (the Greek War of Independence, its civil wars and the foreign interventions), as well as their results. The reasons are traced by applying the rule: “follow the money.” Of course, the obvious result was the official creation of an “independent” Greek state. However, other concurrent events have had long-lasting effects on the Greek political and military developments, which lasted until the end of the third quarter of the 20th century. These developments are only briefly discussed in this paper.

The Quest for Israeli Identity: the Rise and Decline of the Sabra Myth

This article analyzes an attempt to construct a new identity for Jews born on the territory of the Mandatory Palestine, the so-called Sabras, between the First and Second World Wars. The characteristic features of this identity included the deliberate brutality, the combination of peasant labor with the skills of armed self-defense, collectivism and a conscious break with the diaspora past. The external attributes of the sabras were the wearing of simple but comfortable clothes of the inhabitants of the kibbutzim and the cultivation of Hebrew. Sabras become a role model for Jewish youth who arrived in Israel and those who were already born here. The attractiveness of the sabra’s image was enhanced through advertising posters, cinematography, and literature. This model of identity is of interest as an attempt to return to the origins of Hebrew history, as well as to raise a generation of “new Jews” devoid of any shortcomings that complicated the life of Jews in exile. The artificiality of this model and its isolation from Israeli realities were among the main reasons that led to the collapse of the myth of the super-sabra. At the same time, this myth laid the foundations for a different perception of the Jews both by themselves and by the world community, contributing to the victory of Israel in the war of independence.

Book Review: Christine M. Philliou, Turkey: A Past Against History. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021.

This book depicts transformation of the Ottoman and Turkish society between the Second Constitutional Monarchy (1908) of the late Ottoman Empire and the 1960s of modern Turkey with a focus on the life and works of Turkish journalist author Refik Halid Karay (1888-1965). Karay is known with his short stories and novels in Turkish literature. Using excerpts from Karay’s newspaper articles, stories, and novels, Philliou shows how an Ottoman liberal criticized the policies of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the nationalists in Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence and the subsequent regime in the early years of the Turkish Republic. Using the term muhalefet [opposition], Philliou focuses on the transition of Karay from a dissident figure into a discontent patriot. While doing this, Philliou skillfully draws the framework of Turkish modernity between 1908 and 1960.

Gewetensbezwaarden onder vuur

Conscientious objectors under fire. Vaccine refusal among orthodox-Protestant soldiers in the Dutch Armed Forces, 1945-1950 During the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949), the Dutch government deployed 220,000 soldiers in the Indonesian archipelago. Among them was a group of conservative Christian soldiers who refused vaccinations against smallpox for religious reasons. Initially this caused no problems, but the situation changed after the outbreak of a smallpox epidemic in Indonesia in 1948. The non-vaccinated soldiers could not return to the Netherlands due to international restrictions. Although compulsory vaccination was abolished in 1939, some soldiers were forced to accept vaccination. In the Netherlands, representatives of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) and the conservative churches accused the Army of illegal actions. The central question in the debate was the space for religious minorities and divergent views on vaccination in the Dutch Armed Forces. This article studies the process of negotiation between the Dutch Armed Forces and the political and ecclesiastical representatives of this conservative religious group. Finally, this article argues for more research into religious diversity in the Dutch Armed Forces.

In the Cause of Humanity

In the Cause of Humanity is a major new history of the emergence of the theory and practice of humanitarian intervention during the nineteenth century when the question of whether, when and how the international community should react to violations of humanitarian norms and humanitarian crises first emerged as a key topic of controversy and debate. Fabian Klose investigates the emergence of legal debates on the protection of humanitarian norms by violent means, revealing how military intervention under the banner of humanitarianism became closely intertwined with imperial and colonial projects. Through case studies including the international fight against the slave trade, the military interventions under the banner of humanitarian aid for Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire, and the intervention of the United States in the Cuban War of Independence, he shows how the idea of humanitarian intervention established itself as a recognized instrument in international politics and international law.