The ambassador of Spain to the Russian Empire Anibal Morillo y Pérez del Villar and his “Memories”

The article examines the memoirs of a Spanish diplomat Anibal Morillo and Perez del Villar, the Count of Cartagena. He held the post of the Spanish ambassador in the Russian Empire in 1914-1916 when World War One broke out. “Memories of my Embassy in Russia” by Morillo is a specific source that shows the life of the zarist court and diplomatic circles of St. Petersburg in that period. The Count of Cartagena’s activity has not been considered much in Russian historiography. Based on the analysis of his memoirs, the author of the article suggests that Morillo considered the Russian revolution to be brought in from outside. A study of the memoirs showed that the Spanish ambassador at St. Petersburg preferred German diplomacy and had a peculiar notion of the role of Russia in unleashing the war. The author of this article concludes that Morillo’s ideas were partly shaped by the internal problems and the international situation of his own country at the beginning of the 20th century and that the Spanish ambassador was one of the Spanish Germanophiles. Spain maintained strict neutrality throughout the war. The Spanish embassy in Russia carried out important humanitarian mission and active mediation activities, supporting Russian citizens on enemy territory and trying to improve the situation of Russian prisoners of war and facilitate their return. The issue of the personal participation of Anibal Morillo in mediation is also touched upon in this article.

The Czechoslovak Orient: Carpathian Ruthenia as an Imagined Colonial Space

<p>In 1919 the territory of Subcarpathian Ruthenia joined the new state of Czechoslovakia under the terms set by the Treaty of Saint Germain. During the following twenty years a relationship developed between Czechs and Ruthenia’s Rusyn inhabitants which this study considers as an example of imperialism and colonialism. The Czech media applied a colonial framework in its portrayals of Ruthenia, encouraging the Czech public to see the poor and undeveloped territory as a colony ruled from Prague. Rusyns also used colonial terminology as a means of criticizing the Czech officials who ruled them. The colonial discourse occurred despite a shared Slavic ethnic background and even as representatives of both nations expressed brotherhood and solidarity towards one another. Some Czech officials sent to Ruthenia adopted imperialist attitudes and practices in an environment of minimal bureaucratic oversight, leading to friction with the Rusyn intelligentsia. Faced with the threat of Czechization, Rusyns struggled to achieve autonomy and an anti-imperialist movement supporting Rusyn rights developed among Czech Communists. The Prague government sought to defend its actions in Ruthenia against accusations of mistreatment by the Hungarian revisionist movement. The existing Anglophone and Czech-language historiography on interwar Ruthenia generally portrays Czech rule as kindly and beneficial for the Rusyn population, focusing on Slavic kinship. Aiming to provide a fresh and detailed analysis of the Czechoslovak administration and the cultural forces at work in forming a colonial discourse, this study draws on an extensive range of government documents, newspapers and archival materials collected in Prague and Brno. By applying the theories of Edward Said, Jürgen Osterhammel, Maria Todorova and Kristin Kopp, the relationship is assessed through the terminology of discursive and material colonialism, together with Orientalism, liberal imperialism and internal colonialism. Three different areas of scholarly interest are the focus of this study: symbolic geography and colonial discourses in European contexts, political and social developments in Ruthenia, and treatment of national minorities in interwar Czechoslovakia. The study includes eight chapters which alternate between viewing the relationship from the Czech perspective and the Rusyn perspective. The opening chapter analyzes the Czech role as Slavic leaders and benefactors in the new republic and how a Czech humanitarian mission became a mission civilisatrice. The second chapter focuses on the shift in thinking among Rusyns from jubilation after joining the republic to growing disillusionment over denial of political autonomy. Chapters three and four describe the formation of a discursive colonial relationship; the third chapter presents how Czechs imagined Rusyns in the mold of colonial stereotypes, while the fourth chapter analyzes how Czechs and Rusyns imagined their relationship through comparisons to other colonial regions such as Africa, the Orient and Siberia. Chapter five focuses on the experiences of Czech officials working in Ruthenia, highlighting the shift in Rusyn perceptions of these administrators from Slavic brothers to imperialists. The role played by Czech official and publisher František Svojše as a symbol of Czech chauvinism receives special attention in the analysis. The sixth chapter covers the Czech anti-colonial movement among Communists and left-wing authors such as Ivan Olbracht who condemned the imperialist character of the Czech administration in Ruthenia. Chapter seven outlines the Rusyn struggle for autonomy and resistance of Czechization until the achievement of an independent parliament in 1938. The final chapter describes the Czech fear of imperial loss, analyzing how Czech media and politicians defended Czechoslovak rule in Ruthenia against international criticism and the Hungarian revisionist movement.</p>

The Czechoslovak Orient: Carpathian Ruthenia as an Imagined Colonial Space

<p>In 1919 the territory of Subcarpathian Ruthenia joined the new state of Czechoslovakia under the terms set by the Treaty of Saint Germain. During the following twenty years a relationship developed between Czechs and Ruthenia’s Rusyn inhabitants which this study considers as an example of imperialism and colonialism. The Czech media applied a colonial framework in its portrayals of Ruthenia, encouraging the Czech public to see the poor and undeveloped territory as a colony ruled from Prague. Rusyns also used colonial terminology as a means of criticizing the Czech officials who ruled them. The colonial discourse occurred despite a shared Slavic ethnic background and even as representatives of both nations expressed brotherhood and solidarity towards one another. Some Czech officials sent to Ruthenia adopted imperialist attitudes and practices in an environment of minimal bureaucratic oversight, leading to friction with the Rusyn intelligentsia. Faced with the threat of Czechization, Rusyns struggled to achieve autonomy and an anti-imperialist movement supporting Rusyn rights developed among Czech Communists. The Prague government sought to defend its actions in Ruthenia against accusations of mistreatment by the Hungarian revisionist movement. The existing Anglophone and Czech-language historiography on interwar Ruthenia generally portrays Czech rule as kindly and beneficial for the Rusyn population, focusing on Slavic kinship. Aiming to provide a fresh and detailed analysis of the Czechoslovak administration and the cultural forces at work in forming a colonial discourse, this study draws on an extensive range of government documents, newspapers and archival materials collected in Prague and Brno. By applying the theories of Edward Said, Jürgen Osterhammel, Maria Todorova and Kristin Kopp, the relationship is assessed through the terminology of discursive and material colonialism, together with Orientalism, liberal imperialism and internal colonialism. Three different areas of scholarly interest are the focus of this study: symbolic geography and colonial discourses in European contexts, political and social developments in Ruthenia, and treatment of national minorities in interwar Czechoslovakia. The study includes eight chapters which alternate between viewing the relationship from the Czech perspective and the Rusyn perspective. The opening chapter analyzes the Czech role as Slavic leaders and benefactors in the new republic and how a Czech humanitarian mission became a mission civilisatrice. The second chapter focuses on the shift in thinking among Rusyns from jubilation after joining the republic to growing disillusionment over denial of political autonomy. Chapters three and four describe the formation of a discursive colonial relationship; the third chapter presents how Czechs imagined Rusyns in the mold of colonial stereotypes, while the fourth chapter analyzes how Czechs and Rusyns imagined their relationship through comparisons to other colonial regions such as Africa, the Orient and Siberia. Chapter five focuses on the experiences of Czech officials working in Ruthenia, highlighting the shift in Rusyn perceptions of these administrators from Slavic brothers to imperialists. The role played by Czech official and publisher František Svojše as a symbol of Czech chauvinism receives special attention in the analysis. The sixth chapter covers the Czech anti-colonial movement among Communists and left-wing authors such as Ivan Olbracht who condemned the imperialist character of the Czech administration in Ruthenia. Chapter seven outlines the Rusyn struggle for autonomy and resistance of Czechization until the achievement of an independent parliament in 1938. The final chapter describes the Czech fear of imperial loss, analyzing how Czech media and politicians defended Czechoslovak rule in Ruthenia against international criticism and the Hungarian revisionist movement.</p>

On pandemics and pivots: a COVID-19 reflection on envisioning the future of medical education

The required adjustments precipitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis have been challenging, but also represent a critical opportunity for the evolution and potential disruptive and constructive change of medical education. Given that the format of medical education is not fixed, but malleable and in fact must be adaptable to societal needs through ongoing reflexivity, we find ourselves in a potentially transformative learning phase for the field. An Association for Medical Education in Europe ASPIRE Academy group of 18 medical educators from seven countries was formed to consider this opportunity, and identified critical questions for collective reflection on current medical education practices and assumptions, with the attendant challenge to envision the future of medical education. This was achieved through online discussion as well as asynchronous collective reflections by group members. Four major themes and related conclusions arose from this conversation: Why we teach: the humanitarian mission of medicine should be reinforced; what we teach: disaster management, social accountability and embracing an environment of complexity and uncertainty should be the core; how we teach: open pathways to lean medical education and learning by developing learners embedded in a community context; and whom we teach: those willing to take professional responsibility. These collective reflections provide neither fully matured digests of the challenges of our field, nor comprehensive solutions; rather they are offered as a starting point for medical schools to consider as we seek to harness the learning opportunities stimulated by the pandemic.

International Network, Social Capital and the Role of Muhammadiyah During the 2006 Yogyakarta Earthquake

This article aims to investigate the impact of the international network and social capital on the effectiveness of Muhammadiyah’s emergency response in the 2006 Bantul earthquake. Despite paying more attention to religious and spiritual issues, Muhammadiyah, an Islamic-based social movement, plays a significant role in humanitarian issues. The 2006 earthquake in Bantul devastated public amenities, claimed thousands of people, and caused economic loss. The local government and private sectors of Bantul could not cope with the disaster. The most disaster-affected districts in Bantul Regency were Pundong, Bambanglipuro, and Jetis. Then, Muhammadiyah made an immediate emergency response to help those affected districts. In collaboration with overseas counterparts, Muhammadiyah collected humanitarian assistance. Muhammadiyah might not complete its humanitarian mission without the support of existing local Muhammadiyah in those districts. In other words, Muhammadiyah’s social capital is influential for humanitarian missions. This paper utilized two concepts to elaborate on the effectiveness of Muhammadiyah’s emergency response, namely transnational advocacy networks (TANs) and social capital. Then, this article argues that the higher level of TANs and social capital Muhammadiyah has, the more emergency response it can complete effectively. This paper discovered that three districts had different levels of TANs and social capital. In Pundong, the level of leverage politics (TANs) was higher than social capital. However, both Bambanglipuro and Jetis had a high level of social capital, whereas their leverage politics were low.

How the Dutch Miss Merkus became the Joan of Arc of insurgent Herzegovina

Much has remained unclear as to how and when Jeanne (Jenny) Merkus came to Herzegovina, where her spectacular, yet tragic career as the Joan of Arc of the Serbian insurrection and where the subsequent war against Turkish and Muslim domination started. Facing the seeming non-existence of any relevant documentation, numerous unsubtantiated claims have been proposed for the Dutch lady's arrival shortly after the rebellion broke out in the summer of 1875. As if it would do harm to the iconic image of female heroism, the possibility of a strongly delayed accession was hardly ever seriously considered. Instead of meticulously researching newspapers and other contemporaneous sources for the first traces of her presence there, self-proclaimed experts spun fanciful stories, which were eagerly consumed as true. Mainly using nearly forgotten revelations of Italian correspondents among the insurgents, this contribution demonstrates that Miss Merkus did not join the insurrection before December of that year, but also that, once inside Herzegovina, she seized the opportunity to transform her purported humanitarian mission into a straightforward military one, adopting male attire and arms.

Analysis of a Cooperation and Interventional Model in Humanitarian Medicine

Background: Every year, around 15 million children, in developing countries, die or develop life-long disabilities because of congenital cardiac diseases. In this report we measure the effect of a pediatric cardiac surgery humanitarian project on the health of the individual and on the potential influence this has on the countries economy and its growing health services.Methods: We collected and analyzed data from the Italian NGO, Mission Bambini's database, including all congenital cardiac missions undertaken in Cambodia between 2012 and 2019. DALY's (Disability Adjusted Life Years) saved by the humanitarian mission were estimated and used to reflect on the impact this had on the populations economy. Progression in the local medical teams skills emulated the advancements made in the health sector of the region.Results: Between 2012 and 2019, 128 patients underwent a congenital cardiac operation at Angkor Hospital for Children at Siem Reap, Cambodia. The median age was 6 years. The majority of the pathologies included VSD, TOF, ASD. The mean Aristotle's Complexity Score was 6. Post-operative mortality was 0.8% (1/128). The cost-effectiveness analysis identified 5.360 DALY's saved by surgery. The competency of the local team was progressive with them being able to handle more complex cases on subsequent missions.Conclusion: In developing Countries, performing congenital cardiac surgery cases can be carried out successfully with improvement in both the economy and the health system of the country by increasing the years and the quality of life of the working population and developing the expertise of the regional team.

“Where is home?”—“Doctors Without Borders”, doctors without a homeland?

Are “Doctors Without Borders” (MSF) doctors without a homeland? Based on fifty interviews, statistical data and a participatory observation, this articledescribes humanitarian mission conditions limiting local integration and suggests three forms of attachment: home (“break expatriates”), elsewhere (“multi‑homeland expatriates”) or nowhere (“duty‑free expatriates”). For the latter, MSF plays, until their departure from the organization, the role of substitute homeland. Son los “Médicos sin Fronteras” (MSF) médicos sin patria? Basado en cincuenta entrevistas, datos estadísticos y una observación participante, este artículo describe condiciones de misión humanitaria que limitan la integración local y propone tres formas de apego: en casa (“expatriados paréntesis”), en otros lugares (“expatriados multipátridos») o en ninguna parte (“expatriados duty‑free”). Para estos últimos, MSF desempeña el papel de patria sustituta hasta que dejen la organización. Les « Médecins Sans Frontières » (MSF) sont‑ils des médecins sans patrie ? Basé sur une cinquantaine d’entretiens, des données statistiques et uneobservation participante, cet article décrit des conditions de mission humanitaire limitant l’intégration locale et dégage trois formes d’attachement : chez soi (« expatriés parenthèse »), ailleurs (« expatriés multipatrides ») ou nulle part (« expatriés duty‑free »). Pour ces derniers, MSF joue, jusqu’à leur départ de l’organisation, le rôle de patrie de substitution.

Attitude of Saudi Plastic Surgery Residents Towards Pursuing Burn Practice

Burn injuries comprise the most common accidents world-wide. The delivery of burn care has been adversely impacted by the absence of effective burn management and aesthetic services. This study attempts to address the attitude of Saudi residents of plastic surgery towards obtaining a burn fellowship, and to examine the factors that might influence their decisions in this regard. An online survey was sent to 39 plastic surgery residents in Saudi Arabia including levels from PGY 1-6 in the academic year of 2019. The questionnaire conducted to demonstrate interest, knowledge and major factors influencing or discouraging residents from choosing Burn as a sub-specialty in their future career. Residents responded to knowledge questions on a scale of three (below average/ average/ above average). The response rate was 84%. A 33 residents completed the questionnaire. The age group was between 30 and 34 years. only 27% of the respondents expressing interest in burn practice. The main factors that make the plastic surgery resident refrain from pursing burn as fellowship were: multiple operations sessions, lifestyle, financial outcome and emotional aspects. On the other hand, the paucity of burn surgeons and being involved humanitarian mission were an attracting factors. Most of the residents believe that burn must be obligatory and continue to be part of all plastic surgery training programs (100%). In Saudi Arabia, the relative paucity of specialist mentors on plastic surgery programs may limit residents’ exposure to subspecialties such as burn during plastic surgery rotational experiences. The findings from this survey may help plastic surgery program directors or burn surgeons in particular to find out strategies to attract future trainees.

Blunt abdominal trauma with duodenal dissection: A case report

We describe a new case of duodenal wound with complete transection in a 22-year-old patient following a motorcycle accident. He presented to the emergency room of the rural Regional Hospital of Edéa in Cameroon with a clinical picture of acute abdomen and post-trauma hemodynamic instability. A peritoneal puncture brought back an incoagulable blood. An exploratory laparotomy revealed a large hemoperitoneum mixed with food debris. A tear of the omentum and transverse mesocolon and a complete section of the third duodenum at the beginning of its free portion were observed. The surgeon performed emergency closure of both duodenal stumps and performed an isoperistaltic lateral gastrojejunal bypass. A transfer to a specialized center for a more anatomical continuity was considered, but the imminence of a humanitarian mission in the hospital prompted the surgeon to seize the opportunity of this mission for the reoperation. This surgical revision was performed on the fifth postoperative day. A resection of the distal duodenal stump and the adjacent jejunal segment including the anastomosis was performed. Continuity was restored by a mechanical duodenal-jejunal anastomosis. The patient was discharged on the 18th postoperative day. This type of lesion is difficult to manage in an emergency situation in a structure with limited technical resources. Unfortunately, surgeons treating polytraumatized civilians are encountering an increasing number of blunt duodenal wounds requiring laborious management.